What do you think? Is there too much 'hype' and not enough 'substance' to information products...???

Hi all,

After reading the post below on Mark Joyner's "Guerilla Bombshells" - it started me a thinkin':

For the past 7 years that I've been marketing online I've yet to buy any product that I wasn't really clear about what I was buying and have a chance to 'experiment' with it to make sure it was going to work for me before I bought.

Now comes this 'product' from an online 'guru' and you don't even know what you're getting!

I'm going to take a serious look at my own marketing materials to determine:

1. Am I clear (and really specific) about what I'm selling?

2. Have I given the prospect a chance to 'try it out'? Or do I expect someone to buy my product on "faith"?

It didn't really occur to me until the post below, that a lot of online marketer's are guilty of not being clear or specific enough and not letting people 'experience' the product before they decide to buy.

I think there's an opportuntiy to rise above the crowd of those selling a similiar product or service to yours by simply answering these two questions! If you do, I think you'll find your sales closing ratio to be much higher.

I know I will be testing this extensively.

What do you think? Is there too much 'hype' and not enough 'substance' to information products being marketed online?

Best wishes,

-Dave




iSPYProfits Newsletter Issue #3 - FREE

More hype than substance in many ebooks and
information products...

I would rather have a 5 page concise report
than 123 pages of white space, generalities
summaries and "bull"....

One of the best offline resources I bought
was Matthew Lesko's Information USA...All
he did was to present in an organized faction
information which would have taken me years
to obtain from the government. He consolidated
and organized information. I understand this
is only one type of report.

But what I like is reports etc which address
themselves clearly to the "problem" and to
the "solution" or gives me the "facts and
data" I need to help me solve the "problem".

I think many info product creators spend too
much time in "writing killer ads and copy" and
far too little time in doing the research and
providing informative reports.

So many reports have lead in titles like:

"how to"....but end up with zillions of pages
of "about it" and never address the "how to"...

Good luck David...your question is a good one...

dno
> More hype than substance in many ebooks and
> information products...

> I would rather have a 5 page concise report
> than 123 pages of white space, generalities
> summaries and "bull"....

> One of the best offline resources I bought
> was Matthew Lesko's Information USA...All
> he did was to present in an organized
> faction
> information which would have taken me years
> to obtain from the government. He
> consolidated
> and organized information. I understand this
> is only one type of report.

> But what I like is reports etc which address
> themselves clearly to the
> "problem" and to
> the "solution" or gives me the
> "facts and
> data" I need to help me solve the
> "problem".

> I think many info product creators spend too
> much time in "writing killer ads and
> copy" and
> far too little time in doing the research
> and
> providing informative reports.

> So many reports have lead in titles like:

> "how to"....but end up with
> zillions of pages
> of "about it" and never address
> the "how to"...

> Good luck David...your question is a good
> one...

Dave,

Since most people can't actualize and make even a good idea win, how do you keep people who've bought a business website from you for serious bucks, if they can't make a profit from it, how do you keep them from leaving negative feedback?

Thanks very much for any reply,

- Boyd

waiting for Dave's answer to....

Just wanted to say Boyd; you raise a good
point! but it is not the responsibility of
the project designer to worry about if people
don't use the information....I have several
projects I bought: many are winners but I
have not applied the information "yet" on
some of them(for personal reasons-which is
another story)...

But I think if you have put your heart and
soul into a project and delivered "value", that
is what matters. If your target market doesn't
use the material: that is their loss and not
"your loss"...so, if they think the project
is good or bad is not the issue; for everyone
who gives a negative response their will be
others who give a positive(the essence of the
sales process)...

Hi Boyd,

To tell the truth... I don't really know, for sure.

The only thing I can tell you is I have a lot of people who have purchased the 'product' first, then when I offered the 'business' for sale they bought it because the product was a great product.

Maybe 80% of my businesses were sold that way... the buyer was someone who had previously bought the 'product'.

I think the other thing that helps is that I NEVER create a product or business with the idea that I'm going to sell it.

The way I create them is by creating a product that I would want to have as a product to sell.

I don't know if that's clear or not. Let me see if I can put it another way:

I don't create a product or service JUST for resale.

I create a product or service I would be PROUD to promote myself- a product I want to promote and I know will make money.

I create a 'valuable' product, because it's a reflection on me. If I create 'crap' just for resale, some will buy, but the one's that do will leave me negative feedback.

The fact that I have no negative feedback and over 350 unique positive feedbacks, I guess it means that the buyer's value the business as much as I did when I created it...probably because I put everything I had to it.

Another reason that's become apparent to me:

People buy my business opportunity 'businesses' because, even though they may not use it now, they get the 'inside scoop' on how I run them and make money with them. In addition to that, there's a little thing called 'human nature'.

What I mean is that people will buy things that they might not need right now, but they buy them because they might need them some day.

Sandy is right, "If your target market doesn't use the material: that is their loss and not 'your loss'..."

I know that happens, but I always feel bad when they don't use it... but is there anything I can do about it?

No.

I wish and I pray I could do something... but I can't. I even give 30 days unlimited phone support and guess how many people actually call me to get support (I mean it's free, except for the phone call), less than 2%.

I wish it was more...

Hope that helps!

-Dave
ebaY ID: ispyprofits




Instant Business Exclusive Offer

I totally agree that there is altogether too much hype. I am just starting a newsletter which will be focused on the business strategies used in Las Vegas and as I was writing the page for folks to sign up for a free 2 month trial, I found myself wondering if what was written was hype or reality. I know what it is that I can deliver to the reader, but my sales "copy" is pretty lame when compared to about 90 percent of the "sales letters" that are out there. So, if the "gurus" are so different, it makes me second guess whether I should "hype it up". Then I step back and think about it, and I guess it comes down to whether I want to be me, even if it means less sales. I have decided I would rather be me, and develop my own style and take the hits along the way, and truly deliver a product that has value than anything else at the moment.

As an example of a good principle that has been misused by a bunch of these guys, take the principle of using testimonials. In the bulk of the so-called "newsletters" I get, the testimonials are from the other gurus. They just each create something, then get the other "gurus" to give a testimonial as to why I should buy it.

If you go back to the principles involved in testimonials, they should be true responses from a satisfied customer, who actually bought the product, didn't have an "affiliate" relationship, and had truly found the product useful. I think most of the testimonials I see in the typical web page sales letter sucks...but then I probably just "ain't with it"...oh well.

I am presently studying through Clyde Bedell's "How To Write Advertising That Sells" and am grateful for what I am learning. I truly mean studying, and not just reading...there is a difference. Many of the materials I have purchased to learn how to be an information provider is reading material, but then once in a while, you find a gem that you know has an amazing potential, and that becomes study material.

I will probably be re-writing my www.cluelessinlasvegas.com sign-up page as I learn more, and it will evolve over the next few months as my experience grows.

Most of the "newsletters" and such I get are disgusting when it comes to real content and help for me as an individual, and I hope to not be like them "when I grow up".


http://www.cluelessinlasvegas.com

John...I loved your website; your copy
rings true to me...I think you're on
the right track..
Keep up the fine work!
Loved your copy...the deal is to "be yourself"
"to be or not to be" that is the question...

> I totally agree that there is altogether too
> much hype. I am just starting a newsletter
> which will be focused on the business
> strategies used in Las Vegas and as I was
> writing the page for folks to sign up for a
> free 2 month trial, I found myself wondering
> if what was written was hype or reality. I
> know what it is that I can deliver to the
> reader, but my sales "copy" is
> pretty lame when compared to about 90
> percent of the "sales letters"
> that are out there. So, if the
> "gurus" are so different, it makes
> me second guess whether I should "hype
> it up". Then I step back and think
> about it, and I guess it comes down to
> whether I want to be me, even if it means
> less sales. I have decided I would rather be
> me, and develop my own style and take the
> hits along the way, and truly deliver a
> product that has value than anything else at
> the moment.

> As an example of a good principle that has
> been misused by a bunch of these guys, take
> the principle of using testimonials. In the
> bulk of the so-called
> "newsletters" I get, the
> testimonials are from the other gurus. They
> just each create something, then get the
> other "gurus" to give a
> testimonial as to why I should buy it.

> If you go back to the principles involved in
> testimonials, they should be true responses
> from a satisfied customer, who actually
> bought the product, didn't have an
> "affiliate" relationship, and had
> truly found the product useful. I think most
> of the testimonials I see in the typical web
> page sales letter sucks...but then I
> probably just "ain't with it"...oh
> well.

> I am presently studying through Clyde
> Bedell's "How To Write Advertising That
> Sells" and am grateful for what I am
> learning. I truly mean studying, and not
> just reading...there is a difference. Many
> of the materials I have purchased to learn
> how to be an information provider is reading
> material, but then once in a while, you find
> a gem that you know has an amazing
> potential, and that becomes study material.

> I will probably be re-writing my
> www.cluelessinlasvegas.com sign-up page as
> I learn more, and it will evolve over the
> next few months as my experience grows.

> Most of the "newsletters" and such
> I get are disgusting when it comes to real
> content and help for me as an individual,
> and I hope to not be like them "when I
> grow up".

In the
> bulk of the so-called
> "newsletters" I get, the
> testimonials are from the other gurus. They
> just each create something, then get the
> other "gurus" to give a
> testimonial as to why I should buy it.

Some "gurus" do it this way. They are indiscriminate in their praise, with the result that their praise comes to mean very little. However, my policy is never to provide a testimonial for something I have not read in full and can endorse in full. This has earned me some enemies who don't understand why I can't endorse something shoddy! On the other hand, some people have been very gracious and understanding when I have said "Sorry, I'm just not comfortable with this approach" or "I can't endorse something filled with so many typos and grammar mistakes."

In the latter case, there was one instance where a writing coach, no less, came back at me twice more with revisions. "How about now?" It was still a mess with spelling mistakes after she had supposedly fixed it. I noticed on her Web site, though, that many of my colleagues had written blurbs for her.

Not all of us "gurus" operate the same way on this!


Learn to write meatier, more effective testimonials

I have been thinking about this a lot since I saw the post.
I'm pretty good at selling thermometers. I know what makes a good one, (fit for purpose) and I know how to read the spec. (precision) I also know how to check them out (function). So when I write copy, I say, "its good for this job, is this accurate and should last if treated with care." So a customer has only to decide if they trust my expert opinion or not. They can judge precision, because its right there on the page. If it turns out to be a lie, they get their money back.
If I were to write my copy:
"Imagine sitting on a warm beach six months from now, knowing your time in the sun was made possible by the increased crop yield due to your astute investment in a thermometer"
Well, maybe it would work. But the customers I serve are generally pretty clued up about what they want, so they would all have to ring up before they ordered, to ask me "how accurate is it?"
I suspect many info products have to be sold on hype, rather than any precise information about content, merely because the sales letter is far more finely crafted than the product. At times there may be no product, just a sales letter leading you gently to the next upsell.
I do not think Dave's products are even in the same arena as the "residual monthly fees" matrix crowd.
I suspect the "Guru" crowd do not hold all the answers and could even be labouring under a burden of old data.
People looking to buy information products could well be just as savvy as the farmers who buy my thermometers. They want a way to measure what they are getting, with precision.