February 21, 2005
Reader Question: Does long sales letter copy *really* work?
Jim,
Thanks for being there! As a subscriber to your newsletter as well as Paul’s Front Page Tips I appreciate what you’re doing to help us “newbies” out.
But I have a question regarding your sales letter for the www.minisitecreator.com
I’ve noticed that these letters (I get them from Joe Vitale and others, too) are all VERY long. They go on and on down the page with so much verbiage and reasons and value statements and testimonials that, by the time I get to the bottom of the page, I’m tired of reading! - I just want to cut to the chase.
OK, you sold me. . . now how much is the dang thing!!!
It seems to me that you’re overselling and I wonder if you wouldn’t you get better results by reducing the sales letter down a bit?
You’ve been doing this a long time and have some great success at it so there must be a reason for the lengthiness(?) of them ‘cus it seems everybody does it.
I’m getting ready to market our first online e-class and will probably order the Mini Site Creator course, but I wanted an answer to this question first.
Your response would be greatly appreciated!
Sincerely,
Karen
——
Hi Karen,
Bottom line: long form sales letters work.
The purpose is to sell by remote control… especially since you can’t stand there and look at someone as you would selling face-to-face.
A long form sales letter is actually a complete sales presentation in print.
By writing one of these, you’re trying to respond to every objection every person with every background and communication style will respond to…. that’s where the length comes from.
You try to provide various paths for people to read (subheads, p.s.)… but bottom line you’re trying to answer all questions and objections in advance.
Also, you’re trying to communicate what exactly comes with the product so that they KNOW what they’re getting in no uncertain terms.
People buy benenfits… not features.
If this were not the case, then you could just list off a bunch of bullets describing what the product is (size, weight, etc.) and everyone would buy it.
I can tell you that I used to try selling without long-form sales copy… and my results were not nearly as good.
Hope that helps
Jim
PS - if you really (and I mean REALLY) want to put your copywriting on steroids, check out Yanik Silver’s http://www.UltimateCopyWorkshop.com
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9 Comments »
February 21, 2005
Jeff :
Jim - What blog service are you using to publish your newsletter now?
BigJim :
I’m using moveabletype.org installed on my own server.
February 22, 2005
Charles :
A compromise that I’ve seen on sites with long sales letters is to have a link every so often where a prospect can buy right there, if they’re already convinced. That lets you have the best of both worlds–a long presentation and the ability to buy whenever the prospect is ready, without having to scroll all the way to the bottom.
Gobala :
Hi Jim,
I read somewhere that the more expensive the product is, the longer the sales copy has to be. Is that true?
In that case if you are offering a freebie (ebook , newsletter) etc, you can have a very short sales letter, possibly even in bullet form?
Thanks! I love reading your stuff.
February 23, 2005
BigJim :
Yes… to both.
That’s a great point… I sometimes put links throughout the sales copy to make it easier for people to order when they’ve been convinced… but only do that if you have an order page where you summarize what they are getting *before* they actually click through to give their credit card details.
Also, it does seem that longer copy is *longer* when the product is either more expensive OR more complicated. Sometimes you just need to explain everything.
But yes, length is often in direct proportion to the barrier to entry… either because of price or some other factor that requires a lot of explanation.
Laura :
Jim!
I need a secretary to keep up to you man!
Listen, I’m in a site redesign…I need to add links for newbies to buy www.minisitecreator.com
Is there an affiliate program for this? Not that I mind working hard to sell your products because I know my readers can only benefit greatly from your knowledge and assistance - but a girl’s gotta eat ya know?
Truly, Laura
February 24, 2005
BigJim :
Hi Laura,
I am going to create an affiliate program for this the first week in March… so I’ll keep you posted on that
Thanks!
Jim
January 20, 2006
Bill :
Jim-
On a longer sales letter, what do you think of having a series of bullets close to the top of the sales letter that previews (and sets expectations) for the reader? There would be introductory sales copy and then the bullets (boxed) would set the stage for what follows. The bullets tells the reader ( in part) what to expect (and what they’ll soon learn) plus manages the readers expectations concerning the length of the copy.
Examples of bullets might be:
**Hear what some of today’s most respected business minds are saying about…
**10 essential things you’ll learn from…
**10 Top reasons why you should have…
**10 Priceless Life Lessons….
Each bullet would be a link to accelerate people to exactly that section on the page…so they can validate what interests them fast…
There’s pro and cons with the boxed bullets…what do you think?
Bill