Speaking of Bencivenga and Testimonials...

Great tip Bruce!

Another form of proof element is your guarantee because your guarantee shows how confident you are in your product.

I always tell people to extend their guarantee to 90 days or more... heck even a year. This allows the risk to be removed from the prospect - which is a very good thing in deciding whether or not to buy.

Even though it sounds like you may get ripped off, you'd be surprised how many people actually refund... sure you may get 1 or 2 people who ripp you off, but then again 10-12 people will NOW buy because of that guarantee.




DG

Demonstration goes back a long way and hasn't lost its effectiveness.

I found myself thinking back to the old Timex commercials with John Cameron Swayze. Even today, in our "sophisticated" age, those commercials are still effective.

Thanks for the reminder Bruce.

VL

awesome post Bruce... and you're 100% right on.

One thing i do in all my sales letters now, even if
i'm selling something like an info product where an actual
demonstration may not work... i offer a tip or technique
that the reader can go do... and demonstrate to themselves
that the technique works.

this automatically builds credibility to your offer, and it
also triggers Cialdini's Influence factor.

for example, if i'm selling an info product on fitness or
a workout program... i could say something like...

"Let me demonstrate a technique you can use right now,
in the gym TODAY, that will help you add more weight
to your bench press, squats, and all other lifts the very
first time you try it."

then you go on to actually explain the tip.

so, even though you're using a written sales letter
and trying to sell an info product... you're still trying
to use demonstration... by giving the reader a powerful
tip or technique they can use right away to see results.

therefore, they're demonstrating it to themselves.

you can do this with stock trading, health, relationships, etc
in just about any market.

eben pagan, with his double your dating sales letters, had a
technique in his letter that showed the reader how to tell if
a woman was ready and wanted to be kissed. and that letter
crushed for him.

so, nice post Bruce... the power of demonstration, if you don't
use video to sell... can still be used in written form... just by
giving away a powerful tip or technique the reader can demonstrate
on themselves!

Like Drayton Bird continually reminds us:

One example is worth a ton of bull sh*t!

Great twist on the idea, Shawn.

Something I'm doing is a "time-lapsed" demo. This works well for things which can't easily be demonstrated in a "Billy Mays Minute". I record video with proof of date and time at various stages of whatever it is I'm demonstrating.

For example, buying and ranking a domain name with SEO. I record the purchase. Then record the installation. Then jump ahead a week and record me visiting Google and showing the ranked page. All this can be compressed into a 45 second video.

Brilliant example from the Robert Collier Letter Book, mails with a "fake pearl" sample:

"...Step on it! It will stand the weight of an ordinary size man. Boil it in hot water! It will come out lustrous, with soft opalescence that only a pearl can give. Weigh it! You will find it heavy, firm, indistinguishable in any way to a natural pearl..."

Here's my favorite Billy Mays ad:


"Why am I smashing my hand with this hammer?"

Awesome!

Colm

Ginsu knives... BluBlockers...

like Gary B. said at his seminar... no argument can withstand
the power of one dramatic demonstration...

thanks for the insight man really came to me at my time of need

This reminds of a great post by Rich Schefren a few years back breaking down step-by-step Billy Mays' marketing magic/sales process: Billy Mays Products Marketing Explosives!

That post is full of golden nuggets not to be missed.

Jeanne