I'm not sure where you pulled that from, but no one said that in the slightest. Even testimonials where people actually liked the product don't mean all that much to me, because they're often solicited in one way or another. As far as I'm concerned, if you even so much as ask for one, it's tainted. Most people won't just come out and say "no." The only testimonials that really matter imo are the ones spread via word of mouth from people doing it completely on their own. Once you ask for it, or ask to publish it, you're putting a certain level of pressure on the customer whether you intend to or not, and as I said, I consider that tainted. And since you really couldn't publish much w/o permission, it's more than a little unlikely that no pressure whatsoever was involved. Jenn
The reason you see so many of those types of long sales letter pages is because they work. It's not about site design or graphics, it's about the copy. They don't look pretty but they convert (persuade you to buy) and that's what matters in business. Sorry Jenn but you're really missing the entire point. Sales copy is as old or older then the Horse and buggy point you were trying to make and it's still being used but it's not exactly the same. I used to hate the look of any site that used lots of big bold fonts with gobs and gobs of copy and only till recently did I discover why people make their sales pages like that. If you are interested in learning to write sales copy then visit this page http://adcopywriting.com/Tutorials_List.htm and be sure to look around. I read through it all and it really helped me understand how and why you want to do certain things when trying to pitch your product. Also, there is a reason why infomercials exist. Because they work.
Yes, but as a marketing professional, I'm telling you that there are many more effective ways to sell a product... if it deserves to be purchased at least. Sales letters do convert... I already acknowledged that. But I simply said they're not the "best" way. And the analogy suits it pretty well. Horses and other animals have been used for transportation probably much longer than there was even writing... nonetheless sales letters. It still works. No one can argue that point. Some cultures still use them regularly. Just some some marketers still use dated sales letters. They get the job done to a degree. But proper marketing techniques can enable a difference to sales in a way that airplanes give us a new level of travel. Perhaps a more extreme example clears up the point? I'm also trained in writing quite a variety of marketing copy. And I'll tell you there's a reason focus is on press releases, pitch letters, and marketing collateral, rather than such an emphasis on things like sales letters. It borders on being considered illegitimate as far as professional marketers are concerned. Most of the people writing and using sales letters don't know the first thing about most other forms of marketing copy. They use what seems easy because it was overused early on with the Internet, they make enough sales, and they assume they made the right choice. But the fact of the matter is that proper display and marketing efforts could have led to several times the sales volume. One of the big reasons things like infomercials work is because they tend to promote second rate products that couldn't make it in a market where people weren't glued to their TV w/o nothing better to do than spend money. I have no sympathy for people get suckered in by things like infomercials and sales letters because there's no excuse for them not to know better. But as a professional in the industry, I also can't have the slightest bit of respect for people who call themselves marketers but don't act with enough professional ethics to promote a product, service, or company on its merits rather than the stupidity and/or naivity of others. Jenn
Just a question here... Who can give me a better number than John Reese and Traffic Secrets? $1,08 Million in less than 24 hours with a sales letter wrote by Michel Fortin , Master Copywriter? I'll be glad you did! Those sales letter are the best way to make money on the Internet. Direct response marketing. His product was crap? NO WAY ask everyone who bought it... I bought many products from those sales letter, and I will continue if the product has value for me.
Not saying Michel Fortin is a bad copywriter, I did hear about him but don't know him or his copywriting skills to judge anything... But listen, the fact that someone (apparently) sold stuff for that kind of money in that short time frame has very little to do with the salesletter itself - sure, it couldn't be the worst salesletter ever but I think there's much more in the fact that John Reese has a lot of people on his lists, a lot of partners with even more potential buyers on their lists and the knowledge to launch this product by advertising it many weeks before the actual launch and build the feeling of the scarcity among all the interested buyers that he acquired on his list during the launch period. Tell me, was there some sort of scarcity involved, like only a limited number of products will be sold or only a limited number of fastest buyers will get this and that...? So if you think about it, the actual salesletter that was on the site where people could buy this product had just a limited role in getting this sales in that time frame (assuming this is truth). I'd bet many didn't even have the time to read the actual salesletter before buying if there was some scarcity involved and product advertised for weeks. All the promotions that took place by John Reese and his jv partners with samples of products being sent to potential buyers (just guessing here) and all the buzz about this product in the internet marketing world had much more to do with it IMHO. Of course, the product had to be worth the money people payed, and there are, I won't say a lot, but there are people willing to buy just about anything John Reese or any other internet marketer like him publishes anytime. Than again, I would be interested in knowing what was the product priced for. And now if you think you can just learn how to write salesletters, and sell stuff, maybe not like John Reese but at least sell what's enough for you to break even, you're probably in for a disappointment. And all the other things and means of promotion that have to be in place, is just what I think Jenn is talking about.
Jenn has no idea what she is talking about. Her self righteous rambling and name calling are a disgrace. Jenn, fire your trainer. "Sales letters are considered illegitimate"... That is the most absurd thing I have heard in a long time.
lol If you're an internet marketer you're completely right. As for marketing professionals, it's another story. There's a huge difference whether you care to know about it or not. But I'm not wasting my time arguing ignorance of someone who bothered drudging up an old thread just to whine about it.
I think I have seen 1 or 2 good sales letters, thats because they looked more like a real website. It automatically scares me away no matter how much I want a product when i see that pastel colour background, dashed border, yellow highlighted text and bright red letters telling me how much I can make. I'm sure some of these products are very good, they just look like a scam, never understood how they make people buy though.
lol Not at all. Nice to see people talking about what's supposedly "professional" turning to personal insults. You're free to disagree with me, and I'm free to disagree with you. No need to resort to things like that. I'll stick to the word of my past professors, my experience, my clients, and my ethics in how I run my business. You're free to stick to whatever you feel like. That's fine. Just lose the drama in a public forum if you want people to take you seriously. If you have a differing opinion, then back it up and let people reading the thread decide for themselves what their own opinions on the issue are. The second you start throwing in personal attacks, all you're doing is damaging your own credibility... not mine.
I totally agree. John's marketing brilliance was the major thrust behind it. But the copy was important, even if it's for perception's sake. John is still using it and it's converting well, especially with non-Internet marketing traffic, such as traffic generated from classified ads in popular magazines. That being said, here's an interesting post on the power of copy during a major product launch: http://www.michelfortin.com/archives/2006/07/the_myth_about_product_launch_copy/
Can this be possible? It seems possible. Ladies and gentlemen, it looks like Michel Fortin has joined the conversation. Anyway back on topic. From my experience, sales letter are actually in some occasions the best marketing method. Let me be more precise: sales letters work best on those people who are willing to read it. And the irony of the fact is that most of these people are the webmasters and marketers themselves. John Reese's product was aimed precisely at this category. To keep Jenn's analogy valid, although trains and cars are faster and better than horses. on mountain paths horses are still the best. Best regards, George
Lose the drama? Were you not the one calling names in the first place? You really know how to do business Jenn. Did you learn how to call people suckers in your "lack of business ethics" class in community college? Damn you and your remarks/comebacks are first hipocritical and second lame. Lose the self righteous attitude.