A video sales letter (or VSL) is a video that’s crafted to promote or sell a product. You could say that infomercials were the forebears to today’s video sales letter. And many of the tactics used in infomercials are equally effective in video sales letters. 

Video sales letters often start life as text sales letters. Because once copy is proven to convert in text, a video sales letter may add a further 1 or 2% boost in conversions.

Video sales letters work particularly well for products that require a lot of explanation on how they work and what makes them the superior option. 

Video sales letters are also effective ways of drawing jaded prospects into the sales message through presenting a dramatic story or heart wrenching turning point in someone’s life that forced them to find a solution to their problem.

A decade ago a video sales letter could be as simple as text on a whiteboard screen. But today the quality standards and user expectations are much higher. And video sales letters need to be full video (either recorded or b-roll footage) to keep users engaged and watching until they buy at the end.

Creating a VSL is an expensive endeavour. Which is why it’s vital to work with a copywriter who specializes in writing VSLs. 
Depending on the length and complexity of the logic chain needed to sell a product, a VSL copywriter can charge $15,000 or even more for a 60 minute long VSL. For this rate they’d likely include at least 3 leads to test, and will continue to work with the client until it converts. Hiring a VSL copywriter for anything less suggests the copywriter is inexperienced, and the campaign has a much higher risk of bombing.
A VSL copywriter may also charge a royalty on top and commission on the sales generated. In exchange, they’d then continue updating the VSL at no extra charge to ensure it continues to convert profitably.
The production standards for VSLs has increased significantly in the last 10 years. The days of a black text on whiteboard screen style VSL converting are coming to an end. And instead, video footage is required throughout to keep users engaged and eager to buy by the end. This can mean an extra $10-20k investment is needed for production, on top of the VSL copywriter’s fee.

VSL copywriting is a highly sought and highly paid skill. For this reason there’s no shortage of copywriters hanging out their shingle as a VSL copywriter. This can make the process of hiring a VSL writer who’s got the experience and talent to deliver results a challenging task.

The best way to start your process for hiring a VSL writer is to reach out to your network for recommendations. If anyone you know and trust can recommend someone they’ve worked with who delivered profitable results, this is the best way of eliminating a lot of the risk.

Alternatively, you could post in Facebook copywriting jobs boards and see who gets the most recommendations in the comments.

However, even after getting some recommendations, make sure they can provide examples of high converting VSLs they’ve written, have worked with high levels clients before and they’re able to provide ideas on how your product could be promoted. 

Another way of identifying high level VSL writers is that they’re willing to provide multiple leads for you to test. As any experienced VSL writer knows that creating a high converting promotion is a marathon rather than a sprint. And the best results come from testing, refinement and testing again.

A good VSL may keep people watching, but a great VSL gets people buying by the end. The key to turning a good VSL into a great VSL is finding a big idea that’s unique, emotionally interesting and convinces people that your product will work for them, even after everything else they tried has failed.
 
In addition to a powerful big idea, for a good VSL to become a great VSL it needs to present a new cause of the customer’s problem so you can position the product as a new solution. It should also have an emotionally charged story the target customer can relate to, have solid proof to backup every claim and eliminate every objection until buying becomes the only logical action the viewer should take.

There’s a reason why lots of people go to YouTube when they have problems to solve. Because many people find watching a video preferable to reading a long article. The same applies to selling products. Many folks would rather sit down and watch an emotionally captivating and intellectually interesting video sales letter than read a 10,000 word long sales letter.
But for a video sales letter to work it doesn’t just need to be visually attractive. It also has to present a compelling, logical reason why people should buy.
 
Video sales letters, along with other high-income skills like copywriting, helped me build a multimillion-dollar business from scratch.