No Testimonials, the author is "Nobody" in the niche - but it seems selling well

[ikuret75]

Hi,
there is an info product which seems selling well (judging from numbers of articles by affiliates). It is about "mind controlling" by hypnosis.

The interesting thing is, the author is just nobody in the niche.
He is not a hypnotist himself. He says he learned all the techniques from a leader of a "secret society" of hypnosis who is a master practitioner of NLP.It does not say who he actually is. rather, he says he was asked to promise to "never reveal their true identity".

From what I learned about copywriting, testimonials are kind of a must. You are to show your picture (or video or audio) and get people feel familiar with you. It's better if you have something by that a customer can trust you - like proof of something.

Nothing above is on the sales letter.

I can't tell if it is really selling because I just can't know, but it seems selling well.

But why? I thought about several things/reasons.

*It might be selling but it's better if it had testimonials, author's backgrounds and so on.

*It is working because of the nature of the product niche("mind-controling" or "hypnosis"), so this does not work with other niche

*If the copywriting is good, you don't really need to show your identity, nor need testimonials.

I want your opnions about this.

Thanks

PS I wasn't sure if you usually put the link for the sales letter of not my own so I didn't, but if it is usually ok I will. Please let me know.

[Ken_Caudill]

Sometimes you can sell on pure chutzpah. If there was a single magic formula, we'd all be gazillionaires.

People do love secrets and power.

This guy's selling them.

[NikNikAndCauliflower]

In a few moments, you will understand perfectly why he is selling... He is selling because his copy is controlling minds :-)

[johnpetrov]

and the link is?

[topclickbankvendor]

Testimonials is a rule of thumb, but it's not always a necessity.

[ovidiu]

Still, what's the link?

[ikuret75]

Sorry guys, I had to go to bed.
The link is here
Learn Hypnosis ? Covert Hypnosis Training Secrets

Thanks!!

[Raydal]

Originally Posted by ikuret75

Hi,

*It is working because of the nature of the product niche("mind-controling" or "hypnosis"), so this does not work with other niche

This would be my pick. The nature of the product lends itself to
injecting some mystery into the sales message--a lot of unknowns
and "Mr. X" angling in the copy.

Plus the copy isn't bad either.

-Ray Edwards

[Loren Woirhaye]

I like the letter. Sometimes the gimmick sells. You make the
buying process fun.

See - people spend money because they feel lacking in their
lives. This is a big secret in experienced copywriters
understand.

The letter in this case sells the excitement of learning an
elicit skill. It's well done too. I think the price is a bit
high for the fun factor alone to clinch the sale, but the
novelty here is part of what propels this offer.

[Rezbi]

Originally Posted by Raydal

This would be my pick. The nature of the product lends itself to
injecting some mystery into the sales message--a lot of unknowns
and "Mr. X" angling in the copy.

Plus the copy isn't bad either.

-Ray Edwards

I've seen this product.

A perfect example of copy being better than the product advertised.

[ARSuarez]

I think it might've been Ben Settle who mentioned before
that while testimonials are "rule of thumb" (as was said above) you can
have a sales letter that sells like crazy without them.

Then again, in the right market, you can even get away with a lot
of the "necessary" proof elements.

Angel

[Hesaidblissfully]

I never thought of testimonials as essential. They absolutely can be a plus, and if you have them, why not use them? But if the piece of copy has enough other persuasive elements going for it and the ad is targeted to the right audience then I can see it converting. Now testing the "no testimonials" version against a version that had testimonials would be interesting.

[Hesaidblissfully]

Another way of looking at it is that direct testimonials are ONE element of building credibility and trust for your offer. But you can still build credibility in other ways to compensate. Not so much applicable in the example you gave above, but if the creator of the product had been mentioned in well known publications or done media appearances (news, television, radio, etc.) and included them on the website, that can build credibility. Another way of going about it could be to offer a free trial or sample. That way the prospect gets to check out the product themselves before they buy.

[ingeniousaffiliate]

As the posters before have, the testimonial is just one way to build credibility and is in no way mandatory. But in my opinion the true knack to sales is believability and not credibility. In most instances credibility is necessary for believability, but not always. Appropriate testimonials may help bring a teetering customer around but as long as your copy is good and makes the customer believe that the product will deliver as promised, I think you can get away without them.

[Nick Brighton]

There's lots of ways to persuade people without social proof. Testimonials are over-rated in my opinion.

Sure, they work, and I wouldn't kick them out of bed, but they are not always needed.

Want an example?

Look at the Fat Loss 4 Idiots site (Clickbank product).

They did approx $18 million in sales last year, and there's...

NO testimonials
NO author bio
NO real people on show (just cartoon characters)
NO before and after pictures of happy customers

Go figure.

The reason why certain things sell, as Ray and others mentioned, is not just the quality of the sales copy, but the entertaining gimmick factor.

Plus, of course, there's a lot of proof elements, they just don't take the form of testimonials...

...instead, the proof comes in the form of facts, education, and a strong argument.

What you also have to remember is, the affiliates are driving sales too.

The leads are coming in warm, and in a buying mood, before they even see the sales letter. That makes a big difference, especially if the lead was sent from someone they trust already.

[Matt James]

NO real people on show (just cartoon characters)
NO before and after pictures of happy customers

Ah but they do have before and after pictures.

Probably just stock photos but having them there plants the implication in the prospect's mind - "that could be me".

I don't believe testimonials are overrated per se... it's just that most folks don't use them well enough. You need a before and after story to be effective, unlike most of the guru-buddy testimonials we see on IM sales pages.

[ikuret75]

I went to Fat Loss 4 Idiots site and it does not follow another rule I learned.
"Don't divide the sales letter into several bits" (Long 1 page sales letter work better)

They divide the sales letter into several pages and put "click here to read next" link.

Hmmm I guess I have to re-think what I have learned.

[cotum]

I think I've promoted this in the past and it has done well. It's a good sales page