They are wordy yet effective Sales Letters?

Once or twice in the last five years, I read one of those letters too long sales start to finish. (You know, those who claim marketing gurus on the Internet are essential to make huge sales.) Must have been some of the best written, interesting letters. Or should not eat for a literary stimulus.

Now I realize that I really do not have time to read all the stuff hackneyed inserted to establish credibility and to show how much evidence one has collected. After the third or fourth testimonial, everything becomes' Ho Hum 'a bit'. We get the message.

Similarly, audio fragments are of little benefit, and I usually pass them. The ones I heard were simply reading the written test. Why do I need to read and hear?

Today I came across one of those long sales letters, and this time I took special note of how I process information. First I read the opening paragraph to make sure that the program I saw advertised was discussed here. Yes, it was. Yes, I was able to get a good overview of what this program was right in front. I have not had to wade through a ton of fluff to find out what the hell was all this program.

So, I needed to know how much I should pay for this program. That was up front? Nothing to do. The scroll at the bottom of page six foot long and finally found a button "Buy Now". Still no dollar sign anywhere to be seen. So I clicked on the Buy Now button and went to a processing site. Yes, the price was $ 97 and according to the writer, an awfully good deal for a product that has literally made millions for many people. If only I were to buy this program, my troubles Internet marketing would all vanish and one day I'd be rolling in money like all those whose testimony had been written.

While deciding if I needed yet another program that told me how to make millions of people, I suddenly saw the shipping fee of $ 75 and decided that today I could have done without this product. ($ 172US is a huge pile of money in any currency).

So I argued in the pages of credit card processing and looked for another site I had on my list.

Now you know my MO. First, check what the program or service is ... wants to promote the management of the link, MLM, a pyramid scheme, or simply to buy an ebook? Next, I want to know what it costs and, in particular if the fee is recurring (which can be a real trap!). After that I try some if I need additional information that will give me some reason to believe it's worth the fee being charged. Most of ebooks and other digital media that I've met are too expensive when you consider what you pay for similar types of information in paper format.

I talked to many of my colleagues who buy information products and services online and asked them how to manage long sales letters. Without exception, are my own, get an overview, to search for the price and then take a decision on whether to buy. Moreover, without exception, are annoyed when they can not find a price until you click a button to order.

I strongly suspect that the reason why long-copy is used and 'said' to be so much success is that copywriters earn more by producing copy for a long time. Now, it may be way off, but you must ask. What would be more convincing is one of the high flyers to do some Internet marketing advertising other, some short, others long and see what works best.

Now there's a challenge. One possibility for short sales letters is to provide two options for users: a long, one short and let them choose (click through statistics have revealed preferences). Alternatively, small pieces of information could be provided during the sales letter and a link provided for further information for those who want to read it.

While I'm deciding if the length is better quality, I changed one of my ebook sites to a shorter version with a subscription box, where visitors can obtain additional information by answering, if necessary. In this way get an e-mail address too.

I'll see what ends with this approach and determine if the altered my belief that surfers are tired from the long-winded sales letter and now prefer the concise, succinct version. Watch this space for an answer.

Copyright 2005 Robin Henry ......