I’m changing my domain name for this blog. You can find new posts here: http://www.copywritingdean.com
I decided Stephensblog.com wasn’t the best domain for my business. My name (Stephen) is kind of hard to spell. Many people spell it wrong. And it’s spelled differently than it sounds.
My brother has a great lesson for you on sales letters that DONT work.
He just got a new golden retriever puppy. Talk about cute.
Growing up our golden retriever once had 13 puppies that we got to watch grow up. Watching them walk out of the dog house one by one, single file and line up in front of the fence was an AMAZING experience.
Speaking of amazing experiences, have you ever had to potty train a puppy? Oh boy, that’s what my brother is dealing with now.
The last time I was visiting he told me he searched Google for how to potty train a dog. And he was having trouble finding an answer.
He did find one page and this is how he described it…
“I was reading it and it kept talking about all this stuff I didn’t care about. Then they were trying to sell me a bunch of different products and all I wanted was some tips to potty train my dog.”
I knew right away that he had found a sales letter. And one that did NOT work.
I decided to trace his steps so I could learn from the process.
* He searched Google for “how to potty train my dog.”
* He clicked on a sponsored link that is ABOVE the search listings, without knowing it was an ad.
* He read or skimmed most of the copy… even though that meant clicking through 3 different pages… and even though he didn’t understand why they were telling him all this unnecessary information. (It lacked a clear logical argument that mattered to him.)
* He saw a ton of bonuses (which were unnecessary) and thought they were trying to sell several products, when all he wanted were some tips to potty train his dog.
* The order link was finally on the third page, but with no call to action.
* He didn’t buy.
I have no clue why the site owner made the prospect click through 3 pages. Sometimes I’ve seen this done strategically with good results, but this was done very poorly and hid the solution my brother was looking for.
Lesson #1: Keep your sales copy on one page unless you have a good reason.
Lesson #2: Make sure to craft a strong logical argument in the copy that FLOWS from the conversation going on inside the prospects head… and not a logical argument that flows from the copy formula you saw someone else use once for a product in a completely different niche.
Lesson #3: You don’t need to have 10,000 bonuses ever. And you don’t need to have a half-dozen bonuses when your prospect is trying to solve one specific problem. You’re just confusing the prospect.
Lesson #4: Your copy can’t just give a couple compelling arguments for why they should buy, then drop them off at an order link. Finish the job. Build up the value of the product. Explain why they’re getting a good deal IF they act now. Then tell them how to act (usually clicking an order button).
This is my first article of the Robert Plank Challenge. Not all articles will be on copywriting or copywriters, but this one is. Take a look…
Title: Message To New Copywriters
By: Stephen Dean
If you’re a new copywriter, this is my message to you.
Hi. I used to be where you were at. I started writing copy for others 5 years ago. At the time, I had just enough copywriting know-how to pass myself off as a copywriter.
Because my copy skills were very young, I barely charged anything. Only $97 for my first few sales letters. Then $197. Then $297.
(That pattern is important, but I’ll get back to that.)
At that rate, my clients were essentially hiring me for manual labor. This was good because I knew I wasn’t ripping anyone off. I didn’t want to claim to be the best copywriter in the world and charge thousands…
…when I was still learning the trade.
At the time, I was pretty much the only copywriter working for so cheap.
HOW TIMES HAVE CHANGED.
Now everyone seems to be starting a copywriting career.
While people were shocked to see me offering copy services for so cheap, it’s now commonplace to see people writing sales copy for $197.
And actually, now that the economy is worse… these same copywriters are DROPPING their prices. I’ve seen offers for writing copy for $50!
Listen. As a copywriter you should know better than to compete on price. “Cheap” is not a benefit of strong sales copy. More sales is the benefit!
Instead of positioning yourself as a “cheap copywriter,” use your copywriting brain to come up with a unique angle that doesn’t COST YOU MONEY. An angle you can CHARGE FOR!
If you pick a niche, you can charge more than the guy who brands himself “the cheap copywriter.”
If you offer more bells and whistles than just the sales copy (emails? graphic design?), you can charge more than the guy who brands himself “the cheap copywriter.”
If you come up with a strong guarantee, you can charge more than the guy who brands himself “the cheap copywriter.”
DO pick a unique angle, but don’t try to sell your services based on price. It’s bad from a sales perspective and it’s bad business in the long run.
On the other hand, if you want to start at $50, go ahead. Maybe you’re working at manual labor prices… but you need to consistently raise your rates!
When I first started, I often DOUBLED my prices from one month to the next.
In fact, I once double my rate from $1,000.00 to $2,000.00 without any drop off in work!
Sure, start small and charge less. But treat your clientelle well, stay in touch with them after you finish, and keep raising your rates.
Continue to IMPROVE your skills by reading classic copywriting books like “Tested Advertising Methods” and “How To Write A Good Advertisement.”
Read my blog (http://www.stephensblog.com)
Read Michel Fortin’s blog (http://www.michelfortin.com)
Read Clayton Makepeace’s blog (http://www.makepeacetotalpackage.com)
Whatever you do, don’t keep the same price from one year to the next. It’s like running on a hampster’s wheel. And you’re better than that.
If you want to discover if you’re guilty of committing this Copy Sin, click the link below to watch my free copywriting video.
Click here ->> http://www.stephensblog.com/7copysins
Remember when I had Click2Mail send me a test postcard for ad campaign? I wrote about it here: Sending Postcards To Advertise Your Product Or Services.
Well it finally showed up yesterday. It took a LONG time…
…because of user error. My fault. I accidentally picked “standard mail” instead of “first class.” Instead of 4-5 days it took 9-15. (And I saved a whopping 11 cents!)
So that’s one mistake I noticed. The other is the graphics program I used to create the postcard.
Microsoft Paint just isn’t going to work! I saved the image I made in paint as a .jpg file, which looked fine until it showed up on a printed postcard. There’s too much noise surrounding the words… as a result of Paint not saving the .jpg at a high enough quality.
It’s possible that Paint might be able to work if I save it with another image format. But whatever…
Instead I’m going with Gimp. This is a free software program that acts a lot like Adobe Photoshop (a great program, but very expensive).
Gimp will be able to make a high quality screenshot and fix my postcard.
One more note. I took the advice to keep all of my content an inch up from the bottom in case the post office put a sticker on the bottom. The postcard did not get a sticker. In fact, I think the “sticker” was printed on the card.
However, I don’t want to risk it unless I need the extra space. So I’ll continue to heed that advice for a while.
I just noticed Perry Belcher created a site based on his order button… a button he says is the most tested order button in Internet history. Check it out…
Now compare that to Eric Graham’s Ultimate Submit Button.
Can you see the similarities? What are the differences?
Ok, so we got a few questions. Thanks Tony and Ron!
I’ll be sending both of you guys “The 2 Hour Sales Letter,” “7 Copy Sins,” “Digital Scarcity,” “Tapping Michel Fortin’s Brain,” “Tapping Michel Fortin’s Brain 2,” and a series of videos on increasing email sign-ups from your blog.
Let’s start with the first question…
“Let’s say i want to have a video on my page instead of lots of copy- would you advise this, and would you script it any differently?”
My opinion is to have a bit of both. Because I skim copy when I read it, I’m not a big fan of video-only (because you can’t skim it).
But that’s only my opinion, because I don’t have data on video-only sales pages.
A master copywriter who is a big fan of video-only sales pages is Dr. Harlan Kilstein. Follow him on Twitter and you’ll likely learn more about it: http://twitter.com/drkilstein
“Are there any shortcuts to learning (Muvar 2009)?”
For some stupid reason I haven’t purchased Muvar 2009 yet. I have several copies of 2007 and 2008 so I’ve been using these.
So I don’t know the difference between ‘09 and ‘08. I’ve heard the training videos didn’t change from ‘08 to ‘09, which has left some people confused.
That said, I’m pretty dang good at using ‘08.
Probably the best thing you can do when learning the software is to get familiar with the files inside that “data” folder and how to modify them.
James advises against doing this for an understandable reason. But there are times when I want to have that option. For example, if the variable version is larger than a certain number of kilobytes, Muvar can’t save it via the admin section. You must upload the content via FTP.
“Glyphius is I suspect a good basis for learning copywriting but I still need to ensure that the flow between the paragraphs are natural. It tends to push me into stringing together sentences that don’t sound right when read aloud. Have you any tips for using it?”
Simple, if it sounds awkward throw it out. Don’t sacrifice readability for a higher score, it won’t work.
“OK now for the big one I have tried to raise the price for a product but found the drop in sales meant I was losing money. Obviously I am about to drop them again blaming the credit squeeze and currency variations. Is this a good idea or should I just drop them without a hint of reason to stop people thinking I was desperate for sales.”
I wouldn’t use the credit squeeze as a reason for lowering your prices. That does imply that less people are buying your product… and that’s not good social proof.
Instead give a positive reason. Come up with a reason for a special sale, special offer, anything. Is your birthday coming up? There’s your reason. Anything can work.
But, do you have a lot of repeat visitors to your sales page? Are people going to notice you drop or raise your prices? You may not have to mention it at all.
And I’d recommend testing your prices using Muvar. Put several different price points in there, make sure you give the proper credit to each sale, and see which price is the most profitable.
Before I write copy, I send all of my clients a questionnaire. The questions I ask are based on 5 years of experience writing copy for clients.
The posts below reveal the questions I ask and why:
My Copywriting Questionnaire, Question #1
My Copywriting Questionnaire, Questions #2 And #3
My Copywriting Questionnaire, Questions #4, #5 and #6
My Copywriting Questionnaire, Question #7
My Copywriting Questionnaire, Question #8
Michel Fortin tipped me off to this awesome headline writing formula by Perry Belcher:
In the last entry we talked a lot about believability and proof. And we mentioned testimonials.
Testimonials are a huge source of proof. Hence the last question in my questionnaire.
10) Finally, send me every testimonial you got!
With most clients who have an established product, this isn’t a problem. They usually have been collecting testimonials and they’re ready for me.
For newer products, it’s understandable that testimonials will have to come later. But my advice is usually, “Why don’t you start looking for testimonials while I write the copy.”
That way when I’m finished, I can just copy and paste the testimonials in.
Now, there’s a right way and a wrong way to go about selecting testimonials. Please don’t ask your brother to write an “It’s great!” testimonial for your product. When you do that, you’re really just going through the motions and not giving the copywriter anything to work with.
We need REAL testimonials. From people who had success with your product and are willing to tell you about it.
(Note: If you have to pay them to try your product, so be it! As long as the feedback you get from the trial is legitimate, there’s nothing wrong with that. Just don’t pressure them in to a positive review if they don’t have one.)
A genuine testimonial helps the copywriter out in more ways than one.
First of all, it’s going to make him/her look better. The conversion rate is likely to be higher, and the client is going to be more satisfied.
But second, it’s also going to tell the copywriter what actual customers like about the product. What the major benefits are to them and so forth.
This tells the copywriter what points to emphasize in the copy. That’s a big deal!
So don’t skimp on testimonials. Actively seek out reviews, even if you have to give away your product for free or pay people to try it out.
Here’s how I’d ask for a testimonial.
#1) I always ask for a testimonial or constructive criticism. That means if the customer wasn’t happy with your product, they’re not pressured in to lying. They can simply let you know what they weren’t happy with (which is very valuable in and of itself).
#2) Ask for specific results. If you’re selling an ebook on how to make money, what’s the exact dollar amount the customer can attribute to reading the ebook? And how long did it take to make that money?
A weight loss product? How much weight did they lose? And how long?
#3) Do you want to stress a major benefit in your copy? Ask the customer how that benefit worked for them.
For example, if you want to stress how simple it is to lose weight with your system… Ask them to mention how easy/difficult the weight loss system was for them. Get them to state these benefits in their testimonial, it really will help.
#4) Ask them if you can edit the testimonial and have them sign off on it as truth. Customers are not all copywriters. Sometimes they write pretty poor testimonials… that could be great if spiced up.
It’s perfectly acceptable to edit a testimonial and then get the original author to approve it. It’s ethical, and it sells better.
Another way to go about getting testimonials is to automate it. When a customer buys, are they automatically added to an autoresponder? Put in a few auto-messages reminding them to send in their feedback.
The bottom line is, you need to be actively pursuing testimonials. It’s going to help your sales and it’s going to help the copywriter.
(And if that copywriter is me, I’ll thank you endlessly.)