Comments on: Rage Against the Sales Letter

By: Ken Caudill

Ken Caudill — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 03:08:32 +0000

The sales letter is a vehicle for delivering your sales message. The reason it works is because it covers the things that need to be covered in a sales presentation. The format is secondary to the message. Surely we can be creative enough to be readable AND effective.

We have video, audio, cartoons, graphics at our disposal.

There has to be another way to skin that cat.

If the medium is the message, the sales letter conveys way too many negative connotations.

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[...] Rage Against the Sales Letter (Jonathan Fields): The long sales letter is a tactic that you may not really appreciate, but some marketers swear by it. Read why Jonathan Fields considers long copy a must-have. [...]

By: Holly Mann

Holly Mann — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 21:25:54 +0000

Sorry, Correction – “Under-Deliver”

By: Holly Mann

Holly Mann — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 21:25:19 +0000

When a “marketer, tries to earn a living by maximizing revenue while maintaining personal integrity and honoring the community” – in quoting you – I think if people can convey the truth in their sales letter, honestly sharing while tactfully selling – they will have success. Too many people over-hype and over-deliver, and when someone sees a sales page so very different, they take notice and stay a while. It has worked well for me for 5+ years and I think your product will “sell itself” if you do it right.

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By: Alexis Martin Neely

Alexis Martin Neely — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:50:39 +0000

Love this post Jonathan. And will consider it a major honor when I earn a mention on your blog alongside Brian Clark, Pam Slim, et al for rolling out information in a conscious way.

One day I’ll have to tell you about my big, big error with my very first long form sales letter. It was a big lesson in knowing your target market and not expecting something that works with one market to cross over and work with another target market. And in trusting my own instincts.

By: Thea Westra from myforwardsteps.com

Thea Westra from myforwardsteps.com — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 03:02:33 +0000

Love this post. Thank you.
Subscribed to your mail so I will remember to return.
The comments are as good as the post. Particularly love this ‘take-away’…
“Think ‘how can I make this sales letter as valuable piece of content in its own right?’”
Thank you again. Cheers, Thea

By: Nicky

Nicky — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 23:53:46 +0000

Suzanne,

That’s possible. But, also possible is the opposite case, similar to Jonathan’s experience with yogis.

The more specific group meant that they would be genuinely interested in reading longer copy (assuming it’s copy worth reading).

-Nicky

By: Suzanne Bird-Harris

Suzanne Bird-Harris — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 23:56:43 +0000

I wonder if the length of a sales letter doesn’t also have to do with the diversity of the audience that will be exposed to it?

If the long copy sales letter originated in the direct-response (read: print) field, where I assume there was often a less personal relationship pre-existing between seller and buyer than we can achieve online, might not the number of objections to be overcome be greater because the appeal is to a wider audience that is not as well known by the seller – which logically would also dictate more copy?

Seems to me the more targeted your audience, the less copy required to persuade?

I’m sure that’s only a part of the equation here, but certainly explains a good chunk of the angst (and maybe some of the resulting crap) people have about writing sales letters to begin with.

By: Ed Gandia

Ed Gandia — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 23:05:23 +0000

Excellent post, Jonathan. I’m a B2B copywriter these days, but my early training was in direct-response copy — precisely the type of long format you’re talking about here.

As you and other commenters have pointed out, great copy continues the conversation already going on in the prospect’s head. It addresses all her objections clearly. It touches on one or more core emotions. And it explains one core idea clearly.

Problem with much of the long format that’s out there, is that the copywriter used long copy as a crutch, rather than taking the long road and doing his/her homework. In many cases, you can do a much better job with shorter copy. In others, it actually takes more copy.

But few copywriters want to do the work required to figure this out…