Issue # 70, 17-Feb-2004
ISSN 1447-4956
Copyright 2004 Jason Anderson. All rights
reserved worldwide
http://www.achievenetprofits.com/
I hope this past week as treated you well.
Marina and I have managed to catch the latest
bug that's travelling around here. I only got a
minor touch (it hit me mid-Monday, although I'm
pretty much over it now), but Marina hasn't been
feeling too well for the last couple of
days.
I've heard from friends and co-workers that a
lot of people are coming down with it (some
quite badly), so if I get away with just my
day-and-a-bit dose, I'll be a very happy Jason!
:-)
(Although I don't think it's as bad as the
flu that was going around here 8-9 years ago
when I was at uni. Lectures that usually had
60-80 people in them were down to less than 10
people during one week!)
By the way, in case you missed it last week,
I've joined up with several other publishers to
take part in a new contest. The Great Creative
Fountain.Net eBiz Contest has a huge selection
of prizes up for grabs, and the lucky winner is
going to be very happy indeed!
Who knows, it could even be you. But only if
you enter!
http://www.creativefountain.net/ct/index.html
If you've ever thought about running a
contest, but don't know where to begin, I may be
able to help. I ran a contest last September
that pulled in 499 new subscribers for my
newsletter, and the newsletters of the other
publishers who took part. And they didn't all
just leave at the end of the contest - around
80% were still subscribed after one month.
While they take a bit of work to organize,
the results from running a contest can be well
worth it.
I wrote a free report on how I ran my contest
in September - what I did, what went right and
(more importantly) what went wrong and how I
would change it. You can grab yourself a copy
from
http://www.achievenetprofits.com/free/contestreport.zip
Leaving contests behind, I should tell you a
bit about the latest interview that has been
added to the membership site. The interview is
with Dan B. Cauthron.
You may not have heard of Dan, but Dan is a
well respected copywriter online who (unlike
many online marketers) has over 40 years of
experience in direct marketing. He has written
sales letters for many well known Internet
marketers, and he certainly knows what it takes
to make a "killer" sales letter.
The extract from his interview below was in
response to my question "what is the most
important part of the sales letter".
I'll bet a lot of your readers are
thinking, "the headline, of course." Well,
that's only part of the answer.
What's really most important is commonly
called in print publications the "top fold."
On the Net, that would be the first full
screen that appears when a visitor lands on
the webpage. That is where she will see the
headline, possibly a product graphic, and the
first couple of paragraphs of the sales
letter.
She will decide, based on what she sees in
that first screen, whether to give the offer
further investigation, or to click away to
another site.
At most, the site owner has just a few
seconds to pull the reader into his sales
message. This is why the "top fold" is the
most important part of the entire sales
letter.
Now, back to the headline for a minute.
Sure, it's THE big attention getter, but
don't expect the headline to stand on its own
in terms of getting a reader to commit a few
minutes to your sales message.
It must be backed up immediately by a
compelling message in the first paragraph -
to pull the visitor further into the sales
letter. If the first paragraph is lazy and
non-commital, chances are slim that the
visitor will ever make it to the order
button.
-- Dan B. Cauthron, http://DanBCauthron.com
(To read the full interview you need to
be a member of the Achieve Net Profits
membership site. You can join now by visiting
http://www.achievenetprofits.com
).
Sales letters will make or break your web site.
I'm well aware that my sales letter for the
membership isn't that great (which is why I'm
getting someone to write a new sales letter for
me as I type this :-) ).
My letter, as an example, makes the very
common mistake of talking about the features of
the membership site, and not the benefits. And
in the few places where I do talk about the
benefits, I don't carry it all the way (I talk
about the "immediate benefit" of the feature,
but don't carry it through to show the results
of that benefit).
Copywriting is an interesting skill. Almost
no one is "born" with it. Instead it is a skill
that is learned - if you are willing and able to
put the time into it.
There are countless free books, articles and
sites around that will teach you more about it.
Plus there are many books you can buy, and even
a couple of software tools that will help you
write your letter.
(I have a couple of the books, but I can't
recommend any particular one because most of
them are still in my "unread" folder! I know, I
know, rather stupid of me.)
Of course if you don't have time to learn
copywriting yourself you can always hire someone
else to do it. Dan is one person (and his prices
are very reasonable), but there are many others
as well. A quick search of Google would give you
a good starting point, or you could ask for
suggestions on a marketing forum.
Unless you are hiring someone based on a
recommendation from a friend, before you hire
any copywriter (especially ones that are asking
for a lot of money!), make sure you ask to see
samples of their work. You may also want to
contact a few of the people they have created
material for, and ask them yourself what they
thought of the result.
You may find that the copywriter wasn't
willing to at least listen to anything the
client said, didn't examine the product very
closely at all, and initially came up with
material that was totally inappropriate. Or they
might have taken months to do the work. These
are the types of things you want to know
beforehand! :-)
No matter what you end up doing, I hope your
sales increase from your improved sales
letter!
Till next week, I wish you all the best with
your online business.
Cheers,
Jason
"What is Success? To laugh often and much; to
win the respect of intelligent people and the
affection of children; to earn the appreciation
of honest critics and endure the betrayal of
false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the
best in others; to leave the world a bit better,
whether by healthy child, a garden patch, or a
redeemed social condition; to know even one life
has breathed easier because you have lived; this
is to have succeeded." -- Ralph Waldo
Emerson
Legal Stuff
Copyright 2004 Jason Anderson. All rights
reserved.
We accept no responsibility whatsoever for
the content, profitability or legality of any
published articles or advertisements contained
within Achieve Net Profits.
And, although all of the articles have been
selected for their content, the publishing of
such articles within this newsletter does NOT
constitute a recommendation of the products or
services mentioned or advertised within those
articles.
Be responsible! Always do your own Due
Diligence before responding to any offer.
