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Hey rebel solopreneurs 🦸♀️🦸♂️
A solopreneur spends three months helping a client get results.
The client sends a long, glowing message.
The solopreneur reads it, feels good for about 30 seconds, and then saves it in a folder they'll never open again.
That message was gold.
And it just collected dust.
⛳️ Here's the scenario
Meet David.
Six years as an HR consultant.
Finally out on his own.
He packaged everything he knew into a coaching offer — 8 weeks of 1-on-1 sessions helping people land internal promotions without waiting for someone above them to retire first.
He knew the material cold.
He'd done it himself.
His clients had done it.
And some of them wrote him the most incredible messages after.
One client sent three full paragraphs about how she went from being passed over twice to getting promoted within four months.
She named the exact moment things clicked.
She described how her manager's whole tone toward her changed.
David read it.
Felt a surge of pride.
Then copied it onto his website testimonial page.
That was it.
No email. No post. No story built around it.
Just a block of text on a page nobody visited.
One Saturday morning he was at a golf driving range, working through a bucket of balls, when the man in the bay next to him glanced over.
Older. Quiet energy. Relaxed swing.
"You look like you're working something out up here," he said, tapping his temple.
David laughed and explained.
Turns out the man had spent 25 years writing the emails that sold millions for health brands and financial newsletters.
He'd built two businesses by turning customer feedback into email campaigns.
(David nearly shanked his next shot.)
The man asked to hear the testimonial.
David read it out loud.
The man nodded.
Then told David what he saw in the first 10 seconds.
❌ What David had: "I was passed over twice. But after working with David on my promotion plan, I got promoted four months later. His approach is different from anything I've tried. I'd recommend him to anyone."
✅ What it became: "For two years, Sarah watched less-experienced colleagues get promoted ahead of her. She was doing great work. Nobody seemed to notice. Eight weeks with David changed one specific thing about how she showed up — and four months later, her manager called her into a room and told her she was getting the promotion. Here's what he helped her see."
Same story. Completely different pull.
David stared at it.
"How did you do that in 30 seconds?"
The man set down his club.
"A testimonial is a story. Most people skip straight to the ending. The ending only hits if the reader felt the beginning."
He explained two things — slowly, like he was talking to someone who had never thought about this before.
💡 First — your AI sidekick can pull the gold out of any testimonial.
A customer's words are full of hidden marketing material.
The specific fear they had before buying.
The exact moment things shifted.
The result they didn't expect.
Most people skim for a quote.
The right prompt surfaces everything — so you know exactly which change to build the email around before you write a single word.
💡 Second — a customer story email follows one structure every time.
Name the obstacle.
Prove anyone can get past it.
Show that a real person already did — using your product.
Then invite the reader to be next.
Every great customer email is that pattern, dressed up in the right details.
The man pulled a scorecard from his pocket and wrote two prompts on the back.
"Run them in order. You'll have a finished email in 15 minutes."
David opened his AI sidekick right there at the range.
Here's what each prompt does:
▶️ Prompt 1 — Mine the testimonial: Sends your AI sidekick into the testimonial to find every win, obstacle, and before-to-after change — so you know exactly what to build the email around.
▶️ Prompt 2 — Write the email: Takes the strongest change from the analysis and builds a complete, ready-to-send customer story email — all five sections and a call to action included.
🔍 Step 1: Mine the testimonial
⏱️ 5 minutes
A testimonial is full of marketing material — but it's buried.
Your customer names the exact fear they had, the moment things shifted, and the result they got.
Most people only see the nice words on the surface.
This prompt digs it all out — so you're not guessing what to focus on when you write.
I am going to give you a customer testimonial for my {product or service —
e.g. 8-week coaching to help people land internal promotions}.
Do the following:
1. List the specific wins this testimonial highlights.
Bullet list. 10 words or less per bullet.
2. List the fears, obstacles, or frustrations the customer had before buying.
Bullet list. 10 words or less per bullet.
3. Name the 3 most powerful before-and-after changes in this testimonial.
Format each as: From [old situation with a specific problem] to [new situation
with a specific result].
Use 12 words or less. Use the customer's exact language where possible.
Here is the testimonial:
[Paste the full testimonial here]
The more your customer wrote, the richer this gets.
A three-sentence testimonial gives you a little.
A three-paragraph testimonial gives you everything.
Here's what changed:
❌ Before: "Great coach. Helped me get promoted. Would recommend."
✅ After: "Wins: • Promoted after being passed over twice • Gained visibility with senior leadership • Stopped waiting and started taking charge of her own path
Obstacles before buying: • Felt invisible despite strong results • Didn't know how to change how leadership saw her • Believed timing was the only thing holding her back
Top 3 changes: • From invisible high-performer to recognised internal candidate • From waiting for her turn to creating her own opportunity • From generic effort to specific, targeted moves in the right rooms"
David had read that testimonial four times.
He'd never broken it down like this.
Now he had a full map of what the email should say.
He picked the strongest change — from invisible to recognised — and moved straight to Step 2.
📧 Step 2: Write the email
⏱️ 10 minutes
This prompt takes the analysis from Step 1 and builds a complete, ready-to-send customer story email.
The email follows a structure that moves a reader from "interesting" to "I want that."
It names the fear, proves anyone can escape it, tells the customer's story, and ends with one clear next step.
Write an 800-word customer success story email using the information below.
Customer name: {e.g. Sarah}
My product/service: {e.g. 8-week coaching to help people land internal promotions}
Core change: {e.g. From invisible high-performer to recognised internal candidate}
Email structure:
Section 1 — The fear:
Open with the exact situation the reader is probably in right now.
Make it specific — a moment, a scene, not a vague feeling.
Then name the quiet doubt they carry about whether things can change.
Section 2 — Anyone can escape this, if:
Say clearly: anyone can get out of this — if they understand one specific thing.
Back it up with a brief example of someone who did.
Section 3 — Here's why it worked:
Name 2-3 specific things that made the difference for the customer.
Include one question that makes the reader check themselves.
Section 4 — Here's what's holding most people back:
Name the real reason most people stay stuck.
Be specific — not "mindset" but the actual habit or belief.
Section 5 — Here's how I help you solve it:
Introduce your offer as the solution.
Name one thing it does that nothing else does.
Include one result or number that shows it works.
CTA:
One clear next step. Low pressure. Specific.
Tone: Direct and warm. Write like a human talking to a human. No hype. No hollow promises.
Here's what changed:
❌ Before: "I help people get promoted faster. Sarah is one of my clients and here's what she said: 'I was passed over twice but got promoted four months after working with David.' Book a free call if you're interested."
✅ After: "You've been doing the work.
Strong reviews. Good relationships. And yet somehow, when the promotion conversation happens, your name doesn't come up first.
That's not a talent problem. That's a visibility problem — and it's fixable.
Sarah had the same track record as the people getting promoted ahead of her.
The difference wasn't skill.
[David's AI sidekick filled in the remaining sections...]
David sent that email to his list of 400 people that same afternoon.
Four people replied asking about the coaching.
Two signed up that week.
He'd been sitting on that testimonial for six months.
🏆 David's results
Before:
A great testimonial saved in a folder, doing nothing
A website testimonial page nobody visited
Zero emails written about the coaching in three months
After:
A full customer story email — five sections, call to action, ready to send — in 15 minutes
Four replies and two new clients from a 400-person list
A system he can repeat every time a new client sends a win
Total time: 15 minutes. Not three months of leaving gold on the table.
His AI sidekick found every win and fear buried in the customer's words.
David made the one creative call — which change was the strongest, which fear to lead with.
BAM.
Every great testimonial is a sales email waiting to happen.
Most people save it and never look again.
Two prompts change that.
That's it, my fellow outliers!
Yours 'helping you build freedom, not just a business' Vijay Peduru 🦸♂️