1) You have to respect the time of the customer. Usually when a customer buys an information product off the internet rather than in a bookshop is because he or she wants a quick solution.
2) A quick solution is ideal to the customer. A lot of internet marketers make the mistake of making their information products, be they e-books, audio files or video programs as long as possible. It may be suitable for an extended e-course, but for normal solution based information products, do not make your products lengthy. Long documents and e-books may seriously turn your customers off. You may think that putting on your sales page that your product is 250 pages long, and is really worth the money for so much information. Look at it from a macro perspective: Do your customers really want to spend a week wading through your e-book to learn of the complete solution to their problem?
3) Make your e-book as efficient as possible in facilitating the customers' learning journey. Proper organization, a quick summary, action plans, and links to more resources will make them more efficient. Keep length of e-books to about 30 pages on average.
Once again, let me reiterate that customers have very little time on their hands. So, help them to save their time by making their learning journey through your e-book as smooth, efficient and effective as possible. The whole internet marketing game takes time to master, so learn from those who have been there to shorten your learning time, and avoid painful mistakes.
In a word, it's EMPATHY. And my copywriting colleagues should know this, because understanding the pains, frustrations, desires, wants, needs, and goals and aspirations of your target audience is the key to higher response rates, more orders...and yes, better clients.
Why is this?
Simply because as human beings, from the moment of birth (and that first slap on the tush) we are in pain. We are in psychological pain (How can I get out of debt?), emotional pain (I never thought I'd get divorced), and sometimes physical pain (starting with our first moments into this world).
Are we ALWAYS in pain? Of course not. Sometimes we have pleasure, but first the pain must be absent (maybe this is why drugs are so popular!).
Now here comes the lesson: Pain is more powerful than pleasure. The human being will seek to alleviate his pain before he will seek to find pleasure.
The lesson here?
Simply that the freelance consultant who knows her target market's pain...and seeks to SOLVE it...will be the freelance consultant who gets the job.
In lead-generating direct marketing, this is what the "offer" is all about.
As a direct response copywriter who targets marketing directors, I've made it my business to know what their life is like at work. I know a number of "pains" they deal with on a daily or weekly basis, and then I figure out how I can help them solve those pains.
When I think I have a great solution to a problem (e.g., how to increase response rates, shorten sales cycles, gain market share), I write a report (or guide, White Paper, Problem/Solution Recommender, etc.), and I present this free information as an offer to my target.
Being of high quality (I present only to pre-qualified prospects who meet certain criteria), this marketing director recognizes that I too am of high quality, and a "hot lead" is born.
When I share this information with my coaching students, I sometimes point out that most copywriters study every detail of the product or service, and spend very little time delving into the living, breathing pains of the prospect.
This is a terrible mistake, of course, because it is not the product we must convince...it is the prospect. So spend the time it takes to get to know the unique pains of your target audience, then offer them a solution for solving a specific problem.
For freelancers who target business, "pain" is on your side. You might find selling pleasure very profitable in the B2C space, but in B2B, pain is king!
Both Gab Chu & Chris Marlow are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Gab Chu has sinced written about articles on various topics from Computers and The Internet, Internet Marketing and Start Online Business. Gab Chu has helped hundreds of Internet Marketers create wealth from their own online information product empire using strategies to better product creation, and traffic tactic, secrets and techniques. Get $19 worth of a F-R-E-E Report by visiting Trialed. Gab Chu's top article generates over 6600 views. to your Favourites.