Help to Build the "Pay for Information" Case In Sales Letters

Hey there,

In my humble opinion, I found that letting people think about how much their time is worth, and what else they can do with the excess time spent on researching usually hits the mark.

So in the case of a professional executive, you calculate a generic formula for how much his/her time is worth per hour. Then let them know that spending all the time researching the net eventually adds up to $XX and this EXCLUDES the opportunity costs of stuff like playing with your kids, spending time with your wife, having a dinner to network, etc.

I feel that people sometimes just need to get some help in rearranging their perspectives. Suddenly, they'll realize that a tens of dollars for a book really is a bargain. I believe it's because most of us immediately derive the value of a resource from the price tag that we see right in front of us. We just need a little hinting here and there that we need to see the bigger picture that involves a lot more parties than just us.

Just my 2 cents worth.

Information is what people don't want to put on the internet. Lies, myth, hearsay, innuendo, conspiracy theories ...that's what people spend hours finding.

It's what they spend five minutes finding you should worry about: Basic, remedial, data.

Step One: Make the distinction between information and data.

Step Two: Remind people the internet is for stuff you wouldn't waste space on your hard drive for.

What's not there are trade secrets.

You'll find a million ways to do something, badly.

....Five minutes to locate a dozen, free, shopping carts. What you won't find, even after hours is an ecommerce system based around online shopping psyhchology. (Name one ecommerce "system" using the Belcher button)

....Five minutes to locate a dozen CMSes. What you won't find is a content management system with, say, A/B split-run testing already built in. (What's the old saying: You can't manage what you don't measure and never test)

...Five minutes to find fifty dozen stupid PhotoShop tricks. What you won't find is anything tested to increase sales. (Lies, myth, and hearsay about what a graphic artist has an opinion about, but nothing proven to work)

...Five minutes to find a dozen article dumps you can spam search engines with. No writing that positions you as an expert who can command a premium.

It's the same with most any field you care to name. What's on the Internet makes the wasteland of TV look like the Smithsonian.

Bear in mind that a lot of this is taken care of for you already due to good ol' fashioned human nature.

A lot of consumers believe...

"You get what you pay for."

"If this guy is selling something that's sold for free, then his stuff must be much better, otherwise he'd be out of business."

"Any yahoo can put up their opinion on a blogspot site. This guy has a domain with a dot com, (don't you need to be rich to get that?), and he can process credit cards. He must be way ahead of the free stuff."

I'm oversimplifying here, but there is a large, large amount of people willing to pay for content that's free elsewhere.

I wouldn't mention the free content in your sales letter, as it'll tempt people to look for it who might not have considered it. Just hype up the hell out of your value, and make a solid case for why your stuff is the best.

--Dan

I like building the case by saying,

"You know, it really is actually possible for you to search for dozens of hours or more, piecing together what you hope to be the right information on your own.

Even then, there's no promise of results or that it will even work at all.

I know firsthand.

(Because it took me 60 hour weeks for 18 months before I finally had all the information I needed compiled--and that's before I could even test it out to see if it worked!)

But can you really afford to wait that long?

Isn't it immensely more valuable for you to skip all the tedious research labor

(I've done it for you!) and...

...Save months of your time and skip straight to the results when you use the tested and proven step by step system based on my successful experience in the next mouse click?

You don't have to fight the sting of regret and missed opportunities in this life many times before you understand the value of time over money.

Anyone who's ever missed their child's growing up while stuck at the office wondering where all the years went knows this on a level too deep to dwell on here long.

Money invested can yield a return many times over, but time wasted is life gone forever.

Believe it.

You don't have to keep spinning your wheels and wracking your brain with busy grunt work just to enjoy the results.

You can finally begin to achieve these results for yourself moments from now using my tried, perfected and guaranteed system today.

Just click the "add to cart" button below now for instant access!

Something like this ought to make the case pretty strongly for you.

Here's the thing:

Most free information out there is junk. Even, from my experience, most paid information sucks.

Look at any magazine in the check-out line. The headlines sizzles, "Get A Sexy Six Pack In Time For Summer"... it gets you to buy... only for a let down when all you get is common-sense junk. The article says, "Do 100 sit-ups every day." Useful for sure, but nothing new. Nothing exciting. In truth, nobody is really going to do it. The content is just about worthless.

My point is this... sure, the customer can get free information out there... BUT does it really provide any value? Will people be able to understand it? Follow-it? Most importantly, get serious results with it?

On other hand, your information is different. It's proven and tested to work. It's like consuming a step-by-step roadmap. You can't fail. And, it gives you a shortcut to get the results you desire. You can't put a price on your time and energy.

In other words, free content shouldn't be an issue for you... if you build-up the value about why your information is unique and truly valuable. What's more, your information might be the exact same stuff given away for free... but, you're the only one who proves it works. You're the real deal.

I hope this has given you some ideas.

Best of luck!

Some good advice here... but I'll add to it.

One thing I always do is compare apples to oranges.

Say you're selling a "get abs" product.

You don't compare it to doing sit-ups or buying a book from your local B&N.

You talk about how they're saving money on supplements... meal replacement shakes... crap off the TV... gym memberships... whatever.

And as John said... make your info sound special.

"You could pay hundreds of dollars just for a gym membership... and you still wouldn't have access to these exclusive techniques proven to melt fat like butter on a hot skillet."

-Dan