How I've been consistently doubling, tripling, and quadrupling conversion rates...

by shawnlebrun

Posted: 12 years ago 26 replies

COPY WRITING

Like most of the folks on this forum... I've spent thousands and thousands of dollars on copywriting books. I've probably got them all.

But I continuously keep going back to Gary Bencivenga's retirement course, over and over again... and every time I do, I learn something new and implement it asap.

Results? Usually a doubling, tripling, and quadrupling of conversion rates.

In fact, a short ad I did for a fellow Warrior Forum member recently quadrupled his opt in rate.

And 2 of the most recent methods I've used to double, triple, and quadruple the conversion rates of my sales letters are these:

1. Don't make my sales letter LOOK like a sales letter. Make it look like an editorial or article. Sales letters get tossed... articles get read.

2. give away something incredibly useful, right away, in the sales letter.

Eben Pagan calls it "moving the free line" in which you give away a killer piece of content.

Well, I've been doing it in my sales letters recently, weaving a killer tip or technique in the letter... giving away incredibly useful and valuable information.

that does a few things... it kicks in Cialidini's law of reciprocity... as well as it shows the prospect proof that you know your stuff... and it also gets the prospect thinking there's more gold on the other side (i.e. order)

SO many sales letters I see these days are just hyped up fluff. prospects see these and toss them in seconds.

but if you make it easy to read the letter... cause it looks like an article... and then you offer something of immense value IN the sales letter... you'll keep a lot more people on the page.

Proof is one of the most important elements in sales... cause you can be sure your prospect is thinking "yeah, right"

but when you give away something of incredible value... information and content that's very useful.... you immediately jump to the head of the line in terms of believability.

Now, I wish these 2 things were obvious... but they really aren't, because i see hundreds of sales letters come across my desk... and most of them don't even cover those 2 things.

Try just those 2 things next time you write... i'm willing to bet you'll see a boost in response.

#consistently #conversion #doubling #quadrupling #rates #tripling

Bruce Wedding 12 years ago

Shawn,

You're absolutely right about Bencivenga's course; top notch and it's also the one I always come back to. In fact, I just re-watched it a few weeks ago, and got some great new ideas. It seems, no matter how many times I watch it, I learn something new.

The last thing I learned was about proof elements. The idea of finding a fantastic proof element and building a product around it; completely flipping the idea around of creating a product then finding proof.
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RickDuris 12 years ago

I agree Shawn, 1000%.

The effect I'm going for is:

"I'll be damned, I didn't know that! I better [fill-in-the-blank take-action response]"

- Rick Duris
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shawnlebrun 12 years ago

Thanks, Rick.... and that's a great way to put it... fill in the blanks!

I remember it was at an Eben Pagan marketing seminar, in which he read a quote from a book that said "my biggest challenge will be in convincing you that what you're about to read is new"

In other words.... we all have that "I know that" mechanism built in... so that it often prevents us from learning truly new stuff....

because for some reason, when we see or hear something... often times we have this "I already know that" mechanism come into play, and it blocks out really learning something new!

so now, in my sales letters... i try to offer up a killer technique or tip that they can literally go out and use right away. something they can see almost instant results with... and I've found it just helps build proof and credibility.

like Claude Hopkins said "no argument in the world can compare with one dramatic demonstration"

so i try to get the technique to demonstrate the end result... what they'll get. it gets them coming back for more!

Yep, loved that idea Bruce... in fact, as Gary mentioned... Franklin Mint built their company around it and made it bullet proof.
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DavidG

12 years ago

I remember when I saw Eben's Guru Blueprint Launch - I thought "If he is giving this much away I wonder what I will get if I do sign up!"

Something else that may be helpful along with giving away killer content though - is to make it tangible or practical...like telling them what to look for in thier body to confirm they are loosing weight or what to do to stop breath from smelling. Content that gives them a tangible result RIGHT AWAY.

btw - for that course you mention - do you think it's necessary compared to Clayton's Desktop Copy Coach. Is there a HUGE difference? Or is it essentially the same?

edit - @shawn I just saw your post pop up when I replied saying the same thing I did - bonkers!

Thanks
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Andrew Gould

12 years ago

Originally Posted by DavidG

btw - for that course you mention - do you think it's necessary compared to Clayton's Desktop Copy Coach. Is there a HUGE difference? Or is it essentially the same?

Clayton's course is an A-Z of how to write an ad - it's suitable for a complete beginner.

Gary's course is more of a turbo-boost for those already competent. I wouldn't say it was necessary until you can take the $5,000 out of your copywriting earnings without missing it (too much).

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ewenmack 12 years ago

Thanks Shawn for confirming what I suspected.

I don't own Gary B's training, so I didn't know about adding
usable tips in the ad.

However reading his ad for the Bencivenga 1,000 letter selling his retirement event,
you could see him using it there.

When there was a discussion here on that letter, I made the point about having
it in the ad.

Reading closely the Health and Financial Magalogues written by the A Listers
and you'll see them giving out tips in them.

So it's all out there to see it in action, if you closely dissect
the repeated principles.

Best,
Ewen
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Jomuli3 12 years ago
When you give something away to a prospect, you are preselling. Preselling is creating buyer confidence/trust before the actual sale. It might be in form of a book. It might be in form of techniques or anything useful. The main aim of preselling, a term coined by Dr Ken Evoy, is to make the actual sale easy by creating confidence/trust.

We like doing business with people we trust. Preselling does that perfectly.

There are, however, better and more effective ways of increasing your conversion rates.

a) Product quality - Even if you presell well if your product is of poor quality, you will not increase your conversion rates highly.

b) Product demand - If the product you want to market is of low demand you will not increase your conversion rates effectively. That is why you have to do some research into the demand of your product before you carry out a launch.

c) A/B split testing - This is the real determiner of conversion rate boosting. You can test two or three items e.g sales letter titles. Through Google Web Optimizer you can do it easily.

c) Another big gunner is the multivariate testing. It is similar to the above. It is different in one way. It enables the user test many variables at the same time.

One other free tool you can use is Google Analytics. This tool will enable you know the actual pages your visitors came to, where they came from and how many you received per a day, It will show you the most visited page, the geographical positions of these people etc.

Equipped with this information you could make adjustments to your content and test again. Testing should be done repeatedly. Stick to what is working until another version proves more effective in raising conversion rates.

How effective is the testing technique?

Here are real results:-
- Mattress Liquidators increased their conversion rates by 5000%
- Doba.com increased conversion rates by 70% and newsletter sign ups by 50%
- Jigsaw Health increased their conversion rate by 60%
These are but a few of the available ways you can increase your conversion rates. Your profit margin, consequently, will improve. Your life quality will incredibly improve as your business grows.
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videolover7 12 years ago

Originally Posted by shawnlebrun

1. Don't make my sales letter LOOK like a sales letter. Make it look like an editorial or article. Sales letters get tossed... articles get read.

Online or direct mail sales letters?

VL
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Rezbi 12 years ago

I've kept so many magalogs over the years because of the value they have within them.

Sometimes I've read them over again because of the value and...eventually... ended up ordering the book.

And that's really what makes those magalogs useful: For eventually making that sale.
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shawnlebrun 12 years ago

Hey David,

thanks for the kind words.

like Andrew said, Clayton's course is more about learning how to write great copy.
So if you're unsure of how to do that, Clayton's course is great.

Gary B. does cover that... but he then takes it to the next step... and shows you how to become wealthy as a copywriter. So it's got some important stuff about learning how to write great copy... like his persuasion equation literally helps my letters almost write themselves now... because he gives you what must be in them.

Gary may have written more controls than anyone else I know... i could be wrong. so when you want to start writing letters that pull well, it helps to learn from someone who has written control after control.

But again, he takes it to the next level and shows you how to become wealthy as a marketer and copywriter... which most copy courses won't do if they're about writing copy.
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shawnlebrun 12 years ago

Another thing about Gary B's course, David, let's put it this way.

There are hundreds of copy courses out there, probably more.

But I now use Gary's course as my training manual, when i train
new copywriters who work for me. I incorporate all of Gary's principles
into their training, and it literally makes the entire process of getting
them up to speed, literally painless.

you'll never see his stuff floating around online or on ebay,
since we technically "license" it from Gary, but he's gracious
enough to let us use it to train staff, etc... which again,
it's the only copy course or resource i've ever used in that
i do exactly that.
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- Jomuli3 12 years ago
  
  Shawn, stop making me vibrate with excitement and inspiration!
  I have read a bit about Gary but your testimony leaves me overwhelmingly hopeful that Gary's course is what I have been, like a chicken, scratching the ground for, for a long time.
  
  Like you struggled buying copywriting material, so did I.
  If any warrior knows another course better than Garry's, throw me a spear. I will venture into the thick forest and dare the fierce blood-oozing wounded lions until I get it.
  
  I bought some copywriting course, finished it, and got some additional resources to make myself rise above the competition. I bought some teleconference recordings. I have been looking for every copywriting resource and subscribed to many newsletters. I did copied great sales letters. I did re-write them over and over. That was good. I, however, needed the skill to go out there and get clients. There was little I achieved from these resources.
  
  There were aggressive marketing techniques used to influence my buying decision. They hyped their messages. They smeared their advert copies with fluff. They stirred my emotions like a hungry man hurriedly trying to dissolve some sugar in a mug of tea.
  
  They promised I could work anywhere --- even in my pyjamas! I would have more work than I could handle. But I am a starved copywriter save for a few articles I write!
  
  Because of stunning emotional blows my body secreted big amounts of hormones. I now wobble about battered and exhausted.
  
  Well I do not mean to underscore the value of the resources I was given. Truth told, they never met my expectation.
  
  I need a break. I need Gary's copywriting course.
  
  Help me get it.
  
  John
  
  Thanks
  
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shawnlebrun

12 years ago

hey John,

Yeah, no doubt Gary's course is a life-changer, and i haven't been able to say that about
any other course i've bought over the years... even though almost all of them claim it
in their sales copy ;-)

But at $5,000... it can be tough to get it when first starting out.

if you want... email me at my site and i can give you some thoughts on how you can learn some of Gary's nuggets of gold.

Since Gary allows us to use his course to train our staff... what i've been doing lately with my coaching students is actually adding them to my copywriter staff... where I have them work on the overflow clients that i just don't have time to do or care to do.

and since my name is attached, before anyone writes copy on my team, they are trained in Gary's principles.

so, you can always email me for more info...

Thanks
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SpikeS

12 years ago

Originally Posted by shawnlebrun

Just curious Shawn, but how much do you charge your coaching students?

Thanks
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tmanifold 12 years ago

Thanks for the great post. I am a pretty decent writer and have written a number of magazine article but I have a hard time with sales copy. I just can't hype it enough. If I read you right, I shouldn't be trying to do that at all. Maybe just writing articles instead of sale copy, will make it easier for me.
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- Bruce Wedding 12 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by tmanifold
  
  I just can't hype it enough.
  
  I think I just threw up a bit in the back of my throat.
  
  Originally Posted by tmanifold
  
  If I read you right, I shouldn't be trying to do that at all.
  
  Bingo!
  
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shawnlebrun 12 years ago

I busted out laughing Bruce! too funny!

I personally LOVE seeing hype in sales letters.

Cause it just reminds me how easy it is to slaughter
them in results.

Rookies and amateurs use hype, pros use research
and proof.

And that's not said to be mean... it just shows the
natural progression most of us make... when we
first start out... our writing is all adjectives and
hype.

When we learn better... that stuff disappears.
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michaelhearne 12 years ago

Gary's course is def one of - if not THE - best courses out there...

he makes such simple but profound statements throughout the whole thing that you get something new every time!

it's pure fundamentals - i don't think you can ever practice them enough

there are other great courses out there for advanced copywriters - if you haven't checked out Jon Benson's 3X VSL Formula it'll add skillz on top of what Gary delivers...

All of the masters teach the same thing from different angles - Gary's works for any media - Jon's works for VSL's - and so on...

There's crossover for all of them - and they'll say the same thing different ways and make light bulbs go off...

anyways - i'm rambling now lol

some might say i'm avoiding getting started on real work..

peace
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michaelhearne 12 years ago

oh yeah - i met Michael Fishman - the one other guy besides Gary who spoke - about list selection - kewl guy...

He tells me Gary is one of the most generous people he knows...

enriching your lives through random factoids
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shawnlebrun 12 years ago

yeah, Micheal, no doubt Jon Benson knows his stuff... some say he was the first
to create/use video sales letters.

and even though i don't know Gary B. that well.... I've never heard a bad word
said about him or his course... which is incredible considering how some people
even like taking shots at winners.

Spike, you can always shoot me an email if you want more info on my coaching, i don't post prices, details, etc...

most marketers have told me it's too little what i charge, but i know for a fact that many new copywriters who are just starting out don't have huge budgets... which is why a lot of my students don't get Gary's $5,000 course. so i try to stay reasonable...
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The Copy Warriors 12 years ago

Thanks for the tips!

Moving the free line ON the sales page itself with a free digital download isn't something I'd thought about...
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Eldon 12 years ago

I'm off to find Gary Bencivenga's course. Thank you for this thread and giving some direction for those of us who are seeking more information.
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echelon 12 years ago

I agree with you Shawn on the fact that a sales page does not have to contain hype in order to convert. I am surprised by the fact that I feel like when the marketer connects with me and describes in detail the product, I could be interested in buying.

A sales page that gives a lot of details about a coaching program but has no testimonial may be more convincing to me than another one that is vague about what will be taught but has a lot of video testimonials.

As you inferred, I think it is really about being logical and transparent about what is being sold. This being, I am not a copywriter myself.
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Jennie Heckel 12 years ago

Hi Shawn,

Hey, I've been split testing a client's supplement copy, using a plain jane article style text format under his supplement info at the top, and giving away a couple of really killer info tips inside the "article copy".

And... this ugly article style version is killing the "pretty pages" that he was using which were converting at 4%, but.... now the "ugly article pages" are converting up to 7%!

Almost double....!

This really makes me believe that in certain markets, "hype" and being too "slick" definitely kills off the critical "honesty factor" that tips the scale to trigger a sale.

Go figure!

Anyway... I am going to split test other client's supplement copy layouts and see!

Yes, Google Website Optimizer works fine, but some people hate Google knowing what they are doing.

You can use CrazyEgg.com to verify Google's Analytics if you want to replace them.

I love their heat maps, because many times I find graphics that people click on that visitors thing are "hot or clickbable" that are not, like a supplement bottle image that should link to the order page that didn't.

With heat maps installed (its in Google Analytics too) you can double check that you are not inadvertently causing order problems or "cart abandonment" due to something simple that is reducing your conversions.

Another thing I love to split test is proof images... Try it and see, just changing the author image can boost conversions... make the author look human, not like a hollywood move star and you might see a slight bump up in your conversion rate.

Or even changing the proof box color from yellow to a light blue!

Good luck with your copywriting!

Jennie
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nobita436 12 years ago

Ya this is true. If you want to do something by your heart and soul then you must get something whenever you try to do something on this regret.
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- Robert Brauer 12 years ago
  
  The fact is -- people naturally resist being "sold"...
  
  What we don't resist is being educated.
  
  And that's exactly why designing your page and actually (gasp!) educating the reader is the best way to sell.
  
  :-)
  
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How I've been consistently doubling, tripling, and quadrupling conversion rates...

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