From the Desk of David Utke
Subj: Yes friends, you need to create sales pages to actually make sales.
So you want to make money online? One of the best ways to do this is by actually selling your own stuff.
Sure, affiliate marketing is quite lucrative when done right, as can be running display ads. But nothing, and I mean nothing gives you the kind of freedom, control and profitability as:
- Selling your own products and services to your audience.
- Running paid ads to your own offers.
- Having your very own affiliates.
I call this “algorithm free” income.
One critical aspect of selling your own products and services is creating high converting sales pages through copywriting and design.
So in this easy to follow guide, I’ll walk you through my process of creating sales pages that convert.
Simple sales page framework
Let’s get into a simple sales page framework you can model after. You don’t need to follow this exactly, it’s just a framework to pay attention to – aspects you will need to address.
The goal is to take your reader on an emotional journey.
Let’s get to it.
Establish what the problem is
What clear and specific problem are you solving for your audience? People buy products and services for a specific outcome they want.
One of the simplest things to incorporate in your sales copy is the language your audience uses into your when describing their problem.
If you’re able to do this, it’s easier to make sales of your product because you’re demonstrating that you know and understand the issues your target audience is facing, and how to overcome them.
Describing problems in clear specific connect with your target audience from an emotional perspective.
Just stop and consider this, why would someone be interested in learning what your selling?
What is the deeper desire than the surface level stuff. No one wants to buy a course or hire you for a service, they buy because they want a specific outcome.
People want to create profitable websites and YouTube channels because they want more freedom, flexibility and income in their lives.
Maybe they are unhappy with their work or are perhaps stuck in dead end positions. Maybe they already have a blog or YouTube channel but it’s not going as expected and they want to learn from someone successful.
It’s these deeper desires you want to hit on.
Not simply, “learn how to make a website” or “learn how to make money from YouTube.”
What is your unique solution?
Once you establish what the problem is, quickly get into what your unique solution is and how it works.
At this point your language should still be emotional and not technical.
I don’t mean this in a manipulative way, it just goes back to people wanting an outcome. So talk about how your solution works and how you understand your audiences frustration.
A good method when writing out this section is to leverage a before-after bridge copy.
Before I used to be a fat slob with no money, but after I became a handsome and successful man. All thanks to my unique solution.
Always tie back your solution to the problem.
Relate how your unique solution works on people like your audience
Once you establish the problem and solution, emphasis how it will work for your your target audience.
The goal here is to address objections to purchasing your product or service and make it a “no brainer” to buy.
Include various things someone who buys your product will learn.
In other words, what is included in the price of admission?
People are way more apt to buy if you tell them exactly what is in the product as it helps them make the decision to buy. Use the right mix of graphics, copy, screenshots, testimonials and any other type of example that makes sense for your product.
This works because maybe someone someone what interested in your product, but they see a few sections that do interest them and it’s these sections that compel them to buy. Remember, with selling online, clear and specific always wins.
Examples and proof
Yea big guy, prove you know what you’re talking about and can get results.
This may seem obvious, but you will need to show specific results you got and how you can give those results to your potential customer.
The best proof are screenshots and quick video captures demonstrating that you are the real deal.
Show, don’t tell how your product will specifically benefit potential buyers. For example, here is my actual Amazon Associates account earning from my online teaching website:
The results section needs to demonstrate that your unique solution can work for your target audience.
What else is included in your offer
Create an exclusive bonus, or bonuses people get if they buy today.
This should be after you show proof of the results of your solution as a way to make a more compelling offer.
A good bonus needs to compliment the core offer in some way. Like templates, a cheat sheet, exclusive interview or ebooks.
For example, let’s say I offer create a “website setup” service where if you buy web hosting through my affiliate link, I’ll set up your website with all the professional backend settings you need.
That’s a decent offer, but if you incorporate some bonuses that make sense, it makes the overall offer even more compelling like:
“In addition to that,” I’ll also give you guides on:
- How to create the perfect blog post.
- The best affiliate programs to make real money.
- The best business tools for running an online business
You see how throwing in a few bonuses help transform a pretty basic offer into something way more interesting?
This is why you want to create bonuses. It makes your overall sales copy much much better.
The price is normally this, but today you can get it for this
Now is when you reveal the price point.
I repeat, do not reveal the price point at the top of the sales page with a button to buy. It’s to early and your target audience is not emotionally invested yet.
When revealing the price point, emphasis how normally it’s one price point or how it should be a specific price, but today you can get it for much less.
Testimonials
To compliment proof of results you’ll also want to show testimonials.
Now, if you don’t have testimonials because this is your first product then show results or testimonials form somewhere else.
For example, I’m a top rated seller on Fiverr. When I create products in the website creation space, I can leverage the thousand+ of 5 star reviews I have.
It’s not directly related, but it demonstrates I’m highly competent.
There are a few ways you can show testimonials. You can obviously just quote someone who wrote a testimonial for you or take a screen shot:
You can also setup a Trust Piot review page where people can leave testimonials:
What’s useful from Trust Pilot is that you can embed reviews directly from Trust Pilot and set it to only show 4 and 5 star reviews.
Finally, there is Testimonials.to:
This website allows you to easily collect both video and text based testimonials from your audience without needing a developer and it also provides the hosting for all your video testimonials.
Once you have a collection of video testimonials you can then embed them into your sales page with ease.
The way it works from the user side is that you can send them a link to a dedicated landing page from Testimonials.to for your business.
This link can be shared easily through email, social media, or even SMS. Setup takes a few minutes and then you’re good to go.
FAQ
I like to thrown in an FAQ right above the final call to action.
The goal of this FAQ is to answer any final objections someone might have to making a positive purchase decision:
Final call to action
Last, have a final call to action at the very bottom of your sales page with a big button and the price.
Create a Sales Video
Finally you can also create a sales video that you put at the top of your sales page above all the copy.
Sales videos are proven to increase sales and conversions and if you’re going to be selling anything online, it’s worth taking the time to create a short and to the point sales video.
With your video you have a few different options but since I want to keep this simple I recommend one style, the talking head video.
Talking head – The easiest option
Talking head videos are the easiest option because they don’t require a lot of editing.
You simply need to practice being on camera as well as having quality gear required to make videos. You could get a professional camera with a microphone or you could even just use your phone.
The reason why recording with your phone is a good idea is because it gives more a natural feel that people watching can relate to.
Emphasize:
- What’s on the inside.
- The value your customers are going to get.
- Additional bonus content and any unique selling points (monthly calls, exclusive interviews and so forth).
Sales page builders
Great, so now you have a solid base for creating landing pages from a copywriting perspective.
So, uh, how do you actually make a sales page from a technical standpoint?
I got you covered, here are a few of my favorite tools.
Thrive Architect
This is a plugin for WordPress. It’s specifically designed for creating landing pages and sales pages. Combined with Thrive Cart (made by the same company) you have a very effective 1-2 combo for creating a sales process for digital products.
What I like about Thrive Architect is that you get over 300 templates to choose from that you can then customize with their user friendly, drag and drop builder.
Selling points
- Choose a theme to customize or build your sales page from scratch.
- Drag and drop builder to easily add text, images and videos where you want it on the page.
- Conversion packed design elements like calls to action, count downs, forms, calendars, beautifully displayed coupon codes etc.
- Can be installed and used along site your current WordPress theme.
- Reasonable price of $99 a year.
If you’re wanting to stick to WordPress, then Thrive Architect and Thrive Cart is your best combination for selling online.
Lead Pages
Lead Pages is a paid software tool that allows you to easily create high converting sales pages and landing page. I suggest you either use it on it’s own custom domain, or a sub directory (something like davidutke.com/pages/lead-page).
Lead Pages provides a drag and drop builder to customize your page, 250+ templates to customize, unlimited traffic and leads so you don’t have to worry about your page going down if you drive a lot of traffic, conversion tools and A/B testing.
I think the biggest selling point of Lead Pages is actually A/B testing. You can get actionable data to slowly improve your page to optimize conversions.
The biggest drawback? Lead Pages is not particularly cheap and starts at $37 a month or $444 a year for their entry plan.
Carrd.co – The budget friendly option
Carrd.co is a one page website builder. You can use it to create any type of one page website, not just landing pages and sales pages.
Where Carrd.co shines is the price – $19 a year.
Sure you don’t get any advanced features like conversion tools, A/B testing, and the actual page builder is not as feature rich, but the price point is tough to beat.
If all you’re looking to do is create a sales page for a low priced product, then Carrd.co is excellent.
Yes, Carrd.co has a free plan on top of that, but if you want to setup a custom domain you’ll need to upgrade to a pro plan.
So I suggest Carrd.co and something like E-Junkie or Thrive Cart if you’re looking for a way to sell digital products online that won’t break the bank.
Remember, Carrd.co is only for building the sales page, to actually deliver the product you’ll need shopping cart software.
All in one tools
Finally, I just want to mention that there are some all-in-one tools you can use for your marketing and sales.
These tools combine everything for one price. The blog, landing pages, sales pages, page building software, email marketing and a way to deliver the product.
I personally don’t like all-in-one tools because they tend to be expensive and if any piece breaks, you’re entire business and income is at risk.
They also don’t tend to do any one thing well.
But there is no denying that all-in-one builders make sense for anyone looking to keep things simple. There are really only two options I can recommend you checkout in good faith:
- Click Funnels – They started off as a sales page/landing page builder that could host your video course. They have since expanded to be a full marketing suite.
- Kajabi – Kajabi is basically the same as Click Funnels. But Click Funnels has more that traditional internet marketing style sales pages with big buttons and yellow highlighter.
Conclusion
Alright I’ll leave it there, you have everything you need to start creating sales pages that convert. From both a copywriting perspective as well as the specific tools I recommend to actually create sales pages.
Your first copy won’t be that great, but you’ll get better at it the more you do it.
