Post Panny Sales Page (easy action for you)

I started with what I sell.

I work with coaches and consultants who have been in business a while and have created a lot of content/services/products and it’s a bit of a jumble, a bit disjointed. I come on board and streamline their business so that it’s structured, strategic and sustainable.

•  Structured means in a logical order.

• Strategic means lined up with the business values and aims.

•  Sustainable means it works for you as a business owner and prevents the dreaded B.O. (burnout).

My brain then chugged along to Sales Copy. Because I’m creating a Sales Page right now. 

Traditional online business wisdom tells us we need to “use copy that attracts your ideal client”.

I agree with this to a point, but sometimes I find sales pages full of hinting. It’s like we are supposed to write to attract our ideal client and if someone who is not a good fit, buys, well hey, we made some extra cash

This isn’t good for anyone.

Then my brain led itself to the Evolution of Online Sales Page Copy

Back in the early 21st century (OMFG who feels old now?!) it was all yellow highlighter and “this is the must-have thing”, “I only have a few and it will be pulled from sale anytime!” (Yeah right).

Then it became friendly and chatty. But still, it was still to much “buy this course, it works for everyone and it will make all your dreams come true”.

This was around the time I entered the world of online self-employment and I didn’t make myself very popular by asking questions such as…

• Does this REALLY work for everyone?

• How many buyers HAVE found all their dreams have come true? What evidence do you have?

• What if it doesn’t work? Or only half works?

I came under mild attack for asking these questions. I had a “mindset issue”, and I clearly “didn’t understand how important this is”.

Hmmm…

However, I wasn’t buying from shady predatory people. In that situation, we had a coach who was being questioned by a client (me) who was beating herself up for not being super clear in her carefully crafted copy.

Round and round it goes, nobody wins!

So what’s good instead?

It’s all very well me saying “ewwwww I don’t like that, it’s soooooo shaaaaddddeeee”. But it’s not helpful. I don’t like sitting around in my Moaning Minnie Pants, so let’s look at something that can help circumvent this problem of trying to drop a load of hints and hope the right people buy.

For You/Not for You

I love these. You basically spell out who your service/product is good for and who it isn’t. Nice and straightforward.

They can take you from this silly situation where we are supposed to sweat our chesticles over “magnetic copy that attracts” or as I like to call it… hinting.

In the post pandemic world we are all tired of trying to make mental leaps. We can’t deal with hinting. Just – Say – What – You – Mean. 

Bad use of For you/Not For You. Bad. BAD!

Of course, I’ve seen them used in a shady way. Sentences like “this is not for you if you are unwilling to invest in yourself and do the hard work” can, quite frankly, go piss up a f*** stick!

I’d much rather see “this isn’t for you if your income is patchy and you are working super hard to get clients” . If they point me to some simple and free content, I’d love them even more.

Side note – Kelly Diels did this recently. She promoted a paid programme but for people who didn’t have the budget, she gave away a short PDF with an action you could take within an hour.

Don’t hint, be direct and clear.

You can use For You/Not For You in many places. Don’t be afraid to be clear and direct on your sales pages, other website pages and even on social media.

Things in the online business world are changing.

For us straightforward and grounded people that’s a total blessing.

Challenge for you

If you’re up for this, why not pop a For You/Not You section on your website? If you want some samples, here are three of mine:

Business in a Box (a sales page)

TechWorking (a sales page)

Chill Out Zone (newsletter sign up page) This one uses a bit of humour and is a slight variation on the For You/Not For You.

And when you’ve done it, feel free to email it to me. I love seeing what people are selling!