How many times have you sat down at the computer to write a sales letter or an article and just piddled around in front of a blank word document trying come up with something to write, or waiting to get into the mood?

To break the writer's block did you type out an outline? And then didn't it become quite a bit easier to fill in the article or finish out the letter?

Imagine what it's like for your customer to sit down and try to come up with something to say for a testimonial. Without the structure provided by an outline or list of questions, they're far more likely to just put it off. This is why most marketers don't get the number of quality testimonials they need for their ad copy.

Recently a famous internet marketer revealed the secret behind how he got a massive response to the relaunch of his product. This marketer made his fame when in a single day in August 2004, he generated one million dollars on the sales of his product.

He had his programmer write a software script that collected answers in a form which prior customers filled in and submitted. He got back enough testimonials to make his sales-letter, if printed out, 35 pages long! His letter was composed almost entirely of testimonials. He attributes this whopping success in a recent newsletter to the use of the script.

By asking your customer specific questions it gives them a clear and directed way to answer your request for a testimonial. People respond well and positively when they're provided with clear direction.

Make it easy and interesting for customers to respond and you'll get many more testimonials that add real power to your marketing materials.