Seems the real online copywriting secret...sell junk, get rich, repeat, retire

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I'll be the first to admit that I've had zero experience at taking my copywriting career to the internet.

I've written lots of money making pieces all through offline marketing.

I joined this forum to try and learn from some of you that are successful online - and hopefully start my own thing online more as a challenge to explore the possibilities -

anyways, to make my point - a friend sent me an ebook yesterday from a very prominent copywriting guru - I won't mention his name or the book's name.

The book was 150 pages, and the sales letter to sell the book had several big name gurus giving glowing reviews about the book - the sales letter went into detail about how you were going to learn this big secret to skyrocket your sales, blah, blah, blah - and how this was the biggest secret to come along in decades. A must read.

The first 10 pages was legal info, the next 10 pages were more testimonials, then about 20 pages telling me what I was going to learn, then about 90 pages (all in big print) teasing me about what the big secret was - along with some stories about how a couple companies got successful - same 2 stories I've heard a million times.

When the secret was finally revealed, it was a let down - basically some old time copywriter's theory (same info as a thousand other books, just with a different story).

Got me to thinking that the secret to online copywriting is to write a lot of hype, get some buddies to put their name to it, and then sell thousands of copies - then keep repeating the procedure till I make an online fortune.

I think I'm a professional at hype...

How long will people keep buying this stuff I wonder? Seems some of these gurus have been doing it for awhile now...pumping out book after book of hyped up info, only to leave the reader wondering, "Where's the beef".

Maybe I need to learn more about people's online buying habits.

Does anybody think this is right?

Get in, make a quick buck, then fade off into the sunset?

Hmmm...maybe it's the answer - maybe it's the online copywriter's secret.

Maybe I'm not supposed to mention this "secret" openly?

What's the deal?
#copywriting #copywriting #junk #online #real #repeat #retire #rich #secretsell
  • Many people in the IM space buy "shiny objects" hoping the latest one will be their ticket to riches.

    Apparently your friend did.

    Educate him... tell him there is no "big secret" in copywriting.

    Alex
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    • How many ebooks have you read to base this sweeping condemnation of the industry? I would hope more than the ONE you mention?
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  • Some writers do use these tricks to pump up their page counts to justify
    what they are charging for their ebooks. When I wrote my very first ebook
    I was troubled about how short the book was and asked some reviewers
    what they thought about the page count. (The book just showed how
    to get free traffic using a trick I discovered by accident.) Most of the
    reviewers said that people would just want to know the technique
    and wouldn't want to read through a bunch of fluff to get it.

    I tried taking the middle ground. I added some supporting information
    mainly for the newbies and made the trick the main part of the book.
    I never received any complaints about the length of the book.

    Also, the longer you remain in this industry the less "new" things
    you'll meet so some books that may be a knockout for newbies
    would be a waste of time for you.

    -Ray Edwards
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  • You sound like me, a long while back. Want a big idea, right here, right now? Okay, I've got some throwaways.

    One of my offline efforts was a problem with a multi-step -- response card to information packet. I got called in right after the company brought its response time, from getting the card to the target getting the second step, to ten days. You could tell they were very proud of themselves.

    Increased response a whopping fraction of a percent. (I can't recall the fraction, however).

    So, I took a look at the mailing. If wasn't a bad mailing, a control piece. So I asked the woman running their data entry department what happened after they got a card with the responder's handwritten address on it.

    She told me they throw them out.

    First test was stapling the response card to the front of the sales letter -- the side the responder filled out facing out. Doubled response. Without me writing one syllable of copy at that point.

    Want a grabber? Try the reader's own hand written request.

    They were throwing out the information packet without understanding they requested it. Naturally the next step was redesigning the mailer so it looked like an information response packet.

    That's not the big idea. What is the big idea is taking that idea and applying it to, for example, a newsletter opt-in response sequence online. And that is also possible, because I've done that.

    I am not thrilled with it online, but it does work.

    The big idea is -- in all the "too cool for school" attitude -- nobody takes one darned thing from offline. They are all trying to reinvent the wheel. Because the web changes everything as a tagline is so darned cool.

    Finally, the only big idea is that there are no big ideas. Especially online, it's an ecosystem -- three dozen or so small ideas -- all working together, all multiplying the effectiveness of the others.
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  • Here's my theory, and many will no doubt disagree.

    I anticipate a growing skepticism of false claims online. Info products won't die, but I think people will get the memo and start looking for better products that actually deliver value.

    But, regardless of whether or not this change happens, I don't think that kind of marketing is viable or sustainable. Return customers? Forget it.

    Again, that's just my theory. I realize that I am up against thousands of rich IM gurus. So be it.
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  • Wow. Two big ideas in one thread. I do not expect this so-called growing skepticism.

    Why? I'd like to introduce you to the real force driving these numbers: Greater Fool Theory. In essence, "If I like this a little bit, I bet the morons online will fall for this, hook, like and sinker."

    What I am saying is, the numbers aren't changing as you would expect from growing skepticism. I suspect the idea is "there's a fool born every minute." People do not buy because they are convinced.

    They are convinced others are stupid enough to buy. Skepticism changed into cynicism while you weren't looking. That's how late in the game this is. It is 2011 people.




    Related:

    Greater Fool Theory is driving the sales people attribute to other reasons. Rest assured.
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    • Yup, that pretty much sums it up. For every person who drops out of the info product 'buying loop', there's 10 wide eyed, gullible as you like dreamers who will fall for it month after month. And that funny little crew who continually hit the top 10 on clickbank with the latest proof of the 'greater fool theory' understand this all too well.
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  • For the most part, the "making money" market, no matter the niche, is full of "infojunkie" buyers.

    They'll believe anything because they want to believe. And the mindset is like a lotto ticket buyer... "This could be my 'ticket', but if not, I'll buy another"...

    And people pump out crap to sell to them because they're rabid buyers.

    I'm constantly amazed at the junk that passes across my desk under the guise of a "valuable product" (which I always pass on).

    Easy market? Yes.

    Long term market with many repeat buyers if you're selling crap? No.

    And what's tough is there ARE great products out there, I personally buy products all of the time, and most of the time it's from people I've learned from and have bought from before.

    Can you make a fortune selling snake oil? Definitely.

    Will karma bite you in the ass? Ask Don Lapri.

    Is it easier to sell quality products that really help people, build a long term customer base of repeat buyers, SMART buyers who want to "learn" and aren't buying into a get rich quick scheme? That's your choice.

    It's an easy one for me.

    If I rip people off, I can't sleep at night, they won't buy from me again, and karma will probably kick my ass.

    If I genuinely over-deliver, genuinely help people, they'll buy from me over and over again and I can feel good about what I'm selling.

    Food for thought.

    Sources: 200+ sales letters, plenty of affiliate promotions and plenty of my own products over the last few years.

    -Scott
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  • Scott, I am totally with you. And I sleep good at night without worrying about karma.

    I have a simple solution to bad or hyped up products.
    I don't buy anything without a money back guarantee.
    And if it don't live up to the the sales copy, I get a refund.
    And I do get a lot of refunds for junk!

    M E
  • I'm with Scott,

    People want to believe and there are infojunkies who will buy anything.

    But...even if the content is good, what did you expect? Selling is selling, in print, in person, etc... there's only so many tricks and triggers in existence.

    Perhaps the secret was the advanced selling strategy of the book itself.

    Dan Kennedy describes exactly this type of book in "Influential Writing." This is the book slash sales letter reinforcing the authority of the author...or a branding strategy.

    Many people go for this and discover the pearl amidst the pitch. Other people...you perhaps...do not.

    And, for that I also say that Pyschologist and persuasion guru Kevin Hogan talks about both categories of people...skeptics and suckers. Do either have an advantage or disadvantage?

    Yes, both - this is a matter of parallax and perspective. The value is dependent on the perceiver.

    Interesting stuff, thanks for sharing.
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