
Making Sales Cool
17-May-2010
Wayne Sharer
So you get tons of the best targeted traffic anywhere. How are your profits?
If you are having problems with your profits and you are sure your web traffic is highly targeted on the right people, then the next place to look is your sales copy — sales letter and squeeze page (or opt in page).
Your sales letter is massively important. Probably the most important single item in your sales approach. Yet many seem to ignore it. Are you one of those people? Or do you just not know what to do?
When your just starting online, you probably can’t afford to hire professional copy writers. Then again, you can’t afford not too. I know, I’ve been in that situation. I was really dependent on finding good copy and duplicating it. It wasn’t easy.
If you are like me, and you are in the position where you have to write it all yourself. So here are some important things to remember. These guidelines represent the absolute basics, but if you don’t follow them, then you may as well quit, because your copy won’t work…
AIDA
You’ll see this over and over as you build your business. Maybe you’ve already seen it, but do you really know what it means?
It means — Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action
Attention
In a previous newsletter, I told you a little about the headline. This is where you capture your readers Attention. You make a powerful statement to make your reader want to keep reading.
You need to have the headline, pre-header, and sub-header. All are headlines or mini-headlines with the sole purpose of keeping your visitor reading. You make them larger and bolder then the other text and sometimes you even highlight them. If the headline doesn’t hook the reader, you loose. No sale.
Interest
The “hook” or attention grabber isn’t enough, even though it’s vital to your success. Now you must write real material the will keep your readers Interest
After you initially hook the readers and capture their attention, the next goal you need to achieve is to keep your reader’s Interest. You need to pull them into what you’re saying.
One way to do this is buy giving them a really fascinating detail right up front. An example might be,”You’re about to discover how you can make your dog talk real, intelligent words before you go to bed tonight. However, first you must know…”
Of course, that’s’ absurd, but I bet I had you thinking! If you’re a dog owner, you would love to be able to talk to your pet and you would pay for it.
Desire
Desire is all about the benefits for your reader. This is where you make them want to buy your product or brilliant service. You give them the “WIIFM – what’s in it for me.” Your reader wants real benefits – which means they want to know how your thingy will improve their life, and solve their problem.
What are two of the biggest benefits?
- Security or Safety
- Greed
If you can make them think they will be either richer or safer (more secure) or both, they are going to buy whatever you are offering.
Action
Of course, the simple fact is you have to tell your visitors to buy your product. Make some statement to “push” them into action to make the purchase right now. Often this is some sort of scarcity statement, or offering a limited report or other bonus with a real time limit.
The only way to profit is for your reader to act!
The Bottom Line…
You must get your reader to slip into your sales letter and get to the end … essentially before they even realize what’s happened. Then you grab them quickly into your sales pitch or offer until you have them at the end, wanting to buy.
A famous copy writer named Joe Sugarman calls it “The Slippery Slide.” That’s a good name, I think. It isn’t about deceiving, it’s all about attention grabbing, and making your reader eager for your solution.
You won’t be an expert overnight, and that’s why affiliate marketing is such a great place to start, because you leverage off of somebody who has got professional copy already written.
Hope that helps. Let me know.
See ya next time.
– Wayne Sharer
P.S. I did a lot of searching for tools to “instantly” improve your copy without expensive copywriters. There are bunches. I narrowed down to three, then checked each closely based on capability, time saving, sales potential, and cost. Here’s the winner… check it out…
International speaker, author, and entrepreneur. Retired navy officer, former commanding officer. Over 35 years of leading, coaching, mentoring, and speaking.
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