Frustrated, Looking for Help, & Was Told to Come Here

[Wiggy0618]

Hey Folks,

I just posted a fairly lengthy thread about my site and situation on the "main" forum.

Long story short, I've got a site that ranks well in google (top 3 for some terms, first page for another), has a bunch of free quality content (90+ articles), gets plenty of traffic (avg. of 350-700 unique visitors/day), gets a decent amount of opt-ins (avg of 3-7/day), and I send a newsletter to 2-3x/week. Yet I'm not making even a consistent $100/day each month.

It was suggested by forum member "Karen Newton" (thanks again Karen!) that I come here and ask for a critique of my ad copy.

So, if anybody could look this over and let me know what I could change, I sure would appreciate it. I've written all the ad copy myself (as if you weren't going to be able to tell - haha), and know that I'm not that good at it. So please, feel free to rip me a new one and tell me what I need to change.

I appreciate any help, and for anybody that's interested in the topic I deal in (strength & conditioning/fitness for martial arts, law enforcement, athletes, 'regular folk', etc.), I'd be glad to help anytime I could.

My site's link is in my profile under "contact info".

(I don't have the requisite posts to post my link directly - as soon as I do I'll post it.)

Thanks again.

[Karen Newton]

Just to add, trying to help Wiggy out here so here is the link to his post in the main WF:

Frustrated & Looking For Some Help

I made a few replies there but honestly think he will fare much better getting some direct feedback on his site from the expertise of experienced copywriters here.

And this is the site he is referring to:

MMA Workout | MMA Training | Mixed Martial Arts Workout Programs

[Wiggy0618]

Thanks for the links Karen - you've been a tremendous help in the other thread!

[Loren Woirhaye]

The problems with the site are many, beginning with structure
of the sales pitch, font sizing, headline - everything basically
is contributing to an ineffectual sales page.

I would say either hire a writer or get a copywriting education.

[Wiggy0618]

Loren - thanks. Could you recommend a good source(s) for copywriting info? I've seen tons of recommendations, but don't know enough to know what's good, what's not, what's good for noobs like myself, etc.

(I've opened the link in your sig and will be reading thoroughly.)

thanks.

[Kyle Tully]

Originally Posted by Wiggy0618

plenty of traffic (avg. of 350-700 unique visitors/day), gets a decent amount of opt-ins (avg of 3-7/day), and I send a newsletter to 2-3x/week.

#1 - Improve that opt-in ratio! 1% is no where near good enough. You want at least 10%, preferably 25%+

Don't focus on the sale on your homepage, go for the opt-in. Get an opt-in box on your blog. Make sure there's one on all your article pages. Have your resource box on any external articles pointing to a dedicated opt-in page.

Bottom line: do everything you can to up that opt-in rate to 10% or more.

Think about it... if you were getting 10 times as many opt-ins, would it be possible to make 10 times as much money? What if you got 20 times as many opt-ins?

You can get away with an average (or poor) salesletter if you've got a good size list and a solid relationship with them.

[Karen Newton]

Kyle that's an interesting way you put that. So is it correct in interpreting it like this:

- Focus on killer copy to convert "untrusted/not yet loyal/first time" visitors
AND/OR
- Focus on growing a huge list and building the trust and loyalty, and then like you said, even bad copy wouldn't matter if you've already established loyalty and trust. But even so, you need to cultivate copywriting skills within your autoresponder messages to build that trust and loyalty and compel your readers to click over to the sales page, right?

I like putting things into my own words to make sure that I understand where you're coming from - so correct me if I'm off the mark.

[Wiggy0618]

Karen brings up a good point (at least to me). If I were to focus on just one (main) thing - simply b/c I'd rather try to focus on one thing and do it right than try to focus on two things and half-a$$ them both...esp when I don't (necessarily) know what I'm doing - should I focus on learning ad copy or trying to get a ton of opt-ins?

Something else - how important is writing ad copy within emails? I was of the idea that when it comes to newsletters, you need to be a storyteller. The better you can tell stories while giving something worthwhile (and, of course, relating it to your product in the end), the more your list will identify with you, and will be more likely to buy.

Am I wrong here?

[Kyle Tully]

Originally Posted by Karen Newton

Kyle that's an interesting way you put that. So is it correct in interpreting it like this:

- Focus on killer copy to convert "untrusted/not yet loyal/first time" visitors
AND/OR
- Focus on growing a huge list and building the trust and loyalty, and then like you said, even bad copy wouldn't matter if you've already established loyalty and trust. But even so, you need to cultivate copywriting skills within your autoresponder messages to build that trust and loyalty and compel your readers to click over to the sales page, right?

I like putting things into my own words to make sure that I understand where you're coming from - so correct me if I'm off the mark.

Yeah that's basically it.

Copy is a multiplier.

In terms of importance, it comes in 3rd behind your list and your offer.

Build a big list that trust you, offer them things they want to buy, and you can sell to them with a "buy now" button and not much else. Add hot copy to the mix and you can multiply your sales.

[Kyle Tully]

Originally Posted by Wiggy0618

should I focus on learning ad copy or trying to get a ton of opt-ins?

Getting a ton of opt-ins is a lot easier and will leverage the work you're already putting in. Then, when you add hot copy to the mix you'll have a list that's 10+ times bigger to market to.

Originally Posted by Wiggy0618

Something else - how important is writing ad copy within emails? I was of the idea that when it comes to newsletters, you need to be a storyteller. The better you can tell stories while giving something worthwhile (and, of course, relating it to your product in the end), the more your list will identify with you, and will be more likely to buy.

Am I wrong here?

You don't need "ad" copy in your emails.

You're on the right track with stories -- check out Matt Furey for a great example to model.

[jhall85]

I'm pretty new but i work for someone who has had many high converting sights and i have been given good advice. There are a lot of really good copywriting books out there but i found this one stuck in my memory the best

How to Write A Good Advertisement by Victor O. Schwab.

Also, find competitors or any old sales page that you think is good copy and just study. clickbank is a good place to look for high conversion sales pages but there are tons of them obviously.

research as much as possible! i wish i knew more so i could give more input.

[Karen Newton]

@Kyle thanks, I understand what you mean and makes a lot of sense!

@Wiggy
Every person is different but if you operate better focusing on one thing at a time (which is often highly recommended anyhow) then do just that. The problem now becomes what direction? I guess you'll have to review all of the feedback and prioritize what you want to focus on first. I really like Kyle's explanation and think logically, it makes perfect sense.

Learning copywriting is probably something you want to tackle on an ongoing or long term basis, fitting that in with your day to day (or weekly) agenda. Allen Says in the War room (in one of his posts) recommends to read everything over at Agora (I *think* the url is agora-inc dot com) regarding copy.

I think you need to evaluate a path you want your visitors to take, a set of actions. Right now there are many paths/actions one can take when they first land on your site. You have many options but how Kyle explains just focus on opt-in (making that the main focus everywhere etc) could be a good strategy to focus on initially, considering that wouldn't involve huge site structural changes and intensive copy editing etc.

Going to bed now but look forward to hearing more about this as it progresses!

Good luck
Karen

[Wiggy0618]

I'm beginning to think that Kyle's suggestions might be easier for me to pull off (w/of course, the idea Karen presents of trying to learn copywriting on an ongoing basis, though I need A FREAKIN' LOT of work there... :-(

It was posted in my thread on the main forum that I should do a 'reverse squeeze page' with a video/articles bundle, etc. and not give away so much free info on my site.

Thoughts on that?

Also, re the opt-in page, I posted these questions on the other thread, and thought I'd post them here, too:

You mention sending them info automatically after they sign up....where do I send them after they fill out the opt-in form?

Do they go to a sales page? A site with a sales page and articles? Take most of the articles down? A sales page that has a separate page with all the articles and such (like Karen recommended...and if so, how do I link the two)?

Thanks again to everybody.

[Kyle Tully]

1. Focus on the opt-in and study copywriting in your spare time. Apply what you learn about copywriting to the opt-in page, test and track the results. This data and experience will give you a big help when it's time to re-write your salesletter.

2. Free info on your site is fine -- it gets traffic and establishes you as an authority. You just need to get those visitors to opt-in, so make sure they know they're missing out on the REAL good stuff unless they opt-in.

3. After the opt-in congratulate them and make them a no-brainer low-ticket offer. $10-$20 usually works great. This will offset the cost of your lead generation and turn more people into buyers sooner.

4. Keep cranking your newsletter and focus on building relationships and getting click-throughs to your salesletter. Throw in a survey and find out who your prospects are and what they want.

5. Re-write your salesletter with everything you learned from your opt-in testing, surveys and click-through data.

That should keep you busy for a few weeks at least.

No more questions... go and do it. You'll figure it out as you go along.

[Wiggy0618]

Originally Posted by Kyle Tully

3. After the opt-in congratulate them and make them a no-brainer low-ticket offer. $10-$20 usually works great. This will offset the cost of your lead generation and turn more people into buyers sooner.

Kyle - I know you said "no more questions", but just one more... ;-)

You say mention the "cost of my lead generation"...I assuming this means PPC, right? Can a squeeze page still rank high in google w/natural SEO? That's how I get a good majority of my traffic now is high rankings in google and I wouldn't want to lose that traffic...

[Kyle Tully]

Originally Posted by Wiggy0618

Kyle - I know you said "no more questions", but just one more... ;-)

You say mention the "cost of my lead generation"...I assuming this means PPC, right? Can a squeeze page still rank high in google w/natural SEO? That's how I get a good majority of my traffic now is high rankings in google and I wouldn't want to lose that traffic...

PPC... articles... SEO... it all has a cost. (Time or money.)

An offer on your thank you page helps offset this.

The opt-in page itself might not rank great, but the rest of your site with all the article etc will. You then funnel that traffic to the opt-in page.

[Wiggy0618]

Ok - gotcha. Thanks again!