Sales Page Advice

Death to the Long - One-Page - Online Sales Letter Says Direct Mail Consultant
By Alan Sharpe Platinum Quality Author

Will you read a sales letter 147 pages long?

Would you mail your customers a sales letter that makes them page through 124 case studies before you describe what you’re selling?

Will you read a sales letter that contains 56,938 words, enough to fill a 253-page paperback book?

Some online marketers think you will. I’m talking about the ones who write what they call “long-copy online sales letters.” These websites usually contain just one page. There is no navigation scheme except the page down button on your keyboard. You are expected to start at the top and keep reading and keep scrolling until you surrender by placing your order.

You’ll find an example of the long-copy, one-page online sales letter at www.trafficsecrets.com.

I hate these sales letters with a passion. For one thing, they are not sales letters at all. “Online sales letter’ is an oxymoron. “One-page” online sales letter is another oxymoron. There are no pages online. If your pitch is online it’s not a letter. It’s a screen with words and pictures on it.

And there’s the difference. The web is an interactive medium. A letter is not. You read a sales letter. You interact with a website.

The whole beauty of the web is that you are not constrained to present your pitch in a linear fashion from page 1 to the postscript. Just compare the Land’s End print catalog with www.landsend.com. Online, everything is a few clicks away. Only online can you search for shirts by gender, size, price, style and type of collar opening.

You can’t do that with their print catalog. Print is linear. Which is why a 56,938-word, 147-page “sales letter” is so ridiculous. Online shoppers aren’t linear. They don’t want to read from top to bottom. They don’t want to scroll through 124 case studies to find your guarantee.

Online shoppers want to navigate to the pages that interest them. They want to easily find information about gift cards, weekly specials, your return policy and plenty more.

Your goal as a direct marketer with a website is to help your visitors find what they want quickly. And make buying easy. So don’t give your sales pitch on one page. And don’t put over 400 exclamation marks in one letter either, OK?

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About the author
Alan Sharpe is a direct mail copywriter who helps business owners and marketing managers generate leads, close sales and retain customers using direct mail and email marketing. Learn more about his creative direct mail writing services and sign up for free weekly tips like this at http://www.sharpecopy.com.