Righto. What’s *In* a Sales Page, Then?
Find Out What You Need On Your Sales Page
Give Your Sales and Program Numbers a 10%, 20% Even 30% Boost -- Without Spinning Your Wheels
“As long as it takes to make close the deal.”
That’s how long your sales page needs to be. I’m in the middle of writing copy for a program that launches at the end of January, and when my clients got their first draft of the sales page, they nearly fell over.
“It’s so long!”
As long as it takes. And the tests bear this out – when it comes to selling, longer copy works better. But only if you’re covering all your bases. That is, what your ideal clients need to know before they feel great about signing up for a program or buying something from you.
Here’s a little trick I use to get my head around what those “bases” are. I’m big on reusing stuff, so I cut my stack of 8 ½ x 11 scratch paper into quarters – but you can use 3x5 cards.
And empty your brain about your program, info, product, event, or service, taking one card (or more) for each item below. Forget full sentences – bullets are great.
1) What’s the problem?
2) Why hasn’t the problem been solved yet?
3) Your solution & why it works
4) A 5-sense description of the outcome of your solution
5) What people will get, learn or discover when they use your solution (ideas, knowledge, outcomes)
6) What’s included in the cost (“things”, products, time with you)?
7) What people should do now? (Your “call to action”)
Your guarantee – how do you take the risk out of trying it out?
Yes, Virginia, there is a lot more to it than that. But this is the first step to creating solid copy that moves people towards signing up with – or buying from – you. And that can dramatically improve the number of people who do what you’re inviting them to do.
This post is the second in a 6-part series on using the web to fill your programs and practice and sell out of your products. Coming up next: Why Your Website Isn't Selling Now... and How to Fix It
No, Really. What’s a Sales Page?
The Savvy Biz Owner’s Guide to 4 Kinds of Web Pages
Getting people to sign up for your programs, calls, and events using your website is like travel in a foreign country.
Even if you’re not fluent in the local language, it pays to know a few key phrases. (Keeps the locals with messing with you too much. Lets them know YOU know enough to be hip to their scams.)
Which is why every savvy business owner who’s using their website to sell their products and fill their practice needs to know the web page lingo.
The 4 key kinds of web pages are:
1) Landing page
Folks click on an ad, or a link you’ve put at the bottom of an article with your bio, or a link you’ve included in a video that you’re sharing with your list or promotional partners… and that ad or link sends them to your landing page. Usually, it’s not your homepage. It’s more targeted, based on the ad or link, and gives them more info on the subject, or it’s a…
2) Squeeze page
This is a special kind of landing page, whose whole goal is to collect names and email addresses. It’s different from including an opt-in box on your homepage, because there are probably other things a visitor could choose to do on your homepage – like click on another page, or interact with your site without giving you their information. A squeeze page doesn’t have those other options. It’s all about collecting info, so you can follow up and build a relationship with that person.
3) Sales page
These are those super-long web pages with headlines, bullets, objections answered, testimonials, and all the fixins’ that the big dogs charge $25,000 or $10,000 to write. A sales page essentially takes readers through a whole sales process. Yes, they are long – long gets better results. There are several “buy now” button on the page, where people buy direct from the page.
4) “Regular Joe” page
Under this category are all the other web pages. Your homepage. Your About Us page. A description of your program or services, with a “call to action” to contact you by phone or email to schedule a first session and get started with you. Usually, these pages are purely informational, but it’s easy to add more ways visitors can get to know, like and trust you before they sign up for a program, or buy a product.
This post is the first in a 6-part series on using the web to fill your programs and practice and sell out of your products. Coming up next: all the little parts of a sales page... and how to easily put the parts together for a sales page that sells.
3 Ways To Jump Start Your Neglected Mailing List
Has it been awhile since your mailing list has heard from you?
In this age of perpetual messaging, it’s tempting to convince ourselves that we don’t want to “clutter” the inboxes of our clients and contacts with yet another self-promoting email. And that by abstaining, we’re taking the high road.
But how much business do you think NOT SENDING an email will get you?
Which is why I say, go ahead, send emails to your mailing list. Just make sure those emails are welcome, entertaining, and useful.
As I talk with business owners across the country about their lists, this is what I hear most often:
- “I’ve got a mailing list, but don’t really use it”
If this is the case, you are missing a golden opportunity to connect and build relationships with people who have already told you they would like to hear more from you. The good news is that now is a great time to reconnect.
Your next action>> Get to the bottom of what’s keeping you from communicating with your list. Worried about being just another spammer? Brainstorm what valuable content and advice you can share that will absolutely help others, and then make a commitment to sharing it. It really is that simple.
- “I started off the year writing my blog, but then I just kind of stopped.”
I hear this all the time from coaches and business owners. There’s so much to do in a day, and sitting down to write tends to fall to the bottom of the list.
Your next action>> Are you sure that keeping a blog is the strategy for you? Sharing what you know isn’t a one-size-fits-all thing. Maybe you’re more of a top-of-mind tweeter, or would prefer to post a video every month – or every week— instead. That's fine! Then the second step is sharing this rich content with your list. Even if you don’t have an enewsletter, be sure to mail out a curiosity-stirring “preview” of your latest topic to your list… so you know you’ve got an audience!
- “I want to send a New Year’s (or holiday) email to my clients & contacts.”
Many of my clients have been asking me to write a short email sending greetings to their network. This is the perfect time of year for this kind of email.
Your next action>> Don’t stop at season’s greetings. Think about one problem that you can help your clients & contacts solve right now. And include a “call to action”, inviting readers to take you up on your tantalizing offer. Even if it’s something as simple as setting up a first session. Who knows? Your reader may be in the midst of trying to solve a problem that you can help them with – and they’d be delighted to hear that you’re ready, capable and willing to serve!
The real art of sending emails is to send something that is more gift that grift. A message that is heartfelt, entertaining, and valuable is actually a rare and wonderful thing to receive.
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I’m currently offering a limited number of email broadcast packages this month. And there are 3 spots left. It’s $250 for copywriting for your custom email broadcast, which includes a “2 Heads are Better Than 1” strategy consult with me to help you come up with your tantalizing offer and give you some good ideas about strengthening your connection with your list in the year ahead. Claim your spot before Friday, December 17 and get $75 off.
Letter to a DIY Copywriter
Dear Do-It-Yourself Copywriter,
Stella here. I've just got a few thoughts about writing copy that sells. As far as connecting with the "pain" of your ideal clients... it's simpler than they make it sound. Three points here:
1. It's all about making an emotional connection. This is where the pain/promise thing comes in. If you think of copy like an opera, act 1 is the agony, act 2 is the ideal, and act 3 is the call to action. (I don't know how many acts are in operas, but you get the idea). Make a list of the 20 things all your clients complain most about when it comes to losing weight. Then make a list of the 20 things they all want instead. That's it!!
2. Write like you talk. Don't fret about sounding unprofessional - you won't. Don't worry about all the rules you don't know about writing copy - most folks follow them and their copy still stinks. The real thing is being enthusiastic, and confident about knowing the terrain your ideal client is walking through, and showing your authentic confidence about helping them get to their goals. If you keep thinking of your copy like an opera, or a story, that can help. You're taking people on a journey, walking through the forest of all these scary things that they are tired of, that they worry about, that they wish were different. Then, the sun comes out, the birds start singing, and their dreams actually start happening! Fantastic! And then while they're feeling hopeful, you ride in -- confident, charming, trustworthy-- on your trusty white steed and say: "you like that? then follow me!"
3. This is going to sound woo. But it's true, so I'll risk it. Words are energy. Reading is hypnotic, so it's not *really* about finding the Right Words, it's more about getting into character and being a shining, charming, confident, likable, trustworthy person -- and really writing from there. Imagine you're talking to your favorite client. You know you can help them. You know what they need to do. And man, you just like talking with them! Picture that conversation, tune into it, and then write it down.
That's all it is. Sharing your enthusiasm with others, and grounding it in evidence so you can back up all your claims. Phew!
Good luck, and let me know how it goes.
Stella
Rice balls, stuttering, and filling your programs
Move over, sugarplums!
Are images of next year’s programs dancing in your head?
As the year winds down, many coaches, speakers, and service professionals are in full-swing planning mode for next year’s programming.
And no doubt your program is awesome – and you are fired up about how much it’s going to help people reach their goals.
There’s just one big catch to filling that great program up.
My dad first taught me about this. In my twenties, I did a lot of long distance cycling. One spring break, my friend CB and I decided to ship our bikes over to Japan and ride around the Japanese countryside for two weeks.
Now, I had lived in Japan for a year after college, and still had friends there. We’d start with them, in a little village on the island of Kyushu where I used to teach English.
My friend Ikari would help us buy the right maps to head in the general direction of Tokyo (crash course in reading Japanese maps and road signs: figure out what each character looks like. For example, my Japanese village was “suitcase/space invader.” My friend lived in “mountain/helicopter.”) Two weeks later, we would somehow find our way to Narita.
The rest, we figured, would take care of itself.
Enter my papa, who only had one question: what’s your p-p-p-plan?
(Normally, he isn’t a man who stutters. But this is a guy who orders at the fast food drive through window with a thick, fake accent. What can I say? He knows how to amuse himself.)
At the time, I revolted. Plan?! We are going on an adventure: why on earth would we need a plan?! What are you trying to do, kill our spontaneity?
Which would explain why, 2 days before our flight back to the U.S., we found ourselves swigging sake and eating rice balls at a festival 185 miles northeast of Tokyo.
It ended up being nothing a last-minute bus ticket couldn’t fix. But when it comes to filling your programs, practice, and preview calls – or selling out of your latest product – there are no last-minute bus tickets.
An email campaign typically starts 5 weeks before you intend to start your program, event, or sale. And if you also plan to do a preview call, you need to have your registration page up and ready to go on your website by the time that first email goes out.
So, if you are organized – and a fast writer who knows what you need to write – you will need at least a 7 weeks’ head start to get your marketing in line. So get p-p-p-planning on your marketing messages now for those late January and early February launches.
