I successfully sell a weight loss program online and I'm gearing up with new client pics for the new year.

I wanted to know where would be the best place to put "before and after pics" of my clients:

Would you put it towards the top of the sales letter, to kinda stop the reader, show them proof and results early on.

Or would you put the "before and after" pics AFTER you introduce the product, say towards the middle or end of the sales letter?

I wanted opinions as to where on the sales letter would be the best place to put before and after pics: Towards the beginning or after you mention the product?

Thanks guys!

Shawn Lebrun

That depends on the market -- how targeted are they? What's their level of awareness?

I think if the person who hits this website is looking for a weight loss solution right upfront, hit them hard and hit them early. Eugne Schwartz calls this "Gradualization Copy," where you provide proof and credibility upfront, before introducing your product.

But if your market is super-targeted and have been exposed to countless weightloss products before hitting your site, the before-and-after pictures *may* be a deterrent.

Knowing you Shawn, I think that your market falls primarily in the first category. Think of all the most successful weightloss ads in National Enquirer or rack-mags, like Cosmo. (Those that are published over and over again is a good indicator of how profitable they are.)

These types of advertorials don a picture of a before-and-after case, right upfront, where the eye can see them immediately upon reading the page.

In fact, I would go a step further and do something a little different, where you put before-and-after pictures along the sides of your salesletter. This is a little different than most typical websites, and would be a nice twist.

Let me quickly make up a "mock" layout to show you what I mean. Give me about 5 minutes... I'll come back...

Here is what I'm thinking (see thumbnail) ... you could very well play with this, but if you take a look at a lot of the most successful websites as well, they have b-and-a's all over the place, especially in the "above the fold" section, like:

L A Weight Loss Centers
Diet Plans and Weight Loss Programs: Mediterranean Diet, GI Diet, Atkins Low Carb Diet, Slim Fast, Bob Greene
Lipocerin - Weight Loss Formula

Etc.

Hey Michel, that's funny. I just did that for a weight loss site.

I'll try and find the url...

Harlan

'tis the season.

I'm working on one this week also.

We had a big discussion about their b & a's. Currently they're about halfway down the home page on the left. My concern on this site is that the pics are a sequenced series of "fade in and out" pics. I think they are deterring response as the really stop you from reading the copy. You keep waiting for the next pair to come up.

I'm redesigning it to look more like the lipocerin site.

I'll post 'em when I get a website b & a.

A.

I'm actually starting my second campaign with b+a's.