Breaking Down How Multi-Million Dollar Offers Are Made
— By Analysing Successful Financial Promotions
I’ve been regularly analyzing financial promotions for the past month to better understand how the sales copy works.
And during all of that, I’ve been trying to identify patterns and repeating elements to make my writing easier and more effective.
It’s been kinda fun for a nerd like me. And it’s safe to say I’ve learnt a lot already.
There are absolutely common patterns. Ones that keep cropping up. And I’d say it’s also safe to say that they’re in there because they work.
I’ll be going over those today.
Because by better understanding what works in the most lucrative copywriting industry in the world…
I think we can all get a better insight into what works and what doesn’t. And put those “what works” into action to sell a few more of our things.
Wouldn’t that be nice??
I’m glad we agree.
Anyway.
One of the most consistent of all these “patterns” is the offer. And how the offer is presented.
In a second I’m going to run through everything I’ve found so far. Every money-making element. Every trick I’ve uncovered.
All so you can use and abuse them to get your cash register ringing. Without having to rack your head wondering what it is you need to say...
First though, we should go over why we sell offers. And more importantly why…
People don’t buy products.
I can’t remember where I heard this first, so I can’t give credit to anyone in particular.
But when I did it changed my perspective on copy entirely.
People don’t buy products. They buy your offer. The results you’re promising.
If that’s new to you, it may be confusing.
So to clear things up, here’s what I mean.
Suppose you’re looking to buy a new suit. There are plenty to choose from.
Do you truly care for the material of the jacket? The stitching they’ve used to piece it together? The exact length of the arms and fold in the lapels?
Or do you care about how it makes you feel when you put it on? How god-damn good you look when you step in front of the mirror? Maybe the thought of how others will perceive you as a f*ckin boss whilst you wear it? How that might have women looking at you. Admiring you. Wanting you.
I’d argue it’s the latter that really moves the needle for you. And if the price is right you’ll even tell yourself it’s a “bargain”
If that doesn’t make sense, here’s a more well-known way of putting it:
“Nobody buys a drill, they buy a hole in the wall”
The “hole in the wall” in selling is your offer.
The drill? That’s the service, course or whatever you want to sell. That’s your product.
Why?
Well, think about this…
Does anyone you know wake up in the middle of the night a proclaim “Good Lord above, I must have me a financial newsletter subscription?!?”
No. (Unless that’s their thing of course…)
But if the tax man is hunting them down or retirement is fast approaching, I bet there’s plenty of people who lie awake wondering where they can get more money from…
Now say you show that person a way to make serious cash. An investment that’s set to explode.
Due to this single tech stock at the heart of a $17 trillion dollar revolution, primed to skyrocket the moment a new law transport law comes into place.
Its reach is bigger than Apple, Google, Netflix, Tesla and Amazon combined. It touches nearly everything we do in this modern economy.
Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Peter Theil…they’ve already thrown their money into this company. Nobody is selling their shares. It’s the biggest investment play of this century.
And in your free report, you’re going to show them exactly how to get in.
It takes less than 5 minutes of their time and their in. On the ground floor on one of the greatest investment opportunities of a lifetime.
Best of all, they only need $15 to get started…
Yet the upside will easily seem them pocket10x, 20x returns. Allowing them to cast away their worries and retire in absolute peace.
They’ll get all of that when they agree to try a year of your financial newsletter service for just $49.
…
Obviously, that’s all made up and over exaggerated. But can you see why that might sell more?
You’re not selling the product. The newsletter.
You’re offering them an opportunity of a lifetime. Something that will melt away their problems.
For a price that’s a steal.
That’s why people buy offers. Because they appeal to exactly what the prospect wants.
The financial publication sets their offers out a particular and effective manner. To maximise their ability to sell.
That manner is what I’m going to try and go over as I show you…
How Multi-million Dollar Financial Publishers Present Their Offers.
Now, I definitely need to preface this with a word of warning.
Unless your prospect is chomping at the bit for your offer, then presenting this straight away won’t work.
The Financial Publications market is VERY competitive. People are sceptical. And because of that, a lot of legwork is done before the prospect even sees the offer to get them in a buying frame of mind.
That involves building desire. Handling objections and using proof.
We’re not going into that here. (I’ve gone further into objections here if you’re interested)
Something I will touch on though…
The Pre-Offer Ramp Up
A lot of the sales letters I’ve gone through seem to do this.
And with good reason.
It starts nudging the reader into action. Getting them into a state of mind where they need to make a decision.
As I mentioned a lot of the copy prior to the offer builds desire and handles objections…but little scarcity or urgency is used.
I think this works to keep the reader engaged and stops them thinking “I’m being sold to here…”
But at this point in the copy, right before the offer is dropped, the copywriter really kicks it up a gear.
Now it’s all about how this is going to happen fast. How the reader will miss out on the opportunity they’ve fallen deeper and deeper into on their way down the selling message.
Here’s an example:
Prior to all of his, the copywriter revealed a huge opportunity in America that will trigger when 1 law changes, legalising marijuana in America. And how this one, under-the-radar, company is set to take the lion’s share.
They presented all the data. All the proof. Explained why one company would take it all in an instant. And how you could set yourself up for 2,149% gains by getting in on the ground floor! That’s $10,000 turned into $249,000 in just a few short months!
The reader at this point is salivating. They need to know what this stock is at get involved ASAP. It’s the opportunity of a lifetime.
Then the copywriter drops this in front of them:
“It’s going to happen. You need to act now”.
This kicks the reader into overdrive.
If they want the info, they’re now racing to understand. FOMO (fear-of-missing-out) kicks in. They don’t want to miss out.
This happens a lot. Copywriter’s turn up the heat before the offer. And it’s understandable why it works.
OK. Next up…
How Offers Are Presented
Cutting straight to it.
Offers in financial promotions are generally presented as access to information. Information that tells the reader exactly how to get in on the money-making opportunity just described.
And this is important.
Because like we said above, nobody wants to buy a report. Or a newsletter. Or subscription. They want a way to make more money. To solve their problems or whatever it is they want.
Now the information comes in the form of a report. The report can be called many things. Dossier. Debrief. Detail. Anything beginning with ‘D’ (that’s a joke. A bad one. You can call it whatever fits). But it’s almost always a report on its own.
Getting access to this report is a bribe for signing up to an annual subscription.
The annual subscription is the product the financial publisher is wants to be purchased. But what they sell is the offer.
I hope that’s clear. As it’s important. Selling the reader on the offer. To get the prospect to purchase the product. Got it? Ok. Good. Let’s keep going.
There’s a lot that comes with an offer. Bonuses. Price stacking. Opportunity stacking…
But first, let me touch on…
How Offers Are Described
Reviewing offers how offers are described, I’ve found they all seem to keep one thing in common.
They never talk about the page to page contents.
Nothing like “you’ll find this in chapter 1” or “neat trick for investing in chapter 3”.
Instead, the copywriters talk about what the prospect wants to hear.
That they’re going to get access to a fast-moving stock, the exact symbol. How high it’s going to go. Any special requirements for getting in the opportunity.
Everything they need to know to profit off the opportunity they’ve been sold.
Nothing more. About the product.
But then straight back into the opportunities key points. How big it’s going to be. How fast it’s going to happen. Summary of the proof behind it…
Keeping the prospect in the buying state of mind.
Not weighing them down in the minutia of “what’s in the product”.
One of the clearest examples I’ve seen is the “#1 Pot Stock” Promo from Oxford Club
Here’s a snippet of the offer.
Take note on how they briefly touch on what’s in the report before pulling them right back into the opportunity.
That’ll do for how the offer’s described.
Let’s get into the real deal…
The Bonuses
Most of what I’ll talk about here is from a fantastic lesson on creating irresistible offers by Kyle Milligan and Jake Hoffberg.
It’s around 20+ mins and I’ll be summarising it here, but if you’re interested, you can watch it here(I wholeheartedly recommend you do!): LINK
You’re still here?
Awesome.
So here’s the thing about bonuses.
They’re all about increasing the pain of not buying whilst decreasing the pain of buying.
Remember that sentence as you’ll need it!
Here something that might help keep it in your noggin.
(I drew this whilst taking notes. I know it looks like the work of a five-year-old, so no need to tell me…)
All you do is pull on those emotional levers and the sale is made!
Kind of.
Basically, we want to make it agony for the prospect to walk away from this thing, whilst also making it feel like the perfect thing to do when they click to buy.
Bonuses help a lot when it comes to achieving both.
Financial copy appears to use a different type of bonus depending on what “lever” you’re trying to pull
Types of Bonuses
Bonuses can either:
- Help handle objections and reduce risk (reduce the pain of buying).
- Increase opportunity and give the perception of accelerated results (increase the pain of NOT buying).
Let’s go over the objection handling ones first…
Bonuses to handle objections
Like I said in my objections article, where I gave a list of the most common objections found in financial promotions, objections vary from market to market.
You never know what you need to handle.
Some though, are best handled with a bonus.
When it comes to these, they usually handle some form of insecurity of experience/knowledge/ability or future problem.
So for example, if the prospect is insecure about not knowing how to trade options, then you could offer an options trading mini-course as a bonus.
Maybe once they start to experience the boatload of cash gains you’re going to provide them they’ll need to learn to handle taxes. You could include a course around this too. Or connect them with your top accountant.
Whatever they may be, they always seem to be small packaged solutions to specific insecurities or future problems.
And they’re done to help reduce the risk of buying in the mind of the prospect.
Bonuses to Increase the Opportunity
These are everywhere in the financial copy world. Especially in front end promotions.
And they included something known as an “Opportunity Stacking”.
This is were the copywriter presents the prospect with multiple money making opportunities. Not just the one they’ve been selling up until this point.
This is done to nearly kill the prospect with FOMO (fear of missing out). The copywriter is trying to stack the deck so heavily in the favour or buy they prospect has to say yes.
Here’s a few examples:
Remember these are bonuses. They are not the main opportunity being sold.
Yet notice how they all lay on even more big money making opportunities. Making the reader feel like they’re truly missing out if they don’t take up the opportunity.
All so the prospect feels the pain of not buying.
I feel that’s fairly straightforward.
Let’s move on.
Price Presentation
Every promotion I have come across employs some form of discount.
So I’m going to go out on a limb and say that discounts are important.
And its probably makes the offer seem like an even better deal…
But that’s only when it can be compared against something.
Put another way, it doesn’t matter if your offer is only $29 if the prospect has nothing to compare it against.
And in the financial writing space, these offers and opportunities are pretty unique. So drawing a comparison can be tough.
That’s why copywriters employ a price stack/ price presentation.
After talking about their report. They assign a value to it (and generally remind the reader how they’ve proven the money you the prospect could make with it is astronomical).
Same goes with the bonuses. They’re assigned a price too.
Then finally, before the total price of the report + the bonuses, they remind you of the total value you’re going to receive in a price stack.
Here’s a picture from the #1 Pot stock as an example.
Then they’ll remind you of what you get when you sign up to a year of the subscription (remember this is the product they actually want you to buy!)…
And generally, remind you again of how much you stand to make of the main opportunity. Maybe an Apples to Oranges comparison.
Before finally showing you a discounted price. Usually under $99.
That’s a pretty fly-by description of how that works. You can get a more thorough description here: LINK
Next up…
Closing the sale
This is very standard sales closing techniques here, so I won’t dive into detail. A quick google will explain this far better than I will.
That said, here’s how things generally go…
The key points of the offer are often repeated. Often with key sales arguments. Focusing on how much money they can make. How big the company is going to be etc.
Scarcity/urgency is also recapped.
I’ve seen other standard close techniques used here. Like a crossroads/ “You’ve 2 options” type close.
Also, there’s nearly always a money back guarantee too(only on front-end promotions) to remove risk. And most allow the prospect to keep the products even if they take a refund.
Some testimonials from clients for social proof/objection handling.
Followed by a summary of the opportunity one last time.
And a sign-off.
And that’s it really. Fairly straight forward stuff that I don’t feel needs special mention. Comment below or email me if you want me to go deeper on this and I’ll make some changes.
Summary
So there you have it. How offers are made in the multi-million dollar financial publication industry.
Start with some pre-offer scarcity and urgency…
Then introduce how to get in on your opportunity through your report
Which is an ethical bribe as part of an annual subscription to your newsletter…
But wait, there’s more. A lot more! Bonuses that handle objections and stack opportunity. All to increase the pain of not buying, whilst decreasing the pain of buying.
We then present the price in a way that makes the discounted price we follow with an absolute steal…
We start to close the sale with a recap of the sales letter any scarcity and urgency, presenting our guarantee (only on a low cost, front end promotion)…
Before sprinkling some client testimonials, summarizing the opportunity and signing off.
Hope this helps you with your sales letter or sparks an idea for something new in your marketing!
And if you found it useful, share it around!
All the best,
James
Find me at https://jamesjmelling.com
