How To Quadruple Your Website Sales In Under 10 Hours

Practically every webmaster I come across could easily
increase his web sales. Some could generate ten times
the sales with only a few hours work. Yet, most seem
oblivious to what they *need* to do to make this happen.
They just plod along without implementing this one simple
change, and expecting to miraculously start making a lot
more sales from their website.

What is this one thing that practically any webmaster
can do - today - to dramatically increase the conversions
he gets from his website? Learn to write better copy!

I know, you're saying, "I knew that Willie, but writing
copy is hard."

I've talked to some very high paid copywriters, and I've
read what many more had to say. I own complete copywriting
workshops on audio and videotape. They all say the same
thing. To learn to write good copy, you merely practice
writing it. Some actually teach that you take a winning
sales letter or ad, and you write it out over and over. In
the process of writing good copy over and over - perhaps
hundreds of times, you begin to get a feel for the flow.
Soon you see the patterns. Soon the things that the
high-priced copywriters are doing begin to jump out at you.

This is the secret to doing a lot of things by the
way. Repetition is the mother of mastery. So you develop
or copy a system, and then you do it the same way, over and
over again. Soon it becomes a part of you. That's how I have
practiced karate for over 20 years, and that's how you
master copywriting. Let someone who is doing what you
want to learn to do - show you, and then practice over and
over again until their system is your.

There are some basics that are universals in good
copywriting though that I'll cover here. For what I don't
over in this short article, I am going to refer you to a
system that I recommend to all of my private coaching
clients. It breaks things down for you into a simple, easy
to follow, 32-step, time-tested system.

One of the things you must remember in all of your
copywriting is to focus on benefits to your buyer
rather than product features. Make a list of every
feature that you can think of, and then take every
item on that list and turn it into a benefit. So, for
example, "available for download in PDF format" becomes
"instant delivery so that you can use these killer
techniques within minutes." Do that with every feature.
Turn it into a benefit that the customer *cares* about.

Many copywriters teach that people respond better to
moving away from pain than they do to moving towards
pleasure. So your copy should make the prospect acutely
aware of the pain he is in. For example, point out that
without website visitors, nobody sees his website, and
he just sits and waits, with absolutely no sales. Then
go on to point out how your product solves that problem
for him.

Notice I said "to him." What I mean there is that your
copy needs to read as if you are speaking directly to
the reader. You are not writing for an audience of many.
It's individuals that make decisions and you must
communicate with the individual. It may help to imagine
that individual sitting across from you. Some copywriters
actually have a photo of their ideal prospect hanging on
the wall across from them as they works. This keeps
them focused on "who" they are "talking" to.

Have a guarantee that embodies complete risk reversal.
All of the risk of the transaction should be on you. Your
prospect should feel that there is no way he can loose.
I do this with a full, one year, no-questions-asked,
money-back guarantee. That conveys that you know your
product is good enough that it will deliver tremendous value.
You should convey that if you don't deliver, you demand that
the customer ask for his money back, and he gets to keep the
bonuses or gets something extra for his trouble.

With guarantees, also avoid time-frames that are too
short. If you only give your customer 2 weeks to
decide whether or not he likes your software, he will
quickly decide that he probably doesn't. If he's like
me, he probably downloads it into a folder on his
computer and may not even get to look at it in those
two weeks. Give you customer time to feel ownership
of the product and to see the benefit of using it.

Alex Mandossian teaches that you should also "teach your
prospect to consume the product." You can do this with
follow-up emails that point out how to get the most
out of the software, or some type of training. If the
customer is using and benefiting from your product, he
is going to keep it!

Use testimonials. Having someone else say how great
your product is adds tremendous credibility. Having
someone "just like your prospect" saying how great your
product is shows your prospect that he too can benefit
from it. Use testimonials from someone your prospect
can relate to as well as testimonials from recognized
experts or authorities.

Make it incredibly easy for your prospect to place
his order. This means giving them as many options as
practical. Don't force them to jump through hoops to
place an order, because they want. Instead, accept as
many forms of payment as possible, and give them as
many different ways of submitting the order as possible.

A big pet peeve of mine is the hidden price. I believe
that you should put the price right on the front page.
My testing indicates that hiding the price or making
customers click through to the order form to locate the
price decreases conversions.

Issue a clear call to action. Tell the customer
exactly how to order. For example, if you want him
to click on the link and use your secure order form
tell him that. If you want him to print out the
order form, fill it in, sign it, and fax it to you,
tell him that. Don't make them guess what they
need to do. People like to be told/reassured that they
are doing it correctly.

The other thing you seldom see discussed is "the offer."
You literally want to make the customer an offer that
he would be crazy to refuse. This is a delicate balance
though. If you make the offer too good, then the customer
wonders why it's so good. For example, if you offer too
many bonuses, that conveys to many customers that the
basic product must not have much merit on its own. If
you offer too many bonuses, it also sometimes conveys
that the bonuses must be junk. Otherwise, why would
you be "giving away" so many valuable items? So, use good
judgment in crafting your offer.

We've just touched upon a few things that you need to
consider in revising your web copy. If your website
is getting traffic every day but nobody is buying, then
obviously the copy needs some work. If you don't work on
your copy, your results aren't going to improve. Yes,
it is work, but not it hard work. It's just practice and
testing. After while it even becomes fun to see if you
can improve on your "control."

Bob Serling, one of the greatest copywriters I have
studied has an excellent course on web copywriting.
It's one of the few that I have studied that is devoted
exclusively to web copywriting. Most copywriting
course I have taken are written for people in the offline,
direct marketing industry. Bob's book focuses on what
works on the web. I use it in writing the copy for all
of the new sites I create and for sites I revise. Get
Bob Serling's Book, "Power Copywriting For The Internet"
at: http://PowerCopywritingForTheInternetByBobSerling.Com

Practicing your copywriting is undoubtedly the greatest
investment you can make in your web business. Until your
site is set up to convert visitors into buyers, it's
somewhat futile to spend a lot of time driving traffic to
it. Spend some time this week practicing your copywriting.
It's what I will be doing :-)