You are a criminal. A scammer.

Everything you say is a lie.

Just kidding.  I don't really believe that.  But I have bad news. The people reading your sales letter do.

You could be the most upstanding, kind, gentle person in the world, but nobody will know that from your website.

Many people have been burned making purchases on the Web, and they are wary. So the burden is on you to prove that you are one of the good guys. Not always an easy task.

So you need to build credibility with them. You need to show them that you can be trusted. You need the Quantum Copywriting credibiliy boosters: 

* Empathy and Experience
* Give a Reason for Everything
* Professional Site Design
* Unbiased Reviews
* Testimonials and Social Proof
* Visual Proof
* Providing Specific Information
* Providing Samples
* Your Personal Credibility
* Comparisons against other products 



Let's run through each of these.


Empathy and experience

Empathy is the best way to gain credibility. In your copy, you need to show the reader that you've been in their shoes, or at least you understand what hey are going though.

Here's where your research on your target market will come in handy. Use the words and phases that they use to describe their problems. Think about what their lives are like (ideally, you will have experienced it yourself). Talk about the impact of those problems.

And then, tell them how the benefit of your experience helped you overcome the problem. Write your sales letter from the perspective they are currently in...and the perspective that they want to be in.

You must position yourself as just like the reader (empathy) and also as an expert (experience).


Give a Reason for Everything

One of the most powerful words in the marketer's arsenal is "because." It show that you have thought about what you are saying, and there is a reason for it. (See Robert Cialdini's book Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive for more reasons why this word is so important)

Even if you are giving stuff away for free, you still have to give a reason.

People want to know what your motives are. So tell them.

You must give a reason for...

* Writing the letter/website/whatever
* Having the product that truly solves the problem
* Charging as much as you do
* Requiring them to act immediately


Site Design

You would never think of calling on a customer in real life without combing your hair first, would you?

Without at least taking a look in the mirror to make sure you didn't have a piece of lettuce stuck between your teeth? Of course not.

You'd look like an idiot, and you'd lose the sale.

A website is your haircut, your clothing, your business card and your voice. It's the way you present yourself to the world. It should look as good as competing websites out there. It should instill confidence in the viewer.

That means that it has to look good. I am not saying you need to invest a ton of time in site design. Just buy a nice template, or download a free one (search on "open source templates" in Google and you'll find a ton of them).


Social Proof

One of the most powerful motivators is knowledge that others have made the decision you are about to make, and come out ahead.

Even better motivation is the knowledge that hundreds or thousands of others have made the same decision. That's called social proof.

If you can show your reader how many other satisfied customers you have, and bring those people to life for your reader, you will build trust.

You might think that readers will just look at those testimonials and think "Well, of course they are saying great things...nobody would post testimonials that say bad things!" Well, that is true, to a degree.

But there's a reason that so many sales letters feature testimonials from satisfied customers. Because they work.

When you make a sale, ask your customers for their honest comments about your product. If they have something favorable to say, ask if you could use their words. Maybe offer a freebie or discounted product in return.

You might be surprised at the effect posting those testimonials will have on your sales. Try to get a bunch of testimonials, then pick the best one. In fact, a great way to start a sales letter is to lead with a powerful testimonial that describes some benefit of your product.

If you are just starting out, you might do a "beta test" of your product in which you give away a preview version in order to gather testimonials.


Reviews

If you can get your product reviewed by a third party, putting an excerpt from the review can really help. The more respected the reviewer, the higher your credibility will go.

Now, this works well with software products, because there are many places you can submit them for reviews. But even if you have a product in some other niche, you can still find places to review it. Try bloggers. Send them a copy of your e-book or a sample of your product, and see what they say.


Visual Proof

This means photos, videos, or screenshots of the product. It also means showing the effect of using the product (you know, the old before-and-after photos of the skinny person holding up their old pair of wide-bottom jeans).

If you are selling a money-making program, try showing screenshots of your income statement or Paypal account.

A picture is worth a thousand words. So a handful of well-selected photos can be a more powerful sales tool than paragraphs of seductive words.


Provide Specific Information

Don't be vague. Don't use words that people don't understand. Explain in simple, straightforward language what your product is, and what it does.

Explain as openly and clearly as possible (without giving away any secrets, of course), how and why your product does what it does.

Tell them exactly what they will get when they order, and what will show up on their credit card statement.

Being specific will build credibility because it will help the audience understand that you are serious, and that your product is real.

And it will help avoid surprises when the customer receives the product, which will reduce the chance they might return it.


Comparisons Against Other Products

Every product has competitors. Your readers know this, and if they have any interest at all in your product, they will probably do some research on those competitors. They'll compare features and prices. So why not help them out?

Do the research for them. Provide a list of competing products. Then for each one, show how your product is better.

Or you could put up a grid of products and features, with a checkmark indicating which products have each feature.

And of course, your product will have more check marks than the others.


Your Personal Integrity

Even in the age of internet celebrities, personal integrity counts for a lot. Maybe even more than in the past.

If you have personal certifications, awards, degrees, or anything else that shows that you know what you're talking about, then tell your customers about it.

Have you spoken in front of some important organization? Have you been on TV, or in the paper? Tell them! It establishes you as an expert.

And if you have a business phone and street address that you are not afraid to put on the internet, then put that in your sales letter (but watch out - you could get A LOT of calls).


Use True Statements

Joe Vitale, one of the top copywriters in the business, recommends peppering your copy with statements that your readers already know are true.

That will creates sense the rest of your copy is also accurate Some examples:  

* You probably know ...
* Youre intelligent enought to know ...
* Of course youve heard that ...
* Everyone knows ...
* You probably already know this ...
* Rare thinking people like you already know that ...



Alright, that's my lesson on credibility boosters. As you plan your copy, make a list of the credibiliy boosters that you can build into your own copy. Are you going to put them to work? I know you will...I trust you :)