Introduction
After you have helped your prospects by providing tools, resources, and information to them, you will want to sell them stuff.
To do this you will want a well-crafted sales page.
Sales pages have been around for a very long time, and there is a reason for that. They work. A well-crafted sales page can mean the difference between making a sale and losing a customer.
Sales copy has been refined over the centuries. There is no question about it: experienced copywriters know what works and what doesn't.
There are certain elements that every good sales page must have in order to be effective. By following these simple steps, you can create a sales page that is sure to convert.
Below are all of the elements that you need to write a successful sales page.
Tools You Need to Write Your Sales Page
- A Word Processor
- A Thesaurus
- A List of Words that Evoke Emotion - Download PDF
- Headline Analyzer
Basic Strategies
All effective sales pages share common strategies. Professional copywriters understand:
- How the brain processes information,
- How people react emotionally to the information presented, and
- How to position the product that's being sold.
Information Processing
Since people read a sales page in different ways, you will be creating this sales page to meet these differences.
- Some people will read everything. They are challenging you to convince them to buy.
- Some people will skim and only read the headlines, bullet points, and testimonials. They want to believe that the product is what they need.
- Some have already decided to buy, they just want the main points - price and logical justification to purchase.
Emotional Response
Use an emotional hook.
The most effective sales pages play on emotions. They understand that people make decisions based on how they feel, not on logic.
Think about it: have you ever made a purchase because you rationalized that it was a good deal, only to regret it later? Chances are, you were not thinking with your head. You were reacting with your emotions.
The best sales pages understand this and use it to their advantage. They find a way to connect with their readers on an emotional level and make them feel something.
only then do they present the logic behind their product.
This is why it is so important to use an emotional hook in your sales page. Find a way to connect with your reader and make them feel something. Only then will you be able to persuade them to buy your product.
Product Positioning
We want to give you and your product a personality.
Doing this will make even boring products interesting and cool.
How do we do this?
You need a hook. To get one, you must answer 4 questions in your sales page.
- Why me? -why are you talking to the prospect?
- Why you? -why is it you talking to them?
- Why this? -what are we talking about?
- Why now? -why now versus later?
You will be revealing the answers to these questions in the sales page.
Why me?
The headline will reveal a pressing problem the reader is dealing with.
Why you?
- You have found the solution to the problem. This will be established in the "Introduction" and "Solution" section of the sales page.
- You care about the same things that the reader does. You have the same values. This will be revealed in the "Your Story" section of the sales page.
- You have faced the same obstacles that the reader has. This will be demonstrated in the "Affinity" section of the sales page.
Why this?
You are going to promise a unique solution that transformed your life. This is shown in the "Solution" section of the sales page.
Why now?
This is the right place at the right time. This will be revealed in the "Offer" section of the sales page.
Writing a Sales Page is Not an Art, It's a Science
Science uses formulas to construct rules in a logical sequence. A sales page is the same. By following a formula that triggers emotions and resonates with your audience, you can write a sales page that generates sales for you.
Each of the sales page elements; and the order that they're placed have been extensively tested.
The Sales Page Formula
Below is each element you need to include on your sales page.
You can expand each sales page element by clicking the down arrow. You will find instructions on using these elements in the sales page writing process.
The Headline
Some studies indicate that your headline is as much as 80% responsible for sales page success. This is because you have to wrestle the reader's attention away from the million other things that are competing for it right now to get them to read your sales copy.
Your headline doesn't need to be smart, funny, or witty, but it must:
- Speak to problems that keep your prospect up at night.
- Spark their curiosity.
- Combine the most compelling benefits of the product.
- Establish your credibility.
- Make a big promise.
To start your sales letter, Think about the one primary problem that the product you are selling solves. Write it down. Is this problem big enough to cause tension in your prospect's life?
If so, write a draft headline that pertains to your product and the primary problem that it solves!
This is just to get your brain focused on the subject you'll be writing about.
After writing your headline draft, skip down to the Introduction and Your Story elements and write those two sections. You'll then be ready to return to the Pre-head, Main Headline, and Post Headline sections below to write an effective headline.
Focus on The Problem!
Your prospect has a pressing problem that keeps them up at night. What is it?
You want to show that you have a deep understanding of the problem.
When people have a burdensome problem, there are three main ways they feel about it.
- Stuck - they are stagnating and unable to get past the problem. They are aware the problem is holding them back and it’s frustrating.
- Overwhelmed - they don’t know how to solve the problem because either they can't find help, or else there are so many options that it’s confusing.
- Hopeless - they have either tried before and failed, or become convinced anything they try will fail. They feel dejected and defeated.
If you can show empathy and sympathy for these usually secret and silent feelings people have, they will believe you understand.
When you call out their problem, it immediately and completely grabs their attention.
There are two directions you can go in with your main headline:
- Promise an immediate solution that they've been searching for.
- Combine the most compelling benefit with something to spark their curiosity.
When you clearly no longer suffer from the problem that you brought up in the Pre-head, or can show that you have solved it for others - they will believe that your solution will work.
The second option was used on the mlmcompanies.com website homepage and what it is might surprise you.
The Headline: The Most Reliable Resources Dedicated to Network Marketers
The compelling benefit and curiosity is contained in just one word; Dedicated. This conveys benefits and loyalty to the reader and it arouses curiosity.
Give an additional big benefit or a time frame of when the problem will be solved.
Example: The Best Part is That It Only Takes Five Minutes per Day!
Start out with a greeting that specifically addresses your prospect. You want the reader to feel like someone is talking to them.
Example: Dear Network Marketer,
Next, introduce yourself and let the reader know of any credentials you have that demonstrate expertise in the topic you are talking about. You will also want to write how long you have been involved.
If you are using the product that you're selling, you might want to talk about your experience with that.
You will then want to include your position of authority:
- Do you have expertise because you do this for a living? How long?
- Do you have expertise because you teach this to others?
- Do you have expertise because you do this as a service?
Explain the results you have had in doing any of these things.
This should only be a couple of sentences long.
Example: Ed here from Team Builders Network. You may have noticed that I'm the author of many of the courses in the Star Sponsor Course. I've been assisting Direct Sales Professionals like you to build their team for over 30 years.
You will also want to have your picture in the introduction area of the sales page. Good pictures to use:
- A headshot
- A picture of you on a stage giving a presentation
- Or a picture of you training people
Any of these photos along with you wearing professional attire helps establish you as an authority in the mind of the reader. This is the primary goal of this picture.
This is one of the most important parts of your sales page.
You will know the importance of writing your story if you have taken the Star Sponsor Course. If you haven't written your story yet, click here to go through the process of writing your story.
You will want to adjust your story to show your prospect that you used to have the same problem they currently have. Speak to them about the problem that the product you are selling solves.
Then you will want to demonstrate that you are now at the place where they want to be in their future. You have found the solution to their problem.
Your goal here is for your reader to see themselves in your story. You will want to convey:
- Stagnation in your past. You were stuck and going nowhere.
- Uncertainty in your past. You didn't know how to solve this problem.
- Unsuccess in your past. The solutions you tried just didn't work.
If you can't use your own story to convey these things, use someone else's story. This can be a case study where a person came to you with the problem and you were able to provide a solution.
People ignore problems that they can't solve. In this section, you need to get them to think about these problems and agitate them by presenting how you felt and what you tried.
Also, as much as possible, detail why the problems weren't your fault.
Using bullets, you need to detail the problems you had and explain the ways you tried to solve them. By doing this you are making them think about their problem and how difficult it is going to be in solving it.
- I tried to ignore this (detailed problem).
- I hoped it would get better, but it didn't.
- I labored to solve it myself.
- I attempted expensive solutions.
- I worked to outsource it, but they couldn't solve it.
After writing these bullet points, add to them by defining the size of the problem and by giving details. What part of your life did this problem affect? Talk about why alternate solutions didn't work.
People are very accepting of others talking about problems. They perceive this as you being very honest with them.
Example: I was so frustrated because I had wanted to make this business my full-time profession but ended up working a job I hated, getting so angry as I was stuck in traffic every morning and evening, and then taking it out on my wife and kids.
When you get to the "Five Star" portion of the sales page, which describes the features and benefits of the product your selling, you are going to use this list to show how each of these problems can be solved using your solution.
If you can get people to accept your description of the problems and how the benefits of your product solve these problems, they will be amazed that the product is the perfect solution for them.
The number of bullets depends on how bad the problems are. If they are major, 3 will do. If they are average problems, include 5 bullets. If they are just annoyances, list 7.
Once you have all the bullets, put them in order from worse experience on. You may want to put the second worse one last.
All of this activates the pattern recognition part of your prospect's brain and they start to get emotionally bothered by these problems because they can relate to them.
They now really, really want a solution.
In this section you will be describing how you had a revelation of how everything became clear as to how to get the problem solved. You took a different path or were transformed in your thinking about the problem. This changed you from being like the reader, who is failing to become the new you. The you who is now succeeding.
Try to make this not about you and how smart you are, but about you being lucky that you discovered this solution.
The reason for approaching it this way is that most people think successful people are just lucky to have gotten where they are. They believe further that if they become lucky, they can be successful too.
Your product becomes luck in a box that you're generously offering to them.
Also, by admitting it was just luck, you are making yourself look remarkably honest, thereby building trust for you in the readers mind.
If your approaching this as a case study, you can have the subject of the study find you and the solution you are offering.
Why is this solution to their problems so much better than other solutions?
Here you can talk about any solution vs. the solution you introduced in the previous section. It can be the solutions you tried in the affinity section, the competition, or even doing nothing.
In this section you will want to create bullets of features, advantages, and benefits. You will want to phrase these in the second person, future tense. i.e.: you will, you can, you get, etc.
You own the problems, they own the solutions.
Be sure to use the list of problems you created in the "Affinity" section to list how your solution is the answer to each of these problems.
If you think of new benefits, you can go back to the affinity section and add problems that these solve.
Here you want to present 3rd. party proof of results such as screen shots, leader boards, etc.
Use numbers and time intervals.
Example: I was able to recruit 10 team members in 30 days.
You can also use before and after scenarios or photos.
If you don't have proof yet, you needn't worry. It's not necessary to make sales, but it helps.
You can put this into your sales page once you get proof.
If this is your own product that you haven't marketed yet, you may want to consider letting peers use it in return for their testimonials.
You can also use endorsements from current authorities in your product's niche.
Here you want positive reactions to the product. They can be before or after using the product. In the case of before using the product, you can use anticipated testimonials.
Testimonials that include emotional reactions are best.
You can use parts of testimonials If you have long ones.
Example: I'm so excited to start using this!
In the previous sections, you have created an emotional response in your readers. Here you are creating an emotional validation to their emotional response. It's a basic human need after an emotional response.
You're letting them know that It's okay to feel positive right now.
Introduce the product name.
Have a visual representation of the product even if it's a digital product.
Write a paragraph of the product details. Is it manuals, a workshop, membership, an e-book, etc.? What are the quantities? Always turn the details into positives.
List bullet points of features, advantages, and benefits.
You can configure your bullets as:
You get ________ which gives you ________ so you can ________.
If your product has multiple components or modules, list 5-7 bullets for each. Cite a high cash value for each component of your product.
Example: This module alone is valued at $1,699 or The information in this module is worth thousands of dollars or The cost of similar products is thousands of dollars or The total cost of buying all of this separately is $3,845. I know because I have purchased them!
This section's goal is to increase the perceived value of your product.
You will want to include in this section the following:
The catch is that this is a special offer with a low price for a very limited time. The price will go up.
I'm also going to include bonuses that will only be available for a short time.
You'll soon see why I can't offer the product and the bonuses for this low price very long.
Don't worry:
- The cost is going to be much less than you think.
- My colleagues have told me not to offer this at such a low price.
- Much less than similar products and this is more _________, _________, and _________.
- This is much less than trying product after product and getting zero results.
You will want to select bonuses that are specific to the product you are selling. If the bonuses don't relate, it devalues your product in the mind of your prospect. They will think "If this product is so great, why do they have to throw all this in just to get me to buy it?"
A bullet point for each bonus.
Make sure your bonuses have a plausible value.
- Amplify the result they get.
- Augment the product. Increases usability, utility, and applicability. Advanced version.
- Accelerate when they get results.
Present the price in this order:
- Add up all the cash values and total them. Then add the bonus values and total them. Total all.
- Talk about what it would cost to privately have this done for you per hour.
- Talk about the amount of money it took to do all this on your own.
- Talk about the potential value they get when they implement the product based on your experience. Money savings, time savings, income increase, etc.
- Reveal a massive price you're going to charge for this in the future and a specific reason your going to do so.
- Reveal the price. For a limited time you are getting an exclusive offer. You won't pay $___ or you won't pay $___ you won't even pay $___ You pay only $___
If you check this out and decide that you don't want to succeed, I will 100% refund your purchase.
You have an entire thirty days to see the value you're going to receive.
Use the each of the following if you can.
- Urgency - limitation in time. Bonus might go away, price raises, etc.
- Scarcity - they can only get this here and now.
- Rarity - only a few can get this.
Act fast if you want in.
Put result-based testimonials here.
Use specific numbers.
These are for people that need logic-based reasons for buying.
In this section you will want to:
- Restate the big problem and the solution that this product solves.
- Reiterate what they are getting.
- Remind the prospect of the cash value of the product and bonuses.
- Retell the low price and the savings they are getting.
- Reshow the guarantee.
It's finally time to ask for money.
This particular call to action is going to be an emotional appeal.
You approach it by assuming they do want the product.
You can begin by writing:
- Believe what others have said...
- Trust your instincts...
- You won't regret this...
- You'll be blown away by the results...
Then you state "Click the Buy Now Button!"
You want to close the dialog here for those that are buying the product.
You can close by stating something like:
This is "your name" and thanks for reading. I hope you enjoy the "product".
Insert a casual photo of yourself here (by now your friends).
This call to action needs to be logic-based.
Tell them why they need to purchase the product.
It just makes sense to get this!
Include and restate that they need to click the Buy Now Button!
This call to action is fear-based.
What happens if the reader doesn't buy the product?
State what happens.
Go from things will stay the same to things will get worse.
If any of your previous testimonials talked about the person going from a negative state to a positive state, include it here.
Make sure you tell the reader to click the Buy Now Button!