Last week, on a whim, I invited my subscribers to pitch me their offer.
Just a 2-3 sentence description and a link to the product page.
I was curious to know…
- How MANY of you had existing offers
- What KIND of offers you are creating
- How you’re PITCHING them to prospects
This is on my mind because I’m getting together with a small group of freelancers in Tennessee this September to work on their offers (and promote the ones that fit my audience best).
So, what kind of pitches came flying into my inbox after the request?
A lot of what I expected (training on how to write copy) and a few really cool surprises.
SURPRISE #1: Nadine’s Naked Life Coaching
To be fair, the nudity is optional, it is non-sexual, and Nadine did not pitch it this way in her response.
However, when I clicked on her link it quickly became the most intriguing element.
Not only because I can imagine how “naked therapy” could more easily lead to a “breakthrough”.
It’s also a bold and unique way of offering the service.
So, why did Nadine choose to leave out the most unique and eye-catching aspect of her offer?
Perhaps she’ll reply and let me know her thinking… but my guess is that she did not want the uniqueness of her process to DISTRACT me from its legitimacy of it.
(Us humans tend to be uncomfortable with nudity and react by minimizing it with jokes, which, I’ve struggled with mightily just writing this).
If I’m correct, Nadine, I totally get your instinct.
However, in my experience, it’s better to INCLUDE the uniqueness of your method, rather than bury it.
(If we were sitting in the Knoxville workshop together, that’s what I’d want to work on.)
Nadine had the BEST copy on her offer descriptions, so I have no doubt including the “nudity option” would have only made it more compelling.
Nadine’s pitch to me:
Emotional Mastery in 30 Days
I help people fully recover from any and all emotional “disorders”, PTSD, stress, heartache, or addiction, without having to go through years of therapy or take any drugs, through my step-by-step process of teaching you how your mind and body actually work and showing you how to master your own emotions, in order to create lasting results that will transform your life from the inside out.
https://www.thenakedlifecoach.com/apply
SURPRISE #2: Shawn’s Muscle Tendon Repair system
Like Nadine, Shawn has a unique approach to his offer. He included it and had me interested right off the bat.
It helps that I’m a good prospect for this as I’ve been having strange pain in the heel of my left foot.
According to “medical professionals” (of both legit and air quote varieties) it could be caused by anything from gout, to a spur, to issues with tendons.
However, after hitting the link, I hit a wall. The sales page is vague and offers no specific information about the Muscle Tendon Change Qigong – other than listing it in the package.
Good news though, Shawn. It’s a simple fix…
Take more care with your sales page and unpack every item in the package.
If you had a section with specifics of how the ancient Qigong practices work to change how the tendons strengthen or repair, then I’d likely have bought the whole package just to get this part.
You could also have sales pages for each individual training at the price you list. This would do two things:
- Allow you to target based on the pain/desire of your market.
- Legitimize the prices you show in the bundle (which right now I have to assume aren’t just made up in your head.)
(Yes, we’ll be covering this in Knoxville, too)
You’ve got a great hook and unique mechanism with the “The P5LIM is the PhD 5 Level Interpretation Method” – but it’s BURIED way down on the page.
You should be shouting it out in a big way.
Shawn’s pitch to me:
You might enjoy our Muscle Tendon Change program.
It’s the same methods the ancient Shaolin warrior monks used to develop their legendary power.
Yi Jin Jing Qigong – Muscle Tendon Change Set (tccii.com)
SURPRISE #3: Lorrie Morgan’s Bullet Writing Course (that she’s told nobody about.)
Say whaaaa!
Universally known, loved, and revered copywriter Lorrie Morgan has a course on bullet writing?
She’s been sitting on it for a while now.
No promotion?
No affiliate program?
No hyping your exclusive FB group to create buzz for the launch?
But, why!?
I could go down a very deep rabbit hole on why capable people create super valuable things only to STALL before launching.
A few general reasons:
- Perfectionism
- Imposter Syndrome
- Options overwhelm
- Busy with client work
- Fear of delegating
(I have no idea if any of these are true in Lorrie’s case. She’s certainly produced some very kick-ass courses in the past, so she knows what she’s doing. I’ll be showing how to eliminate head trash and inhibitions around launching offers in Knoxville, as well.)
Interestingly, when she asked for my feedback on her sales page, I had two pieces of advice… and one was the same as I’ve given in all of these.
That is to: “EMPHASIZE THE UNIQUE MECHANISM”
Lorrie was also burying her “3-D bullet writing system” inside of one bullet.
I want to know WHAT it is… HOW it came to be… The METHOD it reveals…
It’s the one thing about Lorrie’s method that guarantees I can’t get the lessons and the results of them, ANYWHERE ELSE.
Lorrie’s pitch to me
I haven’t put this on the market yet but I created a kickass program on writing bullets. It seems like the one area no copywriting training was doing well. AND I wanted to get better at them myself.
Here’s the link: https://redhotcopy.com/redhotbullets/
3 BIG TAKEAWAYS:
Clarity is king.
A few of the pitchers were so desperate to come off clever that I literally had NO IDEA WTF they were saying. The #1 job of a pitch is to make a super clear promise to solve a super clear problem. Save clever for the longer sales page and get to the point.
Show your work.
The best way to differentiate your product/method/solution for your prospects is by showing them the process of how you developed it. I think of this as “putting on your lab coat and bringing them into the lab.” Take time to bring them into the pain you had or saw and how determined you were to solve it.
Which leads me to…
Demonstrate your Unique Mechanism.
UMs are the most underused and (according to this little experiment) overlooked weapon in your marketing. Done right, a unique mechanism will increase the intrigue for your product, display your expertise, and make it easy for your prospects to choose YOU over your competition.
Gratitude and respect to all who took the time to pitch me your products.
Some of you are doing a great job (I hope this feedback helps you do even better)
Some of you are close, but need to stop overthinking it (clear and simple is the best place to start)
Some of you are being flat-out lazy (if there are more emojis than words in your pitch, start over)
If you’re in the first two groups and would like my personal help, and access to my entire team to help you define, create, and launch your first (or next) offer…
Check out the live “beyond client money” workshop I’m doing in September.
I’m super stoked to work with a few select people on their offers. And even promote the ones that fit my audience’s needs best.
If you have any questions, hit me back at kevin@copychief.com.
I’m rooting for you, always…
On Wednesday, June 29th, we’re hosting The World of Financial Copywriting Lesson #3: “How Pro Copywriters Turn Research Into Riches: Learn The Recipe Behind Every Successful Promotion’s ‘Magic Sauce’.
Joshua Lee Henry of Banyan Hill (an Agora branch), will show you everything you need to know.
There’s no comparison between being taught by someone who is in the trenches, testing copy on a daily basis, to someone who did it 10… 15… even 20+ years ago and now wants to make a little extra money on the side by teaching freelancers what worked DECADES ago.
This industry changes rapidly so you need to learn from those who are working in it right now.
Here’s more about what you’ll learn in this month’s training:
- How to guarantee your time spent on research is valuable (and actually something you can use to write successful promos)
- When to stop the research process and move on to writing (without this specific transition period, you might get stuck procrastinating via research)
- How to discover the “big idea” of your promo and how to make sure you don’t overlook the best hooks during your research phase
- The special “80/20 rule” that top financial copywriters use to make the writing phase simple and straightforward (this is how you make writing copy the easiest part!)
- Plus so much more financial copy wisdom
To join this training (and watch all past and future training) all you need to do is go here and become an All Access Copy Chief member.
And if you’re already an All-Access member, you can click here to join the group.
