No One Goes On The Internet To Be Sold To

You are so right about those hilarious one-page sales letters... I actually was just looking for a new niche and did a test on CB. It had one product and looking at their tiny sales letter just hurt my eyes. Hilarity! Pink font on a white background should Never be used for a headline. LOL

We must stop him........

Agreed. David Meerman Scott wrote an excellent book "the new rules of marketing and PR" that makes this point quite clear. Becoming what he calls a "thought leader" and providing useful content is the key.

Especially here in the U.S., short term thinking has ruled for too long. It's time to take a stand over time with your niche and be an expert, not a fly-by-nighter - that's my 2 cents on it, not Meerman Scott's.

Interestingly, at least to me, I posted a thread yesterday on a similar topic about the possible inherent responsibilities that affiliate marketers should/could take on when promoting products they've never bought, never tried, in a field they're not an expert in.

I got maybe 2 replies, but mostly heard the sound of crickets. I think that's telling. Why? Because WORK is a four letter word to many, and it takes work to be an expert, or even passably knowledgeable.

But back to your point: being a thought leader and providing useful content does NOT mean one cannot sell, in fact, it's likely quite the opposite - but step one is the very real fact that no one goes to the internet looking for sales pitches.............. except me when I go out looking for dynamite sales copy to emulate!! ;-)

Best,
David Portney

Jay

You make some great points!

Millions of people come onto the net with the intention of buying - the trick for an Internet Marketer is to be the sales assistant.



Frank

The majority of people do not come online to be sold something and while your method can work, it takes wayyyy more effort than I'm willing to put in.

I prefer to grab the minority that are sitting at their computer with credit card number in hand. A little SEO knowledge can make the lazy IM'r lots of cash.

Your point is well taken Mr Jay. But still person need quality information before they go punching in their credit card numbers.

Say you go on google looking for a cure to get rid of acne spots using your example. You searched and a minisite was the first result selling and ebook to cure acne. Would you just go and buy it same time?

Or would you further research to see if the product can really deliver?
That's how quality info would come in.

I bet you though if you had landed on a page providing quality info on acne and giving you a review of quality products that can cure acne then that would more likely get you in a buying mood rather then when you landed directly on the minisite sales page.

Correct me if I am Wrong

I used to do that too; spending hours writing good quality, well-researched content and I made no money. My friend kept saying, you have so much content, more than enough for a book. Now I am writing for money and while still provide free info, it's just enough to do a pre-sell.

Your point well taken.

Then you will need to find out how to get that nutt back. I can send you an affiliate link to a "Get Your Nutt Back Book".

It sounds like we are talking about the different between the hard sell versus the slow play. Here, the hard sell would be pushing the product up front early and often and the slow play would be to offer free content, build the relationship and then promote your products.

It is my understanding that the really big marketers will do the hard sell because their lists are so big, they can afford to turn off some people and it doesn't matter. Kind of a churn and burn philosophy. However, I have heard of other marketers who do very well with smaller lists with the slow play who are able to make a lot of recurring sales b/c of a greater trust with the customer. Plus, most customers don't normally buy right away. The slow play helps at gradually convincing customers to purchase from you. The only problem I see with the slow play is that you delay getting sales from those who are chomping at the bit to buy straight-away and it does take some extra time before you push your product. For example, promoting a product every 3rd email as opposed to pushing something every email like in the hard sell. You could lose customers along the way when distractions or other events intercede.

I find this area one of the most interesting of IM. As a casual viewer, I get turned off by the immediate sales push, but I also follow IM so my antennae is a little higher than most regular people. I do suspect more and more people will gravitate towards this line of thinking in the near future. However, I do believe in the philosophy of "Always Be Closing" or asking for the sale. It seems it would be in error not to ask for a sale in some way from the beginning. By pushing back asking for the sale, you also risk the customer will ignore your follow-up emails and never even see the later sale. For example, I have a dozen of opt in emails that I never look at or move to my spam folder. It seems there should be some type of good compromise here where you can still ask for the sale, but make it a minor part of the success confirmation page or sale a very low dollar item so that you can better gauge your potential buying audience.

Best,
JDSalinger

I totally understand your points.

I didn't even think about the back ache scenario i just pull it off the top of my head lol.

But the point that I want to stress would be the QUALITY of the content proir to the sales copy. This could be in the form of a review page or a standard presell.