Don't Destroy Your Copy By Going O.T.T.

O.T.T. = Over The Top.

I want to make a quick point about what seems to be a touchy subject in Internet copywriting: hype.

We've all seen sales letter that promise to make us a million dollars in 50 seconds while we're asleep under a palm tree on our own private island. Or something like that.

When I criticize ads like this, the typical response is, "B-b-but it works!"

Okay, it works. But does it work better than all the alternatives?

I'd like to draw attention to a recent product that took a different approach and had massive success as a result. The one I'm talking about is Bring the Fresh, put together by Mike Long and Kelly Felix.

Now, Kelly Felix is a smart guy. He did the Rich Jerk back in the day, and this is still one of the most compelling examples of an excellent combo of PPC ads and sales page copy even seen on the Internet. At the time, it worked wonders.

Kelly knew the market and he knew that kind of "negative advertising" would work. (Remember for a while there when every second PPC ad you'd see said something like, "I'm Rich. You're Not."?)

Now Kelly's new product, Bring the Fresh, was marketed very differently. With this one he took the credible-and-honest approach, and it worked like a charm.

Why is that?

Because Kelly understands that the mood of the market has changed somewhat.

With every year that passes, more and more online marketing hopefuls get burned by products that promise much more than they can possibly deliver.

There's an entire market segment that is extremely wary of anything that looks like the "typical" Internet marketing sales letter, either because they've been burned before or they're too cynical and skeptical to believe anything in these hyped up letters to begin with (I fall into the second category - Bring the Fresh remains the first and only product I've ever bought off Warrior Forum).

Kelly understands all this. That's why he used relatively small, believable numbers (a $500/month site as an example).

He established credibility and integrity through his sales funnel and let that sell for him.

In an industry packed to bursting with cowboys and charlatans, presenting real integrity is a huge point of difference.

Kelly understood the "mood of the market," and profited as a result.

(As an aside, that kind of copy tends to appeal to a smarter audience, as well. And there are pretty big advantages to having a relatively small client list of smart investors with a lot of money to put into big-ticket purchases).

So think about this next time you're writing sales copy. Consider that perhaps "How A Three Foot Tall Midget Picked Up 23 Models in Three Hours" may not be such a good headline after all. And bear in mind the long-term value that comes from making promises you can keep.

That exaggerated promise might get you the first sale, but you're going to have a lot of bitter customers. Making promises you can deliver on means a higher lifetime value from each person you sell.

Just a few thoughts. I welcome differing viewpoints.

(Note: I'm not saying abandon the traditional model and make all your copy plain and boring. Exaggerated, hyped up sales letters do still work a lot of the time, I know. That's why people use them. All I'm saying is: consider the market segment you most want to attract and think what will appeal to them most. The answer may be hype, or it may be a toned-down approach. Your copy shouldn't constantly have the volume cranked up to 100).