The Birth of the Video Sales Letter John Benson revolutionized internet marketing by creating the video sales letter (VSL), which significantly increased conversion rates. Initially, VSLs achieved six to ten times higher conversions compared to traditional methods. This innovation was quickly adopted and improved upon by top marketers.
Mindset Shift: Ethical Selling Through Persuasion Benson emphasizes that believing in your product is crucial for ethical selling. He argues that people need skin in the game—financial investment—to take action and benefit from a product or service. Therefore, not selling effectively means doing potential customers a disservice.
From Graphic Designer to Copywriting Pioneer Starting as a graphic designer who overcame obesity through bodybuilding, John Benson transitioned into writing with his book 'Fit Over 40.' Teaming up with marketer Tom Venuto led him into internet marketing where he discovered copywriting's power after struggling initially.
'Every Other Day Diet' and Early Struggles With Copywriting 'Every Other Day Diet,' Benson’s second book faced low conversion rates due to ineffective sales letters. His breakthrough came when he experimented with PowerPoint-based videos inspired by NLP principles, leading him eventually to create effective VSLs despite initial skepticism about their length and format.
'Ugly' Yet Effective: The First Successful VSL Format Benson created an unconventional yet highly successful first video sales letter using basic slides filled only with text against black backgrounds emphasizing key words via NLP techniques like embedded commands—a method later dubbed 'the ugly video sales letter.'