If you have two books claiming to teach how to add 20 yards to your golf swing.. and one is written by Tiger woods, or someone who has played on the pro circuit, and the other one is written by Joe Blow who's an amateur nobody... it means writing the sales message for the book written by someone with loads of credibility is tons easier.

For example, the headline could read: "Tiger Woods Reveals His Dirty Little Secret That Adds 20 Yards To Your Gold Swing Overnight... Even If You're A Bla Bla Bla Etc Etc"

It seems to me like it doesn't really matter how darn good your copy is... it's never going to be as good as it could be if your product has a killer story behind it... or some hardcore proof... or something that makes what you're claiming super believable.

So basically... your copy can only be as good as your product is.

Which means if you want to write great copy you need awesome products to sell... or ones that have good stories and proof behind them.

I'm a bit down about this... because...

I just made some software... and my competitor who sells the same software (yes identical) has top rankings in the search engines - where as i don't. He claims that his software was the reason why he has these top rankings (which really it isn't) so therefore his salesletter is always going to outsell mine... because i don't have any top rankings so i cannot make the same claim and show the proof in my salesletter of top rankings.

Therefore... i doubt i can DO ANYTHING to my salesletter to outsell him.

So my point here is... your salesletter is only as good as your products and the story and proof you HAVE behind that product.

I use to think that copywriting was the most important part. But it really is your product. Without good products you really aren't going to go very far no matter how good your copywriting skills are.

What are everyone's ideas on this?

What you need here is a better hook. His hook is SE rankings? Who cares about that? Only the owner of the software does, because it's a prestige appeal, which is hardly why consumers would buy a software product.

Now if your product is an SEO software tool, that's different story. Then functionality comes into the question.

Searching for and testing of different appeals is what you need here.

Unless you mean that your competitor has some sort of software application designed to lift a site's ranking in the search engine's - and he uses this software on his own site to demonstrate how effective it is - then his rankings in the search engines are irrelevant. All that means is for whatever reason (he might just have a well-optimized site), the engines are finding his site very relevant to the subject matter.

Of course having a great, in-demand product is in your favor, but you'll be surprised at what tight, 'electrified' copy can sell. Like Erik said, you just need to find the right hook and angle for your product pitch.

Maybe a moderator or one more adept can correct me if I'm wrong, but I remember reading in "The 22 immutable Laws of Marketing" that you can use being the #2 guy to your advantage. I'm not sure if this is applicable online.

I think it has much more to do with branding than direct advertising, but yes, there's an important lesson here...

...make your offer stand out in your field!

Very interesting observation bencivengacarltonhalbert.

But if you really believe that about the importance of
copy... then... I believe you should change your member
name. (Just kidding. Can't you take a joke?)

Enough.

Listen, I used to struggle with the same question...
"What's more important copy, product, etc.?"

Finally, I found out the real answer to this question.
The fact is the most imporant part of any promotion
is NOT the copy or even the product. No way. Because,
when it comes right down to it, the most important part
of any promotion is the... MARKETING!

There are thousands of people online and offline making
hundreds of thousands of dollars per year promoting
mediocre products with mediocre copy. What gives?

They know how to market. They know how to find the
right group of people who want what they sell.

If you're a raging "coke nose" and I hand you a dirty
napking with the words... "I've got some blow. Want
to score?" written on it you'd take me up on the offer
instantly. Why? Was the copy so wonderful? Heck no.

I just simply knew your "fix" and made you an offer
you coudn't resist. And so it is with every market.

If you really know what they want... how their willing
to buy... what their willing to spend... and how they
like to be approached... AND... you package an offer
properly directed at them... you will sell the product.

Bottom Line: The Marketing Is Everything. Copy Is
Secondary.

And that's just the way it is.

John

What John said, but...

From what I've learned, it should be more like this in terms of importance:

1) Marketing (choosing the right target market)
2) Product quality
3) Copywriting

If you just want to make some quick sales and then disappear, then sure, swap 2) with 3). But I'm sure we're talking and thinking BUSINESS here.

bencivengacarltonhalbert (ugh!), form what you said I understand that there's no problem at all with your product. Your competitor has one nice "weapon" in his hand, so your goal is to find a different angle.

Good luck!