So you have a product to sell online? Maybe you wrote an ebook, or you are promoting a CPA product, or perhaps an affiliate item. Whatever it is that you wish to sell online, there is one thing that remains constant… you must have a sales page that converts (sells). This is the most critical part of your process, after all, even if you have targeted traffic to your sales page, if it is not written properly, it won’t convert.
I am providing you with the components for success. This is what is needed to make a sales page that works. The things I am about to show you work, and they work as marketing principles everywhere, not just as a sales page. If you want to see this in action, just take a look at an infomercial on TV.
Personally, I prefer to outsource this type of writing. Whether you do it yourself or if you hire someone to do it for you, at least you will now know what is required… and that helps you vet your writer.
So here we go...
I am going to start with some of the general elements you need to keep in mind as you write…
General Elements
- Use “I” when writing your sales letter, so always write in the first person
- Sign your name at the bottom
- Consider putting your name at the top (after your headlines). You may want to write something like: “From the desk of <YOURNAME>”
- If you put your name at the top, also include a small photo of yourself… this helps your reader connect with you on a more personal level
- Remove all navigation buttons from the sales page… there should be nothing to distract your reader
- Never use asterisks in a sales letter… your reader will be looking for a catch
- If a bullet point starts with a number, use the numeral… don’t spell it out
- If you are going to use a number like 7%, it’s more credible to use 7.2%
- If you are selling an ebook, let your reader know that they will get your product right away. Tell them this the first time you mention your eBook, as it will bring clarity. For example, “This immediately downloadable eBook in PDF format …”
- Write with parallel approaches… One approach can satisfy the “skimmer” and more detail will satisfy the “analyzer”. Note that more people are skimmers, but we must appeal to all. The sales page should generally be written for a skimmer, meaning that it is mostly (but no all) bullet points. We satisfy the analyst by providing “information boxes”
Now you know the general guidelines to follow when writing your sales page. Now I am going to provide you with the critical components of selling. These components are crucial to the success of your sales page. They also need to appear in the order listed.
Critical Components of a Sales Page
Pre-Headline
- This is an excuse to put another advantage
- Try using a smaller font (than the main headline)
- The pre-headline is sometimes highlighted in yellow
Main Headline
- According to testing (not by me), red is the most effective color
- Come up with two equally good main headlines
- Choose one to use as the main headline, and use the other as a sub-headline
Teaser
- Put your teaser near the top to entice your reader to keep reading
- It will look something like this: “a little later I am going to tell you ________________, but right now I am going to tell you ________________”
- The “later” part needs to be something that your reader really wants (or needs) to know… the “right now” part should be valuable as well to keep them engaged
- This is an important formula, don’t leave it out
Reason Why Technique
- Use in your sales page to justify something such as a price reduction
- Note that people buy from specials and promos, not from announcements
- Simply kick in the greed factor, and people will buy… they should feel they are taking advantage in some way
- Sometimes your reason is as simple as timing… for instance a holiday sale or discount, summertime, end of year, etc.
Urgency / Scarcity
- Using urgency and scarcity will help avoid the “I’ll be back”
- This is important because most people will not come back – even if they want to
- Urgency and/or scarcity gives them an incentive to buy right now
- You can create artificial urgency
- This can come in many forms such as a countdown timer, or a “the first 50 people will also get…”, or this sale ends at midnight, etc.
Features / Benefits
- This is super important!
- We sell the benefit, but we tell them the features
- Benefits generate an emotion
- For instance, “would you rather be lying on the beach right now?”
- A feature is what something is
- A benefit is what something does
Scare Tactics
- There are consequences for you not knowing this information
- You can use multiple scare tactics
Story
- Provide a story about someone who was helped because of your product
- The story formula: Problem, Intervention, Results
Case Study
- A case study is a story on steroids
- Has extreme details in it
- Uses the same formula as a story
- Case studies are for analytical types
- Skimmers will not read them
- Put case studies in a box... this gives skimmers permission to skip it
Testimonials
- These are critical!!!
- Get the testimonial that match your claim in the sales letter
Guarantee
- Guarantees will increase sales
- Ask yourself if it will increase good sales because you will have some returns and the hassles that go with it
- Note that the longer the guarantee, the less returns you will have
- Also note that some merchant processors will limit the amount of time for them to process a return
Conviction Statement
- A conviction statement is a guarantee on steroids
- Conviction statements will increase sales
- Here is the conviction statement format: “I’m so sure that my product will < do something great>, that if it doesn’t I’m going to <do something outrageous>”
- Here is an example: “I’m so sure that my techniques will double your traffic in 30 days, that if it doesn’t I’m going to give you my competitors ebook”
Bonus / Bonus Testimonial
- Bonuses will increase sales
- Don’t give too much, it devalues your initial product
- No more than 5 bonuses
- A bonus must be something good enough to sell
- Always put a value on each bonus: “…a $37 value”
Cost Comparison – Type 1
- Apples to oranges
- There is no logic here, but it works like crazy!
- Formula: For the cost of X, you can have Y
- “For the cost of a cup of coffee, you can have _______”
Cost Comparison – Type 2
- Compare value at high price to a higher value at a lower price
- “For $250 plus the cost of airfare and hotel, you can have me come to your office and train your staff on _______, and only those employees in attendance would benefit, or for $697 you can get my entire 15 CD program and train your entire staff at your leisure”
FAQ Box
- Use a box with a colored background
- Put it at least half way down the sales letter
- Make it visually interesting
Top 5 Reasons
- Start with number 5, 4, 3, 2, and the number 1 reason at the bottom
- Leave a lot of white space so it doesn’t look like dense text
Recap Paragraph
- Recap the biggest, boldest benefits
- “To recap, you will get 15 CD’s, 3 hours of _______…”
- Odd numbers always work best (with everything)
Post Scripts
- Important: PS’s are highly read
- Scare tactics are ok here… use whatever is most important
- Use PS, PPS, & PPPS
- “PS – Don’t forget you’ll get …”
- “PPS – Don’t forget you’ll have …”
Colombo Technique
- “Oh, I forgot…”
- “Oh, I wrote this whole letter and I forgot to tell you…”
Text-Based Call To Action
- Text-based call to action with a benefit in the link
- Never say something like “Buy Now”
- Say something like “Click Here to Save Your Business”
- Use several
- Spread them out near the bottom of your sales page
- Do not put a call to action until at least halfway down the sales letter
Button Call To Action
- Also use a button call to action with a benefit in the button
- Just like the text-based, never say something like “Buy Now” on the button
- Say something like “Click Here to Save Your Business”
Implement what I have outlined and you will see that it works. Obviously things will need to be tweaked to your niche/product.
Please leave comments in this thread. I’d love to hear what has worked for you, and even what hasn’t. Good luck!!
Scott[/QUO
So you have a product to sell online? Maybe you wrote an ebook, or you are promoting a CPA product, or perhaps an affiliate item. Whatever it is that you wish to sell online, there is one thing that remains constant… you must have a sales page that converts (sells). This is the most critical part of your process, after all, even if you have targeted traffic to your sales page, if it is not written properly, it won’t convert.
I am providing you with the components for success. This is what is needed to make a sales page that works. The things I am about to show you work, and they work as marketing principles everywhere, not just as a sales page. If you want to see this in action, just take a look at an infomercial on TV.
Personally, I prefer to outsource this type of writing. Whether you do it yourself or if you hire someone to do it for you, at least you will now know what is required… and that helps you vet your writer.
So here we go...
I am going to start with some of the general elements you need to keep in mind as you write…
General Elements
- Use “I” when writing your sales letter, so always write in the first person
- Sign your name at the bottom
- Consider putting your name at the top (after your headlines). You may want to write something like: “From the desk of <YOURNAME>”
- If you put your name at the top, also include a small photo of yourself… this helps your reader connect with you on a more personal level
- Remove all navigation buttons from the sales page… there should be nothing to distract your reader
- Never use asterisks in a sales letter… your reader will be looking for a catch
- If a bullet point starts with a number, use the numeral… don’t spell it out
- If you are going to use a number like 7%, it’s more credible to use 7.2%
- If you are selling an ebook, let your reader know that they will get your product right away. Tell them this the first time you mention your eBook, as it will bring clarity. For example, “This immediately downloadable eBook in PDF format …”
- Write with parallel approaches… One approach can satisfy the “skimmer” and more detail will satisfy the “analyzer”. Note that more people are skimmers, but we must appeal to all. The sales page should generally be written for a skimmer, meaning that it is mostly (but no all) bullet points. We satisfy the analyst by providing “information boxes”
Now you know the general guidelines to follow when writing your sales page. Now I am going to provide you with the critical components of selling. These components are crucial to the success of your sales page. They also need to appear in the order listed.
Critical Components of a Sales Page
Pre-Headline
- This is an excuse to put another advantage
- Try using a smaller font (than the main headline)
- The pre-headline is sometimes highlighted in yellow
Main Headline
- According to testing (not by me), red is the most effective color
- Come up with two equally good main headlines
- Choose one to use as the main headline, and use the other as a sub-headline
Teaser
- Put your teaser near the top to entice your reader to keep reading
- It will look something like this: “a little later I am going to tell you ________________, but right now I am going to tell you ________________”
- The “later” part needs to be something that your reader really wants (or needs) to know… the “right now” part should be valuable as well to keep them engaged
- This is an important formula, don’t leave it out
Reason Why Technique
- Use in your sales page to justify something such as a price reduction
- Note that people buy from specials and promos, not from announcements
- Simply kick in the greed factor, and people will buy… they should feel they are taking advantage in some way
- Sometimes your reason is as simple as timing… for instance a holiday sale or discount, summertime, end of year, etc.
Urgency / Scarcity
- Using urgency and scarcity will help avoid the “I’ll be back”
- This is important because most people will not come back – even if they want to
- Urgency and/or scarcity gives them an incentive to buy right now
- You can create artificial urgency
- This can come in many forms such as a countdown timer, or a “the first 50 people will also get…”, or this sale ends at midnight, etc.
Features / Benefits
- This is super important!
- We sell the benefit, but we tell them the features
- Benefits generate an emotion
- For instance, “would you rather be lying on the beach right now?”
- A feature is what something is
- A benefit is what something does
Scare Tactics
- There are consequences for you not knowing this information
- You can use multiple scare tactics
Story
- Provide a story about someone who was helped because of your product
- The story formula: Problem, Intervention, Results
Case Study
- A case study is a story on steroids
- Has extreme details in it
- Uses the same formula as a story
- Case studies are for analytical types
- Skimmers will not read them
- Put case studies in a box... this gives skimmers permission to skip it
Testimonials
- These are critical!!!
- Get the testimonial that match your claim in the sales letter
Guarantee
- Guarantees will increase sales
- Ask yourself if it will increase good sales because you will have some returns and the hassles that go with it
- Note that the longer the guarantee, the less returns you will have
- Also note that some merchant processors will limit the amount of time for them to process a return
Conviction Statement
- A conviction statement is a guarantee on steroids
- Conviction statements will increase sales
- Here is the conviction statement format: “I’m so sure that my product will < do something great>, that if it doesn’t I’m going to <do something outrageous>”
- Here is an example: “I’m so sure that my techniques will double your traffic in 30 days, that if it doesn’t I’m going to give you my competitors ebook”
Bonus / Bonus Testimonial
- Bonuses will increase sales
- Don’t give too much, it devalues your initial product
- No more than 5 bonuses
- A bonus must be something good enough to sell
- Always put a value on each bonus: “…a $37 value”
Cost Comparison – Type 1
- Apples to oranges
- There is no logic here, but it works like crazy!
- Formula: For the cost of X, you can have Y
- “For the cost of a cup of coffee, you can have _______”
Cost Comparison – Type 2
- Compare value at high price to a higher value at a lower price
- “For $250 plus the cost of airfare and hotel, you can have me come to your office and train your staff on _______, and only those employees in attendance would benefit, or for $697 you can get my entire 15 CD program and train your entire staff at your leisure”
FAQ Box
- Use a box with a colored background
- Put it at least half way down the sales letter
- Make it visually interesting
Top 5 Reasons
- Start with number 5, 4, 3, 2, and the number 1 reason at the bottom
- Leave a lot of white space so it doesn’t look like dense text
Recap Paragraph
- Recap the biggest, boldest benefits
- “To recap, you will get 15 CD’s, 3 hours of _______…”
- Odd numbers always work best (with everything)
Post Scripts
- Important: PS’s are highly read
- Scare tactics are ok here… use whatever is most important
- Use PS, PPS, & PPPS
- “PS – Don’t forget you’ll get …”
- “PPS – Don’t forget you’ll have …”
Colombo Technique
- “Oh, I forgot…”
- “Oh, I wrote this whole letter and I forgot to tell you…”
Text-Based Call To Action
- Text-based call to action with a benefit in the link
- Never say something like “Buy Now”
- Say something like “Click Here to Save Your Business”
- Use several
- Spread them out near the bottom of your sales page
- Do not put a call to action until at least halfway down the sales letter
Button Call To Action
- Also use a button call to action with a benefit in the button
- Just like the text-based, never say something like “Buy Now” on the button
- Say something like “Click Here to Save Your Business”
Implement what I have outlined and you will see that it works. Obviously things will need to be tweaked to your niche/product.
Please leave comments in this thread. I’d love to hear what has worked for you, and even what hasn’t. Good luck!!
Scott
Thanks a lot, this was helpful.
