Just wondering, do people really consider buying things off of these sites? You know the ones that start with Dr. Friend and have all the fake testimonials... Personally, once I see that format I can't click off fast enough, no matter what the product is or what price.
There's no unified format for a salesletter, but I suppose you're thinking about those websites with looong salesletters, am I right? Just one question: have you ever been interested in what the site has to offer?
Yes, I have been interested in the content before getting to the site. Then once I see that format, I instantly lose all trust in the product and/or seller and move on. Maybe it's just me.
I know people who use them and they seem to be fairly good at getting conversions. Not personally the type of site I like building.
I feel the same way. No matter how interested I might be in the subject matter, once I see a sales page like that, I'm gone. Jenn
Maybe it's just a bad salesletters you've been seeing all this time. Hard to believe that? Let's say that all one does wrong is the title - the headline of the salesletter - it doesn't matter if they have written the rest of the salesletter very well or even excellent, they have lost you on the headline. It's game over. I also thought once this is the worst possible way to sell the product online, and just like you they would usually lose my interest quickly after seeing one of these... All I believed would be enough is a clear and short explanation, and not all that rambling that just takes my time. However after seeing these kind of letters actually work (yes, I wrote one that worked), studying the writing of them and having read several that have worked even on me (and I had pretty much your attitude towards such salesletters at that time) I now know different. But I still look away from most I see - but these usually don't capture my interest because they have a turnoff headline, which even if it targets my interest, does it in such a way that - well, I immediately lose my interest. I'm sure you know how that feels. Really never happened to you that you have seen one giant of this kind and read it in one breath? Then you just haven't seen a good one that targeted your interest. That's all. Don't worry, you'll recognize one when you see it
Oh, and while at headlines, I just remembered I have one good article for you: World's Easiest and Most Effective Headline Format
Most of them are multi-level marketing sites. And owners of those sites, as well as their recruiters, do not keep up with latest thrends in the online marketing industry.
Ditto for me... as soon as I see the Loooooong text of repeated "Hurry and buy it Today" message... I am gone.
Sales letters are remarkably effective, given their "crappy" aura. Although the "read through rate" is relatively small, those who will read it will usually end up buying. That's the whole theory anyway. My best sales letter I've written to date, generated about 400 sales, indeed with a heavy PPC campaign behind it. There are several techniques to raise sales. The most probable reason for which you haven't met a sales letter to convince you yet is probably because you haven't met one to be addresses to you. Niche targeting is the single most important concept in this field. Best regards, George
I suppose my issue is that I feel that if the creator cared in any way about their product, they'd create a professional site and market it effectively w/o having to use that much hype to get someone's attention. If a product is good, you get people to review it, you market it like you would any other business, and you let word of mouth take over. I know there's a sucker born every minute, but I can't respect, or buy from, people that blatantly try to manipulate them into buying with a usually sub-standard product. That's what the vast majority of sales letter sites do imo. Jenn
You might have a point there. Typically the types of products sold are either ebooks or software. What I sold was an ebook. It was quite a funny experience actually. The best joke I ever made, mostly because I was talking from the perspective of a pregnant woman. Nonetheless, sales letters seem a rather effective tool which has its place in the marketing world. It is the sort of promotion everyone loves to hate. Regards, George
I write sales letters for all my products, and they make sales for me w/o PPC. However, I do have content-rich sites and blogs that the sales letters are on, with plenty of info, so that makes a difference -- if you've got credibilty because of your content, then sales letters, done well, are excellent sales tools. Re sales letters for others (I'm a copywriter) I find that the sales letters convert well for my clients.
Sales letters combined with list building IS the best way to make money on the Internet. Sure they look a bit on the "scamy" side, but most of them are nothing of the sort.
For me it kind of goes back the famous quote by Marshall McLuhan: ""The Medium is the Message". If the medium of the product is a spammy looking sales letter, it doesn't really matter what the product is. More power to you guys if you are doing well with them though.
Salesletters work really well and have been making people boatloads of cash for over a century now. (In other media's obviously) You can't fake testimonials. If the salesletter has been up for a long time the testimonials are probably legit.
Maybe you don't, but people fake testimonials all the time. It's not hard to buy them, to get people to back them up. I know people who have done it (even by thinking it's ok by offering some other kind of benefit rather than money). That's why I don't believe them, ever. So length of time has nothing to do with it. If it's been bought, or the person received some other kind of benefit, it could be up forever and not mean squat. Whether they work or not really isn't even the point. Sales letters are more than a little outdated. You know... horse and buggies still "work," but there's a reason most people have moved on to cars. You can hold on to "old school" ways for so long, and they're still going to be effective to some degree. But you can't really argue with the fact that most people do have a negative image of these kinds of pages. so whether they bring in enough sales to justify someone using them... other, more legitimate-looking methods, would likely be even more effective. And any good marketer looks for the "best" way to market a product... they don't just fall on old standbys because they sell enough to make them happy. Jenn
These are like infomercials. Would you ever buy a product off of an infomercial? How about one of those get rich quick flipping houses real estate courses? I wouldn't, but plenty of people buy from them. I know, it's hard to believe, but for some reason people can't help themselves. I also find the format offense but I guess some people buy into it.
People do get put in jail for fraud in the direct reponse industry. Top players know the penalties involved. If someone has had testimonials up for years and been selling their product for years then its probably a legit product. I'm not saying they're all legit, but a lot of them are. Are you saying that anyone and everyone that uses salesletters and testimonials is a fraud?