Let’s Talk Sales Page Copywriting - Live Coaching Session with Heather | 113
This is a special episode of Market Scale Grow because I sat down with Heather from Full SPED Ahead for a strategy session. When you listen to the podcast episode, you’ll hear our entire behind-the-scenes chat - everything from sales page copywriting to clarifying your message and website design.
In these notes, I’m going to talk specifically about sales page copywriting because Heather and I spent most of the strategy session focused there. I’ll share some of the big takeaways and action items because these can easily apply to your business, too.
A Bit About Heather
Before we dive in, I want to tell you why Heather booked a strategy call with me. Heather likes to consider herself an accidental entrepreneur. She was a SPED teacher for 8 years, but when 2020 hit - she decided to dive head-first into entrepreneurship.
Now, she has a full-time job but hustles on the side with her business, Full SPED Ahead. She sells digital products and has a mentorship program for SPED teachers. In the call, we’ll be looking specifically at the sales page for the mentorship program. You can check out her sales page here.
Key Takeaways for Sales Page Copywriting
Let’s look at some of the big takeaways and action steps Heather and I talked about on our call together. For the full strategy session and several more action items, be sure to listen to the full podcast episode.
#1 Focus on Your “Above the Fold” Copy
When someone visits your sales page, you want to catch their attention immediately. That means stating who the course or membership is for right away. You should also have a call to action button in this top section as well.
Also, make sure there are no other action items or menus on your sales page. That means getting rid of your navigation bar at the top!
PS. “Above the fold” in sales page copywriting terms means anything the potential buyer would see before they even scroll.
#2 Speak to the Pain Points
Something we often forget is that copywriting is more than just writing. There is an “art” to it. With sales page copywriting specifically, you want to speak directly to the pain points your audience is feeling. This shows that you see them and you can help them!
I did recommend to Heather that she put her pain points higher up on the sales page. This doesn’t need to be an “above the fold” piece of copy, but it should be in one of the initial sections.
#3 Consider the “Scanner”
People always want to know why sales page copy is so long. Don’t people just scan anyways? Yeah, a lot of people do! Which means you need to consider the “scanner”. One way to do that is to have several bold, noticeable calls to action throughout the page
You should also use color, design formatting, and bold font to make certain words or sections stand out. Ask yourself - what would the “scanner” learn about my course or membership at a quick glance?
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Don't forget to follow me on Instagram @heyitsjenzaia and tune in next Saturday for more business tips and strategies!
xo, Jenzaia
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Episode Transcript:
Welcome to Market Scale Grow. My name's Jenzai and this is a very special Saturday Strategy Session because we are actually doing a live - well, recording - strategy session. And I have Heather with me. We're gonna be chatting through her marketing plan. And so first of all, Heather, do you want to introduce yourself and let us know a little bit about who you are, who you help, what you do in your business? Then we can dive into the strategy.
Heather: I'm Heather from Full Sped ahead. I am an accidental entrepreneur, I like to say. I feel like a lot of us get into this field somehow by accident.
I had a dream and a vision to start a business when I started my master's in 2017 and the world kind of did its own thing in 2020, and I decided that's the best time to start a business. So I had kind of built my Full Sped Ahead social media and a website and TPT store, and decided a course and a mentorship program was gonna be super helpful.
So all those teachers teaching remotely, I feel like I grew very quickly in the last couple years, so this is where I've kind of gotten to right now. And I built a mentorship program in a digital data collection course to support special education teachers in the field because I had been a special education teacher for the last eight years and really never had a mentor or somebody to turn to.
And anything that I learned about special education was either online or by myself just living it. So I really decided that I wanted to help teachers as best as I could. So now, instead of being a teacher in the classroom, I have my business here and I'm also a special education director for curriculum and assessment at a private autism school.
So that's currently my full-time job and also doing Full Sped Ahead on the side.
Jenzaia: Busy. Oh my goodness! You're so busy with all of the things. Remind me, do you have children too?
Heather: I do not have children. So that is the bonus. Most people have that as well.
Jenzaia: So let's chat about what your goal for this session is. What are you hoping that we cover?
Heather: Yeah, so I wanted to take a look more closely into things like that landing page and sales page for my mentorship program. In October, I decided that I didn't like the way my Kajabi website was looking, and I found an Etsy store that had a template that was fairly cheap.
I think they were running some type of Halloween sale or something, and so I was like, all right, this looks good. I kind of like the way it looks. Let me download and see if I can do some plug and chug and do it myself. Because when I was looking in Facebook groups for VAs that would be able to put together a Kajabi website, it was thousands of dollars that I just did not feel I needed.
I felt like I needed somebody that could just do it for me, and I decided to just take a weekend and create my website from this. So I am not a copywriter. I'm a teacher from the classroom as well, so I know this is not my area of expertise. So I think what I created has been great and it's worked out, but I would love some feedback on how that looks.
Jenzaia: And if you are comfortable, do you wanna share what the link is so that people can follow along if they're interested?
Heather: Yeah. Definitely.
Jenzaia: So where do people find you? If they were interested in this mentorship program, where would they find you?
Heather: So it's either going to be through Instagram or through my website,
Jenzaia: Full Sped Ahead? So that opens up the sales page. So what I really like about this is the different sizes you've used that really pull the attention to where it needs to be. And also so people know exactly what it is right away. It's very clear that it's for special education classrooms, and then the button is above the fold. So if someone's interested in joining, they already know the button's right there and it sends them to the payment options. So I really like that.
The other thing is that this is like a true landing page, and what I mean by that is there's no menu buttons or anything else. The only thing someone can do on this page is opt in or purchase the membership. So that's really good,
So I'm just reading the sales page right now for anyone who is listening along and there's this awkward silence.
Is there anywhere in here where you really dig into the pain points your clients would be experiencing? There's one line, it says you could be running in circles with lessons, data collection and writing IEPs, but by joining today you'll be able to… is there anywhere else that really digs into those pain points?
Heather: So below that, in the pink, it's talking about being alone in special education. We talk about special education island a lot because that’s kind of my motto for the membership. Better together.
Jenzaia: So I wanted to kind of hit home with that better together, but maybe that first line could say something like, feeling like you're on special education island… You don't have to do special education alone. We're better together. Like I really like that. I do like that a little bit higher. It will be good to like egg on those pain points.
The very first thing is kind of egging on where you have to skip the endless hours and then you have the three things… like running in circles and what that looks like, and the data collection and what that looks like, and writing IEPs and what that looks like and really.
Most of the sales page should be the positive and not the negative. Just digging in and making sure that they know, that you know how they're feeling that overwhelm, stress, and being alone. That you've been there, you've done all these things, you really can resonate with where they're at.
So just maybe adding in a little bit more about those pain points to help people see that you’re the person who can really, really help me. Yeah.
Heather: Awesome.
Jenzaia: And then another really good thing you have is all the buttons.
Heather: What about the button color or the one at the top, that blue, how it kind of blends in a bit?
Jenzaia: I think that one's fine. It does stand out for me.
Also because it's so long, I think if it was shorter, it might blend in a little bit more, but the longness of it helps it to stand out.
Heather: I just didn't know if I should make it like pop more by capitalizing it or anything like that.
Jenzaia: I feel like I almost always capitalize my buttons. But that's just a personal choice. You could absolutely try it and see what you think the color itself is. I think that that's a personal design choice, honestly.
Heather: I agree. I think it just makes it pop a little more. And it probably is a personal preference thing, but if we're looking to find better ways, any other thing you suggest other than enroll now?
Jenzaia: I think join now or join us, enroll now and then like sign up now. You could also have a button that actually said like a full thing of join the full sped ahead mentorship program today.
The consistency piece is good. I also feel like you need to brag on yourself more. I just read the one line that says, over the past three years, I've helped many special education teachers become more confident in their abilities in the classroom.
And then I was like, oh, I like that! Where's her brag section about herself? I think we usually call this like a bio, but anyway. Remember when you do those sections, it's not about who you are. It's really about, what are my qualifications that make people feel more comfortable in my experience, that make people be able to trust me. I call it a brag section, but it's not about bragging, it's about giving people the evidence that they need.
Heather: Yeah. Right. So to prove what I can do for you kind of thing.
Jenzaia: Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. So just adding in more, and like this could be one of the places where you pull out those pain points and use the language so that we're not focused so much on the pain point, but like the transition. Like, I was suffering with this and here's the outcome. Like I was feeling alone. So I did this, and this is how I support you.
As humans, we are so egocentric that it's like, what am I getting from this? How is this benefiting me? Is this gonna be money well spent? And so every single piece on your sales page needs to go through that filter.
And these are good in this section where we're talking about what the mentorship is full of; with the resources, communication, training, access to exclusive resources. Download three IEPs …that's awesome. Meet directly one-on-one with Heather to get all of your questions and concerns answered…that's great. Access to 20 plus training videos and group meetings that you actually need to be the best teacher. So for that one - the LA only the training one - That's a little bit more focused on the what and not the how.
Sometimes saying something like 20 plus training videos can be overwhelming to people. So really digging into what they will get from the training videos. Like, training videos that will help you X, Y, Z. Example, what exactly is covered in the training videos so that you can be the best teacher you can be.
Heather: Perfect. I like that.
Jenzaia: Exclusive access to materials. I would say that here too. Exclusive access to materials and support, because one-to-one meetings with you would fall more under more support than materials. And then you can get rid of that second half. The other thing too - because you do say the mentorship is filled with done-for-you resources, downloads, and video trainings - You could just completely change it to like exclusively available to members.
And this could be a privacy piece. I have no idea. But the testimonials, it's always nice if it's like the actual person who said the thing that's in the picture. And I'm gonna guess that these are stock images?
Heather: Yes. I think personally for me it was they were white female demographic and I didn't want all of that as the images of the website. I tried to get as many diverse images as possible because I know this is such a dominant white female career.
Jenzaia: Fair enough. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that makes sense. Having that inclusivity piece is really important, but adding names could be an option.
I like having the name, the image, and their business. All of those different pieces make the person who said the testimonial more real. Therefore the testimonial feels more authentic to the person reading it.
Heather: Great. So this section breaks down the 20 training videos.
Jenzaia: This is great cuz it's very, very clear. Sometimes these sections are a little bit overwhelming with the amount of texts, so I like that it's bullet points. It's very easy to scroll and see. Maybe just having like one of those full mockups where you have a picture of the video and like some of the training pieces. Just to add more of that feel of, this is actually a real thing and these trainings actually exist.
But like I said, I do like how it’s very neat and clean.
Heather: Yeah, I'm very clean in a lot of things that I do. I try to not make it too busy. It's just what stands out for me.
Jenzaia: Yeah. And like same. I feel that way about the whole sales page. It just feels really clean and it feels really easy to consume.
Even within those paragraphs, there's a lot of white space that makes it easier to read and to look at, which is really nice.
What is the cost of you not investing in this mentorship? I love that because really that's such a huge piece. You can continue to be like stuck where you are currently or invest and join. How many of these one-to-one mentoring video calls do they get?
Heather: So they get to schedule them pretty much any time they would like, which I kind of love.
So a lot of the support that you do get is obviously on your own. Like you have to reach out, you have to do all of that. We do have a weekly group call that you are welcome to join, but you don't have to. So that one-to-one aspect is something I think is really enticing for a lot of people.
Mm-hmm. , because then they do get to meet with me as frequently as they want. I have some that I meet with weekly where we just have one call for half hour a week and others just kind of make those appointments as they need.
Jenzaia: Do you have a scaling plan for that? Because approximately how many people are in the program right now?
Heather: 30.
Jenzaia: Now imagine if you doubled that and you had 60 people. Would that amount of calls still be doable for you?
Heather: Yes, because not as many people take me up on these calls as you think they would.
Jenzaia: Yeah. Well that's something to think about too. You might hit a thousand members and then you might be like, too much. A scalability plan is like super, super important in these, especially in a membership where it has that high one-to-one mentorship piece. So I like to do double and then double again.Would be my recommendation. And that's fun to play with. Just the imagination of like, if this program doubles and then if it quadruples.
But I love that it has unlimited calls. That is epic for $37 a month. Like that is insane!
And the other piece that I really like about that in your program specifically with special education is that there may be something not appropriate for a group call, but they want that support. And also like the privacy piece. Feeling like I can't share these details sufficiently enough to get the support that I want. Having somebody that they can rely on week in and week out is huge. So I really, really like that aspect of it.
You might also, as part of that scalability plan, think about increasing your price, especially with that high touch. $37 a month for like four one-to-one calls.
Heather: Oh yeah. That is insane. Well, it's funny because like, I get it, they're teachers too and like they don't have the time to sit on these calls with me as well, but like, you're right, there's that piece. I'm dealing with this legal issue in my classroom. I need to talk to somebody about this, but I can't talk to my school about it or whatever it is, where like sometimes that $37 a month is so alarming to them.
But like when I like break it down, I'm like, you can text me, you can set up a call with me anytime. They're like, oh wait, I love that. So I feel like that's almost sometimes my selling point - you can have me in your pocket.
Jenzaia: That's a huge selling point of having somebody in their back pocket that not only is a teacher and has lived this, but is there for them and can truly support in a way that almost no one else can. And I find that in schools there's typically only one, maybe two special education teachers.
Normally that island thing that you were talking about before is just so real. And if you don't have a community like this, it can just exasperate that.
Okay, so my question here for your FAQs. You have, can I meet with you. Is this one-to-one call, kind of like a discovery call?
Heather: Yeah.
Jenzaia: I might expand that question then. Like, can I meet with you to discuss the membership?
Heather: Yeah. Can I find out if this is right for me?
Jenzaia: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Because, and especially with the link that you have there, the 30 minute coaching call, it does kind of come across as a coaching call. And that's fine, but you probably want the intention of that call, like, can I meet with you to find out if this membership is right for me?
And then refund policy. I can't refund you for the past, but you can cancel your membership at any time. This looks great and I love this program. I can't see what's actually in it, but I love the concept of this and like we've already said, that one-to-one support is huge and amazing and super perfect for this program.
Do you have any more questions?
Heather: No, I feel like you hit everything that I was wondering about.
Jenzaia: I would love to know…you mentioned the diversity piece, but it would be nice if there was one more picture of you somewhere there, cuz there is one at the bottom.
But just like if there was somewhere that you felt like you could throw in another picture of yourself that's showing your face, the personal ability that you actually exist. That you're a real human.
Heather: Right. Yeah.
Jenzaia: Amazing. Is there anything else or does that really answer most of the questions that you were hoping for?
Heather: That's really the big one is that sales page. But the other part of it was the homepage, because I feel like it's confusing. I'm offering multiple things on that homepage, because I have the mentorship program, I have the digital data collection course. I'm open to adding the I E P document consultation, but people are reluctant to do that because of the legalities of it, which I get.
But like that was another route I was planning on going with my business at some point. So like looking at that main page again, it's got the testimonials there, it's got a free download, all those fun things, which I feel like drives people in. But it was hard cuz I think I didn't fully realize what I was creating when I was creating this. And then I realized, oh, this is like the main page.
So yeah, at the top I'm talking about the mentorship. And again, it kind of brings all of this into gaining confidence, setting up systems, but then it's like, here's the three things that I offer.
Jenzaia: Yeah, definitely need that free download at the bottom. I like that you have the testimonials and as you get more testimonials, make sure you're like switching them out, having different ones on different pages.
Heather: Yeah, I just launched that digital data in October when I redid the website. So that digital data course is definitely where I'm getting some testimonials from now too.
Jenzaia: I also really like the branding is spot on. When I click on a new page, I know I'm still on your website with these, like, I don't wanna say Chevron's, but the Subway tile.
Heather: Again, this all came from that Etsy template that I found. This was all a part of that. It was literally me just typing in the words. So I'm glad it's not as terrible as I thought it was, because like I said, I'm not a copywriter. I was going with what I felt needed to be said.
Jenzaia: So here, my recommendation for your buttons here is to change the words on them because join us makes me feel like I'm going to be going to a sales page. I would put something along the lines of like, learn how to work with me or learn more. Something like that.
I'm on your work with me page. This is the paid one too. I don't know if you realize that. And that's good that the free download is on every page.
I love this top part of this page just because it takes a really long time and a lot of scrolling to get to this. So it's not that the information isn't good, but I would almost move that.
Heather: I drag and drop the section up so that it's like, this is how we work together. Like these are the three options. And then if they want more information, they can continue to scroll. Instead of the top saying, I can be your mentor, like I can help you.
Jenzaia: I would want something letting people know who you help. So something about special education teachers might be really good to have in that. I'm not a hundred percent sure the words are not coming to me right now, but I would want, Hey, special education teacher, let's work together, or something like that. And if special education teacher isn't the right words, then obviously use the right words.
And then do you have a podcast or a blog or anything like that?
Heather: Yeah, I have a blog.
Jenzaia: If there was a way to link that somewhere in here, that might be nice. Just like, read more on the blog. So like in Kajabi, if it were there, then you'd be able to like populate the most recent blog post.
Heather: Read more about digital data collection. Read more about …
Jenzaia: Exactly. And then that gives them that educational piece. The other thing that's good about all these buttons, and same with like when I go to those other pages, is that there's always the next thing for them to do, and it seems like it kind of always leads to this consultation page.
I like to think of a website as like you're walking through a story. It’s really good for people to always have the next step. And if someone spent 10 minutes on your website, then they would know that the mentorship program, the digital data mini course and the IP consultations are the three ways you work with people.
It's very clear. I think that that's my main thoughts about the webpage. Looks good though. I like that you have your picture up higher too on this one.
Heather: Awesome. Thank you.
Jenzaia: I'm so excited about your business and the growth you're experiencing. So from this session, what are three things that you're either taking away or that you're gonna go implement?
Heather: I really want to look back more at like those pain points and making sure that they're embedded in there in a positive light. Making sure teachers don't feel alone. They're not on an island. People are here to support you. I'm here to support you.
Also, being able to brag about myself I think is super hard. But yes, bringing that in there too somehow, and then driving home those one-on-one calls I think is gonna be huge.
Jenzaia: Yes. I would almost have one of these bulleted lists of like what you in their back pocket or however you wanna word that, what that looks like. So one-to-one calls, the direct texting, whatever those different pieces are would be great too.
Yay. Well, thank you so, so much for coming on. And joining me. If people are interested in finding more out about you, where can they go?
Heather: Awesome. So I am Full Sped Ahead. You can find me at www.fullspedahead.com for my website. https://fullspedahead.mykajabi.com/ is where you'll find the mentorship information that we've been talking about today. I'm also mostly active on Instagram.
Jenzaia: Yay. Well, thank you so much, Heather.
Heather: Awesome. Thank you for having me.
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