5 key variables for a strong DIY offer (if you’re selling information)

Happy Wednesday! Welcome back to The Copywriting Gig. 

I'm Jim Hamilton. Over the past 7 years, my copy has contributed to $30m in sales for clients across health, biz opp, and B2B. 

Each week, I share 1 actionable tip to help you sell more stuff online.

What exactly makes for a “strong” offer?

- Benefits?
- Discounts?
- Bonuses?
- Templates?
- Videos?
- Guarantees?

Since I’m in the middle of launching my first digital product…

This is the perfect “teachable moment” to share how I think about crafting offers for digital products as a creator.

So today, I’m revealing 5 key variables for a strong DIY (do it yourself) offer.

Let’s dive in.

Read time: 4 minutes and 49 seconds

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Do It Yourself (DIY) vs Done For You (DFY)

All offers fall into 1 of these 3 buckets:

- Do It Yourself (DIY)
- Done With You (DWY)
- Done For You (DFY)

Each one comes with its own tradeoffs and payoffs.

“Do it yourself” offers are priced lowest of the 3.

But they’re great for scaling because once they’ve been created, they don’t require any more of your time to fulfill.

It’s up to your customers to implement on their own.

“Done for you” is on the opposite side of the spectrum.

This type of offer is a service like copywriting, ghostwriting, media buying, etc and requires a lot of your time, energy, and attention to fulfill.

But you can also charge a lot more for it.

“Done with you” is in the middle. 

This is usually where you’re telling them exactly what to do (just like a DIY offer), but then also offering individualized feedback and helping them get past roadblocks to achieve the goal.

I’ve already got all the DFY work I want.

So my goal was to start with a DIY product that I could create once, but then sell to my audience on a regular basis with minimal ongoing effort.

Now let’s dig into how I did it:

1) Desired outcome

The first and most important variable is a clear desired outcome.

This can be communicated in both your product name and main headline.

Discover this by asking:

- What is your ideal customer struggling with?
- What is your ideal customer’s end goal?
- What goals can you realistically help someone achieve?

In my case, I wanted to focus on speed.

This is a major pain point for many writers, and something I’ve gotten pretty good at over the years.

So the outcome I chose is “how to write an email that sells in 15 minutes.”

It’s an ambitious promise, but one I know I can deliver on.

That’s why I named my product “15-Minute Emails That Sell.”

2) Unique mechanism

Promising a desired outcome is great.

But one question customers will always ask before buying something is:

“Is this something I’ve already seen before?”

If they don’t believe your product has something fundamentally NEW in it, they won’t buy.

That’s where a “unique mechanism” comes in.

This is the unique method, approach, or step-by-step framework you’ve developed for achieving an outcome.

In the case of 15ME, my unique mechanism is the “S.L.P.C. Method.”

This is the repeatable step-by-step framework I’ve developed for writing emails that sell in as little as 15 minutes, and the bulk of what I teach inside the product.

If you sell information, remember this:

Organizing what you know into digestible step-by-step frameworks is a superpower.

Not only does it set you apart from the competition…

But it also gives someone a potential explanation for why they’ve failed in the past.

(because they were missing YOUR unique mechanism)

It creates hope.

And hope needs to be present to make a sale.

Especially in the case of DIY offers.

3) Pain avoidance

There are lots of things people aren’t willing to do to achieve an outcome.

Or simply want to avoid.

Strong offers capitalize on this to pull them in.

For freelancers, it could be:

- Sending cold emails
- Getting on sales calls
- Applying on freelance platforms
- DMing strangers on social media

The better you know your market, the longer this list should be.

Given that my desired outcome is “writing an email that sells in 15 minutes”...

I added the following piece to my headline:

“... without “brainstorming” for hours
or staring at a blank page”

I put “brainstorming” in quotations because I’ve noticed many people use that word to describe all sorts of useless activities that aren’t productive for ideation.

And frankly, trying to ideate when you’re under the gun isn’t much fun.

It’s like trying to solve a complicated math problem.

I much prefer to have a system for coming up with ideas that runs all the time…

So when I sit down to write, the idea is already there.

And anyone who writes for a living knows what it feels like to be stuck staring at a blank page.

4) Scarcity

Scarcity is a powerful buying trigger.

The more scarce something is, the more people want it.

But this is tricky to do with digital products because the quantities are unlimited.

So how do you do it?

By offering a fast-action bonus that is limited to the first X buyers.

This could be an extra resource (tools, templates, trainings, etc)...

Or if you want to create even more sales velocity, you could offer a fast-action bonus that’s more hands-on.

This is what I did.

I gave the first 10 buyers a free short-form copy review, which is a paid service I’m currently offering for $150.

Not sure whether I’ll do it again for the next product I launch…

But it’s a great way to take your offer from “compelling” to “no-brainer.”

5) Urgency

Giving someone a reason to act NOW is at the heart of direct response.

It exploits our fear of missing out (FOMO). 

And the most common way to create urgency is with a timer.

That’s exactly what I’ve done.

Anyone who buys 15-Minute Emails That Sell before the live workshop on Friday gets it for 66% off.

But offering a discount isn’t your only option to create urgency.

You could also offer an extra resource or service add-on.

The important thing is that there’s a limited time for them to get your special offer.

Putting It All Together

5 key variables for a strong DIY offer (if you’re selling information)

1) Desired outcome
2) Unique mechanism
3) Pain avoidance
4) Scarcity
5) Urgency

That’s it.

Thanks for reading!

See you next week.

Jim Hamilton

P.S:

If you’re interested in learning how to write simple emails that sell for yourself or for clients…

There’s still time to sign up for 15-Minute Emails That Sell.

The workshop will take place live on Friday, November 17 at 11 AM ET on Zoom.

But it will also be recorded if you can’t make it or have to duck out early.

So if you want to nab lifetime access to the workshop + recording & bonuses…

It’s just one payment of $50.

Click here to complete your purchase.

FYI - I will be releasing this as an evergreen product once the live workshop is done, but if you wait until then, the price will go up to $150.

So don’t say I didn’t warn ya ;)