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Originally Posted by Dave Bockett  I would prefer to build the trust with my subscribers and then offer them my services in a more subtle way. Perhaps that will bring me in less income initally but I feel it will lead to a better long term relationship over time? |
What builds a relationship over time is the quality of what you deliver - not how you sell it. It's not about the amount of INCOME you bring in initially, it's about the number of warm bodies you bring in. The more people you're communicating with, the more opportunities you have to impress people.
Quantity and Quality are not mutually exclusive. You don't need to choose one or the other ... you can have BOTH. Get a high number of people through the door then FLOOR them with the awesome quality of what you deliver.
Not using these techniques will not build trust - in fact, if people aren't opting in, it's not building anything because you can't talk to them. You need people to opt IN before you can build a relationship. And that's what these websites do ...
You need to remember that sales copy is a CONVERSATION.
If you were calling people to sell them, you wouldn't (or shouldn't!) just call and say:
"HEY! I've got this cool thing, wanna buy it? No, okay bye!"
That's not going to work!
Instead, you go in and ask them questions about themselves, find out what they need, what problems they have - qualify the client to make sure they ARE your client.
Then you have a conversation showing them the benefits of your product, trial closing them, telling them about the guarantee, about other people like them it's worked for.
Answering their objections.
Does that look familiar?
It's EXACTLY what's going on with long copy.
On a written page you don't have the ability to get instant feedback from them, so you need to answer most of the questions and objections you think you'll get from your clearly defined target market.
People don't just throw this stuff up for the heck of it. There's a very good reason that each step is in there. It's all very specific and designed to HELP people - so that they have ALL of the information they need to make a decision about whether your product is for them or not.
Example: Say your client is looking for hosting, but they are really concerned because they've heard this stuff about bandwith but they don't really know what it means or what they need.
If your website says:
"We're going to give you hosting, plus a bunch of other information on how to use the internet."
That does NOT answer their big question.
If, on the other hand, your copy says:
Not only do we provide hosting, but we'll also walk you, step-by-step, through the things you need to know about setting up your website. Things like:
* How do I get a domain name and why do I need hosting?
* What is this DNS thing all about?
* I've heard about bandwith - what is it, how much do I need?
* How do I set up an email address?
Oh no, scary LONG copy!
But it gives the person the information they need to make the decision. It also gives the people concerned about DNS and email addresses the info they need - and the people who have no idea what they even need to know about will see you have everything they need.
Let's face it - with something like hosting, the person is going to buy from SOMEONE. If you don't give them the information they need to buy from you, they'll buy from someone else. And can you guarantee that THAT person will be reputable? Can you guarantee that person will NOT rip them off? Can you guarantee that person will give them the support they need to make everything work together?
It is your responsibility to ensure that you give these people the info they need to make the right decision.
"I feel" = classic beginner mistake.
It's not about what YOU feel.
There's only one opinion that counts - and that's the opinion of the market, of your ideal clients. And it's not what they SAY they want (plenty of my ideal target market tell me they hate long copy ... but then buy loads of my stuff) - but what they ACT on. There's only one way to know what works - track the $$$'s coming into your account.
I've tested short copy vs long copy.
I've tested having no testimonials vs static testimonials vs video testimonials.
I've tested Headlines vs lack of headlines.
And the answer has been very clear - the internet marketing millionaires are RIGHT ... what they do has a far higher conversion rate. I do what works. When it stops working, I'll do something else.
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