A recent coaching session touched upon the growing trend that some marketers have adopted to squeeze out sales from exiting traffic.

In other words, you visit a website and read the salesletter. You decide it’s not for you, so you leave. But when you try leave (either as you close your browser or simply hover your mouse outside of it), the website attempts to make a last-ditch offer.

The common practice is to offer a discount, and a recent trend is to make it through virtual sales assistant just before the prospect clicks away from the screen.

(Virtual assistant or not, it is no different than a one-time offer appearing in an exit pop-up or spawned browser window once the visitor leaves.)

Not only is the practice annoying, it can be detrimental to your sales efforts.

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Preamble: In response to some excellent rebuttals as well as countless comments I’ve received on my previous post, “The Real Sinister Side of Forced Continuity,” I believe some people are missing the point of my argument, and I want to clarify a few things.

I’m not a lawyer by any stretch. But as a copywriter and business owner, I do know the rules enough to know that there’s a difference between “optional continuity,” “forced continuity,” and “hidden continuity.”

Optional continuity is self-explanatory. Forced continuity is a very common marketing practice (I’m not a fan of it, but I don’t mind it). In fact, there’s nothing wrong with forced continuity in and of itself.

What’s wrong is when it’s used in a wrong way.

The real problem, I believe, is that good marketers, including marketers using “forced continuity” in an ethical and legitimate way, are getting a bad reputation because some marketers unscrupulously misuse forced continuity.

The lack of transparency is the real culprit — such as hiding it or disguising it. Especially when it’s done on purpose. That annoys me. Because it’s no longer an issue of misuse. It’s out-and-out abuse.

But what bothers me more is how it affects us all. And it affects us all, both customers and marketers alike, in more ways than you think.

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A disgruntled copywriter wrote me demanding clarifications. He believes most copywriters lie and exaggerate their claims of wealth. Let’s call him “Chuck.”

I understand where Chuck is coming from. Because I’ve been where he is. So I responded, not because I wanted to acquiesce to his demands but because I wanted to give him hope, ideas, and, dare I say it, a million-dollar education.

He says he will be asking other copywriters the same question, and even threatened (although, that may be too harsh of a word) to publish my reply.

For all I know, this copywriter may be gathering information to create his own product. Who knows? (If he is, I must say that his strategy is brilliant. And if he does create a product out of this, good for him!)

I’m reprinting the conversation here since I believe it will help a lot of other struggling copywriters out there. Also, I’m opening myself a little more than usual. I guess you can say that I’m exposing the real “Michel Fortin.”

My answer might surprise you…

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Just an update on things.

I’m typing this from my hotel room in Anaheim, California, where my wife and I are speaking at a seminar. My Internet connection is shoddy and intermittent, so I can’t do much right now. Even typing this blog post feels like pulling teeth.

To my coaching students, I will be answering your emails once I return to my office, or this weekend if I have a chance and the connection improves.

I will be back early next week, posting an explosive new article on how to double or even triple your profits using an amazing twist on something we already do as copywriters and business owners.

In the meantime, glide on over to my new site, Copywriters Library, where I have over 6 hours of audio interviews with master copywriters Gary Halbert and John Carlton, and 2 of my complete books reprinted free for you.

Just a little note to let you know that I’m in Raleigh, North Carolina all week, as I’m recording a new product with my friend Armand Morin on blogging.

We literally go step by step through the process of setting up a blog, adding all the plugins, tweaking it, driving traffic to it, and of course, monetizing it properly.

I will return next week, and have a few new articles for you. In the meantime, did you check out my coaching program? A few openings are left. At least take a moment to read it. There are some great copy lessons in there, too!

(I also added a few extra pictures, including one of me playing my new drumset — like the photo at top of this post, which was taken at my 40th birthday party gig in a local watering hole in Ottawa, Ontario.)

Click here for the complete details.

If you remember, a few months back I launched my email-based coaching program. Shortly thereafter, I’ve reached the number I wanted to enroll in the program, and so I closed the doors.

Since then, however, I’ve wrestled with the idea of reopening it to allow a few new members. Why? Partly because I’m very picky when choosing people with whom I work closely, and partly because I’ve received numerous requests asking me about it.

In fact, since closing my doors I’ve received 52 requests to join my program.

Yes, fifty two! I counted them.

So I’ve relaunched my email-based coaching program, but only to a few select applicants. With this program, you can ask me unlimited questions, to which I will answer personally — as long as your subscription is active.

Here’s what this amazing programs includes:

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One of my coaching students, Dave Martin, asked me to quickly critique a sales page he will be working on. The site is for "Gourmet Sweet Nuts" by Lady Betsy, which, according to David, are "Gawd-awful good!"

The problem is, this page sells the product directly but was originally intended as an introduction letter to candy stores and dealers. (That explains why it isn’t selling as well as it can.)

Just like trying to mix SEO with good sales copy, it’s a hard thing to do when your page has more than one goal. It requires skill. But in this particular case, it’s best to focus only on one core message. In fact, I always try to stick to the “rule of focus” in copy, which means…

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