Do you always need to hard-sell (use emotional writing) for copywriting? What about a free service?

by Mogly
18 replies
Hey guys,

I've been working all day on putting together a new service for my website visitors, and I can't decide if I need the hard-sell for this type of service.

Normally you need emotional proof + strong copywriting to sell a product, which helps get over the barriers that potential customers put up.

But what about a service like this --> free wordpress installation ... this is a link to my page (because I didn't want to copy + paste the same text and get a duplicate content penalty from google).

I know for a fact that you won't be happy with the quality of the writing, that's something I am going to go over and edit/add better flow into it.

But the question I am really trying to ask, is whether or not this is the right angle to take (the straight to the point/no BS angle).

Do you think it fits the offer?
#copywriting #emotional #free #hardsell #service #writing
  • Profile picture of the author Alex Cohen
    Originally Posted by Mogly View Post

    Hey guys,

    I've been working all day on putting together a new service for my website visitors, and I can't decide if I need the hard-sell for this type of service.

    Normally you need emotional proof + strong copywriting to sell a product, which helps get over the barriers that potential customers put up.

    But what about a service like this --> free wordpress installation ... this is a link to my page (because I didn't want to copy + paste the same text and get a duplicate content penalty from google).

    I know for a fact that you won't be happy with the quality of the writing, that's something I am going to go over and edit/add better flow into it.

    But the question I am really trying to ask, is whether or not this is the right angle to take (the straight to the point/no BS angle).

    Do you think it fits the offer?
    You don't need a hard sell. Your offer is irresistible.

    Hopefully you have a way to reach targeted prospects.

    Alex
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  • Profile picture of the author Raydal
    You don't have to do any hard selling if your offer has value
    and is free. The question you have to answer in your copy
    though is why are you being so generous. So add a section
    to explain WHY you are doing this. People always think
    there is a catch so explain what the catch is--hosting
    affiliate commission, or you have more services to offer?

    -Ray Edwards
    Signature
    The most powerful and concentrated copywriting training online today bar none! Autoresponder Writing Email SECRETS
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    • Profile picture of the author Mogly
      Originally Posted by Alex Cohen View Post

      You don't need a hard sell. Your offer is irresistible.

      Hopefully you have a way to reach targeted prospects.

      Alex
      Thanks guys, this is reassuring. Getting positive feedback from you guys at the copywriting forum always means a lot to me, because you tend to give your advice straight and to the point with no sugar-coating.

      Funny that you mentioned the prospect acquisition - I'm going out of my comfort zone on this one and I'm not only promoting this service through my own site, but I'm actually investing a few hundred in paid traffic, to start testing this out. Wish me luck!

      Originally Posted by Raydal View Post

      You don't have to do any hard selling if your offer has value
      and is free. The question you have to answer in your copy
      though is why are you being so generous. So add a section
      to explain WHY you are doing this. People always think
      there is a catch so explain what the catch is--hosting
      affiliate commission, or you have more services to offer?

      -Ray Edwards
      Yeah, currently the front-end "catch" or my side of the deal is a hosting commission. It is thoroughly worth my time to do this deal with any willing participant, and my long-term plan is that if this catches on.. I could potentially outsource the clicking/uploading part and just manage the operations. (but that's way down the line, after validating my idea by making a "sale")

      I've made a pretty solid business plan for this service, and I've got a plan for a back-end including obvious things like content, consulting, maybe SEO... etc. But again, that all will come only after I have validated this idea by making one or two sales.

      Currently I don't have anything else to offer, my plan was to just ask for their email subscription after giving them all this value in a free service.

      But honestly, there really isn't a catch other than a hosting commission at this point, do you think I should really point out the fact that I get money from the hosting, more than I already have?

      Or are you saying -- add in a section explaining how I recognize that it is a generous offer, and that I'm partially doing it to help lower the barrier for other new marketers to get their own sites running?
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      • Profile picture of the author Alex Cohen
        Originally Posted by Mogly View Post


        Funny that you mentioned the prospect acquisition - I'm going out of my comfort zone on this one and I'm not only promoting this service through my own site, but I'm actually investing a few hundred in paid traffic, to start testing this out. Wish me luck!
        Before spending your money on ads, think things through. Determine:

        1. Who is your target group
        2. Which ad platform targets them best at the lowest cost

        Estimate the numbers to make sure your sales will at least break even with your spend. It's gotten pretty tough to make a decent profit on front-end sales with paid traffic. The back-end is where the money is.

        Currently I don't have anything else to offer, my plan was to just ask for their email subscription after giving them all this value in a free service.
        I would think WordPress plugins are your best back-end product.

        You'd make out better if you got their email address before providing the free service rather than after.

        Alex
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        • Profile picture of the author Mogly
          Originally Posted by Alex Cohen View Post

          Before spending your money on ads, think things through. Determine:

          1. Who is your target group
          2. Which ad platform targets them best at the lowest cost

          Estimate the numbers to make sure your sales will at least break even with your spend. It's gotten pretty tough to make a decent profit on front-end sales with paid traffic. The back-end is where the money is.

          I would think WordPress plugins are your best back-end product.

          You'd make out better if you got their email address before providing the free service rather than after.

          Alex
          I agree on pretty much all of your points, and here's why I'm having a really hard conflict on making that change.

          I think if I require an email opt-in before they can get this offer, it will just be a barrier, (even if its more valuable in the long-run).

          I plan on implementing the forced opt-in before 'front-end conversion' in the future, but again, I really just want to prove that the market is out there/find my buyers traffic source for this offer.

          Here's what I was thinking on the back-end.

          1) Wordpress related offers. Premium Themes - Plugins - Training - SEO Tools maybe... (All Affiliate Offers)

          2) My personal services. High-end content - Consulting/Mentoring? - Audit/Report on their site (Hopefully the 'customer' will have significantly less barrier to sales from me after being amazed with the front-end value).

          I guess in a way I'm trying/willing to use the front-end as a loss-leader (even though I'd prefer not to lose money on it), to build a list, build my online reputation, and gain affiliate sales.

          I need to put some more time/thought into it, but I really think this is a good idea if I can figure out how to get the right traffic. I've been debating with a paid forum AD here on the WF... but I just don't know if that's the right source of traffic.

          Currently my three traffic ideas are SEO, the WF paid ADs, and PPC.
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          • Profile picture of the author Alex Cohen
            Originally Posted by Mogly View Post


            I need to put some more time/thought into it, but I really think this is a good idea if I can figure out how to get the right traffic. I've been debating with a paid forum AD here on the WF... but I just don't know if that's the right source of traffic.

            Currently my three traffic ideas are SEO, the WF paid ADs, and PPC.
            Isn't your target group people who are looking to buy hosting?

            In my opinion, a WF ad would be terrible targeting and SEO is not a good foundation to build a business on. The search engines could wipe out your business in an instant with an algorithm change.

            Alex
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            • Profile picture of the author ewenmack
              2 things.

              For people to accept something for free,
              they want to know why so.

              I don't see that mentioned.

              Secondly, to get traffic to your offer,
              a better way than PPC will be
              running your banner ad on other peoples website.

              The ideal ones that appear to be run by individuals who run Adsense on their site.

              Ask them how much they are making from Adsense and if you think you can get your money back plus after a month at that amount you pay them,
              then you offer to beat it.

              Target sites that are geared to business start ups.

              Examples, craft sellers, stay at home moms, start up entrepreneurs
              and other small businesses that are out of the internet marketing space.

              Best,
              Ewen
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  • Profile picture of the author AndrewCavanagh
    As Ewen says you need to explain in detail in a believable
    honest way WHY you're giving them a wordpress installation
    free.

    The reason why is VERY important with these kinds of offers
    because it helps you maintain the perception of value your
    prospects have of your service.

    If you just offer something free people's first reaction is
    "what's wrong with it?"

    But if you explain what your motivation is for giving something
    that has genuine value to them free then they can see what's
    in it for you and see that what you're offering is good.

    So be open and tell them exactly WHY you're offering something
    free and what you expect in return.

    Kindest regards,
    Andrew Cavanagh
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    • Profile picture of the author ewenmack
      Since my reply I've seen the answers given from 500
      people as to why they didn't take up a $1 trial.

      Their answers were all around the fear of being forced into
      something they didn't want.

      This means you must come up with all the reasons why
      somebody won't buy into your free offer,
      then answering them.

      If you think of 2 sided weighing scales.

      One side is the side of desire
      and the other side is risk.

      If you unload the perceived risk,
      the desire will out weigh the risk.

      The risk side is what's needed to be worked on now.

      Best,
      Ewen
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  • Profile picture of the author Mogly
    Everyone -

    Thanks, it seems clear that I need to position the "why" of my offer. I'll focus on that now, and try to create a new section based on lowering the fears/risks that people think they are taking with this offer.


    Ewenmack -

    I like the idea of targeted non-IM blogs/sites in the general small business niche, for the targeting of the offer, but I think I would need to change the angle of my offer for them. I feel like most people don't know why they need a website/blog, or what its worth to them, so maybe I should add that part in somewhere.


    Alex Cohen -

    The only reason I said the WF was a potential for ads, was because I've noticed many people selling "done for you micro-niche sites, and other types of blog setups."

    I thought I would steal ewenmack's ad trick (the warning: don't buy a MNS without first... etc.) and try to position myself above the niche-site sellers that charge money.

    I agree that SEO is probably the worst way to build a business because there's no consistence/safety... but it was just a test, and if its brings a positive ROI I thought why not.

    Also - hypothetically yes... I would love to find myself in front of people who are about to buy hosting, but unfortunately that space is a level-beyond my current standing in terms of competition. I thought I could start targeted lower-level sub-niche (if that makes sense) and then move upwards in terms of competition as my service takes off.

    Maybe I'm just not looking at it the right way, but I'm guessing my best chance at targeted traffic will be low-level media buys on related blogs.
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  • Profile picture of the author sethczerepak
    You don't need emotional copy for this. The (rather big) problem I do see however is a "chicken and egg" issue with buying the hostgator account. It appears I have to buy through your link to get the site set up. The problem is, I already have a hostgator account so I can't even say yes.

    If I don't have one, I can say yes....but now I need to be sold on Hostgator. Yes, you're offering to build me a free house (the website), but what about the location(hosting account)? Who are my neighbors going to be? Drug dealers and hookers or middle aged married couples with 2.5 kids, a mini-van and a dog named Shep?

    Come to think of it though, what will my house (the site) look like? Why is there no link that I can click and sign in so I can have a look around and see if I even like the look and feel of the site? Maybe a demo video of you inside one of these sites?

    You don't need copy, you need a demonstration of what I'm getting before I commit. Make sense?
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    • Profile picture of the author Mogly
      Originally Posted by sethczerepak View Post

      You don't need emotional copy for this. The (rather big) problem I do see however is a "chicken and egg" issue with buying the hostgator account. It appears I have to buy through your link to get the site set up. The problem is, I already have a hostgator account so I can't even say yes.

      If I don't have one, I can say yes....but now I need to be sold on Hostgator. Yes, you're offering to build me a free house (the website), but what about the location(hosting account)? Who are my neighbors going to be? Drug dealers and hookers or middle aged married couples with 2.5 kids, a mini-van and a dog named Shep?

      Come to think of it though, what will my house (the site) look like? Why is there no link that I can click and sign in so I can have a look around and see if I even like the look and feel of the site? Maybe a demo video of you inside one of these sites?

      You don't need copy, you need a demonstration of what I'm getting before I commit. Make sense?
      You bring up two great points...

      The "having to purchase through my aff link" is sort of my catch. That's how I'm able to provide this for free (sorta free I guess?).

      Hypothetically I could offer people the option to pay me $99 for this service, but I think that kills the angle/the offer. I think that would kill my USP.

      So maybe my problem is that I need to find people that are brand-new to internet marketing/blogging, so they haven't already bought an account.

      By the way, I'm not trying to come off as rude, it just so happens you fit into the category of someone who's already been sold the same product I'm selling, you know? In the future if I can validate this idea I'm going to create a page 2/backend to this offer with other related items and services that will be paid.

      I assumed that having a free/cheap offer for the front-end sale would help me connect with my potential customers and make them really happy.

      But what do you think? What other way could I offer this at the same value to a customer without charging them... because I feel like once I charge you money I'm put right back into the same pit with everyone else selling a "niche site.." which I really didn't want to be in.

      The other point about making a demonstration is really smart. I REALLY need to create a demo video, maybe one where I set everything up and show it off...

      But currently my offer is to get you going on the back-end problem of a blog. Meaning optimizations, settings, uploading the theme/installing wordpress correctly (getting rid of their headaches there), and installing some awesome must-have plugins.

      This isn't a full website creation, when it comes to front-end work like design changes + content creation.

      I don't know, maybe that's where my problem lies... I'm splitting up my potential customer base and kicking some of them away before they can even say YES!
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      • Profile picture of the author sethczerepak
        Originally Posted by Mogly View Post

        So maybe my problem is that I need to find people that are brand-new to internet marketing/blogging, so they haven't already bought an account.
        Yes, then show a wall of testimonials from other IMers talking about WHY they love hostgator. Peer approval is huge and you can piggyback off HG's reputation.

        Originally Posted by Mogly View Post

        By the way, I'm not trying to come off as rude, it just so happens you fit into the category of someone who's already been sold the same product I'm selling, you know?
        I don't know, frankly my feelings are really hurt.

        JK.


        Originally Posted by Mogly View Post

        In the future if I can validate this idea I'm going to create a page 2/backend to this offer with other related items and services that will be paid.

        I assumed that having a free/cheap offer for the front-end sale would help me connect with my potential customers and make them really happy.

        But what do you think? What other way could I offer this at the same value to a customer without charging them... because I feel like once I charge you money I'm put right back into the same pit with everyone else selling a "niche site.." which I really didn't want to be in.

        The other point about making a demonstration is really smart. I REALLY need to create a demo video, maybe one where I set everything up and show it off...

        But currently my offer is to get you going on the back-end problem of a blog. Meaning optimizations, settings, uploading the theme/installing wordpress correctly (getting rid of their headaches there), and installing some awesome must-have plugins.

        This isn't a full website creation, when it comes to front-end work like design changes + content creation.

        I don't know, maybe that's where my problem lies... I'm splitting up my potential customer base and kicking some of them away before they can even say YES!
        I don't think you need to charge, that would slay the offer. The primary problem is that FREE is a dangerous word on the internet. It suggests things lurking in the shadows if you know what I mean. The social proof from peers and the demonstration video or the demo site with login would solve a lot of this fear.

        That's my suggestion. As for it not being a full website creation. So what? Create a full website anyway and have the disclaimer about what is and isn't included. Think of those model homes they show you where you walk in and there's furniture, familiy pics and fake fruit in the kitchen. Of course, it doesn't come with the house, but it helps the presentation.

        Also, showing the complete website, with all the upgrades, would help you sell upgrades (design, content etc)...which I'm assuming is your business model right?
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        • Profile picture of the author Mogly
          Originally Posted by sethczerepak View Post

          That's my suggestion. As for it not being a full website creation. So what? Create a full website anyway and have the disclaimer about what is and isn't included. Think of those model homes they show you where you walk in and there's furniture, familiy pics and fake fruit in the kitchen. Of course, it doesn't come with the house, but it helps the presentation.

          Also, showing the complete website, with all the upgrades, would help you sell upgrades (design, content etc)...which I'm assuming is your business model right?
          Well, yes and no. In the future, yeah, I could turn this into a huge business with the upgrades bringing in the majority of the money, but it all really hangs on the idea of acquiring that first customer.

          If I can pull it off correctly, (which should happen pretty soon thanks to all the help with my sales page/copywriting here), then the idea is I'm going to build a list of only-buyers, that have bought from me in the past, so it should be an insanely targeted (read: small) but valuable business.
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  • Profile picture of the author DavidG
    I haven't really read what others have said but here's my take on your letter...

    1. GREAT OFFER. But it lacks proof of it working.

    Fact is, most people who click to see this letter will probably be a little newbie. They aren't as sophisticated as we are... so you have to show them how they will make money. How you've made money. Even SS's. Get their glands going...

    2. I'm not sure "procrastination" is a big issue. You should tackle more noticeable problems and frustrations that they're going through.

    Like, "Getting pumped up after buying a proven system. Doing all the steps needed. Really looking forward to the payoff after the endless hours setting up your site and content...

    But then, you get an email from another goooroo. Telling you that what you're doing is a waste of time. That there's a better way to make money faster.

    And it's the same cycle over and over again... "

    Go after a prominent issue. A problem that you solve with your offer.

    3. What everyone said... go after a HUGE reason why you are offering this for free.

    For example... Instead of asking you for money, I'll give you X worth to build you a site that will make money. Then you can pay me the balance when you made enough"...etc.

    Or jay Abraham's infamous... "This is a marketing test. I want to see how much you can make and then I'll put a price"...
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    • Profile picture of the author ewenmack
      A statistically valid test on which offer resonates with your target audience,
      when testing a headline, was...

      "Get Your Business Online"

      Simple as that.

      However I would tweak it in your case to

      "Gets Your Business Online"

      Get's has implied benefit of it been done for them.

      Which you do.

      Therefore appeals to our lazy nature.

      Best,
      Ewen
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      • Profile picture of the author Mogly
        Originally Posted by ewenmack View Post


        "Gets Your Business Online"

        Best,
        Ewen
        I'm not sure I understand your point here. Are you just saying you think that should be my main headline's point to "drive home."

        Originally Posted by Ken_Caudill View Post

        Trying to sell something you're giving away creates nothing but mistrust.
        Hmm, I guess this was my original thought, but don't I still have to sell the free offer just without "selling it" -> (what I would call traditional WSO fashion)


        Originally Posted by DavidG View Post


        1. GREAT OFFER. But it lacks proof of it working.

        2. I'm not sure "procrastination" is a big issue. You should tackle more noticeable problems and frustrations that they're going through.

        Like, "Getting pumped up after buying a proven system.


        3. What everyone said... go after a HUGE reason why you are offering this for free.

        For example... Instead of asking you for money, I'll give you X worth to build you a site that will make money. Then you can pay me the balance when you made enough"...etc.

        Or jay Abraham's infamous... "This is a marketing test. I want to see how much you can make and then I'll put a price"...
        Unfortunately, I'm worried about combating #1 by adding in my own "proof" screenshots. I feel like pictures of my adsense earnings, my clickbank earnings, etc... will just seem scammy/like I am going for the hard-sell and scare people off.

        #2 I'm definitely looking to fine-tune and fix my copy, and I will absolutely implement a more hard-hitting starter paragraph to get the readers attention.

        #3 I am SUPER intrigued by these two ideas. Both of them are basically saying, "I recognize that I shouldn't be giving away this much value for free, but I'm doing it anyway for X reason."

        I wonder if I could use either of those angles with my current offer... because I really like how they refocus the risk that the buyers have and put the risk onto my shoulders.
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