IM Rant

There isn’t a single product owner out there that doesn’t need a testimonial or review of his/her product to generate sales of it.  No matter if it’s Ewen Chia or Willie Crawford, testimonials and reviews are one of the backbones to sell a product online (aside from the sales page).  But here is the thing: there are far more testimonials out there than reviews.  There is a difference between the two, though.

In a nutshell, a testimonial praises a product.  It is ALWAYS good, and it is only a paragraph or so long.  A review, on the other hand, goes more in depth and picks the bone of the product, pointing out the good and the bad.  Reviews are also much longer than testimonials because of the detail in them.

Because of the testimonial/review ratio out there that favors testimonials, you’re suckered into buying a product, thinking that if these guys say it is good then it has to be good.  But then you realize that the product has less than you bargained for.  You go and ask the product owner questions to the point where he/she loses patience with you, then you realize you’ve wasted your money.  IMO, I don’t buy products based on testimonials anymore unless there is sufficient information on it that draws me in.  Because admittedly, I’ve blew loads of cash on products that the masses say were good but in my eyes they were crap.  If there is a very detailed review of a product, going into the pros and cons, I’d be convinced if the review favors the pros.

Testimonials help product owners sell products without a doubt.  But when the honest and nitpicky son of a bitch comes in and reviews it, there is a possibility that sales go DOWN.  Let me tell you a TRUE story: I bought a site flipping WSO once based on testimonials (call me a sucker if you want).  But I went and reviewed the thing.  One of the guy’s modules in the WSO got a mediocre 3.75 from me because I was honest about it.  And as a result, he went in and updated the module immediately (something other product owners just don’t do) and literally BEGGED me to update my review.  You know why he begged me?  Because his sales were probably decreasing.  Okay, so I updated it.  But I know not to do that again, especially if the WSO is about making money (put your own techniques into action and compromise the lost sales of the product).  Guy ended up flipping the WSO for a cool three grand I think.

So listen: Before you buy your next online product (especially a WSO), wait for reviews, not testimonials.  If there is an EXTREMELY high number of testimonials, just listen to your gut before you plunk down the cash.  Don’t buy on impulse and definitely don’t get suckered into the sales page claims (I have a lot more of that to come in future rants).  And whatever you do – if anyone offers you a review copy but tells you to leave a good review, either don’t take the review copy or take it and leave a TRUE review and not a testimonial.  All that review copy crap on Digital Point shouldn’t be called review copies.  More like testimonial copies.  And even those testimonials at DP suck a old woman’s wrinkled ass.

This is my testimonial: If it doesn’t work for me, it won’t work for you.  Chase the pipe dream.  Live the pipe nightmare.