Posted on Tuesday, 1st December 2009 by CopywritingCat
OK, we’re not as elegant as Hamlet, but we have a more marketing-based question. If you are service professional, should your website open with a home page or a sales letter? Today we’ll talk about sales letters. My next post will show how home pages of our website are different
Imagine that you have been invited to meet a friend or colleague at a restaurant across town - a place you’ve never been. “You’ll love it,” your friend says.
So you arrive and walk in. You hear someone singing off in a corner. You see a line of people choosing their food from a cafeteria style line. Waiters are walking around with trays of food. You see a sign saying “Seat yourself” but you also see a lectern with a stern looking individual who looks like a maitre d. And it’s so dark and noisy you wonder if you will ever find your friend…or if you want to.
OK, I’ve exaggerated an imaginary scene. When you arrive at a restaurant, you want to know if it’s self-serve vs wait staff, fine dining vs fast food, quiet conversation vs music to eat by, and (of course) if the house specialty fits your taste buds.
Visitors arriving at a website (whether you use a blog, Squidoo lens or website) have similar questions. I drew up this imaginary scene based on a fundamental mistake I see on many websites of professionals. It’s hard to tell if it’s a home page or a sales letter.
Before we explore copywriting techniques, I encourage clients and class participants to explore the purpose of the page. If you want to sell an info product, you need a sales page. You will probably get stronger results when you follow the conventions of a sales letter. You focus on just one product or service. You use bullet points and testimonials. You include a strong call to action.
For example:
Reach Desperate Buyers: Alexis Dawes targets audiences who are really hungry. She produces solid evidence and she sells pretty hard. (She’s actually a very soft-spoken, ethical person. I’ve talked to her on the phone and done business with her for a few years now.)
Here’s my most recent sales letter for the course starting today http://www.WebsiteMakeoverPro.com
What does a sales letter want readers to do? Think about this question and tomorrow we’ll talk about home pages and why they are different.
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Tags: copywriting, internet marketing, web site marketing
Posted in Professional Services Marketing, copywriting
