Month: March 2016

This week I’m looking at Matt’s website hellobonsai.com He’s a Y-Combinator start-up, helping freelancers get paid faster, with less stress along the way. Some people like to call these teardowns. But I’m not a big fan of the term. The people who ask for my feedback are smart and willing to share with the community. I really respect what they’re doing and I’m here to support them. So, I much prefer the term “tune-up”. Let’s dive in and see what we can all learn.

1. Leading with the problem often commands more attention.

So, I land on the home page and I’m greeted with the standard summary of “what we do” comprising a headline and sub-header.

Peace of mind for freelancers
Bulletproof contracts, e-signing, & integrated payments.
Get peace of mind & get on with your work.

It’s not bad, it’s identifying the target market. And it’s telling me that I can find help with contracts, payment tools and “peace of mind”. It all sounds very pleasant.

This initial description of “what you do” and “where your value lies” is critical. And it’s really a boiled down version of your overall sales pitch. So, every word counts. Here’s how I’d start testing alternatives for more effectiveness…

First of all, it often helps to start with the problem, not the solution. There’s a reason people are reading your pitch in the first place. They have a problem and they’re hunting for a solution.

People who don’t have problems. The guys who are already “getting on with their work” and loving life. Those guys aren’t the ones reading your pitch.

It’s the people who are suffering the most, who are going to invest time in learning about your offer. So, speak to their pain. Show them that you understand their problems. Identify the issues that will naturally grab their attention. Only after you have their attention and you’ve shown them your solution, does it make sense to paint a picture of that “better life” they’re going to be living.

Right now, the thing you’re highlighting is really a features list – contracts, e-signing, payments. The interesting thing is, deeper down in this site, you already have all the copy that you need to grab your reader’s attention. It’s really all about leading with the copy that triggers those emotions.

Ponder that word – emotion. Feelings that create motion. Ideas that make us move. Action triggers. Some psychologists have said that there’s ultimately only one emotion – excitement. When faced with a problem we are unable to solve, our brain supports us with “excitement” in the form of specific emotions. Those emotions temporarily shore up our lack of skill and help us solve the problem.

That “excitement” is what sends us looking for solutions. Our brain becomes hyperactive. In that state, what we’re really looking for is someone we can relate to, another human being just like us. Someone holding up a sign saying “I had this problem, I’m just like you, here’s how I solved it.”

If I scroll down the page, just below the fold on my screen, I see a sub-header with far more emotional impact. But because of its position, color and place in the hierarchy, it’s getting far less attention…

Freelancers get paid an average of 13 days faster,
and have 3x fewer late payments with Bonsai.

This is a much more powerful approach. And one I’d try leading with. Notice how the attention is now far more balanced between problem (Late payments) and solution (Get paid 13 days faster). This will get the attention of freelancers, who are in that “excited” state of “trying to solve their payment problems” more than the current headline.

Action: Don’t be afraid to lead with the problem. Don’t be afraid to be negative. Customers who act are usually in an emotional state. They have a problem and they’re looking for someone who clearly understands it, before they will believe you have a viable solution.

2. The smaller the site, the easier it is to create a sense of flow and maintain attention.

I think when we’re designing home pages, there’s an unspoken pressure to give an overview of everything we do. In the corporate world, it often results in political battles and ineffective designs. But for a start-up, we really don’t need to treat the home page like it’s disconnected from the rest of the site. In this particular case, when a company has a single well-defined product, you don’t need a “home page pitch” and then “another pitch” somewhere else. It actually confuses your reader and makes it harder to understand what you’re all about.

I mentioned in last week’s openlistings.com tune-up, that some of the pitch pages were redundant and could be consolidated. And the same applies here.

A marketing website is essentially just a sales pitch. And a sales pitch is just a persuasive conversation. Many sites would be improved if they started life as a single page. One page. With a clear, flowing and deepening pitch. And when you’ve nailed your pitch, when you really understand what motivates your customers to act (which can take anything from months to years) only then do you split it up over several pages. If you really must.

In this case, on the home page, we have a 4 point illustrated rundown of the tools that Bonsai offers. 3 of those points link to a secondary page, which is almost identical to the homepage. But it actually has more compelling copy and highlights the price in a much clearer way.

One of those pages is unnecessary, and should be consolidated. I’d be laying out the whole pitch on the home page. Or, even better, start with a video run-through of the concept (see Basecamp’s simple video walk-through) and then continue with a more detailed and illustrated, written version of the pitch.

Action: It’s hard enough for people to understand the basics, don’t make them work for it. Consolidate where ever possible.

3. Feel the power of the face.

People who excel with technical information, often see the world in a different way than people who excel at human empathy and social interaction.

In general, our brains are highly attuned to the faces (and especially the eyes) of every human being around us. But the more technical our focus, the more we tend to shy away from that human connection that comes from eye contact.

There’s no right or wrong here, we’re all somewhere on the imaginary scale. And we likely go up and down it, depending on the situation and our mood. But when it comes to a marketing website, especially if you’re a technical company, it pays to compensate for what may well be a natural tendency to be less attuned to human faces.

In this case, it’s great to see an attempt to show that human life does exist. Especially with testimonials on most pages. And I love that they’re linked to real Twitter accounts. Well done. But it feels like the intention is being stifled somewhat. The result is “tiny-face-itus”. Where headshots of real humans are used, but they’ve been shrunk down to the size of an atom. 🙂

Action: Action: The cure for this is simple. Expand the heads. Zoom in. Let’s see those real people, with real smiles and real eyes. The audience will have a much easier time connecting your technical solution to their very real human problems, when they can better see that real people are telling the story.

4. Move from abstractions to individuals.

Continuing this theme of focusing on people, let’s look at another part of the homepage. You’ve got a section that lists the type of niche’s you’re trying to target…

Designers, Photographers, Writers, Developers, Videographers, Other contractors.

This is a real opportunity to connect with those people individually. It won’t ever be a category of “other contractors” who signs up to your service and becomes a loyal customer. It will be an individual. And individuals don’t see themselves as categories.

They do feel part of communities. And they do relate to community norms. But they also like to think of themselves as unique individuals.

So, if you want to get the attention of a designer, then show me a designer I can relate to. If you want to get the attention of a photographer, show me a human with a camera. What gets my attention as a human being is “people like me”.

Action: Showing real people, who represent the individuals you want to do business with, helps people feel like you “see them” and you “understand their specific problems”.

5. Connect with those communities.

This idea of a “people first approach” can add life to every part of a website. Overall, this website is already operating at quite a high level, you’re doing a lot of stuff right. But despite having a couple of useful tools which technically do connect you to the outside, it feels very isolated. It feels disconnected from the rest of the world.

Let’s go back to the various niche’s we want to attract – Designers, Writers, Developers etc.

Not only can we show “people like us” from those communities, but we should show thought leaders, press members, industry icons and heroes from those communities. There should be a feeling of flow and connection between our site and the communities we serve. A web of ingoing and outgoing links, stories, interviews and opinions.

For example, right here on this site, as well as connecting with various communities through these tune-ups, we also have interesting conversations with people like Mark Cuban, Seth Godin, Laura Roeder and many others.

Every website should feel like an established part of the community it wants to serve.

Often, the blog is the place where a lot of these connections are created. But they shouldn’t be limited to the blog. Listing all your press mentions (with links) helps create that sense of belonging to the industry you’re a part of. And having industry thought leaders say good things about you, will work just about anywhere.

Let’s look at the blog posts for a moment. And consider the challenges we face there. Right now we have some promising headlines that seem to fit the market you’re targeting.

Should freelancers ever work for free?
Avoiding isolation as a freelancer.
3 ways to manage your time as a freelancer.

These could all be valuable and useful topics for your target customers. But if you’re using content marketing you have to go all in. First of all, doing an average post isn’t ever going to be enough. It won’t be seen, it won’t be shared, it won’t generate SEO or links, it won’t serve its intended purpose.

You have to create the best post ever on the topic you’re covering. You’re better creating 4 epic posts a year than 52 average ones. Then promoting the heck out of those posts in the appropriate communities.

And having a post that is super well defined will always help it spread through a community. “Freelancers” are a category but not really a community. “Freelance developers” is getting closer. “Freelance developers in San Francisco” is even closer to a real community. People who live a shared experience and talk about things they value, with people they trust.

Consider the difference between these two headlines…

1. Should freelancers ever work for free?

or

2. “I’m a freelance developer who’s just arrived in San Francisco, should I work for free to get my foot in the door?”

Here’s another…

1. Avoiding isolation as a freelancer.

or

2. How to avoid insanity if you’re a Mom, and a Writer, who works from home.

And another…

1. 3 ways to manage your time as a freelancer.

or

2. 3 ways to get paid faster, if you’d rather do your Art than chase invoices.

I just quickly made those up off the top of my head. But I hope you can see the pattern. Generic vs specific. Category vs community or individual.

None of us wants generic advice. We want specific, tailored empathy from someone who knows our unique problems and talks directly to them. Now, the beauty of this approach is, you can write one really good post about isolation, or time management or whatever, and then adapt that core idea to multiple, specific niche’s. But each has to be given the care and attention and thought, as if it were written only for them.

In this way, you can start to really connect with these communities. The flow of links will start to grow. You’ll be seen as the perfect solution to their problems. And you’ll also be viewed as a member of their tribe. This is when people start to share your content and talk about you. When your advice genuinely helps the tribe live better lives.

Action: Ditch generic categories in favor of specific communities. Connect with thought leaders and heroes. Show the human beings in those tribes. Create fantastic content that’s tailored to smaller groups.

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6. Remember that pitching to consumers isn’t the same as pitching to a VC.

When you’re starting out, getting your pitch right can be a complex process. It’s complex because you’re still trying to make sense of your product yourself. And you’re trying to explain your idea to people from all walks of life.

On the “About” page, I came across this mini version of the pitch…

Great freelancers aren’t necessarily the best designers or developers. They’re great business people. We realized those business skills can be embedded in software, and thus Bonsai was born.

That’s pretty much all you say about your company and team. (Which is a missed opportunity in itself). Who are the people behind this, what are their human likes and interests. What is your personal origin story? What is your connection to freelancing?

But aside from that, the one thing you are saying, sounds like a pitch you’d use to explain your service to a VC. Someone who is OUTSIDE of the market and OUTSIDE of experiencing the pain you’re trying to solve.

But just a few lines down from this abstract pitch, I found a link to a job vacancy. In that vacancy you actually explain the problem you’re trying to solve better than anywhere else on the website. You say…

50%+ of freelancers are paid late or not at all, and this causes them to be late on rent, credit card bills, and worse.

That line, hidden away on a job description would be better as a headline on the homepage. It speaks directly to the pain your customers will be feeling and how that pain can get worse when the problem is left unsolved.

Now, all you have to do is make that pain personal. Don’t talk in a detached voice, to an abstract category. Talk in a personal voice to the one person who will be reading your copy.

1. 50%+ of freelancers are paid late or not at all (Impersonal, detached, may or may not relate.)

becomes

2. “As a freelance developer you already know that half the time you end up getting paid late, or not at all…” (Personal, specific, they’ll feel this more.)

Action: Go through each page and ask yourself “Am I speaking directly to my intended customer right now?” And then be as direct and specific as you can in each instance.

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Summary

I could go on, but that’s all I have time for this week. These guys are doing a great job. The overall pitch and concept appears sound. They just have to turn up the personal, emotional appeal. Not be afraid to highlight the pain at each point in the pitch.

Then it’s all about bringing in and showing real humans from the communities they want to connect with. Heroes, authorities, press and real representative users. The site should feel alive, flowing in and out of the extended communities. At the center of it all, is not the technology, but the customer.

If you got value from this post we’d love to hear from you. And you can apply for your own website marketing tune-up here. Until next week, stay the course, see it through, make your mark!

I’m doing a marketing tune-up on Peter’s website openlistings.com It’s a real estate company, that uses technology to cut out the middleman and save you money. Hire them to buy a house for you, and they’ll refund you half of their commission. These guys are doing a pretty good job, so this one is going to be about the details. Let’s dive in and see what we can learn…

“All we do is test and build”

Even before we look at the site, I have to give Peter props. When people apply for a tune-up, there’s a short form. One of the things I ask people is – “Are you willing to test my ideas?” It’s a simple enough question, designed to set up the right expectations. This is for doers, not dreamers.

Of course everyone says yes, whether they actually do end up testing my feedback or not. But the interesting question is – why would people ever not test professional feedback? Especially if they’re not getting the results they want?

I’ll tell you why. It’s because there’s a whole part of our personality completely devoted to protecting our identity, our beliefs, and the decisions we’ve already made. It’s fundamental to who we are as a species.

So, even if we’re struggling to solve a problem, more often than not, we stick with our previous decisions. We do the same thing over and over and blame the rest of the world for not falling into line with our genius.

The human brain has this amazing capacity to make whatever we think seem “logical”, at least to us. We believe all sorts of things that Spock would raise an already raised eyebrow at.

This way of protecting our self image is at work every day. In our interactions with the world. In the products we create. And in our promotion decisions.

We trick ourselves that there is “one true solution”. The logical answer. And we put all our chips on the table, praying that our genius will be validated. Or, we play “dippy toe in the water”. Where we execute (sometimes a good idea) with so little tenacity or promotion that no one ever gets a chance to see it or act on it.

So, what I love about Peter’s application today is that when I asked him if he was willing to test my ideas, he didn’t just say yes, he said “All we do is test and build”.

I fricking love that.

If you remember nothing else from this tune-up, remember “All we do is test and build” and go forward with the same attitude. If you do, you’ll win. But it isn’t easy. It isn’t easy because you have to let go of those bullshit ideas you’re holding onto. You have to let go of the internal “logic” of what you think you already know is true. You have to give yourself over to what actually works in the real world. You have to notice what your customers actually do, or don’t do.

If you can train yourself to do that. By starting small and building on the back of tests and experiments. While doing enough promotion to make those tests count. Then you’ll make dramatic strides forward.

Marketing isn’t about “the one true way”. Sure, there are patterns. But there are no instant wins. It isn’t a gamble. And it certainly isn’t personal.

So, let’s proceed. Like marketing Zen masters, free of attachment. And see what we can learn…

Bouncy bouncy, no catchy monkey.

We arrive on a page designed to grab our attention with just a headline, sub header and a couple of call to action buttons. There’s a giant background image to set the tone. This page is designed to look like a single page, free of distractions, so the user can focus. But it isn’t really. It’s really a long page, begging for you to scroll down and read the rest of it.

Only you can’t tell, so there’s an animated arrow bouncing up and down saying “scroll down, scroll down, scroll down, scroll down, scroll down…” It’s hard to illustrate in pure copy how annoying it is. But let me try again “scroll down, scroll down, scroll down, scroll down, scroll down…”

That animated arrow defeats the whole purpose of using this kind of focused page. It takes away all the attention from the thing you want me to focus on in the first place.

Action: Never let a website template determine the experience of your customers. Templates can be a great starting place, they can also be a huge limitation. Think about exactly how you want your user to feel at every single step of the process and ruthlessly remove anything that gets in the way.

Nail your pitch in just a couple of lines.

Let’s take a look at the copy…

In giant letters we have “Buy any home in California from your laptop” and in much smaller letters we have “And save an average of $21,482 with our 50% commission refund.”

Then we have two buttons “Browse listings” and “Create an offer”.

I don’t think you’ve sold the basic concept clearly enough yet.

I’d be testing more variations of this most basic explanation of what you do. And I’d make sure the main concept was unmissable, all contained in one line.

Something like: “Buy any home in California through us, and we’ll give you 50% of our commission.”

Then, you can put a number on that in a sub header. “Make an offer from your laptop, and get an average of $21,400. That’s free money to cover your moving expenses and help you settle in your new home.”

Now, to properly advise you on better copy I’d really want to be looking into your customers and your refunding in more detail. The most critical thing I always want to know is – what is the customer’s problem?

There are all sorts of things that a home buyer will be stressed about. The costs of moving are just one of those things. So, if your pitch is quite simply “we’ll save you money” then you want to be linking those savings to the pain that they are already feeling. Start by highlighting the costs and the inconvenience and the stress. And then serve up your solution as the ointment that’s going to make it all feel better.

From what I can tell, this is free money from a buyer’s perspective. You’re giving them a portion of your commission, money that would ordinary be taken out of the seller’s end and given to the realtor, right? It should feel like winning the lottery to the home buyer. It should wipe out all their moving worries in one smooth swipe.

Action: Spend as much time as it takes to perfect the one or two line condensed pitch that explains what you do and how you’re different. Then make sure you’re presenting that pitch in its full but condensed manner. Highlighting the problem as well as the solution. And not being limited by your template again. Template designers don’t like lots of words. Don’t suffer their bias.

The compounding effect of confusion.

Confusion is caused by just a few tiny details. But those details build and swell. And that causes our users to feel bad about their ability to understand the world. And no one likes to feel bad about themselves. So they bail.

Now, when it comes to language, there will always be regional differences. I’m from the UK and work with people all over the planet. So I come across colloquialisms all day long. But as a general rule it’s always good to question the most basic of “trade” phrases to see whether people instantly understand them.

Take the second button – “Create an offer”.

That phrase spun around in my head. What does that mean? Does it mean “Make an offer on a house?” Is that the Californian way of saying “Make an offer?” I understand “Make an offer”. But do I understand “Create an offer”.

You could say “they’re obviously the same thing you idiot”. But are they? One of those phrases I understood instantly. One of those phrases distracted my brain and caused a low level of confusion.

I watch Shark Tank, they make offers all the time. I’ve never heard Barbara say “Cuban, are you going to talk all day or create an offer?” No, she’d say, “Cuban, are you going to talk all day or make an offer?”

If it’s an isolated thing, the user might carry on. But if there’s a second, or a third thing that makes them stop and think. (And people really don’t like to think). The pressure builds up and they’ll bail. And there are lots of tiny examples throughout the site. When “Browse listings” turns into “House Hunt”. When the contact button moves from the top of the page to the bottom. When the phone number disappears. When key links get hidden behind a “menu” button. When the “one big idea” shifts in focus from page to page.

Action: Whether “create an offer” is the best way to phrase that call to action, or not, don’t be afraid to go through your copy with a fine tooth comb and ask “how can we make this sooo simple to understand, that is just slips right into the brain without resistance?”.

Talk to me.

It’s good that there’s a phone number at the top of the home page (it should also be on the rest of the site). But I don’t like that there’s a chat icon next to it, which isn’t really chat, it’s a basic contact form.

These are big ticket items here, I wouldn’t be running a site like this without a reliable live chat option. A lot of people hate the phone, but are happy with text chat. Contact forms are the worst of all worlds, they’re like a black hole for messages. There’s no record of your message, you don’t know who, if anyone is on the other end.

Action: Replace contact forms with personal emails or preferably Live chat. And be consistent on every page. So that people can contact you instantly in whatever way makes them most comfortable.

Model the media that already works.

I love that you’ve actually linked your “featured on” logo’s with the original posts and articles. It’s great for social proof and trust. Especially in an age when a lot of people just add logo’s without any real justification.

But I want everyone to click on the first link to an ABC news feature and notice the power of video. (You’ll have to wait a few seconds for the dumb ads to run, but stick with it). Just by watching the news report, I got a much better understanding of your service. As journalists, a news site knows that all stories are really stories about people and their journey through the ups and downs of life. (And their pets). They’re never really about technology, even when they are.

If you don’t yet have the resources to do a video for the home page (which I would highly recommend), then try featuring that news report instead.

Action: Go through your existing press, see if any of the media reports actually explain the product better than you do already. Especially by video. Feature one of those video reports up front, not hidden away. Or model their approach. Hire some journalism students and direct your own human interest / faux news feature.

Move the slider. Explain the “obvious”.

Watching the ABC video I also learned that the “see how much you’ll save” part of the page, is actually a slider. (Which is obvious to you, but not knuckle heads like me). All it takes is a few additional words…

“Move the slider to see how much you’ll save”

It’s also another good reason to have a video that walks people through the story and your site. I highlighted how well I think the new Basecamp marketing site executes a simple video walkthrough in a previous tune-up.

Action: Your customers aren’t designers, or coders. And they haven’t spent the months, or even years, working on your website like you have. The general principle to live by in your design is “Don’t make ’em think”.

It’s all about the feels. Lead with the human benefits, not the mechanical features.

You’ve listed “how this works” with a series of big headlines and short supporting explanations. I’d try and tighten up that copy. It reads like a features list from the perspective of a technically-minded person. But it doesn’t matter if you’re selling real estate in the middle of Silicon Valley. The people buying it will be in a far more emotionally driven frame of mind when they’re moving home. (Whether they believe that of themselves or not).

In this example you highlighted the phrase “Manage your offers online” which is really a feature…

Manage your offers online
Create offers whenever you like. You control the terms; our agents will review and present the offer to the seller, ensuring you have the best possible shot at getting it accepted. A buy button for any home in California!

I’d lead with an emotional appeal. The human benefit of those features. And avoid trying to be clever. “A buy button for any home in California” sounds cute. But cute and clever rarely convert. A far better line to highlight from that paragraph is “You control the terms” or even better “You’re in control”.

I know that “Manage your offers online” is essentially promising your user a level of control. But it’s an abstract idea to them, just like a “buy button” is an abstract idea. The less abstract we can make things, the more impact they will have. There’s nothing abstract about “You’re in control” in a situation where the user probably feels anything but.

Likewise, no one ever lay awake at night thinking “I wish I had more on-demand info and reports”.

And “Data = Confidence” is an argument you will only be able to sell to about 10% of the population. If that. The other 90% actually feel confidence when they can see and hear human beings who seem like them. So, People = Confidence is more accurate.

All that “data” actually relates to the PEOPLE your home buyers will be interested in. Their potential neighbours. The type of kids their children will go to school with. How secure they are likely to feel walking down the street of their new community.

Action: Use the data and the tools to focus on the people and the feelings. The phrases we highlight, the headlines we create should be far more emotionally direct and relevant. Only after we’ve got the lizard brain’s attention should we pull out our calculators and explain how the numbers make sense.

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Resolve incongruence around people vs technology.

There’s a feature I love on the site, when you click the “Create an offer button” we’re introduced to a real human being, with a smiling face and a name and everything! She even comes with a personal introduction. That’s exactly the kind of “peopleization” that the site needs.

But there’s also some confusion around who she is and what it means to be “your listings agent”. Your copy is trying to say “we use technology to bypass people, so you save money”. But actually, people want people to guide them through a super expensive purchase.

So, you need to really resolve this issue around how much people are going to be supported. Or not. And trust me, people want support for major purchases. I don’t care what the technology is. In an open market (monopolies etc aside), it’s the technology with the best human support that usually wins in the long run.

Action: Work out how you are going to sell the general idea of “this is about technology” vs “we have real people to help you through this major life investment”. It’s critical to the issue of trust.

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Summary

This is a tune-up requiring lots of little tweaks. Far too many to list and make sense of here. But it’s a process of re-focusing, re-framing, shifting attention from one idea, to a more appealing idea. Many of the answers, in fact most of the copy, is already in there. It’s just over shadowed by small design elements and too many attempts to sell the big idea from different angles.

I’d lose the copy on the homepage and have nothing but a video that covers the basic premise. Then, the rest of the site, should only have 3 things they can do. “Learn how it works” in more detail, “Browse Listings” and “Make an offer”.

But I think the guys behind this are on the right track. And if they can combine their focus on testing and building, with the human elements of people, their problems and their emotional drivers. Then I think they’ll work it out.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this tune-up in the comments. Until next week, stay the course, see it through, make your mark!

This week I’m looking at the new Basecamp marketing website. I love everything these guys do, there’s always a ton of great ideas to be inspired by. And when I say “inspired by”, I mean steal like a pirate. Let’s take a look and see what we can learn…

1. Know where you want to focus your customers’ attention.

Let’s start at the top. This may seem like a detail, and it is, but I see a lot of people getting this wrong. On the top line, we have a logo, product name and a set of navigation links. They are clear and visible, but they don’t take up a third of the page and scream “look at me”.

When a user lands on your site, they’re rapidly scanning to decide what they should and shouldn’t pay attention to. Far too often we try to get them to pay full attention to everything. I see it a lot with ready-made website templates. Those templates have to look good without any real content in them. So they often over-design things like navigation bars and social media buttons, to the detriment of your main content – the thing you really want to be drawing attention to.

Tip: Make sure your navigation is visible, but in the background and not demanding too much attention. Be strategic about where you want your users to focus.

2. Try saying anthropomorphic after a casket of ale.

Half the battle is helping your audience get to know, like and trust you. Being that cool, likeable person / brand / place, where people feel comfortable.

On the Basecamp site, that starts instantly with the anthropomorphic logo. Who doesn’t feel at ease when they are greeted (and their attention is directed to the headline) by a smiling mountain range, in a snow globe, in comforting childlike colors?

Many sites (including mine) miss an opportunity with their logo. We miss it by trying to look professional, technical or corporate. And in the process bore everyone to death. Remember, a logo is a visual anchor, a symbol, a hook to hang a bunch of feelings on.

Tip: If your logo is all about triggering a feeling, you can’t beat triggering the feeling of friendliness. It’s one step away from trustworthiness.

3. Instant call to action.

So, before we dive into the sales letter, it’s worth noting how prominent the “sign up now” box is on the page.

Should we be asking people to sign up before they’ve even read the sales letter? Sure. Because your users aren’t necessarily first-time visitors. They may have read the page, once, twice or a dozen times before they were ready to push the button.

So, making sure that the primary purpose of a sales page, the one thing you really want them to do, is super visible, is always going to increase sign ups.

In this case, the Basecamp guys go one step further and the sign up form follows you as you progress through the sales letter. Not obtrusive, but always ready to “take your order” when you’re ready.

Tip: Understand the “one thing” you really need your users to do. And make sure they can do it right away. Don’t just hide your call to action in the belly of a sales letter, or at the end of a page.

4. Identify the problem your customers are suffering.

I’ve covered the basic sales letter formula in multiple tune-ups so I won’t repeat it all here. But I love that they are starting with a clear identification of “the problem”.

Too many people think you have to “go positive” when you’re selling something. The reality is, you have to know what it is that’s motivating your particular customer. Do they want relief from some kind of pain? Or do they want to move towards more pleasure? These are two sides of the same coin. But when most people are trying to solve their problems, they are in a lower, slightly more negative state. So they perceive the problem to be a pain or a frustration, and they’re looking for relief.

So, if you want people’s attention, you have to grab it. And you do that by showing them how much you understand the pain and frustration they’re dealing with.

Tip: Don’t be afraid to start your pitch by identifying and illustrating the problem your customers are suffering.

5. Show and tell.

So, the illustration the guys are using is fantastic. It visually demonstrates the idea of “struggling to keep everyone on the same page”. In one friendly cartoon, they are able to highlight 6 different problems. They show us that this is about people communicating. They visualize confusion. And even throw in some humor.

Tip: Once you have your key idea, make sure to show it, as well as telling us about it. We were making sense of the world in pictures, long before we learned to write.

6. Ease your user into the pool.

Getting people to read your copy is like inviting them into a pool of watery salesmanship. Give them a shallow end, and some steps, and make it warmer than the deep end.

All the pieces work together, starting with a big, clear headline. And an image. And then an introduction that provides a general summary of where this is all going.

In this case, I want to point out how the guys have used a double column layout in their introduction. (The rest of the page is a wider, single column).

Why is that cool? Because it makes the copy easier for the reader to digest when they’re just starting out. Shorter lines are easier to read. As are shorter sentences. Once they’re in the flow of reading your copy, you can use fewer headlines and images. But at the beginning, make everything look as easy and un-intimidating as possible.

Tip: Make the first few paragraphs of your copy as easy to read as humanly possible. In order, you should spend the majority of your time working on the right headline and opening image. Then mastering your introduction. Only then, worry about the rest of your copy. If you don’t get the opening right, the rest is invisible.

7. But wait, there’s more! Demonstrate that sucker.

So, here’s another deceptively simple tool, executed really well. A 2 minute walk-through video.

You guys know that I’m currently experimenting with video versions of our marketing tune-ups. And I haven’t developed the skill set yet (I’ll get there). But I do understand how much more engaging it is to hear a real human being talk. There’s something about demonstrating things in real time. It helps us see how the parts move and connect. It helps us understand how abstract ideas fit into our human lives.

We’ve all seen a million screenshots of software. Here’s screen A. Here’s screen B. Here’s screen Zzzzz.

When you can walk the customer through your product, live, using a real example, it makes all the difference. The thing is, you don’t have to go super deep and explain all the details at this point. You don’t need a tutorial. Just cover the basics of what your product does.

Tip: Don’t be afraid to communicate your basic concept from multiple angles. Words, images, video, in person. The more demonstrable your idea, the better. Make your idea as real and human and lifelike as possible. Take it from an abstract idea, to a personal, human solution.

8. Add humans.

So, the final thing I’m going to point out is the “note from our founder” at the end of the sales page.

I’m a huge fan of putting people in the picture. You can’t repeat it too many times – people buy from people they know, like and trust. It’s a fundamental that’s never going to go away. Brands, logos, all these other tools we use are abstractions. They are sometimes necessary, but they are a necessary evil. We need them because we’re attempting to sell in a bigger and bigger market place. A world beyond “the village” where no one knows us personally. We should never treat them as a replacement for people power!

So it’s great to see a real headshot of Jason at the end. I love how they’ve styled this chunk of copy as a letter. It helps break up the page and make it feel like it’s easy to digest. One piece at a time. It also feels very personal. There’s a direct email to Jason and he finishes it with a signature. (I’d make the signature more authentic looking).

But overall this personal way of delivering their origin story (we built this for ourselves, not just to make money) is perfectly delivered by a real human, in a human manner.

Tip: People buy from people they know, like and trust. The more humanity you can inject into your pitch, the better. Tell us a story, tell us about your motivations, show us your face, help us trust you.

Summary:

I’m excited to see Basecamp’s marketing and product reaching a really high level of polish. There’s a lot of lessons in there for anyone starting out. These guys are like 15 years into this. It’s a long haul. Not an overnight success.

People think they can nail their marketing and understand their customer in a few months, but it takes time. And that time only happens when you’re in the game, testing and tweaking and making mistakes.

So whatever you’re working on, keep studying, work out how to use one of those split testing tools you keep putting off, and start experimenting. The beauty of great marketing is we can see most of it. So, put your pirate patch on, and start stealing great ideas.