Whoa!
Everyone seems to be enjoying these goo-roo emails.
Let’s throw another log on the fire, shall we?
Here are some common goo-roo sales letter mistakes that have spread like a disease into the general marketing population. Mistakes that, in some cases, are hurting the “good guys” (and gals) who observe all this stuff and then are tempted to assume it’s what always works:
- Only using super long 50+ word “mega headlines”
- Thinking you MUST have a pre-headline (the little headline above the headline) in every ad, with or without strategy, and with no exceptions. (One client a while back even insisted I put one in just because “everyone else has one”)
- Using lots of hype
- Exclamation marks after every single claim
- Testimonials inserted in the middle of the sales letter (some call them “speed bumps” — I highly suggest testing that vs putting them in a sidebar, BTW. See what happens…)
- Doing lots of bragging (a “red flag” the product has no substance)
- Inserting phony “photoshopped” bank statements
- Testing small changes (like headline font and color)… instead of BIG changes (like an entirely new angle, page design or offer)
Look, I won’t say this stuff never works.
Or that it is “always” wrong.
The danger is in ASSuming these things work just because the goo-roo fanboys are doing it and/or teach it (without regard to testing or knowing YOUR specific product/market peculiarities).
You know… I just thought of something.
Methinks it’s time to change things up.
Instead of the goo-roo fanboy stuff to avoid… let’s talk about something they do we can actually PROFIT from. In fact, there’s one thing they ALL do that most any marketer can use to quickly make more profits… is perfectly legal and ethical… and that doesn’t require selling your relationship with your list to the devil.
I’ll explaineth tomorrow.
Stay tuned…
Ben “just making friends & influencing people” Settle
P.S. To see how some of the world’s best (and highest paid) copywriters write their sales letters and ads (HINT: they rarely do any of the goo-roo fanboy wannabe stuff above), hop on over to:
