How we doubled sales of an online course in 1 week 

A lesson in why most website sales pages fail

Like most of my clients, Roger didn’t see that what he offered was exceptional. He had learnt to fish at a young age and thought that what he knew about fishing was common knowledge.

This attitude was reflected in Roger’s sales page. Every part of his sales page understated the value his course offered. The benefits of his course, were written with no more enthusiasm than you would find on a shopping list. None of the words he used on the sales page would excite you to take action.

When you are writing advertising sales copy, you must remember that people buy with their emotions first and justify with logic second. Your web copy needs to show them what is possible with your help, so that by the time they are halfway through your sales copy they can’t wait for you to ask them to BUY!

Your sales copy has to take them on a journey that shows them what is possible when they buy from you. If they are not emotionally moved to take action, they will do nothing. They definitely won’t buy from you!

Once I wrote new copy and added photographs of people who had completed the course, Roger’s new sales page came alive and got immediate results. The sales page was transformed by real-life proof of people catching fish thanks to Rogers course.

Why long copy works wonders on your website?

As I expanded the sales page, I shared story after story about ordinary people who had spent years catching no fish, now enjoying fun-filled days with their family as they came home with a large catch thanks to the skills Roger had taught them.

At first, Roger was taken aback, by the length of his new sales page, and even told me he felt a little embarrassed. He said, “Ken, I don’t like bragging. I prefer to understate what I am going to deliver and let my results speak for themselves.”

Once I explained to him that people are wary of spending money online with people they have never met, and that they are looking for proof that what you offer works, it dawned upon Roger why it was necessary to add all of this favourable material. We had to give the reader so much proof that the course worked, that they were left with no reason not to buy.

Long copy works because people want as much benefit-oriented information as they need to make the purchase. Some won’t read much of it before buying. Others will read every word. As we don’t know which type of reader will visit our site, we provide more than enough copy, never leaving them wanting more.

Finally, as Roger was not sure, I said, “The real test with any website is whether people start buying your course. Even though my long-form sales copy approach makes you feel uncomfortable, let’s run with my approach for a week or two. If you get negative feedback and no further sales, we can change it to make you feel more comfortable.”

What were the sales results?

Within the first week of the new sales page going live, Roger recorded one new sale every day. The sales page was an immediate hit! That was several months ago. Since then he has doubled his sales each week.

Plus, through proper use of SEO (search engine optimised page), Roger’s new sales page has attracted a whole new audience who didn’t know about his YouTube channel or blog.

This sales page is now attracting daily sales of his online course right across Australia and throughout America.

Roger tells me that people who have read the sales page have not only bought his course but have signed up for his regular $450 fishing lessons. A bonus, he was not expecting.

Roger has just appointed me to build him a new website, including a membership site. I have developed a marketing campaign that will help him persuade his 11,000+ YouTube subscribers to join his monthly membership program that starts at $37 USD. I am incredibly excited for Roger, as this next phase could take his fishing career to a whole new level.

In the video below, Roger Osborne shares his thoughts on his new website