Mike Van Norden
August 13, 2000, 10:32 PM
Howdy Ya'll...(That's Texan for Hello) ;-)
Anyway, I'm constantly amazed at how many times I forget about the "Basics" of creating a great sales letter. Instaed of doing some simple "flipping" techniques to increase the response, I seek other sources like, swipe files, new testimonials, premiums, bonuses etc. from OTHER pieces.
But here's the reality. many times all you need is variation of what's in your CURRENT control to increase sales. Let me explain what I mean. Recently I was trying to boost response to a sales letter for a particular client, and NOTHING was working. I was going through my plethora of past sales letters, bonuses, premiums, testimonials, EVERYTHING was dumped out the floor of my office. It truly looked like a scene from the movie TWISTER. Then it hit me...
Why not LEAD OFF with all the BONUSES! Basically, flip the letter, and make it a BONUS driven sales letter. I knew I had done this type of "flip" with several letters, but like many of us, I got so caught up in the CREATIVE process, I forgot about simplicity!
Results: Just by flipping this control to a "Bonus" driven piece, I got 40% increase in response. It took me MAYBE an hour to make this change in the control. So, once again, I had to teach myself a valuable lesson. I had to remind myself NOT to over complicate the creative. From now on, my first attempt to beat my control, will be re-arranging content, NOT re-inventing the creative.
I know this won't work in every case, and you can only "flip" copy so many ways in the same control. But hey, when you've got several pieces you're trying to bump the response rate on, why not give it try first. It could save you weeks of arduous, mind-numbing creative on the same piece.
Hope this saves some of you from pulling your hair out, and having past sales letter controls stacked to the ceiling.
Sometimes, it the simple things,
Mike Van Norden
Click Here for FREE Publicity/Marketing Tips! (http://www.free-publicity.com)
Anyway, I'm constantly amazed at how many times I forget about the "Basics" of creating a great sales letter. Instaed of doing some simple "flipping" techniques to increase the response, I seek other sources like, swipe files, new testimonials, premiums, bonuses etc. from OTHER pieces.
But here's the reality. many times all you need is variation of what's in your CURRENT control to increase sales. Let me explain what I mean. Recently I was trying to boost response to a sales letter for a particular client, and NOTHING was working. I was going through my plethora of past sales letters, bonuses, premiums, testimonials, EVERYTHING was dumped out the floor of my office. It truly looked like a scene from the movie TWISTER. Then it hit me...
Why not LEAD OFF with all the BONUSES! Basically, flip the letter, and make it a BONUS driven sales letter. I knew I had done this type of "flip" with several letters, but like many of us, I got so caught up in the CREATIVE process, I forgot about simplicity!
Results: Just by flipping this control to a "Bonus" driven piece, I got 40% increase in response. It took me MAYBE an hour to make this change in the control. So, once again, I had to teach myself a valuable lesson. I had to remind myself NOT to over complicate the creative. From now on, my first attempt to beat my control, will be re-arranging content, NOT re-inventing the creative.
I know this won't work in every case, and you can only "flip" copy so many ways in the same control. But hey, when you've got several pieces you're trying to bump the response rate on, why not give it try first. It could save you weeks of arduous, mind-numbing creative on the same piece.
Hope this saves some of you from pulling your hair out, and having past sales letter controls stacked to the ceiling.
Sometimes, it the simple things,
Mike Van Norden
Click Here for FREE Publicity/Marketing Tips! (http://www.free-publicity.com)
