Products have them. Home TV shopping is filled with them. Online sales pages swear by them. Freelancers need them too.

I’m talking about testimonials or feedback from your happy clients.

If you’re not systematically collecting testimonials from your clients, then you should. Testimonials give prospects a quick reference and social proof of your worth as a freelancer.

You can use testimonials in various places:

- Your professional website: Place the best testimonials on the sidebar so they’re visible on every page. In addition, create a dedicated “Testimonials” or “Feedback” page. Here’s mine.

- In your online profiles, such as on Elance, LinkedIn, etc.

- On job bids or proposals. A good place to put one or two testimonials is at the bottom of your proposal.

- Brochures and other printed marketing materials for your freelancing business. You can even include a one-line excerpt in your business card and letterhead (Note: I don’t use business cards or letterheads, so I’m not sure if this would be considered tacky. But it’s an idea worth considering)

To give your testimonials more credibility, make sure to include as much detail as your clients will allow you, such as full names, location, URL and/or Email address, and photograph. Of course, make sure you have your client’s permission to use these details before you publish them.

Also, the more detailed the testimonial itself, the better. Some people provide their clients an outline or guide questions to make sure they get specific and useful testimonials. I don’t do this myself. I prefer to let my clients’ personalities shine through. And besides, I want their feedback to be as genuine as possible.

You can read more tips for getting and leveraging glowing client testimonials here.

How do YOU collect and use client testimonials? Do share by posting a comment below. Thank you!

PS: If you’ve been bidding on Elance but don’t have any feedback yet, six-figure Elancer Trish Lambert has awesome advice about how you can get feedback – even if you haven’t won any bids yet! Click here to learn more.

Image by LDRBRS via Flickr