Nothing is more powerful and as inexpensive as a good testimonial from one your satisfied customers. Word-of-mouth referrals are also a valued small business marketing technique. Here's a simple way to generate a testimonial and use it in your small home based business word-of-mouth marketing campaign.

At the conclusion of every client project include a mandatory rating form focused on performance areas your target customers use to make their buying decisions. Use those word-of-mouth testimonial stats in your small business marketing materials and promotional methods.

This simple idea provides you with the ability to tell other current clients and prospective customers how well you performed with people just like them. It may be second-hand word-of-mouth marketing but it can still be a powerful small home based business marketing tool.

Don't just ask your clients to rate categories of performance but ask them for comments. If it's appropriate use your phone and take some pictures. Visual word-of-mouth is an equally powerful small business marketing tool. It's possible they'll take the pictures for you and email them along with some comments.

This is also a great time to ask for some referrals. When a client is in a positive mood and feeling valued pop the "who do you know" question. They've just told how much they like the product or service you've provide to them. It's a perfect time to turn a series of "yeses" into a specific request for a specific number of referrals.

What if you don't get rave reviews? Correct the situation to the customers satisfaction and leverage the positive nature of your ability to correct a situation into a high rating and a new word-of-mouth testimonial.