Curious? The Story Behind The 3-Minute Sales Multiplier I noticed something about my email and sales letter process a few years ago: I tended to perform a little preflight check, if you will. Akin to how a pilot prepares for flight, I would, often unintentionally, prep an email for sending or a VSL for a media buy…all by running through a very short checklist. I timed this checklist once, and it came in at around 3 minutes. Hence the measly 6 pages. Not bad, considering the expanded profit margins this handy marketing tool delivers. I wanted to see if this same checklist – a process I called The Multiplier — would have similar results for folks like you: my readers, clients, and customers. And so, presto: the handy paint-by-numbers e-manifesto you now hold in your hands (figuratively, unless you’re the printing type.) To make this even easier, I’ve divided the various preflight items into roughly three 1-minute long groupings. Besides, I kinda like the number 3, as does most of humanity, for various reasons. It has the added benefit of making for a trim and tidy giveaway. I hope you find this as helpful, and as profitable, as I do. Jon Benson TOOLS THAT CAN HELP YOU EARN MORE ONLINE Click on each logo to learn more… 3-Minute Sales Multiplier by Jon Benson 1 JonBenson.com 1 The First Minute 10% YOU You want to make sure your message feels as if it was written to only one person: the person reading it. In reality, no matter how large your reach, each email, VSL, sales message or ad is only being read by one person. To your prospect, he or she is the only person receiving the message. So, let’s make sure this perceived one-on-one communication is even more effective by searching for the word “you”. For sales pages, I like to shoot for 10% of my words to be “you”, derrivirates of you (your, etc.), and/or synonyms for you. It’s almost impossible to overdo your use of the word you–our brains love it that much. The minimum I like to shoot for is 5%. That’s a lot of you’s…but I dare you to try it. Edit your copy, include the you’s, and watch what happens. Now, to be honest, this may take you 20 seconds or 20 minutes, but now that you’re aware of the tip, it should take you very little time, even for a sales page. THAT’S PERSONAL Most people author emails without realizing the massive impact they have over time when it comes to rapport and persuasion. Sure, you’ll include a personal story inside a sales letter, or a VSL, but rarely in a short email. The good news is you don’t have to. However, it’s wise to at least consider a personal anecdote, especially for emails. This very simple check will force you to look at your email from the perspective of building relationships rather than merely getting a click. Sure, clicks are vital, but over time, people will stay with you because of the interpersonal relationship they feel–the connection they experience. Something as simple as, “I thought of this while I was in the gym, and knew you’d find it interesting.” That silly little sentence can be the make or break for conversions and clicks (we’ve tested it, so trust me.) And, the more revealing the anecdote, within reason, the better. 3-Minute Sales Multiplier by Jon Benson 2 JonBenson.com 2 The Second Minute JUICY VERBS This will be your only action in the second minute–to scan your message and make sure you are using powerful verbs. Also, to make sure you’re not repeating your verbs too often. Let’s take for our example the phrase burn fat. Let’s say you have a weight loss offer, and you’re shooting an email out to your list. In that email, you use phrases like burn fat and lose weight. The term “lose weight” is fine – the first time. But more often than not, marketers will repeat these standard, rather boring, and completely non-visceral phrases and verbs throughout their marketing messages. Now, consider these alternatives: burn fat incinerate fat obliterate stubborn fat melt away pockets of fat lose weight vanquish unwanted weight slash inches discard pesky fat The verbs in bold are what I call juicy verbs—verbs that practically leap off the page and create a much stronger mental picture. If your potential customer can see and feel what you’re trying to communicate, you have a better chance of closing the sale. This is a matter of having a thesaurus on hand. There are plenty of them online, including thesaurus.com. Juicy verbs can literally make headlines, subject lines, sub-headlines, and, of course, the rest of your copy. 3-Minute Sales Multiplier by Jon Benson 3 JonBenson.com 3 The Third Minute YOUR CTA Everything you ever send, and I do mean everything, must have a call to action, or CTA. Even if you’re sending out a newsletter, make sure you have some place for your reader to go. Keep this in mind: your subscriber wants help, otherwise they never would have opted into your list. To not give them more to read, to, or act upon is actually a disservice. Yes, this can be taken to an extreme, which is never healthy. Emails that are all clickbait URLs turn me off as much as they turn you off. But don’t toss the baby out with the bathwater–CTAs are absolutely vital. Unless you don’t want to make money. Then send what you will. For now, I’ll labor under the hope that you do. Your CTA should be singular: meaning, only one place for the reader to go. Rarely should this rule be broken. Sometimes we’ll send out a welcome email, immediately upon opt-in, that has 3-4 blog post articles as links. This is to get a better feel for that particular reader, and often to segregate them into a specific list. But, for the most part, having more than one destination URL is the kiss of conversion death. Feel free to change up the link text of that destination page, but keep the destination itself consistent. Also, quick tip: repeat the subject line as your first URL. After all, they opened the email. Logic dictates, so says Spock, that they would likewise click on it again. Fascinating. YOUR P.S. Most of the time, the emails I send out have a P.S. There’s never a sales letter without multiple P.S.’s, and for good reason: your reader will skim. Might as well take advantage of that fact and put something super epic in your P.S. Three quick tips: 1. Make your P.S. force the reader to re-read (or read for the first time) your email. You can do this by simply saying, “P.S. Did you see what I said in the third sentence? That’s really the key to success…” And naturally, your third sentence is something awesome, along with a big ole’ fat URL to click on. How cool is that? 3-Minute Sales Multiplier by Jon Benson 4 JonBenson.com 2. You can repeat your message in one sentence. Example: “P.S. Remember – unless you do X, you’ll never succeed at Y, which is why you absolutely MUST visit URL today.” 3. You can add this as a P.S. or a P.P.S. – “Please forward this to at least one of your friends if you found it helpful. My mission is to be a force for good in the world of (niche.) Would you be so kind as to help?” It doesn’t have to be those words exactly, but the idea is to turn your P.S. (if you don’t have one) or your P.P.S. (if you do have a P.S.) into something that helps your email go more viral. (I know…I wonder why more people aren’t doing this, too : ) Ta-Da The Shortest Marketing Book You’ve Ever Read May Just Be The Best Strategies You’ve Ever Used I know…5 short pages. That’s it. But hey, what did you expect for a “3-Minute Sales Multiplier”? King Lear? I say keep it simple, short, and doable. At least for these handshake freebies. After that, if you like my vibe and can see for yourself that I have a world of marketing gold to divvy up and share with you, you can take the next step. That begins by following me on Facebook and Instagram, as well as checking out Now VSL and CopyPro for yourself. Persuasion Mastery, if you have the money, time, and crave to be the very best marketing copy expert you can be. I humbly thank you for reading, and I really hope you’ll let me continue helping you carve out a spot for yourself within this digital landscape called the Internet. Jon Benson P.S. Please have another look at the logos and links on page 1. They can save you time, make you money, and help you avoid the abject suffering that comes with having crap copy that couldn’t sell a starving, desert-dwelling man a steak and a cold beer. P.P.S. See what I did here? : ) 3-Minute Sales Multiplier by Jon Benson 5 JonBenson.com
