What I am Learning about Sales Pages

ok- to continue our discussion about sales pages…….

I’ve been doing a TON of research on sales pages. Good ones, bad ones, elements that work, verbiage that sucks, etc. And if I’ve learned anything, it is this:

Though we complain about sales pages, we do want someone to help us make a buying decision. And it isn’t so much the length of the sales page that makes or breaks that deal. It is what the page contains.

- Is it warm?
- Is it full of the same old bs?
- Does it respect and even love – the reader to an infinite degree?
- Does it have personality?
- Does it further the relationship (assuming there is a relationship in place?)
- Is it just a cookie cutter of lots of other sales pages?
- Is the information presented in a way that works for a variety of intake styles?
- Does it convert? (Because it can be an awesome looking/reading page but if it isn’t making sales, all it is is interesting reading.)

These are just some of the questions that have come up in the many discussions I’ve been having about sales pages.

I’ve also come across some that defy the odds and it get oh-so-right. For your learning pleasure, I will share them:

Well, the first one, I can’t show you because he took it down after his amazing 24 hours. BUT, I can show you Jonathan Field’s breakdown of Chris Guillebeau’s Empire Builder’s Kit Sales Page. You will learn a LOT: http://www.jonathanfields.com/blog/empire-building-kit-behind-the-launch/

ElizabethPW’s sales page for Build Your Tribe: http://elizabethpottsweinstein.com/buildyourtribe/

Catherine Caine’s Awesome Fear Wrangling course: http://www.beawesomeonline.com/awesome-courses/awesome-fear-wrangling

Pace and Kyeli Smith’s World-Changing Writing: http://worldchangingwriting.com/

Charlie Gilkey’s and Jonathan Meade’s Dojo Guide: http://thedojoguide.com/

None of these are sales pages for I am working on – a live event. Sadly most of these a still lame-o. But after the Ustream Tribe meeting last night (mark your calendar for Tuesday’s at 8:30 pm EST), I have some ideas. But chances are, it will LOOK like a sales page (I’m done trying to figure out how do something amazing and clever).

Will you like it? Will it speak to you? Will it convert?

That remains to be seen…..

Now, in your comments I would love to hear about what you think makes a sales page work and if you have examples, that would be great too.

Here’s to being awesome!

(P.S. My newest 30 Day Series will start on July 1. Sign up for 30 Days to Irresistible Presence here: http://bit.ly/irresistiblepresence

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010 at 12:27 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

http://www.giuliettathemuse.com/blog giulietta
Hi Sarah,
At this point, anything that doesn’t look like a template. It’s all feeling the same, so I’m craving unique, heartfelt in whatever way that person chooses to embody it.
Also, some indication it will make a difference in my biz or non-biz life. this is the clincher. if it doesn’t solve my issue, it will not appeal to me.
thanks! Giulietta
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http://www.soundbiteshaman.com/ Isabel Parlett
Too funny this is in the air!I just did a blog post on this: http://soundbiteshaman.com/who-says-sales-pages…Mark Silver just did a post on this.I think it’s wonderful to see so many smart people grappling with the question of how to be effective given how many people “hate” long sales pages.I so agree that it’s not about the length as much as the quality of the content.I am just prepping a new report/video series on “The Five Marketing Techniques You’ve Sworn You’ll Never Use, And How to Use them with Humor, Heart, and Authenticity” — and long sales pages is one of the ones I want to talk and write more about Isabel
http://www.giuliettathemuse.com/blog giulietta
Hi Sarah,
At this point, anything that doesn't look like a template. It's all feeling the same, so I'm craving unique, heartfelt in whatever way that person chooses to embody it.
Also, some indication it will make a difference in my biz or non-biz life. this is the clincher. if it doesn't solve my issue, it will not appeal to me.
thanks! Giulietta
http://www.soundbiteshaman.com/ Isabel Parlett
Too funny this is in the air!
I just did a blog post on this: http://soundbiteshaman.com/who-says-sales-pages…
Mark Silver just did a post on this.
I think it's wonderful to see so many smart people grappling with the question of how to be effective given how many people “hate” long sales pages.
I so agree that it's not about the length as much as the quality of the content.
I am just prepping a new report/video series on “The Five Marketing Techniques You've Sworn You'll Never Use, And How to Use them with Humor, Heart, and Authenticity”
Isabel
Anonymous
While I know very little about sales pages, I took a moment to think about which offers I’ve taken, which products (people) I’ve purchased. I made a comment to EPW recently that I don’t like being sold. And I really really don’t. And what I mean by this is…you can’t fool me. So please don’t. I guess what I like is simplicity. Do what you do well- get it out there, and don’t try to convert me too much. Does this sound a little crabby?
http://www.boutiquewebsitesforsale.com Christine Walker
This post could be a your sales letter, or close to it. Something simple that gets your points across, and helps you sell your product or event.
http://worldchangingwriting.com Pace Smith
I’m glad you liked the World-Changing Writing page, Sarah. I worked on it for about a week, trying to make it effective but not cheesy or sleazy. I’m still learning about how to write sales pages too — I started by looking at two sales pages and coming up with an outline that was kind of a cross between the two. I picked one that was an old-school marketing sales page and one that had a lot of heart (one of Havi’s). I only used those for an outline, though; I didn’t crib any actual copy from them. So I think your approach is a great one! (:
Apparently I’m doing something right, because it’s converting quite well. We have 100 registrants for the workshop so far. I don’t know off the top of my head how many website visits, so I can’t give you a percentage, but I’m very pleased.
So, here’s what I’ve learned so far about what makes a sales page work.
Begin with the problem you solve. Write a headline that gets people to click and/or read further.
Tell a story of how someone like your reader can become someone who now has this problem solved. This may be a story from your own life.
State the basics clearly. Tell people near the beginning exactly what it is you’re offering and what they will get if they buy it. Repeat it later using different words. Repeat it one more time near the end.
Be authentic. You’re trying to help people by providing something of value. You think it’s awesome and you’re excited about it. Let that shine through.
Use pictures. Photographs show that there is a real person behind this web page.
Create an anchor before you show the price.
Social proof. Testimonials, how many people have signed up so far, quote people who are talking about it, or something of the sort.
Show that your heart is in the right place by offering to help people for free if they don’t want to buy. Their free thing can even be on a mailing list if you want, and that makes it easier for them to change their minds later if they decide to buy.
Offer bonuses. If you have two things for sale, people will buy more of them if you sell it as “Buy Thing 1 and get Thing 2 free” than if you just sell the two things straightforwardly. It’s weird but true. And if the thing you sell is helping people and you give them a chance to change their minds, I don’t think it’s underhanded to do that sort of thing.
Speak to the resistance. Your potential customers/clients are afraid. They’re afraid of getting ripped off, they’re afraid of taking a chance on you and feeling like a doofus if they don’t like what they bought, they’re afraid of all sorts of things you can barely imagine. Address as many of those fears as you can. A no-questions-asked 100% money-back guarantee will help address a lot of those fears, but it still won’t address the fear of feeling like a rube who made a poor buying decision and now has to embarrassingly ask for her money back.
End with a call to action.
Hope this helps! I’m no expert by any means, but these are some of the key points I’ve picked up from my various learnings across the interwebs. Best of luck!
-Pace
meganmatthieson
While I know very little about sales pages, I took a moment to think about which offers I've taken, which products (people) I've purchased. I made a comment to EPW recently that I don't like being sold. And I really really don't. And what I mean by this is…you can't fool me. So please don't. I guess what I like is simplicity. Do what you do well- get it out there, and don't try to convert me too much. Does this sound a little crabby?
http://www.boutiquewebsitesforsale.com Christine Walker
This post could be a your sales letter, or close to it. Something simple that gets your points across, and helps you sell your product or event.
http://worldchangingwriting.com Pace Smith
I'm glad you liked the World-Changing Writing page, Sarah. I worked on it for about a week, trying to make it effective but not cheesy or sleazy. I'm still learning about how to write sales pages too — I started by looking at two sales pages and coming up with an outline that was kind of a cross between the two. I picked one that was an old-school marketing sales page and one that had a lot of heart (one of Havi's). I only used those for an outline, though; I didn't crib any actual copy from them. So I think your approach is a great one! (:
Apparently I'm doing something right, because it's converting quite well. We have 100 registrants for the workshop so far. I don't know off the top of my head how many website visits, so I can't give you a percentage, but I'm very pleased.
So, here's what I've learned so far about what makes a sales page work.
Begin with the problem you solve. Write a headline that gets people to click and/or read further.
Tell a story of how someone like your reader can become someone who now has this problem solved. This may be a story from your own life.
State the basics clearly. Tell people near the beginning exactly what it is you're offering and what they will get if they buy it. Repeat it later using different words. Repeat it one more time near the end.
Be authentic. You're trying to help people by providing something of value. You think it's awesome and you're excited about it. Let that shine through.
Use pictures. Photographs show that there is a real person behind this web page.
Create an anchor before you show the price.
Social proof. Testimonials, how many people have signed up so far, quote people who are talking about it, or something of the sort.
Show that your heart is in the right place by offering to help people for free if they don't want to buy. Their free thing can even be on a mailing list if you want, and that makes it easier for them to change their minds later if they decide to buy.
Offer bonuses. If you have two things for sale, people will buy more of them if you sell it as “Buy Thing 1 and get Thing 2 free” than if you just sell the two things straightforwardly. It's weird but true. And if the thing you sell is helping people and you give them a chance to change their minds, I don't think it's underhanded to do that sort of thing.
Speak to the resistance. Your potential customers/clients are afraid. They're afraid of getting ripped off, they're afraid of taking a chance on you and feeling like a doofus if they don't like what they bought, they're afraid of all sorts of things you can barely imagine. Address as many of those fears as you can. A no-questions-asked 100% money-back guarantee will help address a lot of those fears, but it still won't address the fear of feeling like a rube who made a poor buying decision and now has to embarrassingly ask for her money back.
End with a call to action.
Hope this helps! I'm no expert by any means, but these are some of the key points I've picked up from my various learnings across the interwebs. Best of luck!
-Pace
http://www.sundaynightsuccess.com Jeremie
Everyone has such different preferences I think you are always going to win people and lose people with your sales pages.
My two personal wishes (and I am pretty sure they both break sales page rules):
1. List the price before I have to do any scrolling. It drives me nuts when I have to continuously scroll down the page to finally find the price. I am not reading any of your copy when I do this, I am just looking for a price so I can decide if I can afford to read everything else. So, I wish people would just give a price upfront. I find it even more annoying when the price is nowhere on the sales page and I have to click through to a shopping cart just to find out the price.
2. Make me scroll down no more than once or twice. Any more than this and I don’t tend to read the rest of what is written. If I am not interested after a couple of flicks of my finger on the old trackpad, then the rest isn’t going to convince me either.
I know there is tons of research on why not to do both of these, but those are my wishes, rules or not. Now, I imagine once I do some of my own sales pages like this, and don’t get good conversion rate, I may sing a different tune, but I will cross that bridge when I get to it.
Forget the rules and do what feels right Sarah!
Jeremie
http://www.sundaynightsuccess.com Jeremie
Everyone has such different preferences I think you are always going to win people and lose people with your sales pages.
My two personal wishes (and I am pretty sure they both break sales page rules):
1. List the price before I have to do any scrolling. It drives me nuts when I have to continuously scroll down the page to finally find the price. I am not reading any of your copy when I do this, I am just looking for a price so I can decide if I can afford to read everything else. So, I wish people would just give a price upfront. I find it even more annoying when the price is nowhere on the sales page and I have to click through to a shopping cart just to find out the price.
2. Make me scroll down no more than once or twice. Any more than this and I don't tend to read the rest of what is written. If I am not interested after a couple of flicks of my finger on the old trackpad, then the rest isn't going to convince me either.
I know there is tons of research on why not to do both of these, but those are my wishes, rules or not. Now, I imagine once I do some of my own sales pages like this, and don't get good conversion rate, I may sing a different tune, but I will cross that bridge when I get to it.
Forget the rules and do what feels right Sarah!
Jeremie
http://katytafoya.com Katy Tafoya
I loved this post (and I loved Pace’s reply). I’m in the process of creating my own non-salesy, salespage (I hate the term “squeeze page”). I bookmarked a couple too look through – a “you’re in” response from Havi, a Naomi/Sonia marketing for nice people (sadly, the original page has expired – though there is a cache’d version that works) and another one by Christine Kane. Hopefully, I can create something just as casual, authentic and ME as they all did.
http://katytafoya.com Katy Tafoya
I loved this post (and I loved Pace's reply). I'm in the process of creating my own non-salesy, salespage (I hate the term “squeeze page”). I bookmarked a couple too look through – a “you're in” response from Havi, a Naomi/Sonia marketing for nice people (sadly, the original page has expired – though there is a cache'd version that works) and another one by Christine Kane. Hopefully, I can create something just as casual, authentic and ME as they all did.

Escaping Mediocrity