The 90% rule for sales pages

I have a simple rule about sales pages that would probably make most marketers wince.

90% of your sale happen when the page loads.

And there’s a pretty easy way to tell if you’re doing it right.

Send cold traffic to it.

I mean that the real test right?

Not you’re Nanna who says “it looks so good Sammy!”

I mean someone who doesn’t know you, doesn’t trust you, lands on the page cold…

And immediately gets it.

That’s the mark of a great sales page.

But maybe you’re not ready to open the ole wallet and have your dreams crushed.

That’s actually smart.

Because you might not know how to do it yet!

Well read on my agency amigo… I got a good one for you today.

In fact today, I have visual aids!

(Well... aid, I guess)

Here’s the hero from my Agency MVP page:

Now let me break it down like a fraction.

When you look at that page, there are three BIG things I’m trying to accomplish.

#1. Clarity.

More sales are lost to complexity than anything else.

This sounds stupidly obvious.

But I can’t tell you how many sales pages I see where 30 seconds later I’m still thinking…

“What the hell are you actually selling me?”

Clever isn’t the goal… Understanding is.

Look at mine:

→ Put $1 into the Ad Machine…

→ Pull $3–$4 back out.

→ Build a simpler agency.

→ Clients pay $997+ per month.

→ Do it in four weeks.

You don’t know how yet...

But you sure as hell know what.

And that’s the point.

#2. Show. Don’t tell.

I could have said something like:

“Build a thriving agency.”

“Unlock predictable growth.”

“Scale to the next level.”

Blah. Blah. Blah.

Those are words. (pretty common from my experience)

But I want the prospect to be able to see what I’m selling them.

→ $1 in → $3–$4 out.

→ $997+ per month.

→ Four weeks.

Those are things your brain can grab onto, and you instantly see.

The less work someone has to do to understand why they should want your thing… The better.

That is what you want, it's the main goal...

Every… Single… Time.

#3. A fifth grader should be able to read it.

Not because your customers are stupid.

Because confused people don’t buy.

And for some weird reason, people tend to make their copy more complicated when they’re trying to sound expensive or important.

I go the opposite direction.

Short words.

Simple ideas.

Concrete outcomes.

I don’t want someone burning brainpower trying to understand my copy. (It takes more calories to read fancy words… seriously)

I want them using that brainpower thinking…

“Holy farts! I want that.”

Now…

Does the rest of the sales page matter?

Of course.

The rest of the page is where we build belief, handle objections, show proof and give you all the reasons that what I’m promising is actually possible.

(Btw… look at my page and you’ll see all that AFTER the scroll)

But the rest of the page shouldn’t have to rescue the sale. (Again… too many calories)

If you have to read another 2,000 words before you understand why you should care…

You failed!

PERIOD

I repeat… 90% of the sale should happen before they scroll.

Everything after that should make them feel smarter for already wanting it.

And if you looked at my hero above and thought…

“Okay… but how the hell do I figure out what MY page should say?”

Good.

That’s exactly the kind of thing I teach inside Agency MVP.

Sam