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Sales Letters vs. Blogs Selling from blogs is still rather new. Most copywriters are still stuck with remnants of the old direct marketing days. They talk a lot about "sales letters" which was the technique developed for direct mail and then adapted for full page magazine and newspaper ads. The idea was to write a letter to the prospect. The letter would start with a catchy headline to tell them why they wanted to read the letter (the benefit to them) and then proceed through covering benefits, objections, guarantees, testimonials, pictures and finally the offer and call to action. The idea is to control the focus of the prospect and keep them reading the single letter until the end and then to take the action you want (filling out the purchase form and sending in your check usually). The online sales letter was identical except that it had a credit card entry form after you clicked an order button. But most people don't like that kind of experience. They shun door-to-door salesmen who use that method. They hate the loud pushy salesmen at the fairs and malls. Instead, they want to be in control. Instead of buying, they want to shop and order. The blog format is much more conducive to that than the long sales letter. Blogs have multiple pages and allow the reader to explore and read from different perspectives. They get to be in control. Think of it this way. Do you feel like you are being "sold" in a restaurant? Most people don't. There is no person standing outside most eating establishment shouting out the benefits of eating there. Once you get inside, the waiter (who is called a waiter to remind you that you are in control... they are not a salesman) gives you options. They don't start preaching about the one thing that is served and why you must buy it right now or forever risk starvation. We never feel like we are being sold to at a restaurant. We always feel like they are "serving" us and we can "order" whatever we wish from the "menu" of options. This idea took awhile to grab hold on the Internet. It still isn't widely accepted in most copywriting circles, but it soon will be. As many things happen on the Internet, the first adopters were some of the most unscrupulous companies. They noticed the power of the blog format to sell things like weight loss supplements and put together sales pages that mocked the blog format. There is even a word for these types of sites now. They are called "Flogs" which is short for "fake blogs." Why are they fake? Usually the comment form doesn't actually work even though there are several comments listed. When you study the comments, you quickly realize that they are made up. They are fake testimonials. There is no diversity in personality. They are just fake plugs for the product. There is also the illusion that it is a blog and you can wander around to other pages, but when you actually try, you find out that it is a single page blog only. That is wrong. It is misleading and deceptive and the FTC has already stepped in and set out new rules that prohibits that kind of deceptive practice. But that doesn't invalidate the idea of using REAL blogs for selling. Real blogs that actually do allow you to leave comments and wander around into prior posts and explore the product from different perspects is just fine with the FTC. It isn't deceptive or misleading. And that is what prospective customers really want. They don't want you to "sell" to them. They want you to inform them and serve them and then to accept their order when they are ready to purchase. A blog is perfect for that. Of course the unscrupulous made up fake blogs because all of the real blog software that currently existed lacked basic marketing tools like the ability to split test. We have solved that problem with the Internet Business Box. This blog that you are reading is running on the Internet Business Box blogging platform. It is a real blog. You can actually leave a comment. You can actualy wander around to the archived blog posts. The blog roll is real. AND we are running a full blown multivariate test on every aspect of this blog. You see certain graphics, fonts and wording. Others see a slightly different combination of every factor on this blog. We keep track of what works and what doesn't work for sales just like a smart restaurant who is always testing their menu choices. Over time, the site automatically adjusts everything for maximum sales. But that never means a compromise to the customer experience. They are always free to explore the site and make comments and be in control. They are never pushed into reading this one sales page and then make a decision or forever suffer the consequences. Instead, the adjustments that are made automatically on a daily basis all improve the customer experience. One day they might visit the blog and not really notice anything wrong, but the next day they see that a font is a slightly different face and a little larger. The blog is just easier to read and they like it more. They feel more like buying today. That isn't deceptive or trying to trick the customer. Is is just testing to see what kind of environment pleases the customer and makes them want to visit your site and buy your products more often. That is smart business. That is what the Internet Business Box is all about. A great way to get the Internet Business Box software is to buy a site that uses it. Here are some of the sites available: You can also buy your own Internet Business Box to run on the domain of your choice here: |
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