I wanted to read your entire sales page, but...

[Steven Carl Kelly]

I wanted to read your entire sales page, I really did. As it turned out your page was soooo long I decided to pack a couple of meals and gallon or so of bottled water before I started the trek from the top to the bottom. After the first four hours into the copy, I started to get worried that reading the entire thing was an impossible task. I was thinking about reading it in "shifts" over the course of a couple of weeks, just to make reading it all an attainable goal, but sadly this didn't work either.

In the end, I gave up trying to read your entire sales page after only dedicating about 27 hours to it. Call me a quitter, I guess.

These days, pages as long as this drive me nuts (non-affiliate link):

Niche Profit Classroom

Maybe I'm just old, or maybe I've just been at this so long that my tolerance has been reduced over time.

Have you guys seen a longer sales page than this one? If so, show me, please.

Oh, and on a humorous note, here's the funniest typo on the page:



Three eeeks? Is that anything like clicking your heels together three times?

Eeek! Eeek! Eeek!

Am I on the front page of Google yet?

[Lance K]

Gotta use the skirt rule when writing copy.

Long enough to cover the essentials, but short enough to keep interest.

[Kelly Verge]

2/3 of the way down the page, hidden below the 128th testimonial is the complete text of the proposed health care plan.

[Christophe Young]

Lord! That's a lot of testimonials! Click on the "join now" button and you've got another book to read.

Well, $94,000 per month guaranteed! It must be good!

[StevieHawk]

I think I was on that site. Never reached the sales page though fortunately. The videos were pretty good.

[Steven Wagenheim]

That's a 78 page sales letter. I think my longest is like 20 pages.

No, I've never seen anything this long ever and if you put a gun to my head
not only wouldn't I read it, I would never buy the product.

Amazing.

[Lance K]

Generates Up To $94,042 Per Month

What most people don't realize is that the phrase "up to" is a qualifyer that includes the number ZERO.

[LB]

The sales page itself is pretty basic in size...there are just a ton of testimonials.

Why? ...it works. Social proof.

I understand some of the humor in this stuff sometimes...but really, we're making fun of long sales letters on this forum? Kind of pot->kettle->black...no?

[Katie Rich]

Today, I received something similar. I read a little, skimmed down, read a little more, skimmed down, though what the hell and hit the X.

I like to be somewhat convinced that what I am about to purchase has a chance of being useful, but I don't want to be bored to death by so many testimonials, video's and hype that I fall asleep before I get to the price. Though that is usually in the smallest text and hidden away in there is ... per month...

Not for me, no matter what it says it does.

[TeddyP]

I always wonder about the effectiveness of long sales pages (shorter than the one in the OP of course).

I know they work - I have seen many people have success with them. I can count the number of long sales pages I have read on one hand though. I only read them because a real life friend sent them.

I instantly tune them out. Obviously there is a large percentage of the population that doesn't since they work. I must just be a cynic.

[Troy_Phillips]

First of all I know my sales letters suck. I just find it hard to hype a product up and say things that is not going to happen. This is why I build list and sell to them.

I can tell my members about a product . I have either paid for it or have been given a copy to review before it goes to my list .

I can then honestly say that the product will work without having to go the "up to route"

All this being said . Most of us on the warrior forum is not the target market for most im ers . While we know pretty much what we want , the average person online needs to be convinced that the product is something they need . Given big claims that makes them want . And enough social proof to make them feel like they are the only idiot in the world that hasn't whipped out there credit card and purchased yet .

Admitedly that is a marathon sp but it is more than likely working or the marketer would be using a shorter one . Now I am not saying it is working as good as it could but a lot of marketers see a few sales a day and are content with the content .

[Tracey_Meagher]

When I'm really interested in buying a product I will read every word of the sales page. I want as much information as I can get about the product. Admittedly, I've never been faced with one quite that size but if that product was something I was looking for .. I would put aside a day and read the whole page

[Anonymous Affiliate]

Nothing puts me off like a long-ass sales letter. Does anyone really believe I got 45 minutes to read all that? if the marketer cannot present his/her product and its benefits within 5 minutes, he's trying too hard in my opinion.

[Derek S]

Long copy will nearly always outsell short copy. Tracy hit the nail on the head when she said "When I'm really interested in buying a product I will read every word of the sales page"

the issue is marketers are immune to sales letters. In most niche markets outside of IM many people look at them as "articles" and the more informative they are, the higher it will convert.

The length is due to all the testimonials and you can never have enough testimonials.

[Derek S]

remember that most cases, only buyers read every word...

if thats not you, your not their target market

[Matt Jutras]

To be fair, the copywriter nailed the Flesch Kincaid Reading Ease at a nice 80.6...

The bad news is the word count: 8469

Now I know how congress feels.

[willyboy104]

OMG thats just cruel!

They should be paying me to read through that, seriously that can't convert surely?!

[TeddyP]

Originally Posted by Derek S

remember that most cases, only buyers read every word...

if that's not you, your not their target market

Great point.

I don't doubt the value of long sales pages - I just NEVER read them personally, no matter the product. Luckily for all of us warriors, I am in the small minority.

[Mandy Allen]

Gosh, they are long testimonials too! Some of them have got to be the longest testimonials I've seen.

Enjoy the journey.

Mandy

[KimW]

I see a long sales page nowadays and I close it out.

[Marian Berghes]

I can officially say that is the longest copy I have seen...I understand using testimonials, but come on...

[MikeHumphreys]

One of Dan Kennedy's most famous quotes is 'There's no such thing as too long. Only too boring".

The minute you start boring the reader, you will lose them. That's why copywriters use things like bullets, checklists, sidebars, etc in a sales letter... it's one way break up the copy so it's easier to read and far less likely to bore or confuse the reader. You also get to deliver some of your key points that way too.

As a few other people have mentioned, if it's not a product or service that you're truly interested in the amount of copy won't matter. It could be one sentence or one ream of printed paper... and it won't matter if you weren't the type of prospect who would be interested and buy that type of product or service.

[yommys01]

Originally Posted by Steven Carl Kelly

I wanted to read your entire sales page, I really did. As it turned out your page was soooo long I decided to pack a couple of meals and gallon or so of bottled water before I started the trek from the top to the bottom. After the first four hours into the copy, I started to get worried that reading the entire thing was an impossible task. I was thinking about reading it in "shifts" over the course of a couple of weeks, just to make reading it all an attainable goal, but sadly this didn't work either.

In the end, I gave up trying to read your entire sales page after only dedicating about 27 hours to it. Call me a quitter, I guess.

These days, pages as long as this drive me nuts (non-affiliate link):

Niche Profit Classroom

Maybe I'm just old, or maybe I've just been at this so long that my tolerance has been reduced over time.

Have you guys seen a longer sales page than this one? If so, show me, please.

Oh, and on a humorous note, here's the funniest typo on the page:



Three eeeks? Is that anything like clicking your heels together three times?

Eeek! Eeek! Eeek!

Am I on the front page of Google yet?

Not only you. I the only long sale letter I have ever read is from Jon Ledger and that is because I trust him.

People need to know no one is interested on those silly and meaningless sales letters.

[Dan C. Rinnert]

I'm not sure if I'd want to be on page one and two of the search sngines.

[ChrisBa]

oh man i love it!

[Rupps]

Originally Posted by Derek S

remember that most cases, only buyers read every word...

if thats not you, your not their target market

I buy a lot of products. I NEVER read the whole sales letter. I bet I am not the only one.

Only testing one against the other will tell you what works best.

[Derek S]

hey Rupps,

Your in the vast majority of people. Odds are you skim the page and stop at subheads that jump out at you... reading every word you need to, until you have come to your decision.

problem with short copy is fewer sub heads jumping out at you before arriving at the buy button.

Ofcourse you need to test this yourself as I'm sure the creators of niche profit classroom have already done themselves.

The only time short copy has converted higher in my personal tests are when I have offered a free trial period or my call to action asked for an email address...

...When wallets are involved, I find potential customers want as much info as needed plus a little extra push to make the sale.

[DougBarger]

That's why it's important to really give careful attention to creating compelling sub-heads for the skimmers; because many just read the headline, then scroll to read the sub-heads and then scroll to the order button before deciding whether to buy it or not.

[corvetteking]

Originally Posted by Anonymous Affiliate

Nothing puts me off like a long-ass sales letter. Does anyone really believe I got 45 minutes to read all that? if the marketer cannot present his/her product and its benefits within 5 minutes, he's trying too hard in my opinion.

I completely agree . I have sold cars in less time than the sales letter . Geez ,I try keep mine to 1 page .Don't want them to lose interest or get too caught up int eh sales page that they don't "Buy" .

[Derek S]

Great example of how to use subheads is all Frank Kern's copy.

You can ready every subhead and bold word ONLY from start to end and it will give you the whole story flowing perfectly.

[darrenolander]

Yea.. I would never attempt to read that =/ Turn it into a video salesletter, and put most of the testimonials on their own testimonial page... that may keep me there.

[Joseph Then]

Mike Filsaime has LONGER salesletter than that one during his BFM launch and he's making millions from THAT salesletter.

Something must be correct isn't it?

[Marian]

You can always use the "Home" and "End" keys on your keyboard... the salesletter is "just" 1MB in size :-) If it's a good product I'll buy regardless of how long is the salesletter.

Marian

[MarkWrites]

I hate long sales letters (though I've never seen one as long as that one). I sometimes think though that my dislike of long sales letters comes from the fact that being in the IM field I see so many every day (including the ones I write or commission). They are probably much more effective on "non-warriors"

[Daniel Scott]

They're effective on everyone.

Why do you think IM letters still are long as hell?

Everyone bitches about long sales letters... then wonder why their copy isn't converting.

Copywriters know the truth... that all other things being equal (ie. it's not boring) a long letter will sell the crap out of a short one.

-Dan

[Asher]

Originally Posted by Matt Jutras

To be fair, the copywriter nailed the Flesch Kincaid Reading Ease at a nice 80.6...

The bad news is the word count: 8469

Now I know how congress feels.

Thanks for sharing that... never heard of the reading ease
test.

Flesch-Kincaid readability test - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Asher

[Don Schenk]

I never even got to the salesletter because it had a video for me to watch first! Not only that, but he wanted me to optin just to see his salesletter. AAArrrrgggghhhhhh!

I don't have time to sit through another talking-head, sales video when if the words from the video were in printed form I could skim it in seconds.

:-Don

[copywarrior]

There's a mixed opinion about long salesletter vs short sales letter. But 78 pages long- come on. I would not read but that's a personal opinion. However, if I am really interested in the product, I would read shorter reviews from multiple resources and then decide whether to buy or not.

Cheers!
Jay B.

[Steven Carl Kelly]

Originally Posted by Daniel Scott

They're effective on everyone.

No they aren't. If so, the page would have a 100% conversion rate.

[ken_p]

i wonder what is 3 eeeksss?
seriously, i think if you want to catch peoples attention, you better make it short, short and concise. personally, i normally scan the pages before i start reading, and if way too long i just skip it.

[Steven Carl Kelly]

Originally Posted by Steven Wagenheim

That's a 78 page sales letter. I think my longest is like 20 pages.

Thanks for counting that, Steve. I was going to try, but I didn't want to invest the time!

[Matt Jutras]

Originally Posted by Asher

Thanks for sharing that... never heard of the reading ease
test.

Flesch-Kincaid readability test - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Asher

If you ever want to analyze some text:

http://read-able.com/

[Daniel Scott]

If I wanted to argue semantics to you, I could point out the fact that there are hundreds if not thousands of variables on a sales page that effect conversions... not just length.

But instead I'll just say long sales pages work better... which was the point of my post.

But hey, what do I know... it's not like I write letters that make my clients a lot of money or anything</sarcasm>.

-Dan

Originally Posted by Steven Carl Kelly

No they aren't. If so, the page would have a 100% conversion rate.

[Steven Carl Kelly]

Originally Posted by Daniel Scott

But instead I'll just say long sales pages work better... which was the point of my post.

Yep, but they sure don't work for everyone, which was the point of my reply.

[Joseph Then]

Originally Posted by Steven Carl Kelly

Yep, but they sure don't work for everyone, which was the point of my reply.

Well, it works for the marketer who have the letter.