So, there I was, about to launch my Niching for Hippies program . . . and friends forwards me some info about a new program she saw some lady was running called Ditch The Niche.
My first thought is . . . clearly it’s an American program because she thinks niche rhymes with ‘ditch’. I say it rhymes with ‘quiche’.
But potato potahto.
I took a look at her sales letter and I thought it was pretty kick ass so I wanted to share it with you a) in case you might want to check out her program (which I think you might) and b) so you could learn from an excellent case study of what a sales letter can be.
To read the sales letter yourself so you can follow along go here.
It’s not too long – because it’s only inviting people to a free call vs. asking people to spend a lot of money. The more risk there is (money, time, emotional etc.) often the longer the letter may need to be to address all of the risks.
Big picture . . . I love the colours. She went with an orange/yellow kind of colour scheme which I’ve not seen in most sales letters. No big red headline. I like it.
Second of all, she uses art in a fun and quirky way.
Thirdly, she’s got a cute video at the top that sets a fun story line of the ‘marketing police’ not wanting her to reveal this information. She frames it, tongue in cheek, as a sort of ‘underground’ thing.
I appreciate that she does it with a wink because . . . there are no marketing police. No one is actually chasing her. No one is really upset with her. And it upsets me when people try to pretend this is reality.
I’ve seen so many videos sales letters that start with this ‘you’ll want to watch this whole video now because there are a bunch of _________’s who don’t want this information getting out there so I have no idea how long this video will be up.’
WTF? Are you serious? I punch you in the face. punch. Those people are lying liars from Liartown.
I think there’s a big difference between playing games with people in marketing and trying to play games on people. It feels here like Lisa is a playing a game of pretend with us and inviting us to play along. Fun.
But let’s get into the specific lessons I want you to take from her sales letter.
Lesson #1: The title was provocative and caught my attention.
She was picking one of the sacred cows in marketing and attacking it directly. Most people are afraid to be controversial. But controversy gets people’s attention. Ditch the Niche. Nice.
Marketing for Hippies is also, in a small way provocative.
If your business name and workshop titles can raise eyebrows and start conversations and carry a point of view . . . bonus points.
Lesson #2: Empathize with their pain.
Here’s what she wrote . . .
“You’ll want to be on broadcast of Ditch the Niche if:
- You want to sell your products and services online but you’re totally frustrated by the roadblocks you’re facing.
- You’re having trouble narrowing your focus even though you know you “should” choose a Niche. (Good news, you’ll make more money when you Ditch That Niche-the right way!)
- You’ve done what the “gurus” told you and picked a Niche-but it feels like a straitjacket and you’re struggling to free your marketing.
- You feel inauthentic trying to market to your Niche-it’s like forcing a square peg into a round hole.
- You’re getting discouraged and disheartened by the way your business just isn’t bringing in the money you deserve.
- You’re fed up with hearing “I can’t afford to work with you”-and want to have clients begging to work with you instead.”
These are all the exact things I’ve been hearing from my own clients. She names their experience and painful symptoms with incredible empathy and accuracy. She speaks not to how she thinks they should be, but to what is happening for them and, crucially, how they feel about it.
That’s what you need to do in your sales letters. Speak first to their lived experience. What is it like to be them? What symptoms do they struggle with?
For more thoughts on empathy in marketing click here.
Lesson #3: Laser in on who it’s a perfect fit for . . .
The above empathizing will help people see relevance and in the following section she delves even deeper into who it’s a fit for. Notice that she’s not trying to ‘sell’ anyone on anything. After all, if you read what follows and thought, ‘nope. not working my tail off. have a solid niche that feel great.’ then her program would not be a fit.
For more of my thoughts on this notion of finding a perfect fit read this.
Lesson #4: Introduce Yourself
Notice that the sales letter doe not start with Lisa talking about herself. Because, frankly, why should you care until you know that she can help you on the journey you’re on.
Until people see that what you’re offering is relevant to them – they really don’t care about who you are. But, once they do, then they want to know that you’re credible. In a very brief way, Lisa introduces herself giving some compelling past clients and naming a compelling result she has achieved: tripling her income working only three days a week.
For more thoughts on writing a compelling bio (big or small) read these blog posts.
Lesson #5: Share your point of view.
So far, Lisa has created a fun vibe, empathized, built relevance and some credibility.
Now she shares her point of view.
My belief is that your point of view is, ultimately, what people are paying you for. They want to not only know that you can help them solve their problems and get the results they are craving . . . but they want to know your take on how to make that journey. They want to know your perpective, your map, your system, your understanding, your philosophy on why they’re stuck.
She sums that up below with this notion of people being stuck in the ‘niche trap’.
For people who’ve struggled with their niche forever . . . this is a very compelling message. It let’s people know, ‘you’re not stupid. you’re not crazy. you’re not lazy . . . you’re just stuck in this trap . . . and I can show you the way out.’
So, now we know a bit about how she sees things and my curiousity is piqued.
To read my nine reasons why I think point of view is the future of marketing click here.
Lesson #6: Tell them what they can expect
At this point, we know, like and trust Lisa a little bit. The conversation she’s offering seems relevant.
But now we’re wondering, ‘What’s in it for me? What am I really going to learn here?’
Below, she shares what people can expect to get from the call – so they can know if it’s a fit or not.
The one thing I would change here. Instead of saying, ‘On this groundbreaking training I’m sharing’ I’d say, ‘On this ground-breaking training YOU’LL BE LEARNING’. Whenever possible, you want to phrase things not from what you’ll be giving but from what they’ll be getting.
Lesson #7: A clear call to action
I hate, hate, haaaaate going to websites to download something and not being able to figure out where to do that.
Don’t make me guess.
Don’t make me search.
Don’t waste my time.
Make it easy.
She gives a box that makes it really clear how to sign up. This seems obvious but you’d be surprised how overlooked this kind of thing is.
Lesson #8: Testimonials
It’s one thing for us to tell people they can trust us.
But it’s far more powerful for other people to say those things about us.
A few key testimonial lessons for you can take from the way she laid these out:
1) Include a photo. They make the testimonials more real and believable.
2) Give a headline. Take out the most compelling part of the testimonial and turn it into a little headline to grab people’s attention. It helps people skim and also to see which testimonial might be worth their time to read.
3) Contact info. Lisa provides the websites of most of these people so, if you wanted to, you could contact them directly and say, ‘is this a scam?’ Giving people’s websites is a huge way to boost the credibility of the testimonial.
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I hope this sales page analysis was useful to you. I’d love to hear your feedback on that.