How about a phone call? It's worth a chance, but then again person you're trying to reach may have a secretary, and what are your chances of getting past them with a testimonial request?

Or of course you could always send them a good ole fashioned "snail mail" letter, preferably including a complimentary copy of your product.

Will this work? Well, it will definitely help get their attention. You may want to contact them via email initially asking them for their postal address so you can send them a review copy of product.

By doing that initially you're sure to get right address, and it helps put a mental note in person's mind that they're going to receive a package from you soon.

Or here's an almost fool proof way: why not buy time from them? Especially if they offer consulting already. It doesn't guarantee they'll offer a testimonial, but if your product's great, chances are they will.

So let's say you've got product in their hands, and they like it. Here's last step:

Make it as easy as possible for them. The people you contact are very busy, since that's how they got to where they are.

So what you need to do is write testimonial for them. And once you've done that, send it over saying "I've included a potential testimonial outline for you. If you would be happy to offer a testimonial for product, please feel free to change this draft testimonial as you would like to."

Now I can't guarantee you'll get testimonials every time you try, especially if you're not well known in market or don't have a relationship with person already. But if you don't try, you'll never know. And just one or two celebrity testimonials can make a real positive impact on your sales for long term.

Use lists and directories as a guide – a starting place.

If you've read articles on my site, or read my book, you’ll have already figured out – smart you! – that mass-sending releases or articles without a follow-up, or an actual personal exchange via phone or e-mail, will not get you far. Even most frequently updated lists can't stay on top of rapidly changing media world.