>> my apologies but one common technique in copywriting is to trot out some of your faults yourself. This also makes you more credible in the eyes of the reader.
Great point. And I doubt I mentioned it.

That's also why even a sale and fear of loss strategy should be accompanied by a "reason" ... ie: old inventory blow out sale, Father's Day sale, Rainy Tuesdays Half Off Soup Day, mis-matched mattresses sale, etc



>> while possibly crafting a masterful piece, failed to simply state what the product is or does and therefore I glossed over it.
I use exit surveys (ie: when the visitor is leaving) regularly on new sites but I even do this on affiliate-pitch pages to find out why they didn't join as an affiliate.

The answers you get from the majority of these polls is nearly always "I don't get it" (or variations of that). If it's a software, you'll get "looks great, but I don't understand how it will work", if it's an affiliate programs "sounds good, but don't know how I would make money with this".

Of course, that's when I go back and dumb it down even further. Point is, the "how" needs to be clarified.


I guess my point was to consider your product vs. your market's needs.

If you're selling a Swiss army knife that has 15 gizmos and functions... sure, pitch all of them. It's a low ticket item and each function is easy to understand. The end user knows that they're about to buy a widget that does 15 things.

However, if it's a vitamin that cures baldness, eliminates colds forever, clears up the skin and gives you good breath all in one... the claims are too good to be true and the benefits would serve better being pitched individually (ie: pitch the product as a baldness cure to balding men, the eliminates cold forever to parents and elderly, etc).

The "this thing does everything" approach isn't always the wisest. And, as Andy highlighted, even if you choose to go that route ... it make sense to insert a negative.

Think of the Buckley's slogan (which is SOOOO great!): "Tastes aweful but it works!".

It's medicine. We KNOW it will likely taste aweful. Don't lie to me and try to tell me how delicious the medicine is.. tell me it works. So by out-right stating to the public that their product is disgusting but then following it up with "it works", it gets the prospect nodding in agreement because now they can believe your claims. They are already on board and agree with you on the fact that it taste aweful, so your ad was obviously telling the truth... therefore, the second part of your ad must also be true and your product probably works.

I heard Markus Frind of PlentyOfFish.com reference his site as the ugliest dating site in the world ... and then follows it up with "but it's also the largest free dating site in the world with the most profiles"

anyways... I'm on a rant now. Thanks Andy for the discussion!