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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After 12 long years of working seven days a week, I’ve made a decision. I’m taking tomorrow off.

Sounds strange? Well, I’ve had vacations. Many of them. And I’ve taken half-days off, here and there. Sometimes, I’ve even taken whole days off. But I would still check my email in the morning, or return to my computer at night.

Aside from my vacations, I’ve not taken an entire day off in over a decade. I mean, a full 24 hours without doing any work, including using the computer even if it’s to surf the web.

My wife and I are finally heeding to some very powerful advice from James Brausch about taking an extra day off to earn more money. In fact, James was pointing out a blog post by Terry Dean, a person I admire and follow closely.

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What’s the single, most important element in copywriting?

Let me say it another way.

You’ve done your research. You found a starving market. Your product fills a need. And your sales copy shines with benefits. If everything is so perfect, then why is your product still NOT selling? Is it the price? The offer? The competition?

Maybe. But not necessarily.

The fact is, these things are not always to blame for being unable to sell an in-demand product, even with great copy. In my experience, I believe it has more to do with one thing:

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