So far in this series, we've discussed why testimonials are so powerful , how to collect testimonials with my "SPURF" system , and 10 ways to make your testimonials work harder . But what if you don't have testimonials? What if you need other ways to give your credibility a boost? No problem. Yes, testimonials are a great way to support and prove the claims in your copy. They also engage the "bandwagon" effect-the more people doing it, the more acceptable it is.

When we were kids, my friends and I made up a game we called "Made You Look." Three or four of us would get fairly close together â€" in a shopping plaza, on the street, or anywhere there were lots of people â€" and look up as if we saw something incredible. It would never fail. Passers-by would glance up to see what we were looking at. Some would stop and stand there for half a minute trying to discern the object of our attention. And the more of us doing it,

In the world of selling, you can use testimonials â€" among other techniques â€" to take advantage of the principle of "Social Proof." According to this principle, all of us look to others to help us decide how to act. The more people doing it, the more correct it seems. I illustrated this idea recently in part 1 of this series, Testimonials and Teenagers Whizzing in the Bushes: The Power of Social Proof . Few people, however,

Testimonials add power to your copy. How? Let me answer that question by telling you a little story about a rabble of bladder-challenged teenagers whizzing in the bushes along an Interstate near my home. Trust me. There's a connection. You see, some time ago, my wife and I were on our way to a party when traffic slowed to a standstill along a stretch of highway. Nine out of ten cars were filled with teenagers,

By Dean Rieck Do you want to know the real secret of success? Okay, I'll tell you. But first I want you to meet my grandparents. They lived in the heart of West Virginia. As a child, I spent many long summer days at their home, running in the wide green yard and splashing through the creek looking for crawdads. I'd play until my grandmother called me in for dinner. The meals were never fancy but always fresh because my grandparents raised a lot of their own food,

Most people who gravitate toward copywriting love words. Dishing up lots of them is relatively easy. The real challenge is editing to achieve a tight and lively style. So if your writing has become bloated and sluggish, perhaps what you need is a little exercise to trim the fat and energize your selling copy. The exercise I have in mind is based on radio advertising and will challenge you to write a complete,

This post is by Dean Rieck. We live in the information age. And boy do we get blasted with information. It's dumped on us by the truckload. Three pounds of stuff in the mailbox a day. 507 TV channels to flip through to find the weather report. 623 e-mail messages selling male enhancement pills. And that's only a fraction of the information that bombards us. There are billboards along the highway, news broadcasts on the radio, memos and telephone calls at the office,