Sales Come First

I’m going to make a big confession so I’m sucking in a deep breath before I continue…

OK. I’ve  got an MBA. Now don’t go telling too many people. I’ve got a reputation to uphold

Yeah yeah I know. Another wanker with an MBA. Anyway I did it when I was young and stupid, and before I came across direct marketing. Now I know how I could have spent 3 years of my own time productively. Still…

I did a unit of marketing and I’ve still got the text book. Comes in handy when I get a fly at home and I’ve thrown the newspaper out. In it there’s slightly less than 1 page on direct response marketing. Interesting then that David Ogilvy, who is revered as the father of advertising says that there’s only one form of advertising you should consider, and that’s direct response. And that direct response people should be at the centre of any advertising firm, with all advertising pieces vetted by them first.

Odd that a marketing text book can’t even dedicate a full page to it, out of 500 odd pages of crap.

And its a real shame that so many kids out there are doing marketing in schools and universities and NOT learning about direct response. Because direct response is the only form of advertising where you follow set rules which work. Where you know that, despite how graphically enticing an ad with nothing but a picture and a slogan might be, it’ll never get a better response than a sales copy intensive ad. Where you’ve got a list of elements to include in your ad, and you know which ones to leave aside if space is a critical issue.

Or where you can run an ad, then make a change and see what happens. Where you get direct feedback on what’s working and what’s not.

No, you won’t win any awards for your ads. Only ‘creative’ ads win awards. You know the ones – you’re amazed how great they look but you couldn’t remember the product for the life of you. Or they’re so busy being creative they forget to tell you why you should buy their product in the first place. But the rewards in this game are in your bank account. Watching more and more dollars flood in as you methodically develop and continually improve your advertising.

That’s why direct response is the only advertising to use in your business. It works, and you can prove that it works.

Next week I’m going to give you a quick lesson on how to make your sales copy more visually appealing and easier on the eye.

All the best,

Hugh Thyer

www.salescomefirst.com

PS Go check out David Ogilvy on youtube. Not a whole lot there but what’s there is pure gold.

Sometimes I get the urge to help people. (Shhhh, don’t let too many people know.)

My latest victim was Helen who runs a training company. And she was having troubles getting people to sign up for her courses.

Now this was posted on a forum which I look at from time to time and most of the responses were typically about the way her website looked. There wasn’t much feedback on what it actually said.

So I pointed out the thing that, to me, seemed obvious. Her website didn’t talk about her prospects at all. It talked about her philosophy. What she does. And a lot about her awards and achievements in 2009.

Hopefully you’re saying ’sheesh’ right now. If you’re not, stay with me…

What she failed to do was talk about her prospects. What do they want from her courses? Do they want them to be delivered quicker? Cheaper? Do they want to learn more? What do they really want out of them? Do they genuinely want to learn, or do they just need the bit of paper for their job?

You see, Helen needs to get her prospect front and centre when she writes her advertising. Unfortunately she only seemed to have a mirror and wrote what SHE wanted to hear…about herself. But your advertising isn’t about you at all. You’re not buying your product. Your prospect is. So you have to spend your time getting inside their mind first. And then talk about what’s frustrating them, and what they really want.

Many of my regular subscribers have worked with me, and have seen my copywriting questionnaire. The main goal of this document is to get me inside your prospect’s head to know what to say in the copy. This gets their emotions, thoughts and frustrations in my mind when I write the copy, and this is what gets results.

As for Helen, I don’t know if she’s read my comments yet. I certainly hope she does and takes action on them because its going to make the difference between the very poor response she’s getting right now and making serious moolah.

All the best,

Hugh Thyer

Listen up folks, I’ve got something to tell you that really puts me (yes ME) at the bottom of the scrapheap. You see, I’m really not that important at all. That’s because the job of a copywriter is NOT to do all the work selling, it’s…

…putting all the pieces together!

That’s it. We can’t do much if we don’t have much, so if you want excellent results from a copywriter then don’t just give them a topic and ask for a sales package. It ain’t that simple.

We need information, lots and lots of information. And the most important of these is PROOF. In particular TESTIMONIALS. They can be written, audio or video. Because I can go on and on about how good a product is but you still wont buy. But if a friend of yours happens to mention to you that they used the product and found it great then hey presto…you’re buying it!

So yes, testimonials are critical in any sales package. So here are some hints…

1. Generally the more the merrier, but don’t go nuts. You need enough to prove your point but not so many that there are pages and pages of them.

2. If you don’t have a huge number then use them strategically. Well duh, how often do people go out to be UN-strategic. But seriously, use them so you get the best out of them. I just did a large package and only had 4 testimonials to work with. But with a bit of planning I pushed them a fair way. Like the last dregs of Vegemite in a jar, it’s amazing how far you can spread them around. Work out the points you’re trying to prove then use the testimonial that makes that case in that spot.

3. The real power of a testimonial is to prove a claim. So your sales letter should be ‘claim’ followed by ‘proof’. So try to get testimonials that tackle the claims you’re making and the objections people have.

4. Video testimonials are killing it at the moment. Even a landing page which is a headline, video and a few lines. Personally I don’t spend much time watching promotional videos online but I do know they’re hugely effective.

So keep in mind…people are far more likely to believe someone else than you. Get sources of proof from everywhere so you’ve got enough proof to make your sale.

Next week I’m going to reveal the most important thing to keep in mind when writing an advertisement. If you do your chances of success are massively increased. But if you don’t then you’re leaving a fortune on the table.

All the best,

Hugh Thyer

www.salescomefirst.com

<Are you looking for a copywriter for your next project? Contact Hugh at www.salescomefirst.com to discuss your needs>

I’ve been busy looking at heaps of promotions people have been writing and asking me to look at.

Last week I talked about one of the big mistakes I see. That’s not identifying the hook properly.

Here’s another one and I see it all the time.

Let me give you an example. I was chatting to somebody before Christmas and he had a product to do with the building industry. It was a hell of a product too. But here’s the thing. Because he’s working with an internet expert who’s coaching him what do you think he wanted to do with this product? Yep. Put it online.

OK OK I know. The internet is the way to go. Free traffic, zero cost delivery, all that jazz. But I reckon I can top that.

Here’s what I told him to do…

Grab a list of builders and architects from a list broker. Then write a letter to them offering the product and put it in the mail. Attach a grabber to it to get attention. Then send a couple more follow ups and even a phone call. Its a high dollar product so its worth it.

You see, its so hard to get his buyers to notice him online. And if his product converts well he can get to ALL of them really quickly. But online he can get a stronger message out there. Its far easier to ignore an email than a personally addressed envelope with something inside it.

Look. If you can get their address then take your campaign OFFLINE. You’ll get a much higher response and make heaps more money. And if your market isn’t huge then do everything you can to get to them.

But most of all, don’t obsess with doing everything online. There’s heaps more money to make with an offline campaign. Real letters, real books, real CDs and DVDs are seen as much more valuable, so you wont just get a higher response, you’ll get a higher price too.

To get more advanced, if you’ve got an online campaign then ask for their address. At least come up with some reason for getting their address if they’re buyers by sending them a bonus report or a CD/DVD or something like this. Then once you’ve got their address you can send them other promotions that’ll get mega-response.

So whenever you can, take your campaign offline. That’s where the REAL money is.

Next week I’m going to give you some advanced tips on testimonials. Sure you can whack them all in a box in your sales letter, but I’m going to show you where to use them correctly to get as much out of them as you can.

All the best,

Hugh Thyer

www.salescomefirst.com

<Are you looking for a copywriter for your next project? Contact Hugh at www.salescomefirst.com to discuss your needs>

I see a lot of sales letters that people have written. And I mean a LOT! Hey, if you want to see that number then jump onto some copywriting forums and check out the number of people looking for critiques. And not only that I get a heap across my desk every week to look at for people too.

And do you know what the biggest mistake I see is? Its the hook, or should I say the LACK of a hook. So what is a hook? Well, you might know it as the big idea or the ‘angle’. And its hard to put into words, but like love, you can’t describe it but you sure know it when you see it!

But the best way to describe it is that reason that’s going to get your prospect to whip out their credit card and give you their details. It could be a guarantee that nobody else offers. Perhaps your product or service helps your prospect in a way that no other product does. Maybe you run through your product in person, or your offer includes something that none of your competitors include.

Here are some famous hooks, and some ideas you can use:

- The secret of the one armed golfer

- The medical expert who blows the whistle on their industry

- The special ingredient in your product that has a story behind it

- An amazing secret revealed

- A mystery expert in your field who has revealed something never revealed before

- A rags to riches story.

I was talking to somebody today who’s sales letter was missing a hook. And so there was nothing to grab attention and make her product a ‘must have’. She had run an online survey to find out more about her prospects, but didn’t leave it up there long enough. If she runs her survey again I’m sure she’ll be able to get inside the mind of her prospects and pull out a really good hook that’ll get people buying.

So go back and think about your prospects again. Look at your product. What is unique about it? How will it help get exceptional results? What is that factor that makes it such a great product? Work hard on it. It’ll be worth it.

Next week I’ll tell you another common mistake I see, and how you can avoid this one too.

All the best,

Hugh Thyer

www.salescomefirst.com

<Are you looking for a copywriter for your next project? Contact Hugh at www.salescomefirst.com to discuss your needs>