Paid testimonials are the latest in sales and marketing. In other words, bold-faced lies to gain clients through deception. This is what we’ve come to as a society. I got this email today (see the image below) from a con named Monika offering to write me 20 positive reviews on Google for $80, 20 positive Facebook reviews for $80, 20 Health Grade reviews for $80, 20 positive Houzz reviews for $80, two thousands Facebook likes for $80, ten thousand Instagram follows for $80, and ten thousand website traffic visitors for $80. Then she wrote, “We post all reviews by local profile.”
Of course, such paid testimonials are bold-faced lies, deplorable gimmicks, and have the purpose of fooling you, the consumer, into believing that a particular real estate agent is popular and well thought of. Such methods are not exactly new. For years agents have been getting all their friends and family members to write great reviews about them, not because they actually are good or competent or professional, but because that’s what friends do, right? Wrong!
Paid Testimonials is Cheating
All of this simply emphasizes one of my lifetime pet peeves, and that is–you’ve got to know how to do your own due diligence when you hire someone for an important job in which they will help you spend hundreds of thousands of dollars of your hard earned money to buy land or a home. As I’ve written elsewhere, check me out online, interview me on the phone or in person, ask me any question, personal or professional, and I will tell you the truth.
I have a number of excellent testimonials, but every single one is real, and there are no paid testimonials in my life.
Last Updated on June 6, 2024 by Chuck Marunde
