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| | The Internet Marketing Tools Network is not currently active and cannot accept new posts | | Let's "Retire" Killer Sales Letters | Views: 639 | | Jul 19, 2005 9:08 pm | | Let's "Retire" Killer Sales Letters | # | 
Garland Coulson | | Let's "Retire" Killer Sales Letters
You've seen them hundreds or thousands of time on the Internet.
The latest offer for an e-book, software or some other marketing system that
promises to make you money nearly overnight with very little work.
Often referred to as "Killer Sales Letters" almost all these
sites are constructed by very similar formulas promoted by a number of
"Internet Marketing Gurus" and their hopeful disciples.
The formula includes:
Emotionally charged headlines
Lots of benefit statements
Lots of hype
Lots of testimonials
Time limited offers and bonuses
What these killer sales letters rarely give you is enough
information to make an informed decision about your purchase!
Many people I talk to are tired of all the hype and want real
tools that really work. So, all you Internet marketers - here is your
chance to be different! Instead of being a "killer," be a resource.
Try this formula instead:
Give us a sample or free trial of the software
Show us examples of how it can be used
Give us videos or webcasts that demonstrate it
Explain it to us in non-hyped language
Give us a list of people using it we can contact to see
what they think
Garland
Coulson, "The E-Business Tutor"
Download my FREE e-book, "Promote
Your Web Site for Free"
Moderator,
Internet Marketing Tools Private Reply to Garland Coulson | | Jul 27, 2005 9:29 pm | | re: Let's "Retire" Killer Sales Letters | # | 
Kurt Schweitzer | | Garland,
Not everything is suitable for a free sample. For instance, Sound and Loving Care is a package of music and instructions customized for a particular dementia patient. As someone who is NOT suffering from dementia (at least according to the medical definition :-) ), when I listen to the music it sounds TERRIBLE to me! But when a dementia patient, especially the one for whom it's been customized, listens to it, they find it WONDERFUL!
While we don't offer free samples due to the effort involved in customizing the music, we DO offer a money-back guarantee.
Likewise it's tough to provide a video of how it's used, or even testimonials, due to HIPPA regulations and privacy concerns. Dementia is a medical condition, and it's illegal for us to even suggest that someone has it without them or their legal guardian approving the statement. And with the social stigma associated with the desease, few are willing to admit they or their loved ones have it. It's easier for people to admit to Alzheimer's desease, which is a leading cause of dementia, but even that's tough for people to acknowledge.
We are working to be a resource for dementia, but the main drawback of doing that is the time delay between putting information online and making any sales. Likewise, it's tough to focus the message on our product. People don't care about the product, they care about bettering their own lives. While our product will help our target customers, there is MUCH more that will help them than what we sell. If we only focus on what we sell, nobody will be interested in visiting the site!
I'm all in favor of getting rid of Killer Sales Letters, but I'm not sure what to replace them with.
Kurt Schweitzer
P.S. Sound and Loving Care can be found at http://soundandlovingcare.comPrivate Reply to Kurt Schweitzer | | Jul 28, 2005 3:45 pm | | re: Let's "Retire" Killer Sales Letters | # |
Garland Coulson | | Hello Kurt,
Of course, not every product or service lends itself to free samples.
But that doesn't mean a killer sales letter needs to be used instead.
The sales pitch can still be made in a professional, friendly fashion rather
than a hyped killer sales letter format. I think you could use video
testimonials with family permission. You could also provide
links to medical research that shows the effectiveness of your product..
The approach of setting up a site to help families of people suffering with
dementia is a good one, but t is very time consuming and resource intensive if your
main goal is to just to sell the one or two products of your own. You might be
better off to set up multiple product landing pages to test what wording
converts (and you can even try a killer sales letter format as one of them) and
then drive targeted traffic to the pages while tracking each type of marketing.
This will tell you what landing pages are most effective and what traffic
methods work best. Garland
Coulson, "The E-Business Tutor"
Download my FREE e-book, "Questions
to Ask Your Web Designer"
Moderator,
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