Referrals, references, introductions and recommendations

We have all been told that "word of mouth" advertising is a powerful thing. If you are lucky enough and you have a good product or service, you may have experienced how powerful it is. Some of the most important experiences in our lives might be due to word of mouth.

Consider:
How did you first hear of Google? I'll bet it was word of mouth.
How did you meet your wife/husband/girlfriend/boyfriend? Was it by introduction from a friend?

We trust other people's experiences, even if we don't now if their tastes are even remotely the same as our own. It makes sense. When we take a referral, reference or recommendation, we take it as a bit of information where we had none before.

My business at M5Hosting benefits greatly from referrals, references, and recommendations. We have a page of customer testimonials, and many of our customers have told others positive things about us in public forums. These have translated in to real sales to new customers who might not have bought from us if it had not been for those public comments. All of us wield great power with our referrals, references and recommendations. This is my place to wield that power... among other things.

So, from time to time I will share with you my opinions, including referrals, references and recommendations of products or services. You're welcome to disagree with me, and I hope that if you do you will leave a comment. If you agree with me, you can make the referral, reference recommendation that much stronger by lending your comment to the post.

Oh yeah... First Post ! Woo Hoo !