The dark side of testimonials nobody talks about
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Save the date! The Enhanced Games is coming to Las Vegas in May 2026. Itâs a freak show event where swimmers, track athletes, and weightlifters, doped up to the eyeballs, attempt to smash world records. The prize money is up to $500,000 per event, plus bonuses and life-long infamy. One big name is Greek swimmer Kristian Gkolomeev. In May 2025, Enhanced Games announced Kristian had unofficially broke the 50m freestyle world record at a private event in April 2025. The catch? Kristian was wearing one of those full-body, open-water suits long banned from the Olympics. Fun times. Head over to the Enhanced Games website, and youâll see they proudly display âAs Featured Inâ logos from big media like Forbes, The Guardian, Insider, Reuters, and CBS. But a quick search for the Enhanced Games on Google News reveals headlines from the Guardian like: âScientists warn Enhanced Games athletes of heart attack risks and having libidos âkilled offââ Or this one from Reuters: âWADA condemns âdangerous and irresponsibleâ Enhanced Gamesâ So let me get this straight? A mainstream media brand is running a story about impotent athletes, and youâre using this as social proof? That takes serious Cajones! If youâre buying anything online, be cautious of excessive social proof. Is it authentic? Genuine social proof features customers and clients speaking in their own words about a product or service. âI had a great sex life until I took part in the Enhanced GamesâŚâ A logo or brand identifier isnât enough. I digress. If youâre in the business of selling online, collecting social proof is part of the job. I also collect social proof by asking clients and customers to write a few sentences about what they liked about my courses and coaching. Iâve gathered all these testimonials in a simple Airtable datatable base. Now, Iâm building a tool to help me display these testimonials on my sales pages. Cue more conversions. In this video, I walk through some strategies you can use to collect social proof for your business. Iâve published a few books on Amazon over the years. I have a few gripes with how Amazon has become a pay-for-play platform for authors⌠but their review system is mostly fair. One of my more popular books has hundreds of five-star reviews and a few one- and two-star reviews. I lost sleep over them a few years ago, but now I think bad reviews lend credibility to the good ones. If you pick up one of my books, write to me and let me know. Whether you love it or hate it, Iâm all ears. |