Chinese Copy Torture

[Moolah_Copywriting]

Yo -

I've been playing Electric Guitar for a few months now. I started to impress my wife...she said it would've been better to just fold a load of laundry.

Anyways -

I've been haunted by this guy's salesletter for months. He has me by the throat and I don't know why. I'm going to break soon - even though I know he's brainwashing me. What makes this letter so persuasive?

Break the code people! What's up?

Killer Guitar Control Secrets...

His emails rock too...

Stan

BTW: I'm not an affiliate - I just want to swipe this guy and know why I am doing it!

[Alex Cohen]

Stan, you tell us. What dominant emotion within you is he stirring up?

That's a darn good sales letter. Really nice. Story, establishes over-whelming value, irresistible offer.

The section where he describes his "ah-ha" moment is golden.

Alex

[Loren Woirhaye]

Simple. He's selling what you want.

He's also taking his time and writing a long letter that dramatizes
the benefits from many perspectives. If you have the space,
that's a good tactic.

The letter is targeted at people who are struggling with technical
and music theory issues. It's packaged up like some sort of
holy grail, a shortcut to effective playing.

There's no substitute for many, many hours of practice - but then
I play flamenco, which is a pretty challenging style. What he's
selling here is HOPE that the long process of getting proficient
can be short-cutted. Personally, I think the best shortcut is
to study music theory like a nerd and memorize the CAGED chord
forms in all positions and learn the note locations by name. That's
all there is to demystifying the fretboard - that and a lot of practice.

[Moolah_Copywriting]

#Alex
This cat is making me feel like I'm on the inside looking out. As if I have the bead on something extremely cool - "like a glitch in the Matrix".

Plus he gets across the whole "insider", "secret", "revealed", "discovered" schtick without sounding like a worn-out copywriting newbie.

Stan

[travlinguy]

Well Stan...
That is a compelling letter. But here's the thing. I doubt it would be seen that way to folks that don't have an interest in playing. I've been hacking around with a guitar since I was 15. That was 40 years ago. This guy's pitch got me going too. For a minute I was giddy thinking his stuff was going to turn me into Jeff Beck real fast.

But then I began to look at the letter in reference to your request. First, being a guitar player myself I understand how wild it would be to stand up before an audience and just completely own them with my crazy guitar skills. And this guy is making it sound like rolling off a log. But I've put in a lot of practice to get fluid on guitar and something is going against the grain.

So I went back and isolated several lines of copy. Here's the first one that's a bit dubious:

"If you want to improve your playing, quickly, without years of practice, or you just want to play awesome solos with intense passion and total control, then this is exactly what you've been looking for."

That's quite a promise. Playing guitar is a lot like copywriting or any art for that matter. It starts with some intrinsic skill and you build on it by playing and listening, playing and listening... mostly playing. This guy is talking about doing guitar magic tricks quickly, without years of practice... I've gotta wonder about that. It reeks of one of those "If it sounds too good to be true" statements.

Then he touches down to reality again:

These three components are
1) Essential Technique
2) Fretboard Knowledge
3) The "Brain-to-Hand" Connection

All true enough. And he's essentially saying that he's developed shortcuts to these elements.

This is his hook. It's almost like telling a med student that with my special Become an MD by Midnight Program, you can cut out all those pesky years of med school.

His main appeal is that he really knows his audience and he knows how bad it is that they want to be good and keeps pounding them with promises that, in my opinion, are going to be nearly impossible to keep. Here's some more:

Wait until you learn some of my simple shortcuts to mastering the fretboard. They'll take years off your learning curve.

And more:

Learn the "Master Keys" Rule. If you use this secret, it will save you so much time on the guitar, it's ridiculous. You'll sound like a seasoned pro WAY FASTER with this strategy (Learn it at 6:52).

I'd guess that this course is probably really good. But just like anything else you send away for (remember that? sending away for stuff? I remember sending away for sea monkeys from the back of a comic book. They looked so cool in the ad and they looked like little specks in real life) individual results may vary... Just my take.

BTW, if you get the course I'd love to hear what you think of it.

[Alex Cohen]

Originally Posted by Moolah_Copywriting

#Alex
This cat is making me fell like I'm on the inside looking out. As if I have the bead on something extremely cool - "like a glitch in the Matrix".

Plus he gets across the whole "insider", "secret", "revealed", "discovered" schtick without sounding like a worn-out copywriting newbie.

Stan

That's a very strong emotion Stan. The fact that you know persuasion is being used and still want the product, proves the point.

Been there, done that. And will again I'm sure. :-)

Alex

[DougBarger]

I spotted at least two changes he can make to increase conversions.

In the sub-head where he says "tons more secrets"

If it has a specific number there, I believe it will increase the perceived value.

Also after all the testimonials at the bottom of the page,
where the links are, if he would put a blue underlined link
to order and a call to action with the anchor text,

it willpick up the folks who scanned to the bottom who would
order if they saw the call to action prompting them.

Furthermore, I spotted an area where I believe he
could drive curiosity and desire sky high

and get a flood of more orders by doing something
he almost did with the 3rd secret.

You know how he introduces the 3rd secret

and then says something like, "Yep, I'm talking about _____"

I think it is the mind to hand link.

Before I saw the secret revealed, I experienced an
intense desire to know what it was and I mean
one that would get me buying just to see what
the secret was, but then he gave it away
in the text and it was like, "yeah, ok, whatever, no big deal."

So if he can find a way to use that "blind copy"
where he doesn't give away the goods
and builds up the benefits without giving away what it is,

he'll get an almost instant increase in sales conversions,
I believe, due to the reader wanting to buy just to
satisfy his pent-up curiosity.

I'm glad you shared it as it made for some interesting
reading. It's been a few years since I played too.

[Moolah_Copywriting]

Ok, here comes the twist...

This letter uses a "Quiz" page on Learn Guitar Chords and Go From Zero to Guitar Hero in Record Time...
that takes the users answers and serves up a slightly custom letter when they submit the quiz. That's how I think it works anyway.

Anybody have any success using this 2 step process for targeting the copy?

Stan

[RickDuris]

Being a guitar player since age 8, all I can add is that letter probably inspires new folks. That's my guess. Folks who probably just don't know how difficult it is to master the instrument.

What he's advocating, the training, you can find on youtube.com in an instant. I realize the copy is over the top, but being "experienced" (no, not in a Jimi Hendrix sort of way ) I am not convinced by any stretch of the imagination.

(But maybe I have insider information. )

For instance. Watch this man:

YouTube- Broadcast Yourself.

This man inspired BB King, and in fact, they were cousins. But BB couldn't duplicate and had to find his own way.

He did.

When I see stuff like this, I am entranced. That slapping S*** blows me away.

I have never seen but of a couple of musicians in my life, (and I'm over 50) pull this off.

Shredders? Dime a dozen. EVH, YM, JS, EC or CS posers. But THIS? Oh my goodness! His head and his hands look so not connected.

The music? Ethereal. Takes you to another world.

- Rick Duris

PS: If I sound like thumping my chest a bit at all, I am not. Please don't misinterpret. I just love people who are common geniuses. Booker White was one of them. And few will ever know, unless I spread the word.

[hayman]

It is all about promise. And he maintains that it is not its difficult but you just need some extra hand. Which is his sales copy !

[Scott Murdaugh]

Originally Posted by Moolah_Copywriting

Ok, here comes the twist...

This letter uses a "Quiz" page on Learn Guitar Chords and Go From Zero to Guitar Hero in Record Time...
that takes the users answers and serves up a slightly custom letter when they submit the quiz. That's how I think it works anyway.

Anybody have any success using this 2 step process for targeting the copy?

Stan

Never used it, but I could see it being effective.

I filled out the form out of curiosity. I chose "country" just to see if it'd be personalized, but I still see Hendrix and Satriani in the headline... Or maybe he's just psychic and knows I actually listen to/play blues and rock, but I doubt it.

I think a quiz could be an effective tool if it were used correctly. Maybe he's sending me some emails with some country tips, I dunno.

I just Googled and found Optin Quiz Generator - Create Quiz Landing Pages - Email Opt-In Suvey Forms... Doesn't look like you can set it up to send them to different lists or sales letters based on their answers.

It'd be awesome if you could customize the marketing to match quiz answers.

As far as the letter goes, I play guitar and it doesn't do much for me. I even dig every artist he mentions on the page.

I just don't believe him. And I don't think that's because I write copy... I don't think I would have believed it 15 years ago either.

It's almost like he's playing curiosity too hard and being too vague about everything, such as...

How to avoid the biggest mistake that 99% of guitarists make. Save yourself the years of heartbreaking frustration that most guitarists experience because of it

99% of guitar players are making a huge mistake and they don't know it? O'really?

Then again, when you're in "learning mode" on guitar and looking for shortcuts, I can see the appeal. It's also doing something for you, so it's doing the job on some level.

That's what makes this whole marketing thing a lot of fun.

Ooh... I do like his order page though He's got continuity in mind.

Peace,

-Scott

[Ken Strong]

Originally Posted by Moolah_Copywriting

This cat is making me feel like I'm on the inside looking out. As if I have the bead on something extremely cool - "like a glitch in the Matrix".

Very cool way of putting it -- I'm going to remember that when I'm writing.

[zoneinfinite]

Ok I know we're talking about copyrighting here but I thought his guitar playing and sound recording was absolutely HORRIBLE! I listen to alot of instrumental guitar music by guitar virtuosos, and he's definitely not one of them. Oh well he's probably sold dozens of copies to newbies who don't know better...there are so many other better guitar resources online.

Moral of the story: Marketing and sales copy really make all the difference. And it's sad that many IM-ers come up with products like this when they don't have a CLUE about the topic they're teaching. Just listen to the licks he was playing in the sound clips! It's amateurish sounding to anyone who plays guitar. I won't bother with his far-fetched claims and promises. NOBODY learns guitar like some magic pill.

Sorry had to rant a little. It's just kinda disappointing that I see a lot of junk sold online and blatantly false advertising.

[Bret Ferguson]

Ok I'll preface this with "I'm not a copywrite guy" but I am a guitar player. I thought the headline was long for me. (Is shock and awe good copywrite? I know "power" words are good but.....) I've played for a long time and would not buy this product.

One thing was his video, horrible guitar tone and to be honest his playing was a little sloppy. His playing didn't grab me at all. His sound samples again, guitar tone ick......
To me if you're selling a guitar product you would want to put your best out there. In other words if his playing is like that can I expect the rest of his product to be the same? No, he doesn't suck, but it's certainly not inspiring either. Sorry my 2 cents.

@Rick - Guys like Booker White, BB King, Larry Carlton etc. etc. all the "great ones" make playing look easy until you try it. From feel, to tone, style. Not easy.

Here is a link to some playing I've done click me these songs were done about 5 years ago. New CD coming out in 3 months though. (shameless plug) Gotta go practice now!

Have a great day!

[Moolah_Copywriting]

Sounds like the consensus is that the page appeals to people who "don't know any better" like me. But, the video unravels his claims along with the hyperbole...