You’ve just finished writing the sales copy for your new product. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a way to test your copy BEFORE you actually send prospects to it? Because think about this – if you send a 1,000 people to your sales letter and NOBODY buys, you’ve just wasted all that traffic. And if you spent money to get that traffic, you’re out that investment. Even if it was free traffic, you’ve still burned your chance to sell them on your product. Odds are even if you do rewrite the copy, they’re not going to go back a second time and read it again. (Unless you offer some kind of incentive, in which case you might be able to bribe them into taking a second look.)
If only there were a way to know ahead of time whether your copy is good or not… wait, there is!
Here’s what to do – turn off the phone, sever your Internet connection and refuse to be distracted for the next hour.
Now then, imagine you are the prospect. You are thinking like the prospect, feeling like the prospect, experiencing the same issues, same problems, same questions as you prospect, etc. Put yourself in their shoes and reread your letter from start to finish. Do not spend time making corrections or anything else – simply read the letter as though you are a prospect considering buying this product.
Finished? Now rate how well your copy accomplishes the following, assigning a number 1 – 5 to each element.
1 means “Practically non-existent”
2 is “Room for serious improvement”
3 means “Not horrible, but could be better”
4 is “Strong”
And a 5 indicates “You positively NAILED it.”
Ready? Here we go…
- Does the headline instantly grab your attention? _____
- Does the lead-in compel you to read further? _____
- Are the headline and lead-in completely believable? _____
- Is the headline and lead-in combo likely to resonate powerfully with a significant number of your prospects? _____
- Does the headline and lead-in combo offer powerful benefits? _____
- Does the spokesperson establish his/her qualifications beyond doubt? _____
- Do the emotions you experience while reading the first few paragraphs compel you to want to read further? _____
- Is the prospect given a reason why he or she must read this, and must read this now? _____
- Does the copy read like a conversation between two friends? _____
- Is it clear that the spokesperson truly has the best interests of the prospect at heart? _____
- Are the product’s benefits fully explored? _____
- Are the emotional reasons for purchasing fully developed? _____
- Does the letter entertain and inform as well as sell? _____
- Is the price fully justified and trivialized? _____
- Is the guarantee prominent and does it restate the benefits? _____
- Is there a compelling reason why the prospect should immediately make the purchase? _____
- Is there a sense of urgency? _____
- Do you feel yourself getting more and more excited as you move through the letter? _____
- Is the call to action compelling enough that you would feel silly for not ordering immediately? _____
- Is the prospect told exactly what to do next, how to order and how s/he will receive their product? _____
- If you were a prospect, would you make the purchase? _____
Scoring
21- 50: Stop right there. Do NOT use this copy until make significant changes.
51 – 65: Not good, but at least you’ve made a start. Now go back and make the adjustments your letter needs.
66 – 80: Not bad for a draft, but not good enough to use unless you just don’t have the time to fix it, OR your offer is so compelling ($100 cars, for example) that it doesn’t need a strong letter.
81 – 95: Looking good. A little tweaking here and there can still improve your conversions.
96 – 105: Congratulations! Maybe you should be writing copy for a living!