Using video to sell online is a very powerful tool.

Using videos makes it easier to get your message across much better than the written word. You can use voice inflections and facial expressions to get your messages conveyed better.

The best video sales letters teach your visitors something that is important to them. Your video is designed to sell, but ultimately you want to make the best use of your visitor’s time watching your video, so teaching them something to help them RIGHT IN THAT VIDEO will make you the expert in the eyes of the viewer.

If you do your video sales letter right, people will leave feeling a strong connection to you and they may even feel like they know you better, like a friend, which is very powerful. That doesn’t really happen with a traditional sales letter as easy as it does with video.

When you are in front of a camera talking about how you can solve a major problem someone is having, video is way more powerful than text on a page because you can gain an instant connection with your visitor.

Lewis Howes says it perfectly. Video works so well because they:

The problem therein lies of what the heck to say in a proper video sales letter designed to convert visitors into sales and action takers?

That’s exactly what we will cover in this post:

• The One Thing that will immediately improve your VSL conversions (you’ll have to read on to see what it is)
• The 13 Critical Elements of every Video Sales Letter
• The Worst “Words” To Say In Your Video (be careful because this immediately lower your conversions)

Let’s get into the main reason why your video might not be converting and see how we can change that very quickly.

Make This One Change And Your VSLs Will Immediately Start Converting Better

That’s a pretty bold statement right? But it’s true. We just talked about why videos work so well, but here’s exactly how the great ones convert…

You can’t just go on camera and start blabbing and think your video is just going to convert just because it’s a video. It doesn’t work that way.

Ben Adkins, CEO of Fearless Social and the creator of ScriptDoll, is well known for solving problems business owners face and bringing forward actionable solutions. Ben sells a lot with video but it’s not just charismatic Ben hitting the record button and talking (well it is a little). But seriously, it’s actually very methodical the way he goes about selling with every video he creates and every word he utters.

Ben designed an actual script called the Venetian inside of a one-of-a-kind software called ScriptDoll that helps you write sales copy for any product or service you are creating.

“The Venetian” is a great Video Sales Letter Script to sell anything online with video and in this post we are going to go through the components of the script and why it works so well.

There is a formula for high converting video sales letters that you can easily follow to be successful at selling with videos. So before you get all dressed up and get in front of the camera, you will need to be prepared with a script.

Having a script is the one change you can make to start selling more online with videos. Having a well designed script can mean the difference between making a little bit of money and a lot of money with videos.

Here’s why scripts work so well.

Why Scripts Work So Well

We know now having a script versus not having a script is income changing…possibly life changing!

The biggest mistake I first made when I started doing videos is I would get showered, dressed, makeup, hair and all since I would be in front of the camera. I would then get back to my office, set up my camera and then I would stare at the camera thinking that the words would just come out and flow. Boy was I wrong. Even though I kind of knew what I wanted to say, the words didn’t come out the way I envisioned it in my head when I was planning everything for the video. The worst part about it is these ill-prepared videos would take me about 3.5 to 4 hours to complete (and the video would be less than 20 minutes long). It took this long because I was not prepared and I was trying to write my script and film at the same time which is not the best practice.

The one change I made that improved my entire video production life was preparing a script the day before.

Sitting down at my desk, I opened a Google Doc and wrote down exactly what I wanted to say.

The scripts I write don’t just come out of thin air (like they used to). Scripts should be deliberate and every single word has a purpose. My training came directly from ScriptDoll’s Venetian Video Sales Letter Script. Once I knew the secret formula, my videos stopped taking 3.5 to 4 hours to complete and my conversions have doubled. These days, I can probably get everything done in less than 30 minutes and that includes editing! Usually getting ready for the video is what takes the most time.

You too can get GREAT at creating Video Sales Letters. All you need is a formula and practice.

Let’s dive into the 13 essential components of the video sales letter script. These are things you need to mention each time and you can’t leave them out!

13 Critical Elements of Your Video Sales Letter Script

We just talked about how selling with video can make a huge impact to your bottom line when it comes to selling more in your business. But as said above, we can’t just turn on the camera and start blabbing…we need to blab with purpose and the only way to do that is a well designed script.

Whether you are using ScriptDoll’s Venetian Video Sales Letter Script or not, here are the elements you can’t leave out of every video you make. There are only 13 elements and if you have these, you will start selling more!

Here’s the first one…

1. Main [Specific] Goal

The first thing you should know is the specific goal your target audience would like to to achieve. “Make A Video Sales Letter” is not an example of a great specific goal. A better specific goal would be “Complete a highly converting video sales letter in less than 48 hours”.

The more specific you are with identifying your target audience’s goal, the better you will do.

2. Struggles

After you’ve identified the main goal you now have to relate with struggle.

Identifying exactly what your target audience is struggling what is next. What is keeping this person from getting the results they want to achieve and what you are already achieving.

Here are some examples for Video Sales Letter Training:

• You don’t know what to say or where to start with your VSL
• You don’t know the technology to use to get the output you want (and you don’t know how to use it)
• You don’t want to spend tons of money getting it produced
• You don’t know what to wear or how to look
• You don’t know how to do your script without reading or looking like you are reading (you want to look natural)
• You don’t know how to sell with your VSL
• You don’t know how long your video should be

These are all things that your target audience is struggling with. Know all of your target audience’s struggles!

3. Your Accomplishments

After discussing struggles, it’s time to relate and talk about how you have overcome these struggles you understand so well.

In your VSL’s you want to talk about your own accomplishments. Video is very personal. People will be seeing and hearing your voice and the one thing that will keep them watching without clicking away is how you are already accomplishing the thing that they want to do!

This part is not about bragging. It’s about sharing your accomplishments to make you more credible and believable so that people will feel more comfortable opening up their wallets when you ask them to.

4. Obstacles

Identifying obstacles is next. It’s important to bring up obstacles after your accomplishments because it shows you understand what can get in the way of success.

Obstacles are different from struggles. Obstacles are things that prevent you from achieving your goal.

For VSLs, some obstacles would be:

• Not having the right equipment (camera, microphone)
• Not having a good environment to shoot in (bad sound, bad lighting)
• Noise and distraction (I have 4 kids and there is never silence in my house)
• Bad sense of fashion (not knowing what to wear for videos)
• Bad memory (I can’t remember my script)

5. Name of Product

Mentioning the name of your product inside the VSL is important. Have a name for your product or service you are offering.

6. Product Type

Along the same lines, mentioning the product type is also important. Is your product a digital product, physical product, software, membership?

7. Product Features & Benefits

After you reveal your product name and what it is, nailing your product’s features and benefits is huge. You’ve got to get this part right because you are likely to really hook people on the main benefits of your product or service. If you have done your research right and you know your customers (specifically these 13 things listed in this post) you know what they need and that will most likely come out in their benefits.

Most people get it wrong and try to sell with features. Features are cool but benefits are better.

So, if i said a feature of ScriptDoll is that it has scripts ready and made in there for you to use at all times for your copy. That’s a feature and I am not done yet.

The benefit of that is you don’t have to spend the time and learning trying to come up with your own copy and hope and pray it works. We have high converting scripts already in there for you to use.

Don’t leave it up to your customer to determine what the benefit is. Make sure you tell them!

8. Alternative Solutions & Prices

Another rule for you is to know what alternative solutions are out there that your customers might be using to solve their problems. In this post (see #11 What Solutions Have They Already Tried) I explain alternative solutions in depth and how to sell the best with them (the strategy is you can’t go wrong with is talking about other solutions that are timely and costly).

An alternative solution for people struggling creating VSLs is:
Hiring an expensive copywriter and video production company to produce your video for you. This could cost you thousands and you still might not even get what you want at the end of the day.

9. Bonuses

Adding bonuses to your offers never hurt. Just don’t overdo it and keep them relevant to the main offer.

10. Scarcity

There always needs to be a reason for someone to ACT RIGHT NOW as opposed to waiting for later (which later mostly never happens).

I will have a more detailed post in the future about using scarcity to sell but just know that you need to create a compelling reason for someone to buy now.

Scarcity can include:

• A Limited Time
• A Limited Quantity
• Additional Bonuses
• Special Price

Your scarcity reason will need to be explained in detail in your video sales letter. It is very important that you convey your scarcity in your script and if you also want to have it on the page somewhere, then that’s OK too.

11. Guarantee

Next, including your guarantee in your video sales letter script is another important component.

What are you guaranteeing the person will get if they purchase?

• Peace of mind?
• Double their money back?
• A Refund time period?
• Guaranteed success?

Whatever icing on the cake you can throw in, that will push someone over the edge to pull out their credit card and spend money with you as a result.

12. Call To Action (CTA)

A CTA is the most important part of the entire video. You must tell the person watching what they should do next. Click to buy? Enter their email? Press the link below?

Don’t assume the person is going to take your desired action step without you telling them to do so no matter how obvious it might be!

Tell the person what you would like them to do!

13. Your Name

Phew. This one’s easy.

Make sure you enter and exit the video with telling people your name. Don’t assume people are going to know you already (no matter who you are). Don’t be afraid to end your video with your name again reminding people who you are even though you told them already!

That’s it. These are the 13 elements you need to include in every video sales letter you create.

Finally, I couldn’t write this post without explaining what words you SHOULD NOT INCLUDE in your video sales letter. After I explain that, I’m going to tell you what to do so you can be on your way to creating your next high converting video sales letter.

Ummm….The Worst Words To Have In Your Video

We just outlined everything you need to say…now let’s discuss what you shouldn’t be saying in your videos.

Since your videos are going to be well scripted and since you are going to be uber prepared for your videos, then there is no reason your video should be filled with a lot of ums, ahs and ya knows.

An occasional um here and ya know there is perfectly fine because it makes you sound natural (and human) but if you say these words a lot in your videos then you’ve got to either record it again or edit them out which could be a pain if you are doing a “talking head” video. It’s much harder to make little edits when you are in front of a camera talking then let’s say, behind the camera filming your screen. Trust me – take it from someone who is ANAL about too many ums.

Although you may know what you’re saying, a lot of ums and ya knows will be annoying for your viewers and it will make your video weak, thus bringing down your conversions, and views for that matter.

Recently, I reached out to a very respectable marketer and suggested he work on removing the ums from his videos (not editing them, but making a conscious effort to say them A TON less). I told him it took away from the powerful things he had to say. It really does. As painful as it might be, listen and watch the videos you create. Listen to where you have this verbal diarrhea and work on not saying them at all. It might be hard in the beginning, but keep at it and your umms and ya knows will be a thing of the past….ya know? The first step in saying these words less is acknowledging the problem!

There’s more to say on this topic, but I’ll leave that for another post.

Now let’s get to your action step.

Get The Venetian Script and Create A VSL Now

Want the script that could lead you to literally doubling your VSL Conversions?

The script is inside of ScriptDoll waiting for you to use and the good news is that you can try out ScriptDoll for $1 right now with the coupon code [scriptdollblog] and get instant access to The Venetian as well as a ton other scripts.

It’s time for you to take action because this is the easiest way to learn how to sell with videos using proper video sales letters! Go and do it! You only have oodles to gain.

Want the entire high converting venetian script NOW?