Just a very quick post today to direct you to a guest post of mine that was published yesterday (March 1st – my birthday!).
The post breaks down a long-form salesletter step-by-step… and even “calls out” people who think they’re a scammy waste of time.
You can check out the post here – http://visualwebsiteoptimizer.com/split-testing-blog/long-sales-letter-copywriting/
Plus…
It’s already built up a bunch of controversy at Ycombinator which you can check out here – http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2275726
Help me make these people understand the value of copy that is long enough to do everything good marketing needs… such as demonstrating the benefits, removing objections, etc. etc. etc.!
Let me know your thoughts either in the comments below, on the Visual Website Optimizer blog, or at Ycombinator.
And also be sure to hit the “Like” button on this page… I wanna get this message out to as many people as I can!
Enjoy it!
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Are you saying that (as one example of many) a site like http://basecamphq.com would do better by incorporating the pages of the “Learn more” links right into the front page and go easier on the graphics?Stephan
I would say yes and no Stephan.
For the “learn more” question – I would suggest testing having those links make the content drop down right under it (or in a lightbox) – instead of linking to a new page. That saves the reader lots of clicks and keeps them engaged.
But it’s something you’d have to test.
For the design – I wasn’t saying graphics in general are a bad thing. They can be fantastic, but should ONLY be there to enhance the sale, make the customer feel an emotion more strongly, or make the page easier to read.
I actually like the layout of that page. It looks clean and professional… and the graphics ENHANCE the sales copy, instead of taking away from it. That’s the whole point of graphics.
Hope that helps!