Know-How Exchange : Strategy

A few reactions:

1. Overall the site is probably OK. I find it hard to read reverse type, so for me the design/color scheme is uncomfortable. It may just be a personal preference thing, but you might also want to test an alternate version with "normal" font/background.

2. Commercial runs the risk of making it seem too easy ("just three simple hand positions") and thus making someone wonder why you need a book and a tape and a video if it's so easy.

3. Order page is confusing. Looks like there are 4 different options, when there's really only one, with 3 different shipping options. I'd find a way to simplify that one.

4. Overall concept doesn't sound unique, though it may still be compelling. There have been a number of "miracle cure" golf products on the market ... most either die or fade away. But there is a never-ending supply of new golfers looking for the silver bullet.

5. The key to success will be in the effectiveness of the marketing program. I trust you're going to use landing paths for the PPC campaign, so you can test different ad copy, sources, offers, etc.

Good luck. Let us know how it goes!

If the system is so good, why not add a money back guarantee to reduce sales friction?

From the Author - I'd like to see a picture of Mike, since he's "talking to me".

The testimonials are generic. I'd like to see pictures of smiling golfers. I'd like to hear about people who suddenly are competing (and winning). I'd like to hear from other golf pros / coaches who've used the system and noticed the difference.

Why not also place the commercial (not to autostart, though) on the home page. It'll increase trust seeing both the 800# and the national commercial.

If the commercial isn't also on YouTube - consider putting it there as well. Why not include the URL for the website in the commercial (and for online, put the URL in the lower third during the commercial as appropriate).

Website Grader gives a score of 26 / 100 (https://website.grader.com/wsgid/3196697/default.aspx)

The order page is very hard to read.

Any plans to allow download of system (PDF/Podcast)?

Hi Wayde,

The reverse-type is a bit hard to read and there’s little contrast between some of the text and visual elements (especially on the order page). Make the order icon easier to identify. Also I’d separate the line spacing a bit to open up the text and increase readability.

Overall, the black background seems “dark” in more ways than one – Would think that theme-related visuals (scenic golf courses, happy/celebrating golfers, etc. would be more in keeping with what is being promoted.

Testimonials would benefit by using people’s pictures, names and towns – they seem too easily faked using just initials. Also, would like to see quantification of golf score improvements versus just hyperbole. Make sure you feature testimonials from a variety of different starting skill levels too (amateurs to pros) – that opens up your potential audience. Like the golf balls as bullet points here!

Could enhance the book introduction by using page reproduction/turning technology and make it seem less generic.

The TV ad is attention-getting, but seems a bit “cutesy” for a serious instructional product. Audio is a bit fast, (understand and agree with the need for speed in the beginning -- l’m referring to the rest of it). Also would benefit from more variation in pitch/tone/inflection.

Need to increase the linkability/searchability of your site – there are many tools (see archives on MarketingProfs, read Google tutorials, etc.). Include ability for people to forward to their friends, recommend/Digg, etc.

Put a flag for Father’s day gifting on right now!

Best of luck.
-Steve

Dear Wayde,

“Good. For a moment there, I thought we were in trouble.”

Ah, "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid". One of my favorite movies of all time. Oh, sorry. I was away there for a moment. Where were we? Oh yes. Website review.

Wayde, first of all, on this site and in this forum you outrank
and outscore me. I have incredible respect for your opinions, expertise, and insight.

Second, I agree with all the points above.

But I'm going to turn this on its head and look at it as from all the other online sales pages I've seen.

As a headline, "Confident Swing" lacks oomph and the subhead "Great Gold in Three moves" is almost a second class citizen.

Your main sales copy is mostly below the fold and the headline does not pull people into the copy. Add this to the black background and your page abandonment rate will skyrocket.

Are you selling this only online? If so, use online tactics. Ads in golf magazines with ads that run form month to month. This shows the posters of those ads are generating sales, which is what you also want.

Simple ads to drive traffic to a website? Perfect.

Know all those long copy sales letter sites for e-books that use a headline along the lines of: "Finally, an ABC to solve your XYZ in three simple to learn moves that will increase your 123 by 456, guaranteed!"

Know why there are so many of them?

Because they work.

Here are a few examples:

www.howtobreak80.com (this site alone gets 3,100 visitors peer month, and all qualified traffic)
www.golfswingguru.com
www.thedaveway.com

OK. So these sites might not look pretty. But they work. They sell.
Sure, they read like formulas along the lines of:

Compelling headline.
Question asking sub head.
Compelling copy.
Bulleted subheads that read in order for people that skim read.
Video at the beginning of the letter to show social proof. Testimonials spread throughout the letter.
Subject related images as headers and to break up the sales copy. Order links throughout the body of the piece.
Cast iron guarantees.
Price.
PSs and PPSs to reinforce the guarantee.

All on one page that links to a buy now page.

But again, They work.

The next page adds in the up sell or cross sell page where you pile on the value. Then you lower the price and increase the value by adding in a free trail offer along the lines of "Try the full $497 version of Confident Swing on us, free for 14 days. If you're not totally satisfied that Confident Swing is worth double the price of $497, just return the product and pay nothing, and keep the free thingy on us, as our way of saying thank you!"

All incredibly formulaic, but like all infomercials, all incredibly effective.

More so the more one adds in terms of value with buy one,
get on half price.

In terms of sales to a niche market? Gold.

But dearie me. At the moment Wayde, the sales message is all over the shop. Click here for this. Click there for that. The buyer's bouncing all over the place. Which makes them all the less likely to buy.

"Advertising says to people, 'Here's what we've got. Here's what it will do for you. Here's how to get it.'" -Leo Burnett

If this thing is being sold only online, why make it harder than than it has to be?

Your black background has to go I'm afraid. Black text on a white background.

Headline and sub heads in red. Bullets in red, bulleted text in black.

You need images of golfers swinging on sunny greens as header images. Not a solitary ball on a black "Life is a Cabaret Old chum!" background.

It just doesn't pull. And I don't even play golf! Sorry old boy, just doesn't make me fell all golfy!

You could also do with some of this imagery in your video. The overall message of the video is great. But the animated golf ball might put people off if they can't actually SEE the results you're promising.

And $99 for the video, book, and everything? It's too cheap.

But if you're going to stick with the sub hundred buck level, go to $97 because psychologically, it's less, which will increase your conversions, and with it your sales.

Or turn it into to a three part course, each part delivered 30 days apart and charge $47 per month. That way, you add 30 percent to your gross. Or offer a payment plan, "three easy installments!" with a higher price per month.

Add in a deadline, or a limited quantity or limited availability to add scarcity. "Hurry, limited time offer. Price will go up in X days!"
A;; these things create strong calls to action.

Here's that Leo Burnett quote again "Advertising says to people, 'Here's what we've got. Here's what it will do for you. Here's how to get it."

Grab attention, persuade people, talk people through the sale in steps by showing them visually, and with your copy them doing what you're offering and then tell them what to do ... this is what we've got, this is what it does, this is how to buy ... and they'll see themselves performing the golfing action and find themselves compelled to give you money.

Also, consider affiliate sales where you offer current online sellers of golf stuff 50 percent in exchange for them promoting to their lists. I've heard of online marketers that offer 100 percent affiliate commissions for a set period, then drop to 75 percent or so, once demand has been established.

To sell as an affiliate product, look at www.clickbank.com .

Sounds odd but the money's in the back end, in the cross sells and up sells, and continuity programs. The bigger affiliate pay outs up front drive initial sales and the real profit is made in additional sales over time.

Phew! The product sounds great and the profit potential is astonishing. Will what I've outlined here make you super rich? I don't know. But your current site and offer needs work and the opinions I've offered here are given with the best of intent.

I hope this is of use. Thanks for reading and good luck to you.

Gary Bloomer
Wilmington, DE, USA

Follow me on www.twitter.com/GaryBloomer

Lots of good advice already, maybe a few add-ons, embellishments or enhancements:

Agree with reverse type being harder to read, keep the age (and eyesight abilities) of your target market in mind; (See MarketingSherpa’s Landing Page book for more on this)

I’m presuming the decision to market only regionally is budget driven, as otherwise classified and display classified ads in the back of national golf publications might also be a cost effective source of traffic to your website;

Agree with need for more images – of author, and elsewhere of golfers having a good time and success with the method, if budget is an issue even stock photography or illustrations could help bring it to life.

Look at how your (direct & indirect) competition communicates with the market – lots of graphics – of club faces, ball path, etc – every issue of every golf magazine has some “3-steps to a smoother back swing” type article replete with frame by frame photos, graphics and illustrative captioning. As a lazy golfer always interested in improving my swing, I’m more prone to look at those pictures and captions than read a 1,000 word all-text essay.

Commercial starts with a great premise – all those familiar pieces of conflicting, hard to remember advice, OR a new simpler solution. Love it. But the relevance of all the variously garbed golf balls is lost on me and seems a bit cutesy and distracting. Though I understand that you don’t want to give away too much of the 3-moves secret, but perhaps there’s a way….maybe all testimonials of before and after results of target-age appropriate real people using the techniques at his driving range.

Sending copies gratis to golf-playing celebrities might be worth its weight in gold in testimonials, referrals, buzz, implied endorsement, etc. if just one uses it with good results.

Risk-reducing money-back guarantees are great for moving hesitant shoppers forward, tho with an info product you run some risk of "read and return" types -- worth testing and watching the back-end numbers.

Youtube, tell-a-friend, and gift suggestions are all spot-on too.

Good luck, and keep your head down! =;-)

Mark

As I mentioned in your other post, I think you need to make it clearer exactly what you are offering (i.e. a book/video deal) and maybe add a streaming video of "Mike" talking about it - also, does Mike have any credentials that can be mentioned?

I agree with the folks above about the need for more pictures.

The price sounds a little bit high to me for a book and a video. Would it make more sense to describe this as a system?

Would it be possible to do something like a cross between a book signing and a demonstration at a driving range? Could you bring a video camera and capture some footage of suddenly improved golfers for your website?

By the way, there is something unusual about the links on your website. I am using Dragon NaturallySpeaking to navigate websites by voice, and usually when I right click a link this opens a Windows dialog box, but this does not occur on your site. I do not know if this is good or bad, but it is different.

By the way, lots of people like to buy their books from Amazon, and lots of people read the reviews on Amazon. I checked Amazon, and did not find your book, but did find lots of other less expensive golf books. Would it make sense to include sales via Amazon, and to try to encourage some favorable reviews on that site?