By the end of this page, you can build a short sales page that still has all three layers:
- A Know layer so buyers grasp the product fast.
- A Trust layer so they see proof.
- A Love layer so they meet the person who made it.
Buyers who come from the content funnel are ready to buy, so the page only needs to be short.
This page is for people who run a business alone, have one product and need a page to sell it, even with no buyers yet. If you still wonder whether the page should be long or short, read Long or short sales page first. The Love post that comes before the sales page is a different piece of writing, covered in The Love stage.
What do you need to prepare to build a sales page?
- One product name. Choose a name that does not exist on the market yet, the way you would choose an ID for your own account, so buyers can remember it and get to know your product.
- The core message of the product, one line: who it is for, what result, and by which solution. How to make it is in Create a core message.
- One cover image for the product, or a video of you talking about it. If you have not shot a video yet, make the image first.
- Proof. The results of buyers who used the product, or your own results when you have no buyers yet.
- A new page in your page builder.
Build the three-layer sales page
The page follows the same order the reader walks: know what the product is, then trust, then love. Each layer is one short passage.
Build the Know layer: name, core message, image, three features
The Know layer lets buyers grasp the product very fast, so it has few lines. The first line is the product name, and it tells buyers at once what this is, with no riddles: a course is a course, a book is a book, a toolkit is a toolkit, a service is a service.
The second line is the core message: who the product is for, what the result is, and which of your solutions it rests on. Below that comes the cover image, and once you have shot a video, swap the image for the video of you talking about the product.
At the end of the layer, pull out the main features you care about most, as short as you can: one or two features is fine, about three is best. This is not the place for long writing. You will see that a stranger reads this layer in a few seconds and understands what you sell and to whom.
Build the Trust layer: proof from buyers or from yourself
Buyers trust you when they see who has used the product and what their results were. If you have buyers, tell their stories: how they used it and what they got. If you have none, you are the first user: tell the story of how you made the product from your own case, and the result it gave you.
Proof, yours or a buyer’s, is a story, not a list of features. After a while of selling, collect feedback from buyers and put it in place of your own story. You will have a Trust layer that tells one to a few stories with results.
Build the Love layer: a note from the maker
Buyers love the person who made the product, not the product itself. The Love layer is a personal note: how you shaped the product, its history, who created it, the care you put in and what you hope for, and how long it took you to make it. End with a promise for the future: what you will update, which way you will grow it, and how you will keep it unique.
Keep the note short, because buyers have already read the Love post before they get here. You will see the page end with a person, then the pay button.
How do you know the sales page is enough?
- Read the name and the second line. Do buyers understand at once what you sell and to whom? If they must read it twice, the name is a riddle or the second line says more than three things.
- Is each layer still short? If a layer grows long, you are writing content instead of building a page. Content belongs in Know posts, Trust posts and the Love post.
- Does the Trust layer have a specific result? If it only has general praise, replace it with a story with a result, from a buyer or from you.
- Does the Love layer have a person in it? In Cuong’s words, if you get the Love part right, the page converts very well, and the page only needs to be this short.
If the sales page does not work as hoped
The page grew long because you wanted to persuade
A long page is usually the mistake of not compressing: you spill out all the information and make buyers read and understand it themselves. Rewrite it as a short page by only cutting, never adding. Buyers who came through the funnel do not need to be persuaded again, and telling stories of other buyers or repeating features to them is repeating yourself and adds noise.
You have no buyers to use as proof
People who run a business alone usually sell something they have used themselves. You are the first user: tell the result the product gave you. That is valid proof until buyers give feedback.
You cannot shoot a video yet
Use a cover image that describes the product so it is easy to understand. Once the video is shot, swap the image for the video, because Cuong recommends having a video of you talking about the product.
Read next
The Idea - Write - Edit process
Idea - Write - Edit is three steps to publish a post, where you lock the outline, write in one go, then only cut, each step with its own stop.
The Idea step
The Idea step goes from a one-line topic to a locked outline, the script of the post, so ideas come first and decide most of its success.
The Write step
The Write step pours all you know about each idea into a rough draft, and talking to write from guiding questions ends both dread and blanks.