Archive for November, 2011

How to Make Your Words Sell: Attention, Interest, Desire, Action

November 25, 201182 Comments

Is it okay if I share with you the ONE formula that appears everywhere, again and again... and if you keep it in your back pocket every time you assemble a sales letter, create a blog post, make a product, send an email, and even deal with everyday relationships, you'll always win?

If I share this formula with you, will you check and make sure your web pages pass the test so you can convert as many people as possible?

I hope you've heard of this formula, and it's this: attention, interest, desire, action...

Every time you put out any piece of writing, video, or even live presentation -- run it through this filter. Here's what I mean...

  1. Get someone's attention using a shocking statement or headline
  2. Build interest by agitating your problem or setting up a question
  3. Setup the desire for your solution by revealing it and explaining it
  4. Tell people what to do now by telling them to take action

If you've even given (or read) a course, presentation, sales letter, or any other message that was missing an opening, seemed to "linger" too much on a problem, jump into a solution without addressing it, or had everything right except the end -- it was probably neglecting one or all of the above steps.

And I want to multiply your conversion rates by making sure you follow these simple rules. You can get as creative as you want as long as you follow this four step formula. Check it out...

ATTENTION:
Sales Letter Headline or Blog Post Title

When I write blog posts, I like to split the title into two parts: what I'm talking about (the feature), and the result of it (the benefit)... just look at my last few blog post titles here:

  • Specialized Knowledge: How to Make $50 (or More) Every 5 Minutes, All Day Long, By Clicking a Few Buttons (Just Like I Did at Age 17)
  • Speed Copywriting Explained (Assemble a Web Page That Gets People to Buy From You In the Next Few Minutes)
  • It's Simple, So It Must Not Work: How You Too Can Make Several Thousand Dollars in a Weekend
  • Website Backup: Keep Your Site Safe, Instantly Clone Your Blog, and Get Things Done Anywhere
  • The Accordion Method (And Now You Never Run Out of Content Ever Again)

Now I have blog post titles that are both short, and long!

With sales letters, it's even simpler. The headline isn't necessarily the title of the web page we're on, it's just the HEADER that gets us to continue reading...

Think about the first thing you want to say to your visitor to keep them alert, on your web page, and hungry for more. Whatever you say should answer "most" of these questions:

  1. What's in it for me? (promises a clear benefit)
  2. What's my problem or solution? (without giving away your product yet)
  3. Why should I even listen to you? (get attention either with a question, challenge, or shocking statement)
  4. Is this newsworthy? (something new and unique that's worth reading about)
  5. Do I have a reason to continue reading? (does it lead to another thought?)

Yes, I'm saying that your headline should contain all of these items...

More often than not I'll have that headline big, red, centered, bolded, and in quotes at the top of that web page, but what's more important than the formatting is that the WORDS are impossible to ignore. For example:

  • "How I Made an Extra $101,934.10 In 80 Days From 4 Low Ticket Products (With Zero Traffic and a Tiny List) Using One Very Special Piece of Affiliate Software..."
  • Backup, Clone, Protect... WordPress Plugin Makes It Simple For You To Backup, Restore And Protect Your WordPress Blogs And Sites Anytime You Want With Just A Few Easy Clicks...
  • "How Would You Like My Instant Formula For Creating High-Impact, Persuasive, Converting Sales Letters in the Next Few Minutes?"
  • "If You're Feeling Completely Overloaded, Unorganized and Feel Like You're Always Running Out of Time..." You Need to Get a Grip on (and Control of) Your Time Management Skills!

And I'll usually add a subheadline that COMPLETES the thought that the headline first created. Why? Because it gets people reading further down, and then further, until the next thing you know, they've read the whole sales letter all the way down to the buy button.

INTEREST:
Problem or Big Picture

You've got my attention, but I'm not ready to buy your product yet. And even if I was, I need to know you can actually UNDERSTAND and SOLVE my problem... which is why you need to tell me what problem I'm having and how can you really help me solve it...

I need to stress here that we're not introducing your product yet. I see too many sales letters start off with, "I want you to buy my product right now." You're jumping the gun.

This is the STORYTELLING section. Introduce the problem so that I have to find out how it ends -- with the introduction of your product.

You should probably answer these questions:

  1. Who are you and why are you qualified to help me?
  2. What exactly is my problem and what's the "difficult" solution?
  3. What do I need to know and what issues did I not even consider yet?
  4. Why are you better than anyone else?

Check out the deck copy for "Membership Cube" to see what I mean...

For the last several years internet marketers have told you how easy it is to setup your membership site and get a flood of people paying you every month for your services, your expertise, and your information. But there are just a few problems...

It's Not As Easy As "They" Say It Is...
These Are The Same People That Told You
"All You Need Is a Website"

  • Where will you get the content for this membership site?
  • How will you get people into it, and keep them from dropping out?
  • What software will you use for the membership, and what plugins?
  • What the heck will you do next?

How Did That Work Out For You?
I Can Tell You From My Own Personal Experience:
Membership Sites Are The Best Thing
To Ever Happen To Me!

It IS possible to profit from a membership site as long as you make the right decisions. But don't worry, we've already made the tough decisions for you in our simple step by step system.

I'm confident in those steps because these are the same steps Lance and I have implemented to create 20 membership sites -- 19 of those sites were created in the past 12 months. And guess what, they've all made money: some as little as $2,000 and some well over $100,000.

Do you see what we're doing? We're educating our prospect about why membership sites are so valuable and differentiating from the competition (especially membership software that doesn't come without training) and saying, you need to listen to us.

One reason I really like telling a story in copy is that it doesn't feel like an ad. But far too many copywriters get stuck on the story, the whole sales letter is one long story, and people still don't know what they're buying. That's why you need to get to the third stage WELL BEFORE the halfway point in your copy...

DESIRE:
Solution or Exact Offer

At this point, you'll reveal YOUR product in that sales letter, meaning a huge headline with the name of the course or item, and a graphical representation, it's just that simple. If I can't easily tell that you're selling an ebook, or video course, or membership site, or physical seminar, or physical item -- in under a minute just by scrolling through -- then you need to make it clearer.

In the "interest" stage you've already done the clever storytelling... now you need to tell me what it is you want me to buy:

  1. What's the exact name of your product and what's in it?
  2. What's in each module, why is each module important and why is it given in the order you show it?
  3. What bonuses are you giving me?
  4. What is each component worth on its own? (dollar value)
  5. What is the total value of this product you're about to give me? (total up the dollar values)
  6. What actual price is it going to cost today? (much lower than the total value)

You'll want to end the "desire" stage by listing everything people get in a two-column table... first column, the name of the module they're getting; second column, the price tag on it.

It may seem tedious to total up each $197 or $297 price tag on your individual modules to get a total of $2,217.00, but believe me, it'll look way more impressive when you then DROP the price to $97 or $47 or $27. Very few people do this on sales letters, but they need to!!!

It's super important that you lay out the ENTIRE offer in the "desire" section. Yes, even the bonuses. Lay out the ENTIRE offer before you ask for the sale, including bonuses.

Have you ever noticed that on some sales letters, you scroll to the bottom, then scroll back up to look at something, then back down? That's not good and when I do that, I notice it's usually because someone got my attention, laid out the story, the entire offer, even showed the guarantee and asked for the sale -- and THEN introduced bonuses! Big mistake.

Now people know we relate to their problem and have the credibility to solve it, we've revealed that product and explained our offer -- and at the end, listed everything in the package and revealed the price... what's left? People will know to order on their own, right?

Wrong! Every time I specifically tell people reading a blog post, sales letter, or email optin form -- to fill out the form, conversion rates go up. We can never make it OBVIOUS enough...

ACTION:
Why To Buy (or Comment) Now

This is probably the most cookie-cutter part of any sales letter, but it's still important. You need to tell me:

  1. What's your guarantee? (30 days or 60 days? Can I get my money back for any reason?)
  2. What price are you charging? (state it again, make it as simple and clear as possible)
  3. How do I order? (i.e., "click on the button and pay $97 to JumpX LLC")
  4. What are the technical requirements to run your product? (i.e., Adobe Reader, Windows Media Player, WordPress)
  5. How soon until I receive your product after downloading? (i.e., instant delivery)

In an optin form we're asking for their name and email address, in a blog post we're asking for a comment (easy to get if you ask a question at the end of your blog post), and on a sales letter we're asking for people to buy.

The Entire Formula Revealed

I know that was a lot to take in, but here's the whole AIDA formula laid out for you:

  1. A1: What's in it for me? (promises a clear benefit)
  2. A2: What's my problem or solution? (without giving away your product yet)
  3. A3: Why should I even listen to you? (get attention either with a question, challenge, or shocking statement)
  4. A4: Is this newsworthy? (something new and unique that's worth reading about)
  5. A5: Do I have a reason to continue reading? (does it lead to another thought?)
  6. I1: Who are you and why are you qualified to help me?
  7. I2: What exactly is my problem and what's the "difficult" solution?
  8. I3: What do I need to know and what issues did I not even consider yet?
  9. I4: Why are you better than anyone else?
  10. D1: What's the exact name of your product and what's in it?
  11. D2: What's in each module, why is each module important and why is it given in the order you show it?
  12. D3: What bonuses are you giving me?
  13. D4: What is each component worth on its own? (dollar value)
  14. D5: What is the total value of this product you're about to give me? (total up the dollar values)
  15. D6: What actual price is it going to cost today? (much lower than the total value)
  16. A1: What's your guarantee? (30 days or 60 days? Can I get my money back for any reason?)
  17. A2: What price are you charging? (state it again, make it as simple and clear as possible)
  18. A3: How do I order? (i.e., "click on the button and pay $97 to JumpX LLC")
  19. A4: What are the technical requirements to run your product? (i.e., Adobe Reader, Windows Media Player, WordPress)
  20. A5: How soon until I receive your product after downloading? (i.e., instant delivery)

I hope that pushes you in the right direction with your...

  • Sales Letters: Attention-grabbing headline, interesting story, desirable offer, and order button as the call-to-action
  • Webinar Pitches: Start with a big promise (attention), demonstrate something live on the call (interest), explain your offer (desire), and tell them where to buy (action)
  • Email Marketing: Send an "attention" email hinting at a problem, an "interest" email agitating that problem, a "desire" email introducing your solution and URL, an "action" email with just your URL... and repeat the process
  • Information Products: Start each chapter of your report with a bold claim (attention), give them the big picture (interest), explain the step by step process (desire), and end with an assignment (action)

So what's the verdict, does your sales letter pass this 20-point checklist? (It's okay if it doesn't yet.) What's the URL to it? Go ahead and respond with your answer below.

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