SEO Sales letter: Why reinvent the wheel?

Hi all,

I was thinking about writing a letter to sell SEO services to local businesses. (Yep, selling an online business generation tool - offline).

Then I thought, SURELY thousands of people have already written a sales letter better than any letter I could write, so why reinvent the wheel?

So I am asking, is there anyone willing to share a letter, selling the benefits of search engine optimization, or can point me to one on the web.

Thanks,
seabro

Research the successful competition.

Their sales material will include the benefits of SEO.

Alex

Thanks
1 reply

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ewenmack 11 years ago

If you did find the holy grail letter,
it won't be enough.

You aren't taking into account what
your reader has already been pitched
that week or even that day it arrives.

If yours is saying much the same as the
others, then you have wasted your time
and money.

Best,
Ewen
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seabro

11 years ago

I am surprised to hear such negativity.

Ewenmack, are you referring to the ubiquitous poorly written SEO spam emails I get in my inbox daily? Is that the competition you refer to?

Do you not believe we can do better than that? A compelling, persuasive zero risk offer to greatly increase returns from a significant investment my prospect has already made? (Their website).

If I wanted negativity I could just run it by the wife.

Am I lost? I thought I had posted in the copywriting section of the Warrior Forum.

Sorry for the rant, I am not angry, just disappointed. ;-)

Thanks
1 reply

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sethczerepak

11 years ago

Originally Posted by seabro

I am surprised to hear such negativity.

Ewenmack, are you referring to the ubiquitous poorly written SEO spam emails I get in my inbox daily? Is that the competition you refer to?

Do you not believe we can do better than that? A compelling, persuasive zero risk offer to greatly increase returns from a significant investment my prospect has already made? (Their website).

If I wanted negativity I could just run it by the wife.

Am I lost? I thought I had posted in the copywriting section of the Warrior Forum.

Sorry for the rant, I am not angry, just disappointed. ;-)

There's a difference between negativity and an experienced copywriter pointing out the landmine you're about to step on. You're on the right track with not wanting to reinvent the wheel. But Ewen has a damn good point here and you'd do yourself a favor to not get emotionally involved and to take his advice objectively.

The point is, if you Google "SEO services company" and you'll notice that 99% of the companies out there are saying the same damn thing, and some of it is really good. It's not not DIFFERENT. In a hotly competitive niche, being different is just as important as being the best. In fact, it's MORE important, because everyone is trying to position themselves as the better solution.

Better is boring.

So find something that's already working. It's a smart move. But keep in mind that your message is going to need to do 5 things:

1) Demonstrate that you can meet what CUSTOMER believes is their most present need.
2) Demonstrate that you can offer them something they can't get from anyone else.
3) Use social proof or case studies to demonstrate superiority and credibility.
4) Demonstrate that your solution is customized for a specific industry (specialists are always considered more valuable than generalists).
5) Have a way to follow up with the people who don't purchase right away, but create a sense of urgency in all your ads or follow up messages.

Might not be smart to reinvent the wheel, but when the terrain gets rough and rocky, you better have a wheel that's fit for the task.

Good luck.

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TheSalesBooster

11 years ago

You think we're going to do the work for you? Get out of here and don't bother wasting your time with another reply because nobody is going to give you what your asking for. Go do your own research.

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1 reply

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seabro

11 years ago

Originally Posted by TheSalesBooster

You think we're going to do the work for you? Get out of here and don't bother wasting your time with another reply because nobody is going to give you what your asking for. Go do your own research.

'salesbooster' you didn't do much to boost your sales in that last post my friend.

This is a copywriting forum and there are people here who write copy for other people.

You think we're going to do the work for you?' - Yes, that's the way it works.

You are wrong 'salesbooster' - there is every possibility someone will give me what I am looking for.

seabro

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2 replies

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TheSalesBooster

11 years ago

Originally Posted by seabro

'salesbooster' you didn't do much to boost your sales in that last post my friend.

This is a copywriting forum and there are people here who write copy for other people.

You think we're going to do the work for you?' - Yes, that's the way it works.

You are wrong 'salesbooster' - there is every possibility someone will give me what I am looking for.

seabro

I'm sure they will. Don't hold your breath.

Thanks

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sethczerepak

11 years ago

Originally Posted by seabro

'salesbooster' you didn't do much to boost your sales in that last post my friend.

This is a copywriting forum and there are people here who write copy for other people.

You think we're going to do the work for you?' - Yes, that's the way it works.

You are wrong 'salesbooster' - there is every possibility someone will give me what I am looking for.

seabro

There certainly is someone, if you're willing to pay them for their time and expertise. Seems completely reasonable. I'm sure that's what you're asking for right? You're not asking someone to give away their time and expertise for nothing.

The problem you're going to have is unique positioning. By repurposing what's already working for someone else, you're making yourself a copycat, another generic, a commodity. Unless you create a point of differentiation, you're just asking for price conscious customers who will shop you against competitors based on price.

So if your plan is to hire a copywriter to provide you with the generic template and to pay them for their time and expertise AND to THEN create a USP to give the sales letter your own personal edge, I say that's a smart move. All you need to do is put your request in the right forum:

Wanted - Members Looking To Hire You

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seabro

11 years ago

I knew you'd see sense saleskiller.

ps. If anyone does have a great sales letter for selling SEO offline, feel free to PM me. I don't have a problem paying, just seems crazy to reinvent the wheel.

Thanks
1 reply

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Enfusia

11 years ago

Originally Posted by seabro

I knew you'd see sense saleskiller.

ps. If anyone does have a great sales letter for selling SEO offline, feel free to PM me. I don't have a problem paying, just seems crazy to reinvent the wheel.

I don't have one pre-written but if you need one pm me and I'll send you the link to my sales page for copywriting, you won't believe some of the testimonials and who they're from.

If you need a sales page then you need the best. You also need to differentiate yourself in the marketplace and show why they need to give you their money. This was I believe one of Ewenmack's biggest points that may have been missed. Ewenmack quote: "If yours is saying much the same as the
others, then you have wasted your time
and money."

You might think you're saving a few grand getting a letter that's existing but you can 1. Lose a ton of money on advertising, adwords, face book ads, or whatever methods you choose with a crappy letter. and 2. get your butt sued off for copyright infringement. Don't tell me it won't happen because anyone here who knows will tell you one of the biggest copywriters out there just settled out of court with some Tard that stole his stuff and the settlement wasn't for some 5k base letter fee this was for a decent chunk.

Patrick

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KingOfContentMarketing

11 years ago

Seabro, Alex and Ewen actually gave you what you are looking for. Find the top competitors you would be up against, and investigate what they are doing/saying to the market. At the same time, consider what Ewen said about your prospect's state of mind and what they have seen already in your niche. You don't have to reinvent anything. It's all right there in the niche already. Then figure out what you would have to do/say differently to position a successful product/service.

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Enfusia

11 years ago

1. You should never steal anyone Else's work for many reasons.
A). It's immoral.
B). You have no data on it you have no idea how well it performed or actually how bad it performed.
C). It can't possibly differentiate you in the marketplace as it's got nothing to do with you, it's not written about you.

2. How do you ever expect to get better at copywriting if all you do is swipe stuff. Write all your own original copy all the time and make every letter the best you've ever written in your life. This is how you get good at copywriting!!!

P.S. I'm not being negative just telling it like I see it.

Patrick

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Alex Cohen

11 years ago

Originally Posted by Enfusia

1. You should never steal anyone Else's work for many reasons.
A). It's immoral.
B). You have no data on it you have no idea how well it performed or actually how bad it performed.
C). It can't possibly differentiate you in the marketplace as it's got nothing to do with you, it's not written about you.

2. How do you ever expect to get better at copywriting if all you do is swipe stuff. Write all your own original copy all the time and make every letter the best you've ever written in your life. This is how you get good at copywriting!!!

P.S. I'm not being negative just telling it like I see it.

Patrick

Not all internet marketers are interested in "getting better at copywriting". Many just want to write something that converts well for a particular project and then move on to the next project.

For those individuals, swipes of successful sales letters are a very good way to go. Not to copy word for word, but rather to use the bones of the sales letter as a model.

And also to see what emotions a prospect is driven by. And what benefits he's looking for.

Differentiation is, of course, necessary when competing in the commodity world. And offline SEO services certainly falls into that category.

Alex

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1 reply

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Enfusia

11 years ago

Originally Posted by Alex Cohen

Not all internet marketers are interested in "getting better at copywriting". Many just want to write something that converts well for a particular project and then move on to the next project.

For those individuals, swipes of successful sales letters are a very good way to go. Not to copy word for word, but rather to use the bones of the sales letter as a model.

And also to see what emotions a prospect is driven by. And what benefits he's looking for.

Differentiation is, of course, necessary when competing in the commodity world. And offline SEO services certainly falls into that category.

Alex

Yes, I agree. But let's take a look at what you said because it's true "Many just want to write something that converts well for a particular project and then move on to the next project".
But doesn't the next project almost always also involve copywriting too? As marketers that's what we do is sell stuff right?

Just sayin...

Patrick

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Alex Cohen

11 years ago

Originally Posted by Enfusia

Yes, I agree. But let's take a look at what you said because it's true "Many just want to write something that converts well for a particular project and then move on to the next project".
But doesn't the next project almost always also involve copywriting too? As marketers that's what we do is sell stuff right?

Just sayin...

Patrick

Most marketers are only concerned with writing copy that's good enough to convert. Getting better is not high on their list of priorities.

Sure, they'd like to continually get better... but they simply don't have the time to devote to it.

Alex

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Jason_V

11 years ago

seabro,

You're going to find a lot of the copywriters in here are on the cynical and jaded side. While you see it as hostility, you have to understand where they are coming from. There are many people who come into this forum feeling very entitled and demanding things handed to them.

Then when good information and help is offered to them they either don't take the advice or they don't even bother to so much as say thanks.

I'm not excusing the behavior on behalf of the others, but rather I'm just explaining to you what you don't see happening in this forum because you're not a regular visitor.

With all that being said, believe it or not, there is actually a marketing lesson in everything that I just wrote for you.

Your average brick and mortar business owner gets solicited on a ridiculous scale, one you couldn't even possibly imagine unless you opened your own brick and mortar business.

Between sales people coming in personally, phone calls, those horrible automated phone solicitations, and literally mountains of "junk mail." They get very jaded and tune out.

If you can't take a little bit of friction that you're getting from people in this forum, you're not going to do well with business owners.

After a while they genuinely get sick of everyone wanting a handout from them who "take, take, take"

If you can as Ewen said, stand out from the crowd (which as listed above you can see is a monumental task unto itself) you will be well rewarded.

You definitely have your work cut out for you.

I can offer you a little bit of advice that may at least get you to the "read pile" instead of the "junk mail trash pile" This is not my own, this is from Gary Halbert:

Use a regular standard size plain white envelope

Use a real stamp

Don't use anything on the return address that gives it away you're a company and not an individual

Hand write the return address and the recipient address

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BocaKenK

Banned 11 years ago

Dont fix it if it is not broke.

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ECTally

11 years ago

Originally Posted by Kurt@viewswin

I too would like everybodies control copy for free, for all niches actually. Pm me when you are done preparing it for me. Thanks

A gem of a post. Had me in stitches. Many seem to miss the irony here though.

Originally Posted by seabro

I knew you'd see sense saleskiller.

Two in a row, from the same thread at that. Brilliant. Because I've been suitably amused, I'll try to answer your question.

Originally Posted by seabro

Hi all,
So I am asking, is there anyone willing to share a letter, selling the benefits of search engine optimization, or can point me to one on the web.
Thanks,
seabro

Start with probably the best in the world, and then spend some time looking through some of the most respected in the business.
I think you will walk away with a ton of ideas.

Thanks

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SEO Sales letter: Why reinvent the wheel?

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