{"id":2879,"date":"2017-03-27T05:10:50","date_gmt":"2017-03-27T12:10:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.genesisdigital.co\/blog\/?p=2879"},"modified":"2019-05-09T11:31:46","modified_gmt":"2019-05-09T18:31:46","slug":"first-5-critical-steps-creating-sleek-video-sales-letters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genesisdigital.co\/blog\/learn\/marketing\/video-marketing\/first-5-critical-steps-creating-sleek-video-sales-letters\/","title":{"rendered":"The First 5 Critical Steps to Creating Sleek Video Sales Letters"},"content":{"rendered":"

Do you remember the days when creating sales letters was all about long-form text-based pages? <\/span><\/p>\n

Wrestling with decisions such as, what color to make the headline, whether or not to put it in quotes, whether to use drop-caps on the opening line, what font to use, underusing bullet-points, overusing bullet-points\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

Whether to say Frakk it all and just drop $10k on a professional copywriter to do the work for you? <\/span><\/p>\n

Ya, me neither. But, I hear it stunk pretty bad.<\/span><\/p>\n

That whole process was complicated enough. However, it\u2019s not even close to good enough for the 21st Century marketplace.<\/span><\/p>\n

Whether or not you decide to have a text-based sales letter, the one thing you can\u2019t do without is a Video Sales Letter (VSL).<\/span><\/p>\n

Video is the language of the Internet. You want to have a slick VSL spearheading your marketing push if you plan on selling ANYTHING online. This is true across the board, all niches. <\/span><\/p>\n

This is the first article in a series that will take you through everything you need to know to create not just a decent VSL, but a high converting VSL that milks sales from your audience like a loving dairy farmer massaging full-fat cream from the udders of his favorite cow.<\/span><\/p>\n

*First lesson, right there. How NOT to write an appealing metaphor.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Where do I start?<\/b><\/p>\n

An excellent question, my young Padawan.<\/span><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start at the very beginning by formulating a plan.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s tempting to jump right in and start writing copy, either because you love that part, or because you hate it so much you want to get it over and done with. But first, you need to step back and look at the big picture.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t, you\u2019ll end up doing so many rewrites, by the end of this process you\u2019ll be ready to turn on the electric oven and inhale deeply. **<\/span>See what I did there? Nothing would happen?! Heeheeeeee! I slay myself!<\/span><\/p>\n

Think of this first stage of VSL creation as a fact-finding mission. Always remember, every five minutes of planning saves you an hour of botched copywriting that you\u2019re going to end up redoing later on.<\/span><\/p>\n

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  1. Know the benefits of your product inside and out.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \u201cDone! I built the product, so I already know everything about it.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

    Whoa there, Speedy\u2026 this step isn\u2019t about <\/span>knowing<\/span><\/i> your product, it\u2019s about knowing the <\/span>BENEFITS<\/b> of your product. There is a distinct difference.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Even if you think you know all the benefits inside and out, it\u2019s an excellent use of your time to sit down and list out those benefits.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Logic<\/span><\/i> is easy. You can, no doubt, make very good arguments about why your product is the best on the market and the obvious choice for everyone in your industry. But people buy, primarily, through <\/span>emotion<\/span><\/i>. So, in many ways, benefits are even more important than features.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Take time to properly brainstorm every benefit that you can think of and really stretch your imagination to capture ideas that you may not have previously considered.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \"YourThen go even further and start listing out the benefits<\/i> of the benefits<\/i>.<\/p>\n

    For example, if a key benefit of your product is that it improves your golf swing, the <\/span>benefits<\/span><\/i> of the <\/span>benefit<\/span><\/i> are things like\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n