Anne's Comments

Hi guys,

Sorry, I never got notified of comments so didn't realize they were here!

Calsolareng, I hear you. You can't really say much about it directly or you get bad brownie points as a curmudgeon. What you can do, though, is boost your own credibility.

Some ways to do this:

- Accreditation through your state certifying body and, ideally, NABCEP.
- Joining respected organizations such as the BBB and Chamber of Commerce.
- Publish articles in your local media and/or trade journals, and/or write a book (authorship offers instant credibility.)
- Get as much media publicity as you can - publicity = credibility
- Testimonials, testimonials, testimonials. This is probably the most important thing you can do. Get every customer to write a few words about the job you did for them - preferably right away when they're thrilled with their new system, and again when they can tell you how well it's performing. Or better yet, catch them on video and post it on You Tunbe and on your website. You can also put video testimonials on a CD and hand it to your prospective customers. Your satisfied clients' testimonials will be more convincing than anything you can say about yourself.

Jeff, you're so right. As I mentioned in the article, the public doesn't really have much of a clue yet about solar thermal. But I think that's starting to change. More people are catching on that it really is a better deal for the average homeowner most of the time.

Jonathan, right on!

Douglas, thank you. You are so right. But I'd be curious to hear how people react to that approach. My guess is that some of them see your point, while others resist. It could be one of those "excuse" objections to hide the fact that they don't really want to do it in the first place, or don't really understand the value... What do you think?

Hi Fred,

Your post is spot-on. So many good points it's hard to single one out - except perhaps the part about testimonials. They'll do more than anything to pump up the effectiveness of your site. Get your customers on video, too, if you can - it'll really capture their excitement. You can buy a little flip video camera for a hundred bucks or so and it will pay itself back many times over as a promotional tool (you can also use it to post clips of yourself at work, etc.)

Also, listen carefully to the words your customers use when they talk about their solar system and what it does for them. Use the very same phrases when writing your site to speak directly to the values and desires of your prospects.

Anne Michelsen
www.greeninkcopywriting.com