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Sizzle or Steak
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Have you heard the expression ‘sell the sizzle, not the steak’ Reader? Or ‘focus on the benefits, not the features’? In 15+ years writing online sales copy for other people’s businesses, I have heard those two a LOT. From clients. From other copywriters. From business/marketing coaches who mean well, and are trying to improve a sales page they’re critiquing. But, in my opinion, if you’re selling an online service, coaching, group program, course or similar, it’s really crap advice. ‘Sell the sizzle not the steak’ is a quote from Elmer Wheeler’s book, Tested Sentences that Sell. It was written, almost 100 years ago, to help people selling physical products door-to-door that the buyer could see and touch. You are selling an invisible, intangible concept over the Internet. Before the buyer believes you can deliver the transformation, they first need to understand what they’re going to get for their money. So yes, you do need to communicate the transformation. And also explain how that transformation is achieved. Explain the Features as well as the benefits. Outline how the buyer will use those features to get to the promised outcome. Share testimonials from previous buyers. Make your invisible, intangible offer as real as you possibly can. For a deeper dive - on why focusing heavily on selling the transformation isn’t great for your longer-term buyer-customer relationship, and how to sell in a more balanced way instead, here’s my new blog post Sell The Sizzle: How to communicate the ‘transformation’ on your sales page without sounding spammy |
The Comfy Business Newsletter | Laura
Join thousands of readers building a business that works around Life Stuff (like chronic physical or mental health conditions, recovery from big life events, caring responsibilities). I send two-ish emails each week, to help you enjoy a more comfy business and life.
Is there something you want to do, that feels a bit big and scary Reader? For two years I’ve wanted to replace the drawings on my website (bought from Creative Market) with drawings I made myself. This quest has rewarded me with many excellent side benefits. It was a marvellous excuse to buy an iPad. ✅ I get to look cool and artsy when I whip out my iPad and fancy pencil and start drawing in public. ✅ I have something I can do in the board games cafe while waiting for Son#2 to finish playing...
⏱️ 30-second version I stopped using Zoom because it couldn't listen, concentrate and sit still at the same time, and life was great. Then I reintroduced it because - well I don't even know. I've re-stopped using Zoom and by suiting myself I'm able to do my best work. If there's something a bit crappy that you don't love about your business right now, how can you change it to work better for you and your clients? Is there something you do for your business on the regular that you’d really...
A few weeks ago I visited a sales page for a course I was a little bit interested in buying, and after getting 50% of the way through the text I felt like I’d been poked in the eye with the ‘actually’ stick 100 times. I checked – it was on the page 14 times. On a page of around 1,000 words, the word ‘actually’ appeared FOURTEEN times. FOURTEEN!!!! 1% of the words on the sales page were ‘actually’. I did not buy the thing. I closed the page, took some calming breaths, and channelled my...