November 23, 2010
One of the things beginner marketers do not do very well when they write copy is explain to the prospect the BENEFITS of the product/service. They simply do not tell the prospect what their product/service is going to DO for them and make their lives better.
This is a really bad mistake. After all, people do not buy your product just because it is bright and shiny. They buy it because it’s going to do something for them. It’s going to give them a Big Benefit that’s going to solve a problem or fulfill a desire.
For example, if you’re selling a “make money online” product, people aren’t going to buy from you because the product has a certain number of DVDs or audios. They are going to buy from you because they want what the course is going to do for them: help them make more money so they can live a better life.
One tip you can implement right away is to double check your sales letter and see if you have a lot of “you’s” in the copy. In other words, you are telling the prospect directly how their lives are going to be better and why they should buy your product.
If you go through your copy and you do not have a lot of “you’s”, you need to add more benefits in your sales letter. The easiest to do that is to ask yourself, “So What?” or “Who Cares” after each sentence. Then you include why the customer should care and what benefits they will experience when they use your product/service.
You should never let your prospect figure out the benefits for themselves. You need to tell them through your sales letter so they can paint pictures in their mind of what it will be like if their problem is going to be solved…or their desire is going to be fulfilled.
Just this exercise should boost the selling power of your sales letter. It’s all about telling the prospect what’s in it for them. Do this and your conversions could skyrocket!
Keep Selling!
Sean
Sean McPheat
http://www.internetmarketingacademy.com
November 22, 2010
Keyword research is a science in itself. You cannot be involved in internet marketing without a basic knowledge of keyword research. Because the keywords you use in your campaigns, articles, and ads will make or break your internet marketing business.
Very often marketers ignore “long-tail” keywords. These are keywords that are 3-4 words long and are more specific than general keywords.
For example, a “short-tail” keyword is “weight loss”. This is a very general keyword that will generate a lot of traffic. However, it is an extremely competitive keyword not only for pay-per-click but for search engine optimization
However, a good long-tail keyword is “how to lose weight with p90x”. p90x is a specific weight loss program that is popular right now. This keyword would get very little searches, but the traffic the keyword would get is very targeted.
You would probably think that since the long-tail keyword doesn’t get a lot of traffic, that you shouldn’t focus on these keywords. However, you would be mistaken as these long-tail keywords would convert higher than the short-tail version.
For example, someone just searching for weight loss could be researching weight loss programs or trying to find some articles about weight loss. We do not really know the psychology of the person coming to our site through that keyword…whether or not they are ready to buy or are just “tire-kickers” who are just looking for free information.
However, with the long-tail keyword, “How to lose weight with p90x”, it is a more specific query. They already have a weight loss program in mind and, matched with a landing page that offers p90x-related products, conversions would be higher.
Further, this keyword is easier to optimize for in the search engines. Competiition isn’t as keen as it is for “weight loss”. So you have the added benefit of getting indexed for that keyword and getting traffic as a result.
So don’t ignore long-tail keywords in your marketing just because they do not get a lot of traffic. Since the search term is more specific, you will get higher conversions. And if you use enough long-tail keywords it will more than make up for not being about to rank for a high-traffic/high-competitive keyword such as “weight loss”.
Keep Selling!
Sean
Sean McPheat
Internet Marketing Academy
November 16, 2010
I am going to let you in on a little secret. It’s a secret not very many marketers know. But once you discover this secret, you should be able to boost your conversion rate of your sales letter immediately.
Most people aren’t going to read all of your sales letter!
Sure, some people will read from the headline all the way down to the order button in one fell swoop. However, most people are going to go to your website, read your sales letter, and scan down to the bottom of the page looking for the price.
That’s right, all that copy you worked hard on, most people aren’t going to read all of it. So what you need to do is make your sales letter more “scannable”.
The number 1 way to do this is to use subheads. These are large chunks of text that you will intersperse throughout your copy.
The subheads do 2 things:
1) They serve to break up the copy so the sales letter doesn’t look like one big long column of text. This could intimidate people and lead them to not reading your letter.
2) They serve to provide a way for the “scanner” of your sales letter to get the idea of what is being sold in the letter. That way, if what they see gets their interest, they will go in and read the entire letter!
So the next time you write a sales letter, make sure that you can scan JUST the subheads and get an idea of what is being sold. If you cannot scan all of the subheads and not get an idea of what is going on, then you need to revise your subheads.
One more quick tip: you need to make sure your P.S. is as good as your headline! Since most people are going to go to the bottom of your letter, it is critical to have a P.S. that really get’s their attention and urges them to read the rest of your ad.
That’s what you need to go to get more “scanners” to buy your product. And most of the people who are going to see your sales letter are going to be scanners.
Keep Selling!
Sean
Sean McPheat
Internet Marketing Academy
November 8, 2010
Most people when they write a sales letter just stare at a blank screen and don’t know when to start writing. Just seeing that cursor sitting there blinking at them can be intimidating.
However, there is a proven way you can start sales letters so you don’t have to bang your head wondering how to open your letter. You can simply use the famous opener that goes like this:
If you ever wanted to (insert niche) then this will be the most important message you’ll ever read!
Of course, you would substitute the (insert niche) with the market.
This opening has been used by the famous copywriter Gary Halbert for years. It is effective because it gets right to the point regarding what the letter is going to be about.
Most copywriters and marketers will start a letter as if they are starting a short story or novel…a lot of description about the setting and characters but failure to get to the point.
This opening gets right to the point and tells your audience what they are going to read about. It’s like they just sat down in front of you and started talking to you immediately at a bar or restaurant.
And of course, this is what a sales letter should be…a conversation between a salesman and a prospect.
Of course, you can always modify this opener so it says fundamentally the same thing but in different language. For example, you can say:
If you’ve ever wanted to lose weight without diet and exercise, then this message will cut to the chase and give you the answers you’re looking for!
This line says the same thing, but in different language.
The point is you have to get right to the point when it comes to writing a sales letter. And the best way is to use a version of the Gary Halbert opener for your next letter.
Your conversions will thank you.
Keep Selling!
Sean
Sean McPheat
Internet Marketing Academy
November 1, 2010
Let me ask you a quick question:
When is the last time you tested price?
This is extremely important as your conversions can vary greatly depending on the price level of your product. The price point you could be placing your product or service might not be the optimum price and you could be losing out on a lot of money.
Let me explain: Price is one of the most critical aspects of marketing you should be testing. There have been many instances where conversions have doubled just by changing the price of a product.
Not the offer. Not the headline. Just the price.
For example, you could lower the price and get higher conversions that could make up for the decreased price point. Meaning you’ll make a lot more money.
Conversely, you could raise your prices and lower your conversions slightly. But the same thing will happen: the increased price will make up with the drop in conversions for the product.
This is not always the case. You could raise the price and even RAISE conversions! How is this so? People might equate a higher price with more value and you might get more buyers.
Further you could lower the price of the product and LOWER conversions at the same time. People do not always buy because the price is lower. They could interpret a lower price as cheaper quality and value. So don’t assume you’ll automatically get more buyers when you lower your price.
That’s why you need to test the pricepoint of your product/service. You could start by raising your prices and see if you get more income. If your income is greater or the same, even if total conversions drop, then you have boosted your business by just making one small tweak.
You never know until you test.
Keep Selling!
Sean
Sean McPheat
Internet Marketing Academy
Call Us: 
