September, 2014
This month I want to share an instructive case history with you. Stick with me from top to bottom. I think you'll find this interesting! . . .
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In July, 2010 I got a call from a gentleman named Murray Bradford.
Murray, it turned out, was a highly-respected CPA and the nation's pre-eminent expert on tax-reduction strategies. He was also the editor and publisher of the Tax Reduction Letter - a monthly e-newsletter that showed business-owners how to cut their tax bills by taking all kinds of completely legal deductions.
(By the way, if you want to see the landing page I wrote for Murray and learn more about his Tax Reduction Letter, CLICK HERE.)
Murray went on to tell me that every month he sent a series of emails to a list of prospects, encouraging them to read his latest article at no charge. In other words, this was a typical no-risk, read-before-you-buy, "free trial" offer. And frankly, the number of free trials Murray was generating was not so hot.
601 free trials in July
522 free trials in August
Murray asked if I thought I could get better results for him and I quickly said "yes."
Why was I so confident? Because I could see at a glance that some serious errors were being made and that I could correct them.
Well, take a look at Murray's August, 2010 issue . . .
CLICK HERE TO SEE THE WHOLE EMAIL
As you can see:
1. There's no masthead. The copy just starts off out of the blue with no set-up. The reader is immediately dropped right into the complicated first sentence!
2. The first clickable link doesn't take prospects to the free article. This first (non-relevant) link takes them away from the link they need to click on!
3. The real offer is buried four paragraphs below. A huge problem!
4. The word "FREE" is never used until the last sentence. A big mistake!
5. The copy is flat, technical, and, frankly, hard to wade through
So I worked on the next two issues of the Tax Reduction Report and fixed these mistakes plus a bunch of others.
The result? I took the free-trial rate from . . .
601 free trials in July
522 free trials in August
to . . .
1,608 free trials in September
1,932 free trials in October
Take a look at the Ivanized October version of the Tax Reduction Report that beat Murray's control by nearly 400%.
CLICK HERE TO SEE THE WHOLE EMAIL
Okay. So why am I telling you this story?
Well, first of all I want to blow my own horn a bit and highlight the kind of results I often get for my clients. But also, I want to show you that it's possible, by going back to basics and doing things right, to dramatically improve your click-through results.
I want to inspire you to make every email you send out, every sales letter, every landing page, the best that it can be. When you do, you'll put many extra dollars in your pocket.
By the way, after working on that first project, Murray sent me this kind note:
"Ivan, I expected you to improve the response rates on our Tax Reduction Letter 'free trial' email offers. However, I never ever thought you'd instantly get us 400% more free trials! The conversion rate to paid subscribers has been incredible too. Where have you been all my life?!"
It was great working with Murray in 2010 and I'm still working with him today.
Now I want to make some money for you.
Let's talk soon!
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