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Hello Reader,

I caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of my eye and I couldn't help myself.

My heart rate sped up.

No, I wasn't in any danger. But whose heart wouldn't beat faster if they'd just spotted a $100 note just sitting beside the path!

As my hand made an almost instantaneous dive for the money, I noticed another note, this one for $50.

I picked both notes up and looked around me. This area is close to an RV park and its guests often walk along this particular path.

Surely someone was missing their cash and would want it back?

Of course, I thought, if they didn't want it back, I'd be happy to keep it.

Slightly amazed at my find, I turned the notes over.

And my heart sank into my stomach.

The other side of these realistic looking $100 and $50 bills didn't look like money at all.

They looked like an empty "to-do" list with the words "Yes, you need God in your life" typed in the middle, lengthwise.

So not only were they fake money, they were also useless for writing out lists of tasks.

Grumbling to myself, I kept walking. And more of those fake bills started turning up everywhere.

On the path. Off the path. Stuck to tree trunks. Everywhere.

The most memorable ones I found were the $10 and $20 notes layered over the top of a pile of dog poo.

"How fitting", I thought. That is EXACTLY how "too-good-to-be-true" promises or click bait marketing make people feel.

Just like me, they start out thinking they've gotten lucky. Until they see the poo sitting underneath. And then that angry feeling of having been fooled gets transferred to whatever it was that was being advertised or sold.

I can't think of a quicker way to put people off, then to pretend you're giving them something they desire (and value) and then do the old bait and switch on them.

Not cool.

That's exactly what too-good-to-be-true marketing does to people. It gets them excited about something valuable, then flips it over to show the catch.

If you're building an offer, a template, a course, anything you want people to buy, the promise on the front has to match what's underneath. No bait, no switch.

So I suggest you do this ... go back through your own sales page or product description this week and ask yourself: would I feel ripped off if I bought this expecting exactly what I read? If the answer's yes, fix it before you send more traffic there.

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Back to Basics Reminder

I know this sounds ultra boring, but it's worth doing. Pull up your sales data and have a look at any refunds or complaints from the last few months.

They're not just admin noise. They usually point straight at where a promise didn't quite land, a headline that oversold, a product page that skipped the fine print, a description that let the reader fill in gaps you never meant them to fill.

Ten minutes with that list will tell you more about your marketing honesty than any amount of guessing.

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Time-saving + AI Tip

I want you to try this before you build anything new. Before you spend a weekend on a template or a course, ask ChatGPT or Claude to draft three FAQ answers for it, as if a real customer had already bought it and was writing in confused.

If the AI struggles to answer clearly, that's not the AI's problem. It means your offer isn't clear enough yet, and you've just found that out in fifteen minutes instead of after launch.

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Highlight of the Week

I got kind of excited about this week's podcast episode. I think you're going to find it fascinating and useful. Go to Ep. 255: The Videos She Made 15 Years Ago Are Still Making Sales with Mary Ann Bautista.

Mary Ann talks about how YouTube videos she made 15 years ago are still bringing in sales today, and how to build YouTube as an asset you actually own, one that also helps you show up in AI search results.

Given this week's theme, it's a good one to have on in the background while you're doing that sales page audit.

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And that's it for this week. Hope you have a lovely weekend.

Trudy

P.S. If you are building something to sell, whether that's a template, a course or a bundle, you need somewhere to actually sell it. Thrivecart (affiliate link) is what I use for sales pages, checkout, upsells and hosting the whole thing. I've used it for years and it's still my go-to for hosting and selling my own templates and courses.