The Death of The Salesletter

Awesome Report.... I can't agree more.

What I believe the key to be, is what you said about the salesletter content still being there except in another form. ie.) video, audio or some other media.

Here's a few examples we recently did...

We recently sold out a LIVE event with only 1,074 words on the whole page, but what you have to understand is that there is almost 30 minutes of VIDEO TESTIMONIALS on that page.

My lack of words didn't make a difference, but the addition of video certainly made up for it.

We also sold 50% of that same audience with just a simple PowerPoint presentation video and only a link underneath to the salesletter! No copy of the page whatsoever. I know this works.

In fact last year we also sold over $50,000 of a single product with NO SALESLETTER just a PowerPoint presentation via video and link to the order page.

I too, believe salesletters are NOT dead, but will still be there but just in another medium for users to receive the message

Great job... see you next week!

Armand

Michel,

I don't mean to be rude but...

... do you have an Executive Summary for that tome of information?

I have so much reading to do now - another 52 pages ain't gonna help much!

I'll download it but I don't know when I'm going to get time to read it all.

Gary Simpson

Michel,

That's incredibly riveting!

I tabbed open the PDF and couln't stop reading.

Well Done!

I completely agree that improving your salescopy writing will only improve your "salesmanship" and sales.

As with Web 2.0 sites you mentioned in the report being the standard setters of 2007, it's natural that your sales processes, experiences be similiar-Because people will come to expect leading in the process as they are on the Web 2.0 sites.

I'm printing the PDF out and it's going to be a piece I revisit often.

It's very "right on" in my view. I look forward to seeing more of these Interactive salesletters you wrote about and Engaging in this "revolution." Great report!

Take Care,

Anh Drew Johnson

Michel

Congratulations Maestro!

I read ALL 50+ PAGES without putting it down.

Dramatic stuff.

You NOT ONLY revealed a great truth that is about to descend on all all of us like a tidal wave, but ALSO gave out a huge buzz of positive motivation with clear information on what to do about it..

And that was just for starters: You went further and hit the nail right on the head with your notion that super long scrolling sales letters are about to be eclipsed by ... well folks you will just have to read the report to see.

:-)

As well as yourself Michel this is what Ken Evoy and Ken McCarthy have been saying for years - now it is coming to pass.

Folks ... this is compulsory reading before starting anything new this year in Internet Marketing . So lock the door, fasten your seatbelt, grab a favorite beverage and take in this report.

Best wishes for 2007 Michel

Jonathan Gunson

The Internet Marketing PI
http://IMInvestigator.com

Michel

Way too long. Practice what you preach...short intro; bullet point findings and video recommendations! And get off the fence and offend some people if you have to make a point.

I do concur with some of your views, especially about the way people skip through copy and may make a purchase without reading to the end. Salespeople make trial closes during a face-to-face pitch and if the customer raises an objection, they try to overcome this and go for the trial close again.

As you know, without being able to see the customer in a direct mail, email or web communication you have to give the complete sales story...but YOU MUST include regular trial closes throughout and give the reader the option of making a purchase there and then. Unfortunately, too few people do this despite the best efforts of folks like you. But then if they did they wouldn't come to you for help.

New year resolution...less is more.

Best

Ian

Michael Fortin is funny , he makes me laugh.

For years we have been bombareded with "oh but long sales copy outpulls shorter copy blah blah blah" and now their opinion is changing, hahaha I mean look at Ebay, I have seen absolute hideous looking ads with about 2 sentences for the product description yet there are about 10-15 people bidding on the item.

Alot of this is absolute "common sense" The marketers with crap products are dying, people are sick and tired of being scammed by products that are just pure crap and just a bunch of hype endorsed by their marketing buddies but all you ever hear from the person selling the product or their friends is "oh but you never used the product properly or you never took action" what a load of hogwash! Face it, the product was awful. If you want an example take for instance that software that mass produces thousands of blogger blogs that made all kinds of pathetic claims etc.. did it work, NO IT DID NOT it.

Alot of the top internet marketers are losing credibility because their products just aint cutting it anymore.

Thanks for the well thought out and shared insights Michel.

Your report is a great reminder that regardless of the media, we are dealing with the process of communication and how humans communicate.

As a professor of communication, I attempt to convey the importance of understanding that communication is an evolutionary, systematic process by which we seek to identify with and influence other human beings.

The late Kenneth Burke demonstrated that at its essence, communication is the use of symbols by symbol using creatures (that's us - lol) to induce cooperation among other symbol using creatures. Part of that process can be by providing people and scenarios that others can identify with as they participate in the conversation or social interaction.

With the evolution of the Internet and Web 2.0, humans are able to achieve not only their Warholesque 15 minutes of fame but, to a degree, we are also able to accomplish what had been previously reserved for the writers, artists and other creative "X" types - the denial of death. The Pulitzer Prize winning effort by Ernest Becker explains : "The main theme of The Denial of Death is that most human activity ultimately concerns the denial of one's mortality. The full realization of one's own mortality is mostly unbearable, absolutely terrifying and horrific. Man transcends this problem in the concept of heroism. By being heroic, man feels he has meaning, a purpose, something that will never die. One can be a hero to the eye of God, to the State, to the eyes of his peers, to his family, etc." (Wikipedia).

Humans crave mattering and Web 2.0 provides the very real vehicles for satisfying that craving.

A warning though. The late Scholar Richard Weaver of the University of Chicago reminded us that "Ideas have Consequences". This is a critical concept when one understands that once one commits to share something with society and others in a public community, they give up the ability to determine how the others will use or give meaning to what was created and shared.

As you can see Michel, you once again have stimulated food that we could all feed upon and ponder.

I look forward to sharing your insights with friends and wish you and your family greater health and prosperity for 2007 and beyond.

Dr. Ron the NicheProf

Hi Michel,

Your report was thought provoking to say the least - although rather long.

I think your original idea to break it up into several posts would have been easier on your readers - What's that expression about eating an elephant one bite at a time?

However, having said that I did find myself agreeing with most of your insights.

Regards

Greg

Michel...you're dead on...as always.

I can show you multiple examples from my own busienss where video and audio alone outpulled written copy.

But by no means do I think copy is dead. What I think happens is that when you use audio and video, it wets the appetitie of the prospect to where they are 80% sold.

But in many cases, they need the details in the copy to get them the last 20% of the way home.

I think the evolution of long copy salesletters into multimedia salesletters has more to do with the recent advances in technology.

2 specific advances...

1. Tools like flash and flash players have FINALLY made streaming video available even to dial up connections.

2. The dramatic increase in people bringing high bandwidth into their homes.

Today I use streaming video for....

1. Salesletters

2. Optin pages

3. Newsletters

4. Lead generation

5. Upsells (on thank you pages)

6. Order forms

7. Testimonials

8. Product demos

9. etc.

In each case, video and audio has DRAMATICALLY increased response rates.

I've received such astounding results from using video that I invested over $15K in my own video studio and hired a full time videographer to run it.

It paid for itself the first time I used it.

Your report is amazing and I will make sure to offer it to the people on my list.

THANK YOU for taking the time to write a thought-provoking, insightful, and eye-opening special report.

David Frey
MarketingBestPractices.com

Michel,

Once again, you show yourself to be of "prophetic" nature.

Right on man.

My view of the internet has always been that it is "just another medium" to market and sell your offerings.

But the key is...

How do you use that medium?

The current (2001 and later) internet has, in my humble opinion, successfully combined all of the other medium under one roof.

TV, Direct Mail, Open Forum, Radio, etc...

It is all here on the 'net. So how do you use this all-encompassing medium to your advantage? What can you invest in that will maximize your impact on the Internet?

That is what makes your piece "The Death of The Salesletter" so enthralling. The fact that you give that material away puts you in a class all by yourself Michel, I thank you.

Keep it coming. I have learned more from your complimentary offerings and posts than I have learned from 85% of the "gurus" out there.

Joseph Ratliff
dynamicwebcopy.com

That reads a lot like a big section of the Tubetorial business plan, especially the parts we will implement this year.

I don't know whether to tell you "right on" or "shhhhh!" ;)

Happy New Year!

Michael, it's taken me practically all day to read this inbetween doing what moms, wives etc have to do, but it's well worth it and what you say makes perfect sense.

I'm a new copywriter, but I know that with my own copy, I can inspire more people to buy from me or subscribe to my website than I can using words alone. In fact, I'm about to create a video for my website and this has helped me an awful lot.

Thank you for pointing me in the right direction,

Trish Jones

This is a very good report but it does ignore one very important area that is neglected with online marketing and outstrips nearly any other method I've seen.

It's an extension of what Michel talks about in this report.

And it's pathetically simple.

Ari Galper from unlockthegame.com uses it to make over $40,000 in sales every month from quite modest traffic.

Those of you who are familiar with his site would probably say "oh yeh using online chat boxes to engage your site visitors" and you'd be only half right.

What Ari is doing and many online marketers are doing that runs under the radar is calling their prospects on the telephone or engaging them in other ways OFFLINE.

Two of the great weaknesses of most online marketers...

1. They fail to understand the very real value of the prospects they generate online

2. They don't capitalize on the value of those prospects by engaging them offline (phone calls, direct mail, fax, etc etc)

When you do this you immediately set yourself apart from other online marketers and other websites.

You and your staff become a real live people.

And you overcome most of the objections your prospects have to buying online automatically.

Selling products online by definition is difficult because you must build trust then get your prospects to use online purchasing methods which require a degree of technical expertise.

(Online between 25% to 75% of sales are lost AFTER your prospect has already decided to buy).


Think of your online business as a retail store...

How many sales would you lose if you let your customers come to the sales counter and let them follow written instructions on how to make their purchases...

Let them swipe their own credit card and scan their own products.

Even the stores that do this have a customer service attendant right on the spot to help people who have any problems.

You know - a real live person to talk to.

Think about your own behaviour.

How many times have you gone to a store ready to buy a big ticket item and asked for help?

Isn't it strange that when you're just browsing around you find the sales assistants annoying pests but as soon as you want to buy something you want to talk to someone - ANYONE!


You can overcome most of the weaknesses of online marketing simply by looking at it as part of a sales process that is performed online AND offline.

Also keep in mind that those prospects who come to your websites can be worth a small fortune if you engage them offline.

If you were making 2-7 times the sales you make right now how much would each visitor to your site be worth?

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

That was a very compelling piece Michel; I admire the thoughtfulness with which you put together this well-reasoned report.

As a copywriter who cut his teeth writing copy that had to make the sale in thirty SECONDS (on the radio), I can only nod my head in agreement with you.

I can also verify these changes in my own copywriting practice; over the last year I have worked on many projects where we broke the salesletter into pieces . We've been using items such as special reports, blog posts, emails, video, and teleseminars.

While the actual selling page for some of these projects was shorter than a traditional salesletter -- I actually ended up writing as much or more copy than I would have for an "old school" salesletter.

I'll see you next week at the Underground Lair.

Thanks Michel.

Great reading. First report I print out in months. Read it all in one stretch. Will go over it again and again.

Like all good reports, answered bunch of questions but created even more.

- Kristjan

Well, it's January 6, 2007 and we've had our first DEATH. We had at least 3 DEATHS in 2006 led by John Doetsch I believe. After that one we had several retaliation DEATHS.

I'm pretty new to all of this but everytime I see these DEATHS I then see a big launch of some type or a big hassle of some type.

Everyone seems to be changing their business model at the same time. Is this a coincidence?

Armand Morin, John Reese, Michel Fortin, EvenSam Jones, and Jim Marshall are all changing in Lock Step.

I'll bet we see some major launches of some type in the next few months.

-Jim

heh... heh...heh...

Jim Greene - you wily rascal!

You smell something in the air do you?

Hmm. Come to think of it...

Well, I'm up to page 26. I think the body is still lying in the morgue for viewing. I'll get around to burying the last half soon.

I'd still like an ex-sum when reports such as this exceed 10 pages. Then again I suppose that would defeat the purpose of reading ALL 50 pages.

Sorry Michel. I'm still giggling over that last comment by Jim. Can't help it.

Gary

I wonder if I should release my report yet:

THE DEATH OF WEB2.

Remember, you saw it here first .

(Keep smiling, Michel has it 100% right.)

Jonathan Gunson
http://www.IMInvestigator.com

Jim, Gary,

Believe me, there's nothing going on. As I said in the report, there's nothing "brewing." I did this for fun, and because it's a topic I am passionate about. No product's coming down the pike -- if there will ever be one, it has nothing to do with this, I assure you.

I hope you pulled something from this report, however.

Glad to hear from you.

Hi Michel,

Sorry for being frivolous. Jim amused me with his observation.

There does seem to be a lot of things dying.

Everybody seems to want to report on the death of something.

It seems to be very much in vogue. That's all.

Gary

PS: I enjoy your comments. You are one of the clearest commentators that I have come across on the net. I don't always agree with what you say but your method of expression is crystal clear and THAT I appreciate. Thankyou.

No. Thank *YOU*!

I want to point out something people often don't consider when they read something like Michael's "ping factor" and that is...

YOU DON'T HAVE TO LIVE THAT WAY IF YOU DON'T WANT TO!

Every time I hear someone talk about anything similar to the "ping factor" I always shake my head and get sick to my stomach. If all this crap is so stressful to the point your mind is about to explode from all the alerts, messages, and incessant communication, then here's a novel idea: STOP DOING IT.

Whenever I browse the net, I DO NOT have tons of crap pounding me right and left, begging for my attention. An example: I read Michael's 50+ page PDF in PERFECT SILENCE and never had a single interruption. Why? Not because I have nothing else going on, but because when I want peace and quiet, I make damn sure I get it.

And if you can't say the same, you're living a pretty sad life.

Hey Greg,

Introduce me to YOUR WORLD!!

Hi Trish,

I'm not sure I understood what Greg was talking about. I'm not living a sad life at all and I also read the DEATH in piece quiet.

Wonder what he meant by that?

Jim

I apologize if I offended anyone with my "heat of the moment" comment back there. What I was really talking about was this:

We have this technology around us to improve our lives, not burden them...yet it seems like everywhere I go people are talking about what Michael calls "the ping factor"...which is where you are sitting there trying to focus on something, but your attention keeps being yanked away by some unrelated nonsense like e-mail beeps, cell phone rings, and tons of little notifiers running in the background on your computer.

And my point is, no matter what technology becomes available, it is always your CHOICE on how and when to use it, or whether to even use it at all. In other words, there is no one forcing you to have all these little distractions in your life.

When the things in your life that you got to make your life better start making it worse, it's time to throw them away and go back to a simpler way of living. You can make big money and live the way you want without having to be "plugged in" every waking moment of the day.

Just let go and... "live a little" :)

Good point Greg. And in a perfect world, that would sweet. But in terms of marketing and copywriting specifically, we must keep in mind that this is what most of us do, whether we like it or not, and whether we try to change it or not.

I certainly agree that the "ping factor" is not technology's fault but our own. But that's all part of human behavior we should pay more attention on, as marketers and copywriters.

Like it or not, things are going to get worse before they get any better.

Anyway, thanks Greg. I appreciate you. All of you.

The Return Of The Sales Letter

I am ready to count the dead people, all of them.

Why?

Well, perhaps I have too much time on my hand, but I look for information and I expect the sales letter to give me the information. So I have read Clayton's long pieces many times before I actually buy. I have Carlton's long piece before I bought. I try to see if the product will satisfy my needs through the description of the sales letter.

Videos and more interactivity will only boost the power of the "salesman in print" for behind every sales presentation there is psychology, the unchanging human psychology

I see a lot of dead people because some will think that "Ten Fingers and A Piano" makes a Mozart. Well, it doesn't.

Boring videos, with Matrix moves. Funny videos. Empty videos won't sell.

The video as a weapon of mass seduction can be powerful in the hand of the "salesman in print", but in the hands of the 'artist', it will be like a beautiful fountain pain and a shiny white piece of paper...something the artist will use to prove his cleverness, his originality. And that's where I see dead people, a lot of dead people...like the people who believe that putting a website up will do the trick...it didn't. Putting a video up without understanding the video's goal will not do the trick either....

Well, of course, I'll use videos soon, but appropriately...the same way that Rosser Reeves would use a video...

Now something against video.

In terms of interactivity videos present another serious problem

1-linearity: if such term exists. What I mean is this: a sales letter can be scrolled up or down and the reader can extract the piece he wants to see....Yes, I see the counter-answer...a video can be stopped and played at other specific parts.

But when a video is first presented, there is no : Preview or outline that can be quickly presented so that the viewer can jump to that section. The viewer has to watch the beginning and wait (or leave) for the end. If the story told is meaningless as in the stories told in commercials, then I'll be busy burying the dead people.

And as in sales letters, if the first few images or sounds or words of the video don't hold the viewer, then the viewer will be gone....very fast...soon the "buzz" that makes videos the hot thing will settle down...and "salesman ship " will be needed to "force" a reader, to titillate him, to tease him into watching a 2-minute video.

And as Michel pointed out, surfers' attention is preyed upon by thousands of companies and thousands of outlets. So the ability to convey the message as powerful as possible, will remain. If attention can't be gotten, if desire can't be fired up, if conviction can't be built, and if prompt action cannot be promoted, then some videos will fall in the category of "lame, salesy, unconvincing" long sales letters.

It's not the tool.

It's the users.

The magic is not in "Ten Fingers and a Piano". It's in Mozart and his deep understanding of music, his passion for music, his dedication to music.

I announce the return of the sales letter, after the ring is destroyed.

Michel,

Loved the report. I stumbled into web 2.0 when I got involved heavily with Squidoo and found others craving the same sort of information.

As a writer, I despire hard-hitting sales copy, and much prefer a peer-to-peer tip before I invest in anything. I think web 2.0 is a great motivator for marketers to immerse themselves even deeper into their market and truly learn what demands they need to cater to.

Enjoyed it!
Tiffany Dow

Tiffany,

Let me start by saying I love your materials and information.

As a copywriter who does write "hard-hitting sales copy", I feel compelled to point out that whether we as writers "despise" a certain kind of writing matters very little.

What matter is: does the copy get the job done?

I write copy with the intention of getting results; to the best of my ability, I write in a way that will persuade the reader to take the action desired by my client.

Sometimes that means long, hard-hitting copy.

Sometimes it means shorter, more subtle copy.

I believe it's a mistake to paint with too broad a brush in either direction; if markets "are conversations", we must speak the language if we want the chance to participate.

Sometimes the language may not be aesthetically pleasing to some, even though it is deadly effective with its intended audience.

Trust me when I say I like short copy, too.

If I could write a single-sentence sales message for my client, and it would be as effective as a 10-page letter...I'd be the biggest proponent of that!

Now, don't mistake my meaning: I agree with most of the points in Michel's report.

I suppose, though, that it's now my self-appointed duty to make sure we don't "throw out the baby along with the bath-water".

52 pages? Who has time for that? If this piece, or some trend, convinces internet marketers to "cut to the chase" we'll all be better off for it, and maybe even have a few more minutes for life away from the computer!

Ray, good point.

The point I was trying to make, if I had to distill it down to a paragraph or two, is this: the Internet is different. And trying to say it's the same as direct mail (or TV, for that matter, if you only want to use video), is misleading. And now, with new tools and Web 2.0, it doesn't have to be the same. And it shouldn't.

Plus, I want to reiterate: long copy is not dead. It's the long-scrolling, nonsensical, clumsy-looking, "cartoonish" salesletter that's dying.

That said, I also wanted to emphasize that too many people write long copy for the sake of being long, not because it needs to be. They try to say too much, not give "as much as information as is needed to make the sale." There is a difference.

It's the end of the ugly website. And it's certainly the end of laziness, where copywriters are not being pithy enough not because the converse would sell more but because they're lazy in editing and tightening up their copy -- and conversely, being brief doesn't mean being curt, either.

Let me see...

A FIFTY-ONE page report that condemns LONG copy... and how many read it through to the end?

I rest my case.

:)

Dr.Mani

As a human being I have to ask: WHAT ABOUT *MY* NEEDS???

What about the people like me who couldn't care less about audio OR video?

I can read a lot faster than people can talk. I can skim a lot faster than I read. And I can certainly scroll down a page or hit the print button for a hard copy, a lot faster than I can sit and wait for a video to load...and then I have to turn off my music so I can hear what's being said...I have to stay seated at the desk instead of sprawled in my comfy chair....

and then there's that whole thing about how what I hear goes in one ear and out the other. If I want to retain information (like I do if I'm preparing to make a major purchase) I have to write the points down and READ them before I can process them.

This means I have many hours' worth of (probably very informative) copywriting content on my iPod that has been there for a year and I still haven't listened to. Why? Because in order to get anything out of it, I have to take notes--which I can't do in the car or on the treadmill. So THAT means, sitting down with pen in hand and listening to words go by at a snail's pace when I could be doing something productive or at least in half the time.

Why on earth would I want to spend an hour listening to something I can read in 15 minutes? That's 45 minutes of my life that I'll never get back. And I'm afraid the ol' "you'll get more than 45 minutes' worth of value out of that mp3" doesn't work with me. Too logical. Logic isn't what moves me when I'm faced with wasting time.

For my sake, and the sake of those like me (which I'm praying is a pretty large group), I hope Michel is wrong. But that doesn't mean it wasn't a very interesting report. Thank you.

Pam

Pam, did you read my report? In it, I also talked about using different modalities and making the salesletter interactive, whereby just a few clicks it will serve up a salesletter of YOUR choice. If you prefer copy over video or audio, then so be it.

When you say: "Why on earth would I want to spend an hour listening to something I can read in 15 minutes? That's 45 minutes of my life that I'll never get back."

You're saying exactly what I meant in the report about two things: 1) the ping factor, and 2) never to use long video -- but keep it to small videos that's easier to digest.

Anyway, I appreciate you and your feedback. Thank you so much!

Pam, I think the main point Michel is making is that information will be presented in many forms for people with different information consumption preferences.

The Internet is not like other media because it allows us to provide people with what they prefer. For example, I'm like you... I like to read. I think most people who write copy are similar, so we are actually placing our preferences before a huge chunk of the prospective audience.

What I mean is, you and I and writers in general are NOT the norm. More people are auditory and visual learners. Up until recently, sales copy has tried to compensate for this by going on and on, adding in cartoonish fonts and other ridiculous elements, WHICH IN TURN alienates an entire other segment of the prospective audience!

Give people what they want. The web allows us to do that now, and it's marketing malpractice to do otherwise.

Oh, and Pam, your opening statement is dead-on. It is about "your" needs precisely. That's the gist of my report: to finally sell your readers in the way *THEY* want, not in how the marketer wants or thinks their readers want.

A message from Holland here (probably full of spelling errors - my apologies: I'm Dutch). I think Michel made a fantastic report, with a title that provokes a lot of reaction: good one! But maybe it shouldn't be interpreted as moving away form using a lot of words.

Sure the long copy sales letter is dead, but in effect it is the birth of the long copy sales letter broken into small bits that can be consumed in as many portions and flavors (audio/video/text/cartoons if they want, you name it) as is humanly desirable and technologically possible. So this means MORE work for writers out there, who are willing and able to make the effort to produce texts for movie scripts / print / web etc. Great news!

Especially if clients see the benefit and wish to invest in it's potential. Any word of advice on that? Regards, Michiel (PS Love reading your posts, thanks!)

Michel,

I think that your report is full of truths. I hate to say it but web 2.0 is here to stay. I've noticed the use of video over the past few months and have realized that this is the future trend. Although, I have to admit, I'm getting tired of being bombarded with them. I feel that the salesletter isn't dead though. Like Pam, I like to read a well thought out salesletter. I would rather do that than have to watch a poorly made video and there are plenty of them. Videos will have to become more ochestrated and professional to become good sales tools. Just like with salesletters, the better copywriters will prevail.

One thing to note, is that you have to watch videos and this takes time away from the important things that you should be doing. At least, MP3's can be listened to at any old time. Salesletters can be read at convenience. I don't think that all the old methods are dead. They're just being added to.

Great though provoking material though. Thanks Michel for getting us all thinking.

Jim

Agree re video's time is here.

I was one of the first (if not The first) to write long-copy pages using embedded video, back in 2000:

http://web.archive.org/web/20000815200502/http:...
(pardon the animated stock-ticker gifs!)

Back then, there was no flash video (like my sitefomercials.com), so we had to make do with streaming realmedia .rm clips. It's nice to see others are catching up, 6 years later...

I had used streaming video clip previews to sell my trading videos, when nobody else in the industry was. And most still aren't, for that matter. It was a USP for me, to be able to have streaming video preview clips to sell thousands of trading videos (back in the VHS days!). Sometimes I feel like Edison. Or a T-Rex.. :p

Excellent points in the report, re changes toward more interactivity, and that we can't just wholesale adopt all infomercial strategies for internet sites, rather to use embedded series of clips throughout the pitch, that's an excellent point as well.

This 20-minute infomercial I scripted/produced has done nearly $500K in sales for my colleague and I, at www.tradingvideos.com, in 2 years. So yes, it's well worth learning about. As a pioneer, I'm a bit surprised at how long it's taken everyone else to "catch on" re the need to embed professional video in their pitches.


Keep on selling,

Ken Calhoun, Pres.
DaytradingUniversity.com

A very enjoyable and relevant report. Personally, I HATE long sales letters and don't believe I have ever read one to the end. Testimonials to me are like job references - you only provide them if people have something good to say.

You did neglect to mention three of my favourite dislikes about sales letters though, but maybe on purpose. These are the "offer expires ......." followed by today's date encoded with javascript which always changes the next day. The second is the fifteen crossed out prices to try and convince you that you're getting a real bargain and the third one which probably insults your intelligence most of all is "You will never see this offer again". How stupid is that one? You have someone online trying to sell a product and they are only going to give you one chance? I don't think so....

Kind regards,


Ric

Michel,

Definitely interesting, but way to long indeed. While there is workable and insightful information in your report, I can help but think I wasted some of my time reading it.

Its long-winded and repetitive (ok, ok, I GET IT, you're not saying sales copywriting is dead!) and the promise of something new and groundbreaking just never really reaches a boling point.

And to be sure, because of constant "pings" of my own, it took me forever to read your report, which at times seemed an excercise in narcissism.

Nevertheless, I did enjoy it--although next time, some good-old-fashioned editing, revising and cutting would do the trick.

Read the full report. Here are the bottom line insights (at least for me with 35 years worth of direct sales and millions of dollars in products across multiple business lines sold)

Bottom line. WIFM? If the consumer can't somewhat "control" the methodology and or medium by which they receive the sales message, there is the greater likelihood that they'll be "no sale".

A good case for "how would you like us to provide the information to you, Mr./Mrs. Consumer?"

Would you like to like to read the long sales letter, the short sales letter, look at the video, read a press release, listen to the audio?

Hence the ever-increasing "too long, no time, yada, yada, yada, comments that pervaded this comments section when faced with the daunting task of reading 52 pages. Heck, anything worthwhile takes "TIME". Yes?

If you can manage to match up the mediums to a consumer's methodology for disseminating information, you've got a better chance that attention will be paid to your message, that is if it solves the consumer's problem to begin with.

Therein lies the real dilemma, consumers read, they hear, they see, they smell, they taste, they feel and they emote.

The questions is, isn't it better to have all of the mediums available to a potential consumer and let them choose which one they'd like to use rather than take the chance that they don't get to your message in the first place?

Comments appreciated.

If you have not yet read this 50+ page report, I offer this as an executive summary ...
------------------------------------------------------------
Why might sales letters be less effective?

Customers are over-bombarded by messages, and more than ever need proof to justify any possible purchase. So, instead of putting it all in text words only, make your marketing easier to digest, more interactive and more entertaining, by using web 2.0 methods such as audio, video, forums, plus customisable and interactive content, so customers can choose how they get and ingest the information.

Think how you could make your marketing include

* CUSTOMISATION, personalisation and individualisation, and
* COMMUNITY involvement
------------------------------------------------------------

Feel free to add to this, but I figure this is as short as I could make it without losing too much content.

Duncan

www.mobile-phone-upgrade.com

The art of copywriting is to articulate for readers what they instinctively know is missing in what they want , whether that be in business, love, life or health and appeal to their hidden consciousness with revealing words that show them the piece of the jigsaw they are unknowingly missing - and to do soemthing about it. And Michel is showing us there are more ways to achieve that goal.

Typical of Michel, the master marketer and salesman in print, to articulate what we may all have been feeling about the new technologies but needed some extra confidence to implement. I don't care if it was a long report (and yes I skimmed bits too), it summed up where Web 2.0 is, what it should be appealing too and where it can go.

Thank you Michel for endorsing what lots of us may have been feeling but where perhaps a little timid in appyling - now it's all steam ahead - on all fronts, print, audio, video. Thank you for a great report.

Well done Duncan Elliot!

I don't know what Michel thought about your Executive Summary but I thought it encapsulated the content very well. That is what I was "talking" about way back in the thread.

Actually, come to think of it - you guys are gonna laugh when I say this - it was a little too short for an executive summary but a damn fine summary nevertheless.

It would make a good teaser (short advert) for all those who wanted to go and strip the meat from the bones, so to speak.

Gary Simpson

Michels' tips, as always, can be leveraged to create astonishing wealth... and I'm grateful he took the time out of his *extremely* busy schedule to create a compelling, thought-provoking, sales-boosting resource for all of us. And he even gave it away as a gift... so I'm grateful as always ...

I think rather than repetition, I would say he's presented his tips with various nuances, (critical nuances if you really understand copywriting), that infuse the piece with deeper levels of insights and explain it so that the concepts he's communicating are fully understood... so it's well worth reading, imho.

Thanks again, Michel!


Ken

I guess too much time elapsed between when I read the report and when I got through all the comments--some of which alarmed me with their whole-hearted approval of video delivery. Sorry if I confused anyone.

Don't get me wrong: if a client wants me to write a script for a video, I have no problem with that. I know there is a huge audience out there who loves listening to stuff--I'm just not a member.

Brian, you mentioned that "most people are auditory and visual learners." Do you happen to have any stats to back that up? I've been looking for some numbers on that subject, and can't find squat.

Pam

Michel,
Congratulations for getting me to come to the surface. I am your typical audience in that I read everything (pinged) and know how I feel as a buyer when I'm about to make a purchase online. I am also a marketer and so I have a very expensive hobby. The biggest adjective I give any credence to now is scrutiny. I know several of the big names of marketers online for the past eight years by virtual means only. Some are credible and others burned me so bad that I do a 180 degree turn on anything they ‘recommend'. So rather than deleting them or unsubscribing, I just keep alert.

I too have become jaded and in the last three years. I have thousands of hours and even tens of thousands of dollars invested or wasted that is now considered spoiled cyber goods.

Yes the typical sales letter turns me off completely. If I see one more title that reads "Who Else Wants To (whatever hype statement placed here) I going to throw up. But here's how I look at a sales copy on a typical page.

1. If there is a squeeze page I use a disposable ten minute email address. If I buy I will have to use the real one anyway.
2. I use 3 pop-up blockers to swat at annoying pops.
3. I hate audio that begins without warning. My speakers are set to one volume and I hate to dive for them in the early morning hours to avoid disturbing others.
4. I delete my internet cookies and temp file regularly. After all, the big names have wannabes who teach how to do this so they can get the affiliate commission. Why? Because the wannabes add additional bonuses to the offer.
5. I look at the scroll bar on the right to see how long it's going to take me to get to the price and guarantee. Depending on price (perceived value) it falls into either my wish list or I can buy it now.
6. I completely ignore testimonials from the cronies (usual suspects) as I know they got their version for free for supplying a favorable endorsement.
7. If the offer requires a monthly investment...it's dead. I won't do it. And it has to offer free upgrades for life. After all the software costs so little to produce on RentACoder that it's all profit. And if they don't keep up with the current use then I will remember that free upgrades for life means the life of the product not me. Read as: don't offer what you don't mean to promise.
8. If the marketer makes me jump through a bunch of flaming hoops just to access my just-paid-for-product, I will think twice about doing business with them again.
9. If there is no support system after the sale, it will either be a refund of this product or the last one.

Your point of using video is merited. I use it and have even received a top listed search term although it gives credit to U-Tube not my website. But here's a trend I'm beginning to see as well. The convergence is all the ‘gurus' coming together collectively for a common focus.

The SEO Rock Stars: Brad Fallon and Andy Jenkins gave us some good information. Never mind the fact that they tell you that paid inclusion is ‘dead' and then show you the famous heat image eye map where the eyeballs where going. Did anyone else see the fact that the top fist listing IS a paid ad listing? In their own video Andy states that it only took eight people to come up with the same results. I guess that means we are all the same as viewers of search. If that is also true then why do they say high school and other under age children click on paid per click search ads more so than folks with higher education levels?
It's just so typical that a marketer creates a problem then offers a solution. If you ever wanted a definition of hype just read the emails that were sent to us by others. I can only imagine what the affiliate commissions look like. That will create buzz. And I love the fact there is a 12 month commitment.

And then I get emails from other gurus that have given notice that they are going to retire or have been asked to come out of retirement to join ranks with The Brad and Andy Show. I just counted three in the last two weeks. Why? To get a piece of the $800.00 per month membership. It's the Mother of All Joint Ventures. Convergence. Why stop there? Let's get Zig Ziglar to help motivate the members. Maybe Kevin Trudeau can show them some offline marketing strategies on how to sell their products on the Home Shopping Network or purchase cheap infomercial media buys in the local TV affiliate network.

And I guess if I had $800.00 per month to join the Stomper Network I could become part of the ‘Good Ole Boy Private Country Club' too. But I don't... and it clearly continues to divide the classes between the haves and the have-nots. Now the converging gurus are ‘offering' their services to you for *cough* free. No such thing. FREE is just another four letter F-word.

This is a dangerous trend I fear. For those of you that ask if I have a right to speak these things I believe to be true, know this: In the USA we have a saying that you can't complain about the government unless you vote. I've paid my dues to this sector of the marketplace for several years. There continues to be a lot of misinformation circulating so that others can pump up their own agenda. They ‘choose to confuse'.
While I believe Michel is a straight up guy I could easily see his blog come up to the top in the search engine results pages using a search term of "The death of". It's so true what I've learned for all the time and effort: Watch what they do...not so much of what they say.

I see the example of marketing technology going even further. Remember Robocop the movie where Offocer Murphy walks through his old home for sale? There's a virtual real estate agent with monitors in separate rooms. Each is activated by a motion sensor and talk about the benefits of the home. Can you see it now? A coder with a license to sell homes using this technology? Now that's use of audio and video.

I read back in 1999 Bill Gates' home had wireless badges you could program so that when you walked from room to room the LCD pictures would change to the art rendered from your favorite artist, music would play from your favorite genre and the even the climate control would adjust to your favorite comfort level. Now we have cars that can remember where the seat and steering wheel settings are with a push of a button. That's individualization

But I'm with you Michel, selling has been around since the first marriage proposal (the biggest sell of all time for life) and will continue on all around us. Sales copy will always be around just not appearing the same from generation to generation. A favorite selling trainer Tom Hopkins was quoted that the hardest thing he had to do was to convey that salesmanship of the previous generation still holds relevant today and is the same. It was Mr. Hopkins who taught me to invite as many of the senses as possible in the course of a sales presentation.

That's why when touring a home for sale the log fire burns in the hottest day of July in Florida, the cookies are on the kitchen bar countertop, the music fills the air's background like electronic wallpaper. There's a fragrance of fresh baked goods coming from the oven. Even if it's just a tablespoon of vanilla extract on a baking tray set to 300 degrees F. The lighting inside and out of the home is set just right. And vacant homes looks so much bigger than they are!

In closing, Michel, thanks for creating this Web 2.0 article. I will keep it and share with others as a whitepaper. I wonder if people saw that you were practicing what you wrote about. Hmmm? More newsy than hype? Bravo. Just remember to share with others that it takes a lifetime to create a good reputation and only an hour to ruin it. People in a higher position of trust should be held with higher accountability.

Thank you for creating a platform to voice this comment. Happy 2007. Can't wait to see Web 3.0 in ten years!

Pam, I mentioned a few in my report. Dr. Ronald Marks (Ph.D. in marketing), who wrote "Personal Selling: An Interactive Approach" (4th Edition) reports that audiovisual aids increase appeal, retention, comprehension and recall, because the eyes are drawn to movement and the fact that people are predominantly visual.

Their actual stats are listed in the report, but the book from which I pulled them are published along with resource materials with statistical research and other findings, such as visual perception and recognition studies.

(I also remember seeing actual brainwave and PETscan studies done on this, somewhere. But for the life of me, I can't remember where. I 'll try to find them for you...)

Nevertheless, Pam, remember, I wasn't opposing your view and in fact was underlining it, because the point in my report is not to use video just for the sake of using video. It's to offer a choice so that people can choose.

One of the few comments of such size I read from tip to toe... Well done, Michael Rogers! Perfect example of using stories, analogies and metaphors, too, which is something else I advocated strongly. Learn to tell better stories.

Good job! And thank you so much. You all mean a lot to me.

Gary,

Yes,it might make an OK teaser ad - I was tempted to add a "To learn more, click here" ... but I stopped myself thankfully ;)

I just thought it might help others who have not had time to read it.

Duncan Elliott

After skimming the report one more time, I must admit I think I was in a bad mood when I wrote my comment.

However, I still think it is too long, drawn-out, and repetitive (and I don't believe I missed any "critical nuances").

However, the fact that I read it from beginning to end and that I am still writing about it here really says something about it I belive, since most people (me especially) never read anything in its entirety unless its a book I'm reading for pleasure.

Hi Michael.

May I comment on your report from the experience of a Vita-Mix pitchman for many years, as well a seminar presenter in connection with infomercials, and a DR copywriter?

When you're looking into the eyeballs of a live audience that may be Chiropractors, health food nuts, fair attendees, or plastic surgeons (that's right I've even pitched at plastic surgeon conventions), you know in seconds by watching facial expressions, eyeballs, and dozens of other cues, how well you're connecting with your audience.

Believe me it's faster feedback than anything happening on the internet.

I'm writing because I hope coming at this topic from a different "camera angle" will validate much of what you have said, and give some additional food for thought.

I believe that in this internet, easy-access-to-instant-information era, that the need for salesman is evaporating. Mostly what we have is hordes of consumers looking for "product providers." And who will they choose as their product provider? The salesman who has mastered the art of selling "without selling."

The long letters you mention on the internet almost always are copycats of bad, full-of-hype, pretended sincerity, canned scarcity (do writers really believe a prospect thinks a seller is going to run out of "digital inventory"), and conjured urgency.

Because of rampant copycating, these letters show up everywhere leaving "serious buyers" with more questions than answers and undecided about which of all the competing products is really the best value for their money. Result? No sale.

For example.

I see almost no comparative advertising. Suppose I want to buy a software product that enables me to fully exploit the profitability of "keywords." I get this endless list of why the product is so great, but absolutely no reasons why it's better than competitive products.

In my case, I thought the whole idea of being a salesman was to be able to honestly tell my prospects that I had researched all competing products, and spent more time doing it than they would have...so that I could tell them which brand name was the best product. I never found it very convincing to announce to my audience that I was selling the second best product on the market. They immediately want to know which is the best.

So I tell them how it's superior to other products and how it will benefit them in ways they didn't even think of.

I suspect the reason there is very little comparative advertising in these letters is because of affiliate programs. It's not safe to slam the competition because tomorrow I may want to offer a competing product to my list. The unintentional message to me the consumer is "if you want to know which product will best serve your needs, you'll have to do your own homework."

Does that writer have any credibility with me? No. Am I persuaded he has my best interests at heart? No. He may understand his own product, but by failing to blow a way all the smoke in a specific market he has demonstated that he doesn't understand me as his prospect...one who needs him to make an educated "buying" proposal to me.

So I'll go find somebody that can.

As for multi-media messages that involve more senses, who can argue with that? I will.

Most infomercials made for TV fail! Turning a camera on somebody can work against you just as easily as for you. Oh the novelty of it all might make it a good "involvement" device for a moment, but like a letter, a video must implement all the principles of persuasion.

And what is persuasion? "Gaining and maintaining undivided attention." I've been in trade shows and fairs when more than one pitchman was rotating at the "pulpit." Although we were demonstrating the same product, I've seen a 300% difference in closing averages to the same audiences.

Probably you have seen "Papa Barnard's" (former president of Vita-Mix) infomercial. It's in the Direct Marketing Hall of Fame as the first live infomercial in the history of television. If you aren't rivited to every thing he says and does for every moment of that infomerical, I'll eat my hat.

Somebody didn't just turn a camera on him. He practiced and perfected that pitch by telling the story thousands of times to thousands of real live people. When they turned the camera on him, he was telling and showing the viewing audience precisely what they were thirsting for...literally.

My personal opinion is...if you don't have a Paul Harvey delivery, or you can't make your product "demonstratable" and riveting, video only makes the information more tedious to get at.

We all know the moment we lose "attention" is the moment our persuasive influence stops. I'm not saying video won't work. I'm predicting that there will be plenty of people who make it boring enough that in time there will be an army of consumers who no longer have the courage to press the "play" button.

In the mean time, there will be a handful of marketers who will get powerful and impressive results from these new interactive tools because the now how to build in the "riveting interest" factors. The rest will go off "half-cocked" and muddy the waters and dilute their effectiveness for the rest of us.

One last salvo and I'll shut up.

Most letters that I see now days are so full of endless testimonials, PS's and freebies (all priced arbitrarily), that for me it has the effect of sucking credibility right out of the letter. And if that's not bad enough, it sends a message of no-confidence in the product itself. It's like saying I haven't convinced you to buy this product on its merits, so maybe if I give you enough "digitized freebies" that cost me nothing, you'll give me your money.

I'm not saying that the "offer" isn't an extremely critical element of successful DR. I'm saying that as a "buyer" who still gets to choose who my "product provider" will be...it won't be the "salesman in print" that leaves me unimpressed with that salesman's credibility and sincerity. And it won't be that salesman who didn't do the very job for which I want a salesman...to discover for me the best product in a sea of dozens, and then guarantee me that I can be 100% confident of never having "buyer's remorse."

Show and tell on video will be just as boring as in print. Go pitch and sell. But first learn that "pitching" requires skills that copywriting doesn't. Study "Papa Barnard" and Ron Popeil. Seek out a fair or home show and head for "pitchman's alley" and you'll soon discover that not all pitchmen are created equally.

And turning a camera on the "good, bad and the ugly" will give results as different as night and day.

Right now, video on the internet will work for most people, but in the long run...its success will require a professional pitchman...just like long letters that can bring home the bacon, will require a professional copywriter...a truly professional copywriter. And not a copycat.

Continued success to you and your wife.
Wayne Wride

Michel,

I have followed your writtings with great interest, for quite some time. You have outdone yourself in Death of the Sales Letter and you have demonstrated your altruistic nature by informing all of us of this new obvious trend. "Obvious" because you pointed it out to us, so utterly focussed as we are upon our individual products, that we do not invest in or reflect upon the world around us.
Please note there is a typo or word missing on page five in the paragraph starting with :"That said... you write: they will continue to ....the work.
Merci
Jean Lafontaine
Brossard

Boy, I'm just digging myself in deeper & deeper here. If I gave the impression I thought you were attacking me, I apologize. Nothing could be further from my intent.

Dr. Marks' data makes complete sense: if you appeal to all the senses, your chances go up that you'll hit on each prospect's learning style at some point--thus raising response rate.

The stats I'm looking for are pretty specific (that's why I'm having trouble finding them--they may not exist yet): x% of the population is primarily "auditory" learners. x% of the population is primarily "kinesthetic" learners. Etc.

Even more specifically, I'm wanting to know how that breaks down in male vs. female numbers, because I have a feeling they aren't going to skew the same.

Pam, who is going to go pull her foot out of her throat now

You couldn't have released this report at a better time. I think as marketers it is easy to get excited about new methods of marketing. We are now getting ready to see a massive wave of products, reports, and solutions for Web 2.0 marketing. As with every other movement in online marketing, it is easier to take advantage of new tactics and get results for your efforts. But the downside of it is that we often get sloppy in these early stages. That is when we start getting our wrists slapped by Google, etc. for less than adequate content.

Your article reminds us that we must treat our marketing copy with respect, whether it's written, recorded on audio, or recorded on video. If we do, we will be able take advantage of this new online shift more effectively, plus we will be able to sustain it for much longer without getting our wrists slapped.

Tim Berry MD

Good Lord!

The DEATH OF THE SALESLETTER seems to have attracted some amazingly neanderthal comments that it is contradictory by being anti long sales copy, and yet the report itself is a big 50+ pages long.

Hey orangutans : What Michel is getting at is that he is anti long-run sales letters FULL OF CRAP.

By contrast his report COMMUNICATES by being infomation rich end to end. I read it in one hit and don't usually do that unless text is captivating. So go read this small masterpiece by Captain Captivation: DR Michel Fortin*.

That's the whole picture - no super sleuthing required.

Jonathan Gunson
http://IMInvestigator.com

*That's Copy Doctor to you.

******************************

Mr Gunson,

Or am I allowed to call one who obviously feels so superior in intellectual capacity... Jonathon?

I hope you got your rocks off with that little tirade. Feel better?

You certainly revealed something to us about yourself and it had little to do with your literary skills.

Copy Doctor huh?

Gary Simpson

Congrats Michel,

It's nice to see the future materialize itself. You are actually moving the Internet Marketing community a big step closer to Web 2.0 with this report.

Thanks!

I am not the Copy Doctor.

That is the maestro Michel.

Jonathan Gunson
http://IMInvestigator.com

Well Jonathon,

Perhaps, rather than just lasciviously praising the forum owner, it would have been nicer if you had just apologized for your intemperate remarks and name calling. It was uncalled for.

THAT was what I was objecting to. And I'm sure that others found it offensive too.

Gary Simpson

Sorry Gary

No offence intended. I just really liked the report.

Perhaps Peter Gillberg has it right. "It's nice to see the future materialize itself."

Jonathan

OK Jonathon,

I won't leave you wondering. You have mended the fence. It's over.

Perhaps that is a good reminder to everybody. The cyber-comments that we all make are like the spent arrow. Once you hit "submit comment" they don't come back - unless you can edit.

Enough from me. I'm not the sherriff.

Gary Simpson

Michel

I have now had time to read your report.

It is very good information. It has changed my plans.

I wish I had read it before.

So I have a question : Will you be putting chapter headings in an update? It is too good for people not to read, and I think that this is what caused me to put it off for a few days.

I would read it again, but need some navigation!

Michel, I can feel a change taking place in the Internet Marketing World, and some of the big guys seem to be getting together to 'corner the market' . Glad to hear that as one of the 'big guys' you are not doing this, but will continue to keep people like me motivated.

Dave

Dave, thanks. Just so I'm clear, are you talking about a table of contents at the beginning of the report?

Hi Michel

There are many interesting and motivating points you make through the report.

I just meant make a few headings to identify what these are, and a list of these as a brief table at the front.

That would be really great, because while each of them is really motivating, they are hard to find again.

Then I would keep the report as a reference I can use during this year.

I hope this is OK to suggest.

Thank you for answering.

Dave

Hello Michel,

I hope you and Sylvie are doing well. Please give her a big hug for me! We're saving a space here in Vancouver for when she's feeling better. :-)

On to the topic...

I was following the thread on the Warrior Forum discussing the report. I was intrigued that you said you chose the title of this report very carefully.

(By the way - My comments on the thread had nothing to do with your report, but the way others were apparently summarizing it for others)

Would you like to share some background on the "why" for the title? I was actually very surprised by the title for a few reasons and I hope you don't mind me publicly sharing these ideas. Perhaps others are thinking the same thing:

- The "Death of" reports rampant in the Internet marketing world are some of the most hyped-up and exaggerated pieces of marketing I've seen in a long time. I don't put your report in that category at all, but wonder why you would follow along those same lines?

- I also think the "Death of" reports have some of the most misleading titles. Unfortunately, I put your report in that category and that's what really surprises me. There is no true "Death of the Sales Letter". You're suggesting it will evolve into something different, using different mediums, etc. Of course, anyone who reads your report will understand that.

But what about the people who don't read the report and just simply assume the sales letter is really dead?

What about the people who don't read the report and are totally mislead by the forum discussions about the report where people are misinterpreting what you wrote or making blind comments when they never read the report.

What about the people who read the report and still don't quite get your message because they skim it or for whatever reason?

You might say, well that's too bad for those people because they didn't read it or read it properly. Maybe it is, but through the crazy IM grapevine the message that "sales letters are dead" is being spread. That has the potential to harm a lot of innocent bystanders.

So how about it? Why the dramatic "Death"?

Take care,
Alice

Thanks for the report, by the way. The insight is awesome.

Alice,

How about "Sales Letters...Alive And Well...With Some Revisions" or something to that effect. As opposed to "DEATHOFf"

Since Armand Morin's first post and my 16th I have seen some sheep lining up to praise Michael Corteleone's "DEATH OF".

Now, I have absolutely nothing against Michel (I don't even know the man).

However, everytime I've seen this much hype on the internet, along comes a HUGE launch of some kind. You can't buy advertising like this. At any price. Period.

I did think the manifesto was good. I just don't understand why it had to called "DEATH OF".

Sales letters as we know them will NEVER die. Michel himself has in the past refered back to sales letters that were written 100 years ago and even explains how we are doing most of the same things today that was done back then.

Yes, Yes, I know audio and video will be added in with some sale letters.

I just have a problem with the "DEATH OF" that srirred up so much trouble and name calling in 2006 and why he chose that neme.

Jim

As you see from the typos...I'm not a writer.

Jim

Thanks Michel. Cool document.

One thing you mentioned briefly were the 4 types of people. Everyone from Socrates to Jung who has studied people have ended up with 4 profiles.

I think studying MBTI personality profiles would be a good idea for copywriters.

Customizing the sales letter / website according to different personalities is the way to go. A good place to learn more about it is the book "Waiting for your cat to bark." It goes over the personality profiles and even gives us questions that each type of people usually want answers to.

Anyways, thanks for letting me comment and make a point. Thoroughly enjoyed reading your report.

Thanks

A quick question about the title and calling it "Death of ..."

Would as many people have got the report, read it and discussed it if it had a dry academic title like "Changes in marketing salesletter methodology"?

If Michel's sole aim was to get the content to as many people, and to get them to ingest it all mentally, I'd say he has achieved it.

We all hate to feel manipulated, but a key part of why there is as much talk about this as there is, is because we all get snared in with any talk about sex or death - our 2 most Freudian urges. It is for the same reason that our 'newspapers' are so full of tragic-but-irrelevant people's death and sex lives.

I totally agree. One of my best successes was with what people have called the "un-sales" letter.... no formatting, no graphics, no bonuses, no headline, no guarantee, no ps...just 1 page of black text on a white background. 100K in sales in 5 days.

Sure Duncan, but do "results" justify everything? That's the thing. Copywriters and marketers everywhere are saying, "It works, so it must be the way to do it."

The end doesn't always justify the means to me.

And if my wallet is a bit thinner because of it, so be it.

Alice, I understand what you are saying and you are not wrong.

Essentially (if I am right), what you are saying that you have more of a moral objection to the use of something within this report, which is fair enough. That does not make it wrong, or right.

The filter I put everything I do through when deciding to do something - whether a marketing campaign, a business creation or anything - is this ...

Could I tell my mum [insert name of another person you love and trust] about this?

If you would not be happy about using the title "Death of whatever" then don't use it. That does not make it right or wrong - simply your decision. Nothing more. Some things that I have chosen not to do could (maybe) have flooded me with money, but that was my decision - there's no point regretting or worrying about it. My decision ... that does not make it wrong in overall terms – simply that I was not happy to do that thing.

Personally, for my tuppence, I do not have a problem with a title like "Death of" - It served its purpose – It caught my attention, I got the report and read it, and I feel it added enough benefit to me that I do not regret the time I gave it to read it.

If I had a serious issue with convincing someone to do something, thinking that it might be perceived as 'manipulative' etc, I would not be in business (practically, financially or theoretically).

Here's a logical extreme to test our viewpoint ...

Would you call a report "The death of your children" if meant that this information got to FAR more parents, and taught them how to be safer parents and look after their children? Would that (albeit dramatic) title then be justified?

I tend to position things between the extremes of the pure Bernays thinking (we are simply emotional animals with hidden subconscious drives lurking) and the "Is it right" filter I mentioned above.

FYI, we collated some great BBC films on Edward Bernays which you will find here
http://mobile-phone-affiliates.blogspot.com/200...

It definitely is subjective criteria and that's why I asked Michel if he'd considered the ramifications I see. We'll wait to see if he did. ;-)

About whether I'd title a report "Death of your children..." in order to potential save lives, no I wouldn't. It reminds me of the ads that Melaleuca reps circulate with the headline, "Are You Poisoning Children?" They're insulting and they go to far to inspire fear in parents. If children were really dying, I'd say that, but not resort to extreme scare tactics.

But going back to this case. There is no death. No one or no thing is dying, so it's not really the same thing.

A difference in opinion, of course.

Alice,

I really like your thinking.

Jim

One little problem. You're assuming consumers KNOW what they want (how/when they want to be sold, etc.). They don't (know what they want). If they did, I wouldn't need to contact them (repeatedly) in the first place.

Consumers (generally) believe that, if marketers would only just disappear, the world would be a better place.

Consumers believe the INITIAL spark that leads to most transactions comes from the consumer him/herself (NOT from marketers).

Consumers believe: "Hey marketers, BUG OFF! -- If I want something, I'll go out and find it myself!"

-- ALL of these beliefs are INCORRECT!

But/so, if you 'ask' consumers how/when they want to be sold, the answer will come back a resounding, "NEVER, YOU F-ERS!"

Telemarketing is a great example. It's a multi-billion dollar industry (read: LOTS of people buy that way), even though "no one" buys that way, and "everybody" hates it.

NO... the consumer has NO IDEA what's good for him/her marketing-wise! -- and therefore it is foolhardy to ask them.

-- TW

Good point. But I didn't say sell them what they want. I said to sell them in the WAY they want. And just like you said, that's often not something they vocalize, either. They don't know or don't want to vocalize for a variety of reason. Thus, let their actions and choices dictate the manner in which they prefer to consume your marketing message. And that's what the Internet allows us to do, compared to other one-way, unidirectional media.

Oops -- I forgot to mention (maybe others have commented on this too)...

Seems strange you used 52 pages of long-SCROLLING to announce the 'death' of long-SCROLLING copy.

Imo, it's not the length of the text -- it's whether or not there's INFO in the text (and not hype). I see how the web/internet IS different (interactivity, etc.), but people do still READ (magazines, books, etc.), and reading is still a way for consumers to gather info. Your 52-page report proves that by its very existence, no?

-- TW

Of course, it's still a way. Did I say it wasn't? No I didn't. I am a firm believer in long copy. And I chose long copy to deliver the message because of a variety of reasons, not the least of which is to have it in a PDF document that's easily spreadable.

I'm a big believer in long copy. I always will be. I didn't say it was the end of long copy. Go back and read the report -- or read my follow-up post, in the "next post" link below at the bottom here.

What I am saying is that it's the death of the long-scrolling salesletter, namely the poorly written one, particularly when it screams "salesletter!"

I'm not saying this, either. I'm sharing test results. And they're not dramatic changes either, like some Web 2.0 pundits claim or wish them to be. As I said in my report, they are happening slowly and subtlely.

Oh -- yes, then I agree. I always thought a good sales letter was a *letter* written from ONE person to ONE person. A very 'intimate' thing. Therefore I never thought those 'screaming' sales letters were good. They are not intimate, and are clearly not ONE person writing to ONE person -- not to mention that, being on the *worldwide* web (obviously for *everyone* to see), no one can read such a letter and feel it was written to (ONLY) them! (which is where a real sales letter gets it effectiveness, imo)

Long copy? short copy?

It's the relevance of the content that counts. I this pretty much what you are driving at TW yes?

The very best example of this I heard LIVE back in the 1980s.

The senior copywriter (Ray) in our studio was debating the point with a young upstart writer called Kevin M. Ray was pointing out that if the copy is made extremely relevant to the reader, then they will read it no matter how long it is.

The headline would just drag them in.

Kevin insisted to the death that all that mattered was PRICE.

"Au contraire!" said the senior. He went on (and I quote): "I could write a full page newpaper ad today with thousands of words, covering 9 columns of 10 point packed in type, barely broken up into paragraphs and you, Kevin, would read every word."

Kevin returned that this was the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard. (Chuckling, wheezing and falling about laughing.)

Ray's response was a master stroke:

"Are you sure?" he advanced.

"Oh come on it's absurd" replied Kevin. "NO headline or copy could do that."

"OK!" said Ray "Here 's the headline ... and the copy follows will enlarge on the headline in full detail. The headline reads"

"All about the Sex life of Kevin M.'"

I have never seen someone so rocked back on their heels as Kevin. He opened and closed his mouth.

"Relevancy Kevin!" boomed Ray "Relevancy!" ... and than took us all out for a beer, including Kevin.

To his credit Kevin listened and learned after that..

Jonathan

Yes, Jonathan, we agree (relevance of the content).

Also, about headlines -- anyone who says, "no one can write a headline that would *FORCE* me to read further," is either ignorant or lying.

It doesn't have to be the extreme headline in your example. If one knows one's audience, there are HUNDREDS of headlines that can be written that would *FORCE* the reader to read further. A good copywriter could write 100 such headlines without even breaking a sweat.

Cheers!

-- TW

I'm glad to see that my predictions seemed to have launched this "Death of the Salesletter" meme into the blogosphere. And I am glad that many of the prominent web copywriters seem to agree with it.

Feel free to check out my original post that inspired this report The Death of a Salesletter? from November, 2006. I'm glad that people are waking up to how embarrassingly outdated much of what is passed off as "direct marketing" on the web is!

I think the crazy claims type of salesletter is definitely dead - or at least should be! But if you have a good product or service and have taken the time to present the benefits correctly without bullsh*ting then you can have an effective salesletter

David,

I agree. Many copy writers have made such outrageous claims that nobody believes too much about anything any more.

"Add three inches to your wallet by swallowing these pills."

Nothing new about that -- making one's copy believable has always been one of the top challenges (no matter what the claim is) -- and it always will be one of the top challenges. Has nothing to do with whether sales letters are dead. Any copy has that same challenge -- no believes any copy unless the copywriter makes sure the copy IS believable. Always tell the truth -- but even that is not always believable! Sometimes it's a challenge to make the truth believable!!

I agree. Salesletters have their place when used correctly. But "video salesletters" are gaining more and more credibility among visitors.

I'm going to download and read this report. It's now a couple of years old but I'm hoping it still applies just as much or even more today in 2009...

Stuart Stirling

ps. I found this comment from Dr. Mani rather interesting...but it's all good...haha

"From Dr.Mani

Let me see…

A FIFTY-ONE page report that condemns LONG copy… and how many read it through to the end?

I rest my case.

:)

Dr.Mani "

@Stuart Stirling - I don't condemn long copy. The report condemns long-winded, hypey copy. Big difference.