Is there a salesletter that had 100% conversion?

13 years ago

Originally Posted by davidhorph

I read somewhere a while back about someone who wrote a salesletter that actually had a 100% conversion! This was before the internet so it wasn't a web sales letter.

Is there such a salesletter? Thanks.

[ 10 ] Thanks
1 reply

Signature

Brian McLeod

Direct Response Copywriting

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3072389].message }}

vip-ip 13 years ago

Originally Posted by BrianMcLeod

In Soviet Russia, roulette had 16.666% conversions!

Originally Posted by NHB

It was a Bruce Barton fund raising letter that was only mailed to a handful of people. Here's copy of it - Bruce Barton And His Famous 100% Salesletter

What an odd letter with such odd results. It seems as if it worked in defiance of many bits of advice that experts preach to us now. For one, I couldn't even figure out what it was about until half-way down the letter. Two, it overloaded my brain with dates and names that [seem?] unnecessary. I don't know ... I'm amazed that it pulled $1000 from 23 people like *snap* that.

Best Regards,
vip-ip ...
- Thanks
Signature

Got copy?
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3072972].message }}

NHB

13 years ago

It was a Bruce Barton fund raising letter that was only mailed to a handful of people. Here's copy of it - Bruce Barton And His Famous 100% Salesletter

Thanks
1 reply

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3072873].message }}

ARSuarez 13 years ago

Originally Posted by NHB

It was a Bruce Barton fund raising letter that was only mailed to a handful of people. Here's copy of it - Bruce Barton And His Famous 100% Salesletter

Man, that's a great letter.

Thanks for posting.

Best,

Angel

PS. Note, to the OP, that it has been stressed the letter was for HIGHLY TARGETED prospects. And Bruce was also a fantastic copywriter.
- Thanks
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3072924].message }}

Bruce Wedding

13 years ago

I wouldn't give this letter so much weight. The sample size is simply too small. For example, there are many copywriters who claim high conversion rates in IM, based on the initial launch. They're nice to have but don't mean much in the real world. I want to know how a letter converts on targeted traffic driven by PPC or banners or other means. If you can beat 1% you're getting there. If you can top 2%, you can easily be a millionaire if you have a big enough hot list.

[ 1 ] Thanks
1 reply

Signature

$2,300 in a Week With Teespring

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3073444].message }}

vip-ip

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Bruce Wedding

I wouldn't give this letter so much weight. The sample size is simply too small. For example, there are many copywriters who claim high conversion rates in IM, based on the initial launch. They're nice to have but don't mean much in the real world. I want to know how a letter converts on targeted traffic driven by PPC or banners or other means. If you can beat 1% you're getting there. If you can top 2%, you can easily be a millionaire if you have a big enough hot list.

You're right. I guess the lesson we can learn from the OP is that best sales are done one-on-one. I don't know how much $1000 in 1925 would be worth today, but I'm guessing around $10,000 would be more or less accurate? The point is, if you have a targeted prospect list of 23 people that you have a personal relationship with, then sending out an appeal such as the sales letter we just read can produce immense results.

Best Regards,
vip-ip ...

Thanks

Signature

Got copy?

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3073533].message }}

alejandro p

13 years ago

A 100% conversion rate isn't really the success of a sales letter, its more of a success in qualifying and targeting the list.

I.e. Let's say you're trying to raise money for a company.

You send letter X to 100,000 people, you get a conversion rate of .01%

You send it to 100 people you get a conversion rate of 100%.

How did it happen?

Letter 2 was sent to a prequalified list of people who have previously told you, "Anything that you do, I'm behind you." It was also filtered for those people who have actually made an investment in a privately owned company of $10K+.

Moral of the story, if you can write a sales letter that can convert 100%, you probably don't need the sales letter. The list is polarized enough/small enough that you can probably send nearly anything like "Hey. Starting a company. Can you please deposit $xx,xxx in bank acount ######. You get ##%."

My .02.

Thanks
1 reply

Signature

Aggressive, Outsourced, Scalable SEO Link Building - The HOTH
Now Ranking Over 200 Agencies, Publishers & Marketers Worldwide
The HOTH - Never Build Links Again.

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3073545].message }}

vip-ip 13 years ago

Originally Posted by alejandro p

I.e. Let's say you're trying to raise money for a company.

You send letter X to 100,000 people, you get a conversion rate of .01%

I don't know about for-profit companies, but I do know the rule of thumb in non-profit organizations and charities, because I worked for DonorSearch before. Mailers aim to get at least 3 times what they invested. So if a non-profit has a list of 10,000 previous donors that they want to send a letter asking for money (not an unlikely figure for an organization such as an in-state college or a local branch of the Salvation Army), then they have to figure out an estimated response rate which will likely generate 3x the costs of the campaign. So, let's say, overall costs (incl. writing, printing, and mailing the letter) are $0.80 per letter; this $8k campaign will usually aim to bring in no less than $24k. At an estimated 2% response, that means 200 of the 10,000 people will donate. Do the math, and you'll know how much to ask of everybody within this mailing campaign :rolleyes:

Best Regards,
vip-ip ...
- Thanks
Signature

Got copy?
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3073591].message }}

humbledmarket

Banned 13 years ago

I'm really doubtful but it can be possible on a certain conditions such as the promoted list and views if they were highly targeted with prior relations as well as the product instead of just the pitch. If you had a crappy product regardless of the pitch I doubt it would sell much

Thanks
1 reply

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3073639].message }}

vip-ip 13 years ago

Originally Posted by humbledmarket

If you had a crappy product regardless of the pitch I doubt it would sell much

You've never bought a s***ty product before?

Best Regards,
vip-ip ...
- Thanks
Signature

Got copy?
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3073656].message }}

alejandro p

13 years ago

If your boss sends out a "sales letter" that says

"DO THIS OR YOU ARE FIRED @ 5PM TODAY"

I bet it would convert 100%

[ 1 ] Thanks

Signature

Aggressive, Outsourced, Scalable SEO Link Building - The HOTH
Now Ranking Over 200 Agencies, Publishers & Marketers Worldwide
The HOTH - Never Build Links Again.

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3073650].message }}

Rezbi

13 years ago

Drayton Bird wrote a letter which converted at 102%. After everyone responded, they passed the letter on to others who also responded.

I'll see if I can find the letter and stick it up on my blog.

Thanks
1 reply

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3073747].message }}

vip-ip

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Rezbi

Drayton Bird wrote a letter which converted at 102%. After everyone responded, they passed the letter on to others who also responded.

I'll see if I can find the letter and stick it up on my blog.

Wow!

In that case, I would argue that YouTube must be the TRUE next-gen salesman! I bet when people realize this they'll call it something crazy ... like "viral marketing" or something :rolleyes:

Oh, wait ...

Best Regards,
vip-ip ...

[ 1 ] Thanks
1 reply

Signature

Got copy?

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3073976].message }}

Oxbloom

13 years ago

Pretty sure I've done it.

Posted a flyer that read: "For sale: Bose speakers - $100."

Guy grabbed me as I posted it and said, "Those still available?"

My finest piece of copy.

[ 1 ] Thanks
1 reply

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3075530].message }}

vip-ip

13 years ago

Originally Posted by Oxbloom

Pretty sure I've done it.

Posted a flyer that read: "For sale: Bose speakers - $100."

Guy grabbed me as I posted it and said, "Those still available?"

My finest piece of copy.

Talk about "right place at the right time" wow!
If only that could happen with my 2005 Ford Focus :rolleyes:

Best Regards,
vip-ip ...

Thanks

Signature

Got copy?

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3075561].message }}

alankay

13 years ago

You can get a page with no copy and just an add to cart button to convert at 100%. It's all about how motivated the prospects on your page are. If they all think you are Jesus...and that means everything to them...they are going to push each other out of the way to click your add to cart button and thus walk and water.

Thanks

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3100034].message }}

Lou Krapper

Banned 13 years ago

[DELETED]

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3100057].message }}

fasteasysuccess 13 years ago

I have to say that the list was obviously 100% targeted and most likely they gave some type of donation or money before. One thing I saw that I didn't see mentioned...

He did the old child fund trick as well (which Bruce Barton did first most likely) You know the commercial that says for only whatever cents a day you can feed a child and then they send a picture and supposedly letters and updates from this specific child.

Which in the child fund case, I have a feeling everyone is sponsoring and getting letters from jaun or whoever, but the same child.

I even saw the commercial for this last night and they did the old sponsor jaun so he....

Instead of sponsor all these children. They made it more emotional and personal by talking about and addressed one child. The commercial messed up at the end by not following the theme but they did weave that throughout until the end.
- Thanks
Signature

Uncover The "Fast and Easy Marketing Strategies They Don't Want You To Know". Try it Risk Free For an Entire Year and Your Success Is Backed By The 2 Unheard of Guarantees...
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3101018].message }}

KingOfContentMarketing

11 years ago

The link is dead. Here's the whole letter at Wikipedia (scroll down).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Barton

[ 5 ] Thanks
1 reply

Signature

Marketing is not a battle of products. It is a battle of perceptions.
- Jack Trout

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7802680].message }}

Curtis2011 11 years ago

Originally Posted by Joe Ditzel

The link is dead. Here's the whole letter at Wikipedia (scroll down).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Barton

Dude, you just necro'd a thread that is from 2010.
- Thanks
- 2 replies
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7803283].message }}
- Alex Cohen 11 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by Curtis2011
  
  Dude, you just necro'd a thread that is from 2010.
  
  So???
  
  Many use the older threads for research, and if a link has gone dead, it's good to have it updated.
  
  As always, thanks Joe.
  
  Alex
  
  [ 1 ] Thanks
  
  {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7803826].message }}
- BrianMcLeod 11 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by Curtis2011
  
  Dude, you just necro'd a thread that is from 2010.
  
  Joe is the un-official curator of useful linkage around these parts.
  
  Bitch about him at your peril.
  
  Thanks
  
  Signature
  Brian McLeod
  
  Direct Response Copywriting
  
  {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7804006].message }}

Is there a salesletter that had 100% conversion?

Trending Topics

Been a while! Any of you Old Timers here?

How much does the rebranding affect CR ?

Boat and Jet Ski Rentals...... Door Hangers Effective?

Clickbank low cost recurring

Are billboards still effective in driving customers?