How to Create a Killer Offer That Converts Like Crazy! 2021

How to Create a Killer Offer That Converts Like Crazy! 2021

How To Write Killer Copy That Converts

By Craig Ballantyne

Copywriting Secrets Of The Pros!

Three times a year, in Miami, San Diego, and Nashville, Bedros Keuilian and I hold Mastermind Meetings.

Each meeting brings together forty online business owners to learn our latest secrets, hear from guest experts, and network with like-minded ambitious achievers.

It’s their chance to Play Up a Level and escape the isolation that comes with being a successful online business owner.

On the big day of the meetings, I line ‘em up, and Bedros knocks ‘em down 

What I mean is that I pump up the group with mindset and motivation, and then Bedros teaches them the killer copy and sales converting tactics our members need to go and make their first sales (for our beginners) or their first 6-figure launches (for the advanced members of our group).

Bedros Keuilian, Craig Ballantyne, and the Nashville strip in the background

At the Nashville event in September, Bedros outlined the critical factors in creating a Killer Offer.

The Killer Offer Formula

=> Massive Social Proof

=> Extreme Value

=> Big Bonuses (including the “one thing” they want more than the main product)

=> Must-Have Urgency

=> Done-For-You Components

=> Complete Risk Reversal

StorySell – The Hero’s Journey formula

Bedros also taught us how to StorySell using the classic Hero’s Journey formula. It’s in every movie that you see and novel you read. “People resonate and learn from stories much better than facts and figures,”

Bedros said, “And the process, which I’ve outlined below, can be used in your email case studies, Facebook posts, used in live group or one on one selling and even built into sales copy, too.”

From Bedros:

The reader instinctively inserts himself into the story as the ‘hero’ and takes the journey in your story. Of course, where it’s most powerful is that in your storey the hero gets or achieves the reward… in real life, the reader is left without the reward and therefore must take action on your offer to complete the journey and achieve the reward.

This is why story selling is so powerful… it works on a deeper, more subconscious level forcing your reader to commit to and resonate with the hero’s journey. And that dramatically increases the odds of the reader, listener, viewer taking the desired action that you want them to take. It also creates a deeper bond with you, the storyteller which is how you become the expert and authority.

SO WHAT’S THE FORMULA TO TELLING STORIES LIKE THIS?

The Hero’s Journey…

1) the hero is called to adventure (they’ve had enough)

2) trials and failures.

3) meets his/her mentor or advisor (you)

4) growth in new skills and abilities?

5) death and rebirth (mindset transformation)

6) revelation (the big ah-ha I CAN do it moment)

7) atonement (make right with the higher power)

8) returns changed (In our business physically transformed)

Here’s an example...

I met one of our new Mastermind members, young Kenny Preslar, several years ago.

He went through some tough times but recently had a huge breakthrough.

Here’s his story and you’ll see that it follows the hero’s journey.

1) Frustrated as a young college kid – attended a 1-day seminar in 2012

2) Rejection – applied to become Craig’s business apprentice, but was rejected

3) Mentor – Learned from Craig virtually and through our email newsletters

4) Created his First Product – had minor success, but still struggled

5) Attended his 1st Mastermind Meeting with Bedros & Craig – overcame fear and doubt

6) Had his Big A-Ha moment – realized success required great copywriting

7) The Victory => His 2nd sales letter produced a best-seller

8) Radical Transformation – He now has the success and confidence he desired

Boom!

It’s that simple. Stories don’t always have to belong… they can be short and punchy so long as they follow the formula above and pull the reader into the hero’s journey.

More Copywriting Secrets!

1) Create a Copywriting Swipe File

A swipe file can literally be a file folder where you print off great web copy or where you rip out pages from magazines.

Your swipe file should contain all of the best headlines, offers, and ads you’ve read so that you can refer to it when you are writing your own ads.

NOTE: A swipe file is NOT a “STEAL” file. You can’t plagiarize other people’s copy, BUT you can get inspiration from it.

(I keep a swipe file on my computer of the best emails and subject lines I get from email marketers.)

Go to Google and type in “100 Greatest Headlines Ever Written” and you’ll find a great resource to get you started. Two famous headlines of note include: “The Real Secret to Making People Like You” AND “Advice to wives whose husbands don’t save money — by a wife”. Can you think about why they may work?

Copywriter friend Robert Phillips also suggests keeping a swipe file of metaphors. A metaphor allows you to explain complicated concepts quickly.

The example Robert gave me was from a health ad touting an antioxidant pill. To help readers understand the benefits of an antioxidant, the writers compared oxidation inside the body to what happens when your car rusts.

The reader will immediately think, “A-ha! I know what my car looks like when it rusts…and I don’t want that happening inside my body…so I need this pill.”

Metaphors are powerful, and you can find them in almost every piece of copy. Keep your eyes out for good ones to add to your swipe file.

2) The #1 mistake people make is not…

…asking for the sale.

Robert says he reviews a LOT of copy, and most people write a decent headline and make a great offer, but then really “wimp out” when it comes time to ask for the sale.

So make sure to keep a swipe file of the best closes, to see how the masters get their prospects to take action.

3) A good product with average copy plus a great list plus GREAT DESIGN = Success

Two things that can boost the success of “average” copy are:

a) Sending it to the right list

b) Adding Great Design – AKA “cosmetics” to the copy/message.

When you send a great copy to people who aren’t interested, you won’t make many, if any sales. But if you send an “okay” copy to a hungry marketplace, you’ll make a LOT of sales.

This is called having the right “message to market match”.

Of course, if you have a fantastic copy and a killer offer then the success you can expect will be greatly multiplied!

And it’s a very important mindset to have when building your list and creating offers for that list.

Great Design (cosmetics) can include adding photos, sub-headlines, different fonts, bolding text, plus using images like red arrows and yellow highlighting to point out the key parts of the copy that your prospects must-read.

Now, beware, overdoing any particular ‘design’ feature – like too much BOLD of highlighting is not a good thing, That is why we say Great Design and you will find some great examples here.

Finally – for some more inspiration, (and adding to your Swipe File) Check out 10 10 Reasons Why You Suck at Email Marketing this helps you become a better writer and storyteller.

Copywriting Bonus Tips!

Four Reasons Why Your Sales Page Is Not Converting…

=> Your Weak Headlines Are Not Grabbing Readers Attention

=> You Are Making Big Claims Without Offering Proof

=> Your Offer Is Not Clear Enough

=> Your Design / Page Layout Is Confusing

How to Improve Weak Headlines

=> Call out the problem people are facing.

=> Have emotion in it. Address the pain points.

=> Have credibility builders built into them.

A final thought from Zig Ziglar:

“If people like you they’ll listen to you, but if they trust you they’ll do business with you”

And some recommended reading: The Truth About Being an Entrepreneur

For Action Takers – Special Notice :

IncomeDiary is planning to launch a Mastermind Group. [Including Copywriting Support Group]

Your Shopping Cart Sucks – 10 Reasons You Should Switch to SamCart 2021

It’s been a long time coming, but SamCart is finally open to the public! 

For months, even years, we weren’t 100% satisfied with our shopping cart solutions. We tried everything from Clickbank and PayPal to JVZoo, you name it. But none of the solutions gave us exactly what we needed.

We needed to setup and run split tests with the click of a mouse, we needed to be able to quickly create and list products, we needed to be able to create upsell funnels and needed to provide affiliates with custom affiliate links…

Nothing covered all bases in a simple manner.

To make it worse, most solutions charged us a percentage for each sales. The more we worked, the more we made, the more they took. 

At our wits end and on the verge of creating our own solution, last October we got an email from Brian Moran inviting us to beta test his new Shopping Cart solution, SamCart.

After logging in for the very first time, I had our first product created and listed for sale within the first 30 seconds – no joke.

Today I’m going to show you the 10 reasons why you should dump your current shopping cart solution and get started with SamCart today!

10 Reasons You Should Switch to SamCart Today:

#1. Ease of Use

Your current shopping cart has 20 different steps just to list a product.

With SamCart, you can create and publish your first product in under a minute – literally. Their simple design and user friendly interface make selling digital products online simple.

Here’s how to list your first product with SamCart:

Step 1: Open an account.

Step 2: Log in to the dashboard.

Step 3: Click ‘Products’ on the lefthand menu.

Step 4: Click the blue ‘New Product’ button on the top right of the page.

Step 5: Fill out the fields that popup (Product name, Short description, Thank you page redirect, Billing Frequency, Price).

That’s it, you’re all set!

#2. Split Testing

Not one of our former Shopping Carts offered the ability to easily split test our checkout pages and sales funnels. As any successful digital marketer tells you, split testing is your bread and butter.

This was one thing that immediately stood out about SamCart, and like everything else about this shopping cart software, they made it easy to do.

Here’s how to setup split tests with SamCart:

Step 1: After creating and listing your products, select one that you want to split test.

Step 2: After clicking the product you wish to split test, locate the “Upsell Funnels” section under the “Customization” tab and select a funnel from the drop down menu.

Step 3: Click “Split Test” and add other upsell funnels you want to test between.

I told you it was easy. 

#3. One Click Upsells

Again, this was something that used to take valuable time out of the day. We always have an upsell that adds value to our products because this enhances user experience as well as conversions.

SamCart nailed this too!

After making a purchase, customers are presented with an upsell allowing them to add a product to their cart without providing all that order info again.

Look how easy it is to create a 1 click upsell:

Step 1: Click “Upsells” on the lefthand side of your dashboard and then select funnels from the drop down menu.

Step 2: Click on “Upsell Funnels” on the top right…

Step 3: Click the blue “New Funnel” button, add your funnel name and a short description, then click “create funnel.”

Step 4: Select how many upsell upsells you’d like to add from your product list and then select “enabled”. You’ll have the option to add up to 5 upsells and 5 downsells.

That’s it! Your customers will go through the upsell funnel just the way you set it up. I’m telling you, everything about SamCart is awesome!

#4. Branded Checkout Pages

As it turns out with many of the other carts out there, the checkout pages look nothing like your brand. This can be intimidating and sometimes means the difference between a sale and a bounce.

Every one of SamCarts landing page templates is customizable, and designed to convert. No more generic carts – your checkout page is an important part of your marketing strategy. 

#5. Multiple Templates & Variable Elements

I’d bet the shopping cart you’re currently using, only has one style of checkout page. Am I right?

That’s lame.

SamCart provides you with several high converting templates to choose from. Each template is designed by marketing professionals with several years of experience in digital sales and a firm grip on what sells in today’s market.

On top of that, most of the elements on your checkout pages can be customized, this just adds to the effectiveness and convenience of split testing.

And since you’ll be split testing everything, this is a great way to truly see what works for your demographic to increase sales.

#6. Fully Responsive

A major chunk of our traffic comes from mobile devices. And this is something that’s likely also true for you. In 2014, there were more than 1.2 billion mobile users surfing the web. Mobile is becoming a bigger and bigger chunk of your online traffic. 

Every single SamCart checkout and upsell funnel is mobile optimized. So there’s no reason to reduce conversions because people are trying to act on offers they saw while checking gmail on their phones. Brian told me that many customers are already seeing 10-30% increases in sales.

Is your current checkout page mobile optimized? If not, you’re losing money.

#7. Quick Page Loads

People have very short attention spans online, and one of the easiest ways to lose sales is by having a page that takes too long to load.

I noticed that with other shopping carts, I’d find that some of our checkout pages took more than 3 seconds to load in some cases. That’s ridiculous.

Quick page loads allow users to smoothly move through your funnels. If things take to long to load people will get distracted, lose excitement and possibly the desire to purchase all together.

Page load speed should NEVER be an issue, and with SamCart, it’s not.

#8. Guarantees

Guarantees prove that you’re willing to stand behind your product. While it’s standard to have a guarantee on your sales page, it’s not so common to see them on checkout pages. 

This gives your customers a sense of security and can be the final selling point that enables your user to complete the sale.

Every SamCart checkout page comes with a section to post any guarantee you have.

#9. Security

With so many instances of hacking online and even in the media these days, it’s more important than ever to secure your own as well as your customers data. Every SamCart checkout page is SSL encrypted, meaning your customer’s data will be safe and you’ll have one less thing to worry about with your business.

#10. Bonus Section

Having the right bonuses to accompany a good product can make or break your offer. 

When you have a customer on the fence, oftentimes a reminder of the great product and offer they’re getting is enough to finish the checkout.

SamCart nailed this too, as each checkout page comes with a prominent section dedicated to reminding your customers of exactly what they’re getting. 

There you have it, the 10 reasons why you should make the switch to SamCart today.

9 Simple Tips to Creating a Killer Call to Action Button 2021

9 Simple Tips to Creating a Killer Call to Action Button 2021

Do you have the best Call To Action Button possible on your webs

I mean, when people come to your website, you definitely want them to do something?

Right?

What Is Your Call To Action?

Whether you want them to sign up for your mailing list or purchase a product but in order to do that you need to have an actionable call to action button in your website.

A perfect Call To Action [CTA] button communicates with your visitors and encourages them to take the action immediately on your website.

In spite of knowing that, many website owners are using effective CTAs to engage their ideal customers. Even worse, some of them are not using any CTA button into their website.

A study by Small Biz Trend revealed that, 70% of small business B2B websites lack a call to action.

Craft a Killer Call to Action Button That Works

Believe it or not, crafting a call to action button that will compel your visitors to take the immediate action isn’t an easy task. Today, I will explain nine simple tips to simplify the task for you.

Let’s get started!

#1. Use actionable text for a killer call to action!

The text of your call to action button should be action-oriented and striking. Your button text should answer the following questions-

• Why people should click on your CTA button?
• What will happen after clicking on it?

Don’t just use the boring words like Submit, Enter, Go, etc. as a CTA button text.

The CTA button text should start with an action verb. Let me show you some of the possible options here-

• Download Whitepaper
• Get My Free Quote
• Open My Account
• Reserve Your Seat

A small tweak in your Call To Action button text can increase your website conversion rate.

Don’t trust my words?

Firefox found 3.44% more conversions when they change the call to action button text from “Try Firefox 3” to “Download Now – Free”.

Just take a look at the screen below from Resume-Now. This is an online resume making website. They are using ‘Create Resume’ as a CTA button text. The button text is clearly indicating why you should click and what will happen after clicking.

#2. Choose a color that stands out

First of all, your CTA button should be a color, not white, black or grey. Secondly, it should be a color that stands out. You need to give a careful consideration to your CTA button color.

There is no particular color that performs better. Generally speaking, blue and orange color buttons are reported to perform best.

My recommendation is to choose a color that makes your CTA button stand out from the rest of the page. The button color must be contrasting with the background color.

For example, if you use blue CTA button on a blue background, then it will be hard for the visitors to recognize your call to action button.

But, if you use blue CTA button on a white background, then the button will stand out. Buffer uses this perfect combination.

#3. Size it perfectly

Size matters when it comes CTA button. Go for the standard size that makes sense and don’t make it too big or too small.

Sure you want the visitors to recognize the button easily but using the too big button can work negatively. Because, it can make your overall layout a messy look and people will overlook the rest of page content simply because they can’t get past the CTA size.

Here is a proof of making a CTA button lot bigger actually found 10% decrease in conversion.

Conversely, if you make your button too small, then the visitors may overlook your CTA.

Therefore, the call to action button needs to be big enough to click comfortably, but not too big that it looks strange.

#4. Button Shape

There are two most common and popular shapes people use for CTA button. They are rectangular and rounded.

Nobody can tell you what shape will work best for your website as both are popular and both can perform well in different settings. Now, you need to decide whether you want to use a button with rectangular shape or rounded shape.

Ultimately, you will need to test the both shapes and see what works best for your business!

In ContentVerve’s test, a rounded button performed better than a rectangular shape.

#5. Use directional cues

Directional cues help to guide the visitor’s attention to your call to action button. Directional cues can be both an eye direction of a face or an arrow that points directly to your call to action button.

After arriving the visitors on your site they actually don’t know what action you want them to take. So, give them a clue what you want them to do by using directional cues.

Some people say it’s rude to point but it works well for conversion as it gives a sense of direction to concentrate and look on the more important aspect of your page, which is the call to action.

A neat example is taken from whatusersdo — the woman’s eyes guide people on where to focus.

And here is another great example that our friend Perry Belcher recently shared on Facebook. This example does not refer to a Call To Action button – but still a fascinating study and a powerful endorsement of the use of directional cues!

#6. Go with the first person

A study by Michael Aagard found that changing the button text from second person (start your free 30 day trial) to first person (start my free 30 day trial) resulted in a 90% increase in CTR.

You know why the first person does perform well?

Because, using the words like “me” “my” and “mine” make the visitors feel that you are addressing them directly.

Still, if you want to go for the second person, then test it against the first person to check which one perform better.

Remember, you are targeting real human beings and if you can’t personalize your message then they won’t take your desired action.

#7. Bonus Text

Adding an extra bit information within or below the CTA button can reduce the anxiety of the users. This extra bit of information may not be fit with every CTA button, but when it fits, it works very well.

For example, Shipstation using ‘Start your free 30-day trial’ as a button text and a smaller text ‘no credit card required’ beneath the CTA button which reduces the anxiety of the visitors that they don’t have provide their credit card information.

This valuable info will also encourage the users to click through to start their trial.

#8. Be Urgent

Your call to action button should create the urgency so that your visitors take an immediate action.

You can simply do this by conveying a message that your audience will miss a great opportunity if they don’t click on your CTA button.

There are some common words (i.e. today, now or immediately) you can use in your CTA to create the sense of urgency. These words imply a greater urgency and make it clear to your visitors that the offer may not last forever.

For example, you may use a button copy like ‘Sign Up today and get 20% off!’

#9. Frame your CTA button inside a white box.

Framing the call to action button inside a rectangular white box is another excellent way to detach the CTA button from other elements on the page and make it stand out.

If your CTA button is cluttered up with surrounding content, then it will be lost with other elements in the page.

Make sure that you balance the CTA white framing with your page design.  It needs to stand out – but not in a bad way! Avoid anything tacky and amateurish.

The CTA does not necessarily have to be framed by a white box – other colors are available, but in most instances, white works best.

Instapage is a good example of how to do it well.

Final Thoughts:

The above nine tips are a great framework that will allow you to create a powerful Call To Action Button.

But to discover the perfect Call To Action button for your niche, you must split test!

Without split testing your CTA, you will never know if you are doing your best.

For example if we take point #4 (button shape) – there are two common button shapes used – rounded and rectangular. Both shapes perform well. But you still need to split test it in order to find out the best shape for your industry / niche.

Same goes with the button color. Some people will say orange color button performs well and others will say a blue color button performs better.  A/B split testing is the only way of telling for sure what works best for you.

And finally, always keep this simple formula in mind:

The CTA button should be simple enough so that the visitors can easily understand your message and compelling enough to persuade them to click on it.