| LED Digest 2333: The Power of Testimonials |
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================================================== The LED Digest Moderated Discussion List "Effective Online Advertising, Since 1997" Data > Information > Knowledge > Wisdom pair Networks: The LED's Web Host Hosting and Domain Registration from a Trusted Leader pair.com for Hosting | pairNIC.com for Domains ================================================== List Moderator: Published by: Adam Audette LED Digest adam, led-digest.com http://www.led-digest.com .............................................. January 25, 2007 Issue no. 2333 .............................................. .....IN THIS DIGEST..... ====== NEW ====================== --== Long Email Sig Files ==-- ~ Nancy Cardinali "When is it too much? Any 'rules' out there...?" ==== CONTINUING ================= --== Presenting a Trustworthy Image ==-- ~ Thom Reece "...testimonials placed liberally throughout your sales pages will significantly increase sales..." ~ Karl L. Baldwin "I too joined the BBB Online for credibility, but I have had very unpleasant experiences." ~ Marty R. Milette "I'm not a big fan of the BBB either on-line or off." --== Browser Compatibility Help ==-- ~ Malcolm Fitzgerald "Get your Javascript to work, for example..." --== PayPal Changing Things w/o Notice ==-- ~ John Cooper "Look into using Western Union services..." ~ Rob Hegemann "Any experiences [with Google Checkout]...? ~ Phil Chave "I've been using Paypal for over 5 years and never had one hitch with them." --== Competitors Bidding on Trademarks ==-- ~ James Miller "...you could try HSBC in California..." --== The Revisit-After Meta Tag ==-- ~ Michael Martinez "Change your tag back to what it was when you lost your rankings." =========== NEW ================================== From: Nancy Cardinali Subject: Signature files - when is too much too much? Hi all! This is a little off the beaten track but is something that appears to be escalating along with unwanted email; the long 'sig file'. I think the sig file idea is dandy, even though I never use one... I never know which identity I am. However, a friend went from this, which I thought was excessive (her emails take up less space!): --------------------------- Dr. lmqp Xvye Chiropractor & Nutritionist www.domain.com MWF 510-xxx-6657 xxxx Solano Avenue MyTown, CA 12345 TTh 415-xxx-1300 xxxx D Street, Suite L YourTown, CA 12345 --------------------------- ... to this (way out of control, IMO) on the advise of a seminar she attended: --------------------------- Yours in health, Dr. lmqp Xvye Do you want to have less pain, more energy and better health? If so, let's talk! I see you as a whole person, not as a collection of symptoms. When you work with me you'll not only have less pain, more energy and greater health, you'll develop tools to heal and rejuvenate your body. I've been helping people feel their best for a quarter of a century as a Chiropractor, Certified Clinical Nutritionist, Trauma-Healing Specialist, and Meditation Instructor. My book, Crunching Bones, has been in continuous print for 20+ years. For more information go to www.domain.com MWF 510-xxx-6657, xxxx Solano Avenue, MyTown, CA 12345 TTh 415-xxx-1300, xxxx Fourth Street, Suite 26, YourTown, CA 12345 --------------------------- (I changed the real names to protect...) When is it too much? Any 'rules' out there I could send along to convince(?) her to limit this? Or am I totally wrong? Is this behavior acceptable? Does anyone care? Nancy Cardinali www.cardinalidesigns.com nancy, cardinalidesigns.com The best web designer this side of the Rockies! With a phenomenal personality that spans decades and goes with her regardless of other people's desires. She's great in a pinch and has a mother in a wheelchair. But don't let that stop you from calling her about maybe finding time to get some work done for you! On off times she takes care of the elderly and has been for about 6-7 years. This proves she is a wonderful and reliable person, willing to step up to bat at the blink of an eye, or drop of a turd. She hasn't written any books, but has proofread enough copy to turn your hair white. She is well qualified to write drivel for your pathetic web site, since you can't seem to come up with anything. Who cares?! She's on the clock! For more of the same, visit www.CardinaliDesigns.com or call 800-646-1605 to listen to a recording. Peace. (WHAT?! you were expecting Shakespeare??) Oh, and that 800# works for another of my businesses and there is no recording, so please don't call it! ;-} ======== CONTINUING =============================== From: Thom Reece Subject: Trust > I have a question about presenting a trustworthy image > online... Do you think the BBB Online seal is important? - Tom Anson, LED Digest 2331 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1720/55/ Aloha... While some of the "trust" organizations have some limited value I frankly think they are over rated and over priced. In the case of the BBB specifically you should understand that it is simply a franchise formed to run interference for business. The one marketing tool which does more to build trust... and one available to every marketer at almost zero cost... is testimonials. There are a number of case studies which illustrate that testimonials placed liberally throughout your sales pages will significantly increase sales... and decrease shopping cart abandonment. I believe it was John Audette who first broached this subject on I-Sales many years ago. The one page that should ALWAYS contain powerful testimonials is the order page. Buyers remorse begins to appear on the order page... even before placing the order. Powerful testimonials at this juncture will reinforce your selling message and provide the two most important benefits of using testimonials in the first place... believability and credibility. One of my most popular articles over the years has been an article I wrote on the subject of using testimonials. You may find it useful... http://www.marketingarticlelibrary.com/Article...Testimonials Thom Reece www.e-comprofits.com -------- new post - same topic -------- From: Karl Baldwin Subject: Trust I too joined the BBB Online for credibility, but I have had very unpleasant experiences. First of all it was around $500 per year for the privilege, while I was a member. Secondly, I don't sell anything; the clients who list their property on my website rent their cabins out for weekend vacationers. I just provide the "classifieds" if you will. Three of my clients had disgruntled visitors who reported the owner to the local Chamber of Commerce and me to the BBB Online because I had listed the owner's property. It was intuitively obvious that I had no liability for their dissatisfaction, regardless; I still had to fill out a lot of rebuttal forms for the BBB to get the complaints against me removed. The lesson / question here is, why pay a huge amount of money to join an organization that's only function is to encourage complaints against your business!! I have always been very conscious of gaining credibility for my websites; an 800 number, a merchant account to accept credit cards online, getting a Verisign SSL certification seal, joining the Internet Content Rating Association to get their seal, Scan Alert HackerSafe testing seal, posting glowing publication statements from major magazines and newspapers and last but not least, Platinum and Diamond Web Award seals. Don't laugh, I know how bogus they are but several clients have mentioned them as a reason for using my service, so some think these award seals give me credibility. Best Regards, Karl L. Baldwin MountainLodging http://www.mountain-lodging.com Vacation Cabin Rental Listing Service -------- new post - same topic -------- From: Marty R. Milette Subject: Trust I'm not a big fan of the BBB either on-line or off. I view it as a lose-lose proposition. You pay them to accept complaints and maintaining only negative information about you -- reporting it to whoever asks. They don't retain or report any positive information. A better (and free!) solution is to put up some customer testimonials. I personally believe that well-written, positive testimonials are far more positive and powerful than any BBB report. Marty R. Milette hotel-club.net -------- new post - new topic -------- From: Malcolm Fitzgerald Subject: Browsers > There is great difficulty in getting our Web site to > work in all browsers, resolution settings, and types > of monitors [dentalquarters.com] - Kim Yeager, LED Digest 2331 If the site was valid HTML 4, as the W3C standards logo suggest then you probably wouldn't have these problems. However, when I clicked on the W3C HTML logo it showed that your HTML didn't validate. Do you think the badges make your site look better? 1. Get your HTML code to validate 2. Introduce JavaScript elements 3. Get your Javascript to work, for example, in Safari the left hand navigation buttons all disappeared one by one until there were none left. Whoops! If your site is plain old HTML then you don't have to worry too much about browsers because they are getting better. When you introduce Javascript you increase your workload considerably, you do have to worry about browsers / platforms / versions and so on. Malcolm Fitzgerald notyourhomework.net -------- new post - new topic -------- From: John Cooper Subject: Paypal alternatives > A call to PayPal about this has so far not resulted > in the promised email with instructions on fixing this... > Does anyone have suggestions on an alternative to PayPal? - Susie Redfern, LED Digest 2331 Hi Susie, Look into using Western Union services. (Personally, I do not use PayPal after reading this http://www.paypalsucks.com/) Good luck, John Cooper Real Armor Of God.com http://www.realarmorofgod.com -------- new post - same topic -------- From: Rob Hegemann Subject: Paypal alternatives I have been contemplating setting up Google Checkout, but I am hoping to get some feedback from LEDers before jumping in. Any experiences? Apparently there are no transaction fees through the end of 2007. Wouldn't this type of checkout be in the same category as Paypal & 2checkout.com? Rob Hegemann -------- new post - same topic -------- From: Phil Chave Subject: Paypal alternatives Hi Susie I've been using Paypal for over 5 years and never had one hitch with them. I know that's probably the exception rather than the rule, but rather than throw out the baby with the bathwater, why not log into your account and use the online system to make proper buttons? If you do it the same way as the other millions of account holders, then Paypal have an interest in maintaining the coding over a longer period than a year or two. Don't they? Regards Phil Chave www.distanthealer.co.uk -------- new post - new topic -------- From: James Miller Subject: PPC trademarks > James, we had a lot of problems when we shipped > to the U.K. in years past, so we stopped. Mainly, the > credit card companies told us we were on our own > accepting foreign credit cards. - Sandy Keller, LED Digest 2332 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1721/55/ It's funny that you got problems with US credit card companies about shipping to the UK. I've shipped a lot of stuff to the US and never had a problem, although you have to be careful about which carrier you use. Have you had any problems with customers in Europe over fraud and being difficult? And of course would you like to get a European business going? I suspect the solution to your problem, is to take a holiday to Europe, enjoy yourself, see what is available in the shops and then go into an English bank and see whether they can help you with your problem. Or you could try HSBC in California, as I think they have branches there. Obviously, you have a lot of banking history in the US and if it's worth it, then they should be prepared to back you. James Miller Daisy Analysis: www.daisy.co.uk -------- new post - new topic -------- From: Michael Martinez Subject: Meta revisit > Which takes us back to the revisit tag. Daily appears to > upset google, weekly (in this case) seems not to. Why? - John Smart, LED Digest 2331 Search engine rankings are driven by four general factors: 1) What you do with your sites 2) What other people do with their sites 3) What the search engines do with their data and algorithms 4) What people search for You only have direct control over one of those four factors. If you want to prove that the meta revisit-after tag somehow affects your performance, there is no 100% certain way to do so but at the very least you have to: 1) Change your tag back to what it was when you lost your rankings 2) Wait for your rankings to drop 3) Change the tag back 4) Wait for your rankings to return If you can affect your rankings at will simply by changing the value of the revisit-after tag, then you've made your case. That is, replicating the effect deliberately shows that the tag has an impact. I can tell you, however, that removing the tag from thousands of pages has not affected their rankings for me. Through the years that I have proposed this simple test (for many supposed causes of ranking losses), I have rarely seen anyone come back and say, "Yeah, it worked." And plenty of people have said they would try to replicate an effect using this test. It cuts through opinion in a heartbeat. Michael Martinez http://seo-theory.blogspot.com/ ------------------------------------------------------- The LED Digest is sponsored by pair Networks: pair.com for Hosting | pairNIC.com for Domains The Archives: http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/126/120/ Subscribe: http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/52/77/ Unsubscribe, Change Email, or Hold / Resume Delivery: http://www.led-digest.com/content/category/4/17/86/ (c) Copyright 1995-2007 Orange Wheel, LLC. 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