Selling skills for bloggers - features and benefits

The cornerstone of any sales pitch, whether verbal or written, is to link benefits to each and every feature you mention. As a blogger you'll be using sales pitches all the time - not just to sell your products, but to get people to subscribe, to get visitors to your site and even to persuade them they should read your posts!

So we all need to learn the art of linking a benefit to every feature

The "So what?" test

"...and as a subscriber, you'll get my weekly newsletter.."

So what?

"...and the car has keyless door entry.."

So what?

"...and we have a Jacuzzi and sauna suite right next to the swimming pool..."

So what?

"...and all your data will be synched automatically on our servers.."

So what?

All of the above are features. Now let's add some benefits, and suddenly they become tangible and worth paying for:

"And as a subscriber, you'll get me weekly newsletter, which means that you'll get additional content on our topic, and special offers that regular site readers never see."

"And the car has keyless door entry, which means that you'll never have to fumble around in your pocket or purse when you're laden with shopping again. Simply walk up to it, and open the door or tailgate."

"And we have a Jacuzzi and sauna suite, which means that you can relax your muscles and mind after a training session, and this will greatly reduce the chances of injury or pain."

"And all your data will be synched automatically on our servers, which means that next time you suffer a hard drive failure, or just want to replace your computer, you can simply power up your new machine and get back to work, saving you time and money."

"Which means that.."

The key phrase is "which means that.." and whatever you're selling, whoever you're selling to, add that phrase to any feature, and you'll have to find a benefit. If you can't find one, then don't bother mentioning the feature.

Have you come across sales pitches that focus purely on features?