Even Testimonials Can Be Newsworthy

The right testimonial, even from someone with no fame, can spark a big publicity push for your business.

(Shel Horowitz's Frugal Marketing Tip, March, 1999)

Can you imagine sending out a press release because you got a testimonial from an unknown business owner?

Doesn't sound too likely, I hear you say. Yet I just sent one out, after receiving a truly extraordinary testimonial from a German computer products manufacturer. He told me that he had used my book, Marketing Without Megabucks: How to Sell Anything on a Shoestring, to make a million dollars without spending a penny on advertising. (It sure hasn't done that for me!)

When I scraped myself off the floor, I immediately started crafting a press release. If figured that several factors would give this story some "legs" 1) The contact was from half a world away 2) It was unsolicited (though it came originally in the form of a phone call, and I asked him to write it down) 3) The huge return on a tiny investment 4) That he did it without buying a single ad

I decided it was worth a try. Even if it doesn't result in any immediate press for me, if it creates awareness in even one editor's mind, and that leads to publicity in a major business publication, the campaign will be well-worth it.

I actually put together three versions of the release. One focused on the testimonial and how to get the book, another on my amazement at how well he did. The third was a localized version of the first release, highlighting the local angle for media in my geographic area.

Thank you reading this back issue of Shel Horowitz's Monthly Frugal Marketing Tips, published every month since May, 1997; please click here to view the complete archives, grouped by subject. Shel is an internationally known copywriter and marketing consultant, author of Grassroots Marketing Getting Noticed in a Noisy World, Principled Profit: Marketing That Puts People First and several other books, and creator of the Frugal Marketing web site. Please click here to contact Shel.


To visit the most important pages on our site (and our sister sites, frugalfun.com and accuratewriting.com), make a selection from the drop-down menu below.