Best sales pages or videos out right now...

19 replies
I learn by deconstruction, I've been doing it with code
for years. Now I want to do it with copywriting. The
problem is I don't know what is great, or even good.

Would you point me in the direction of great sales letters
or video sales pages out right now? It doesn't have to
be IM/MMO. Let me know if you have direct knowledge
of good conversions as I will give it more weight.

Pointers to all time classic sales pieces that are still
relevant today would be appreciated too.
#pages #sales #videos
  • Profile picture of the author Alex Cohen
    Originally Posted by IDoTheLegWork View Post

    I learn by deconstruction, I've been doing it with code
    for years. Now I want to do it with copywriting. The
    problem is I don't know what is great, or even good.

    Would you point me in the direction of great sales letters
    or video sales pages out right now? It doesn't have to
    be IM/MMO. Let me know if you have direct knowledge
    of good conversions as I will give it more weight.

    Pointers to all time classic sales pieces that are still
    relevant today would be appreciated too.
    Learn the basics of copywriting first... then deconstruct great sales letters. It doesn't make sense to step into the batter's box with a blindfold on.

    Alex
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    • Profile picture of the author IDoTheLegWork
      Originally Posted by Alex Cohen View Post

      Learn the basics of copywriting first... then deconstruct great sales letters. It doesn't make sense to step into the batter's box with a blindfold on.

      Alex
      Are you talking AIDA, pain points, features vs. benefits, don't ask
      questions that can be answered with a no...

      I have studied the very basics and am at a point where deconstruction
      is the next best step for me. But thanks anyway
      Signature

      ..and you WILL contribute a verse.
      Indifference is the enemy that must be conquered.
      Appeal to the crowd by addressing the person.

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  • Profile picture of the author RS3RS
    I recommend you head over to Clickbank, browse the marketplace, and sort by highest gravity. Then just check out products from the top down. As long as it's a big enough niche, you're guaranteed to be looking at a great sales page / video!
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  • When you say "best sales pages or videos" - "best" can be very subjective.

    I might like an Ad others might hate it (and vice versa).

    Ideally you want to deconstruct high preforming Ads.

    You could wade through the top sales pitches on Clickbank.


    2 classic Ads that you can find with google are -

    Lies, Lies Lies - Gary Bencivenga

    Read This or Die - Jim Rutz

    A brilliant website that is always worth looking at is -

    Saddleback Leather Co.

    Remember you can "deconstruct" any Ad.

    Work out what's good, bad and indifferent.

    And how it can be improved.


    Steve


    P.S. Just noticed that RS3RS mentioned Clickbank a few seconds before I posted this. I've never understood how to find the "gravity" and have no idea if high or low is best (wild guess would be high).

    I would be so grateful if someone could enlighten me.
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    • Profile picture of the author IDoTheLegWork
      Originally Posted by Steve The Copywriter View Post

      P.S. Just noticed that RS3RS mentioned Clickbank a few seconds before I posted this. I've never understood how to find the "gravity" and have no idea if high or low is best (wild guess would be high).

      I would be so grateful if someone could enlighten me.
      You can find the gravity in the marketplace listings. It's in the
      stats under the product description listed as "grav".

      Gravity is a calculation by ClickBank that estimates the number
      of affiliates that have made a sale in the last 12 weeks. A higher
      number means more affiliates have successfully sold the product,
      so the higher number is better. Most pundits say 5+ is worth
      looking into and 20+ is stellar.

      Here's an article that tries to dig deeper into the gravity calculation:
      ClickBank Articles: What is ClickBank Gravity? | cbgraph help
      Signature

      ..and you WILL contribute a verse.
      Indifference is the enemy that must be conquered.
      Appeal to the crowd by addressing the person.

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    • Profile picture of the author RS3RS
      Originally Posted by Steve The Copywriter View Post

      P.S. Just noticed that RS3RS mentioned Clickbank a few seconds before I posted this. I've never understood how to find the "gravity" and have no idea if high or low is best (wild guess would be high).

      I would be so grateful if someone could enlighten me.
      Ah, you know what they say about great minds.

      And yeah, IDoTheLegWork summed it up well... I don't consider gravity to be a great metric overall, but for just snooping on some sales copy, it's good enough.
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  • Cheers IDTLW and RS3RS

    (the gravity is pulling me to have a quick look at the best sellers)



    Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author DanteRomero
    Google:
    Gary Bencivenga Success Bullets
    Gary Bencivenga Marketing Bullets
    Gary Bencivenga 100 Seminar

    Write all of those out long hand (100+ pages of copy) first. Then, spend days on each one deconstructing it. Only then bother looking for other stuff.

    Warning: Avoid the clickbank advice above. Clickbank is drowning in terrible copy. Even many of the top products are NOT examples of great copywriting.
    Signature

    "Perfection isn't important. Improvement is."

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    • Profile picture of the author Tim R
      Originally Posted by DanteRomero View Post

      Warning: Avoid the clickbank advice above. Clickbank is drowning in terrible copy. Even many of the top products are NOT examples of great copywriting.
      Yeah, you wouldn't want to waste your time with copy that's making millions of dollars

      Rather than thinking of copy as being good or bad, it's either effective or ineffective. Copy snobs might see something as poorly written, yet if the market is responding by pulling out their wallets then clearly it is working.

      Even at the Bencivenga 100 seminar, none of the copywriters there (including Gary) were able to predict with any certainty what was the better performing ad when presented with two different options.

      Bottom line: prospects don't care about the actual copy. They're either influenced to buy or they're not. Knowing this has made many people a small fortune on Clickbank, so I wouldn't be so dismissive of it.
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      • Profile picture of the author DanteRomero
        Originally Posted by Tim R View Post

        Yeah, you wouldn't want to waste your time with copy that's making millions of dollars
        Copy doesn't need to be world-class to make millions of dollars. If you could choose between studying world-class copy or "just good enough" what would you take?

        Note: Many CB products are top because of high number of sales not because it converted high. Also, many sales are made by the frame set by affiliates, not because the sales page was a slam dunk.

        If you want to learn to write quickly (and not spend years undoing bad habits you learned earlier), study the best. Don't waste time on anything but the best.

        It's worth paying $100 a month for Lawrence Bernstein's Ultimate Swipe File so you can get access to the best copy available. If you don't have $100 a month, see the links I shared above for your start.
        Signature

        "Perfection isn't important. Improvement is."

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        • Profile picture of the author Tim R
          Originally Posted by DanteRomero View Post

          Copy doesn't need to be world-class to make millions of dollars. If you could choose between studying world-class copy or "just good enough" what would you take?

          Note: Many CB products are top because of high number of sales not because it converted high. Also, many sales are made by the frame set by affiliates, not because the sales page was a slam dunk.
          Your question pre-supposes that all of the copy on CB is 'just good enough', which is false. The fact is that there are sales pages on CB that have high conversion rates; not sure why this is hard for some people to believe.

          It's also not an either/or proposition. You don't have to learn from just one source. So no need to bury your head in the sand and disregard CB entirely just because not all of the sales pages are great.

          P.S. Copy can be 'world-class' and convert poorly and make no money. Even the best copywriters in the world bomb sometimes. If copy is making millions of dollars, clearly it's doing something right.
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          • Profile picture of the author BudaBrit
            Originally Posted by Tim R View Post

            Your question pre-supposes that all of the copy on CB is 'just good enough', which is false. The fact is that there are sales pages on CB that have high conversion rates; not sure why this is hard for some people to believe.

            It's also not an either/or proposition. You don't have to learn from just one source. So no need to bury your head in the sand and disregard CB entirely just because not all of the sales pages are great.

            P.S. Copy can be 'world-class' and convert poorly and make no money. Even the best copywriters in the world bomb sometimes. If copy is making millions of dollars, clearly it's doing something right.
            The problem is that, as a beginner, how do you know what to look for?

            Far better to deconstruct something you know is great than to deconstruct something that may be great.

            I spent some time looking at the dating products on CB yesterday. Don't know why, as it's not a niche I'll ever (well, who knows really...) work in. There were some products at the top of the list and the VSL was just...meh. There was nothing.

            Yet they were selling well. Is it really that VSL doing incredibly or is there another factor? As a newbie, how the hell are you meant to know?

            Far better, therefore, to take letters that have sold and made a big difference. Letters you KNOW were a big hit rather than letters that MAY be a big hit.

            CB is good, sure, but if I had spent my time on there immediately, I would have been confused as hell.
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            • Profile picture of the author Tim R
              Originally Posted by BudaBrit View Post

              The problem is that, as a beginner, how do you know what to look for?

              Far better to deconstruct something you know is great than to deconstruct something that may be great.
              What is 'great' copywriting? That's completely subjective. Either the copy is effective or ineffective. If you look at the consistent top performers (and study their entire sales funnel) you can learn a lot. If selling a front-end product for $37 is leading to millions of dollars, I'd say that something is working pretty well.

              Originally Posted by BudaBrit View Post

              I spent some time looking at the dating products on CB yesterday. Don't know why, as it's not a niche I'll ever (well, who knows really...) work in. There were some products at the top of the list and the VSL was just...meh. There was nothing.

              Yet they were selling well. Is it really that VSL doing incredibly or is there another factor? As a newbie, how the hell are you meant to know?
              The VSLs won't appeal to you as you're not in that target market. You need to learn to place yourself in the mind of the prospect and really understand what they want.

              The dating niche is very competitive, and the products at the top are there for a reason. Affiliates would not be paying money to drive traffic if the VSL didn't convert.

              Originally Posted by BudaBrit View Post

              Far better, therefore, to take letters that have sold and made a big difference. Letters you KNOW were a big hit rather than letters that MAY be a big hit.

              CB is good, sure, but if I had spent my time on there immediately, I would have been confused as hell.
              You're not getting it. If a product reaches #1 and is there for some time on CB in niches like dating, weight loss and IM, it is a big hit. It's making a ton of money. This is the metric that matters.

              Sure, study the classic letters as well. Like I said, it's not an either/or proposition.

              But the OP was looking for examples of sales letters and VSLs that are converting well right now. This assumes he's looking for current copy as well.

              If someone is wanting to learn how to write VSLs that convert, I wouldn't recommend they only study old school direct mail pieces. Look at what is currently working and break it down and see what you can learn from it.

              Yes CB can be confusing at first. But like most things with copywriting, you need to spend time doing research and figure some stuff out for yourself. All the information you need is available if you look for it.
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              • Profile picture of the author BudaBrit
                Originally Posted by Tim R View Post

                What is 'great' copywriting? That's completely subjective. Either the copy is effective or ineffective. If you look at the consistent top performers (and study their entire sales funnel) you can learn a lot. If selling a front-end product for $37 is leading to millions of dollars, I'd say that something is working pretty well.



                The VSLs won't appeal to you as you're not in that target market. You need to learn to place yourself in the mind of the prospect and really understand what they want.

                The dating niche is very competitive, and the products at the top are there for a reason. Affiliates would not be paying money to drive traffic if the VSL didn't convert.



                You're not getting it. If a product reaches #1 and is there for some time on CB in niches like dating, weight loss and IM, it is a big hit. It's making a ton of money. This is the metric that matters.

                Sure, study the classic letters as well. Like I said, it's not an either/or proposition.

                But the OP was looking for examples of sales letters and VSLs that are converting well right now. This assumes he's looking for current copy as well.

                If someone is wanting to learn how to write VSLs that convert, I wouldn't recommend they only study old school direct mail pieces. Look at what is currently working and break it down and see what you can learn from it.

                Yes CB can be confusing at first. But like most things with copywriting, you need to spend time doing research and figure some stuff out for yourself. All the information you need is available if you look for it.
                Sure, the consistent performers are great. I've loved some of Mike Fiore's VSLs, they're well presented and keep you hooked. Yet some of the other, similarly performing, products have VSLs that don't appear to have that same hook.

                I guess my main point is: there are so many factors involved in high performing CB products that, unless you know what you're looking at, you may pick a simply decent letter backed up by a superb funnel.

                I'm not suggesting "don't use CB", just that it may not be the place for a complete beginner to start on. That's what the OP said he is, so I would start with the things that we KNOW converted well based upon a single letter.

                Then move on to looking at CBs VSLs once you know what you're looking at.
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                • Profile picture of the author Tim R
                  Originally Posted by BudaBrit View Post

                  I'm not suggesting "don't use CB", just that it may not be the place for a complete beginner to start on. That's what the OP said he is, so I would start with the things that we KNOW converted well based upon a single letter.

                  Then move on to looking at CBs VSLs once you know what you're looking at.
                  Cool, and my point was aimed at the advice that was given to totally ignore CB. It was generalizing and implying that all of the copy to be found there is mediocre, which is ridiculous.

                  There are a lot of examples there you can study that convert well off a single sales piece.

                  And you also have the advantage of being able to study the copy for those that have an upsell offer.
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                • Profile picture of the author Chriswrighto
                  Originally Posted by BudaBrit View Post

                  I'm not suggesting "don't use CB", just that it may not be the place for a complete beginner to start on. That's what the OP said he is, so I would start with the things that we KNOW converted well based upon a single letter.

                  Then move on to looking at CBs VSLs once you know what you're looking at.
                  The solution for a newbie struggling with where to start is to learn the basics of copywriting.

                  Even just reading "The Ultimate Sales Letter" will give the person the ability to take a look at letters, new and old, and pick out what's good and what's bad.

                  My thoughts.
                  Signature

                  Wealthcopywriter.com :)

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                  • Profile picture of the author BudaBrit
                    Originally Posted by Tim R View Post

                    Cool, and my point was aimed at the advice that was given to totally ignore CB. It was generalizing and implying that all of the copy to be found there is mediocre, which is ridiculous.

                    There are a lot of examples there you can study that convert well off a single sales piece.

                    And you also have the advantage of being able to study the copy for those that have an upsell offer.
                    Great .

                    As I said, though, if a newbie comes to Clickbank, how does he know which are the good examples and which not so good? As Complex said, it's not so simple as it may seem at first...

                    Originally Posted by Chriswrighto View Post

                    The solution for a newbie struggling with where to start is to learn the basics of copywriting.

                    Even just reading "The Ultimate Sales Letter" will give the person the ability to take a look at letters, new and old, and pick out what's good and what's bad.

                    My thoughts.
                    Of course. I would have said the same if I'd waded in at the right point :p

                    Ah, the positioning monster again.
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  • Profile picture of the author Complex
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    • Profile picture of the author Tim R
      Originally Posted by Complex View Post

      A lot of CB products win on VOLUME not CONVERSION RATE. CB affs rarely test they blindly follow. Plenty of CB products w high gravity are also manipulated. A vendor with a large list can rotate aff ids and inflate it that way. 3 or 4 working together can inflate it by 20 or more easily. Oops wasn't supposed to make that known lulz. Illusions are easy to create A launch can also temporarily inflate gravity. I've seen products in non internet marketing launch ... hit 50 to 100 ... then drop like a rock. The prelaunch hype with affs caused that NOT a high converting letter or video. Lemmings think the conversion rate must be awesome. It rarely is.

      Dantes on the money. But he doesn't have a rep so ... you know.
      So everyone should stay clear of Clickbank and completely ignore it because the gravity figures can be manipulated? If you do a bit of research you can find which products have been consistent performers.

      You think there's a chance that maybe the reason people are spending hundreds and thousands on driving traffic to the sales page is because it converts? And that many of the top performers are constantly split testing their copy to improve conversions?

      There's some great copy written by great copywriters on CB. And there's a lot of trash too. Doesn't mean the whole site is a waste of time.

      Just because something wasn't written by one of the two Gary's doesn't mean it's not a valuable resource for learning.

      And as the OP was looking for not just sales pages but also VSLs, CB is worth a look.
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  • Profile picture of the author bhtyeeeee
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  • Profile picture of the author angiecolee
    There are great sales lessons everywhere you look. There are even great sales lessons in promotions that fail spectacularly.

    Of course it's always wise to include the great works in your studies. But don't ever get caught in the trap that is thinking you can only learn from success.
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    Aspiring copywriters: if you need 1:1 advice from an experienced copy chief, head over to my Phone a Friend page.

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