Long Sales Letters?

[cfrey]

Why does it seem that everyone who has something to sell creates very LONG sales letters? Are they proven to work very well?

I have learned a lot about sales promotion in my career, as well as web page usability. Considering both those disciplines, it would seem that really long sales letters would have poor "usability."

Could someone please educate me on why this format of promotion works?

Thanks!

[Sbabb]

They work, plain and simple.

On-line you'll see them on e-product sites all the time. The format is often called a "mini-site" and it works well.

In magazines the equivalent is the full-page ad crammed with text. These have been around forever, selling all kinds of products. Zillions of pairs of Blu-blocker sunglasses were sold this way. Sharper Image started out with ads like these.

In direct mail you'll see HUGE multi-page ads for some products. Rodale Books will often send me these large ad packages for their products.

The long-form sales letter is the mainstay of the big names in marketing and advertising like Jay Abraham, Dan Kennedy, Gary Halbert, etc. but it's been around a lot longer than they have. Advertising pioneers like Claude Hopkins and John Caples were using it decades ago.

"Usability" in the traditional website sense really isn't a factor, since the object is not to be a reference or entertainment site. The object is to sell immediately. The long-form sales letter (or mini-site) is effective at doing that because it describes the product, describes benefits that the product brings to the buyer, addresses objections to purchasing, includes customer testimonials to build credibility, describes "bonuses" that are included to build excitement, and asks for the sale. The really effective ones have a judicious use of neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) techniques to try to nudge the reader toward buying.

(Yes, I've studied this a little, too ;) I suppose I should expand that last paragraph into a 130 page e-book and charge $37 for it like dozens of other people do ;) )

[Joel Comm]

(Yes, I've studied this a little, too ;) I suppose I should expand that last paragraph into a 130 page e-book and charge $37 for it like dozens of other people do ;) )

You have no idea how true this statement is.

Joel

[Mommy2GG]

I've been thinking about starting the sales letter/mini sites websites and after reading this I think I will for sure.

[Sbabb]

You have no idea how true this statement is.

Joel

Sadly, I do know how true it is. There are a LOT of hacks out there calling themselves an "Internet Marketing Wizard(tm)" with little more than a quick read through Cory Rudl's (peace, Cory) course and maybe a listen to Dan Kennedy's Magnetic Marketing tapes as qualifications.

I've considered putting out yet another marketing e-book, but the field is WAY over saturated. I'm pretty good with the NLP end of it, which is something I seldom find among the "gurus" out there, but everyone claims to be a NLP wizard, too, so that's not going to make me stand out from the crowd.

For now I'll try my hand at building an affiliate site with a lot of AdSense thrown in and see how I do. I didn't know how profitable AdSense could be until I listened in on your call with Yanik Silver and then bought your book. (Speaking of which, I need to slap him upside the head for not telling us where this forum was. I found it on my own, even though he promised to tell us where it is and where a Mastermind group is. Ah well, he's a busy guy.)

I did a TON of keyword research before I registered a domain today. I'm going to start building an affiliate & AdSense site starting tomorrow. I'm thinking of keeping a "site diary" to document how it goes so that I'll have something useful to contribute when people ask "how long does it take before [Google indexes/I make money/my PageRank changes/traffic picks up/etc.]"

Thanks for the great book and forum, Joel!


Scott

[Adcents]

Mmmm,

I've often pondered about the validity of using such long winded sales copy on these 'mini-sites' too.

I'm from the UK, where such sales copy is not really used that much, but hey what do us island dwellers know, we have not sold millions and millions of widgets (or whatever) via the Net.

The thing is do they REALLY work?

What's the BEST way to sell?

How many Customers get bored and click away from mini sites?

How many Customers don't even read them and skip straight to the "Buy Now!" section at the bottom (well, before the PS, the PPS and the PPS part).

Sure, we think they work well because they are the only sales channel available.

But what if we actually asked our Customers the killer question, "How do you prefer to be sold to...?"
Interesting thought eh!

We have cookie technology now to recognise individual Customers and if we captured their preferences -we could taylor their sales experience.

There are options (just off the top of my head):-

a. I prefer to have loads of detail, as much as possible before I buy
b. I prefer to read how it's helped others first, then make my mind up
c. I prefer just to get the headlines, buy it, and if I don't like it then I can get my money back (or perhaps some of it at least)
d. I just want to get a feel for it / read some sample chapters / feel good and buy it

[Interestingly, the mini-site tries to do all of the above!]

Let's think about how we buy books in stores (browse, flick through, spot something interesting, like the cover, like the author, bamm! book bought) and the Amazon experience is similar.

So, How do you like to be sold to? :D