a single source, nothing corroborates it

Put names your market trusts at the top

Endorsements from people the audience already recognises belong above the fold and inside the launch-day post, ahead of your own account of the product. Listing the recognisable people you interviewed also pushes buyers toward the larger packages. Filling an empty testimonial slot with a famous quote that is not actually an endorsement backfires, because readers scan the name and read it as one.

The method

1. 01

   Put quotes from people your buyers already recognise at the top of the sales page

2. 02

   Build the launch-day announcement around testimonials from people your market already trusts rather than around your own description of the product

3. 03

   List the names of the people you interviewed for the bundle on the sales page: recognition pushes buyers to the higher packages

4. 04

   Do not paper over a missing testimonial with a famous quote that is not an endorsement: readers scan the name, not the sentence, and will read it as one

What it returned

• Endorsements from Loren Brichter, creator of the pull-to-refresh pattern, and an iOS developer at Storehouse

• Launch post led with quotes from Caleb Wojcik of Fizzle, Hiten Shah of KISSmetrics and Adii Pienaar of WooThemes

• Interviews with Jason Fried, Ryan Singer and Sahil Lavingia credited with pushing purchases upward

• He filled the placeholder with a philosophy quote from Apple's UX evangelist; readers took it for an endorsement and he was unsure whether to remove it

Sources

• $39k in eBook Sales Part 2: Design, Testimonials, and TrafficNathan Barry · nathanbarry.com · Getting Testimonials · 2012-10-08
• $36,297 in 24 hours: behind the scenes of The App Design Handbook launchNathan Barry · nathanbarry.com · A little about the book · 2013-11-11
• Authority is liveNathan Barry · nathanbarry.com · 2013-05-21
• $26,679 in 24 hours: Stats from my latest book launchNathan Barry · nathanbarry.com · Demonstrating a lot of value · 2012-12-21