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In the last two columns we've been looking at the importance of using text in conjunction with images when it comes to selling stuff ... including adult products ... online and today we're going to go on with that theme.

In the last column we talked about the headline ... those words that would attract people who visit your site and encourage them to do more than just look at the hardcore pictures. A good headline will encourage people to read more of the words you've included on your web pages and that's important because it's the words that you use that will really make all the difference when it comes to turning a surfer into a paying customer.

So what words do you use in the text that comes after the headline?

Well I've already suggested that the words you use need to be focused on the reader and not on your sponsor or on you. You need to tell your surfers how they will benefit from buying what you are selling and you need to do it as if you were having a conversation with them.

That sounds easy enough doesn't it? Of course it's not quite as easy as it sounds and there are a number of pitfalls you need to avoid when you're having a conversation with your surfers.

The first pitfall to avoid is all about jargon. We know what we're talking about and we're accustomed to talking to people who understand the industry that we're in and that means that it's all too easy to slip into using jargon that you and I understand perfectly. Unfortunately the people we're having a conversation with on our sales sites may not understand that jargon and when we hit them with words they don't understand they switch off and we've lost them.

The second pitfall to avoid is the tone that we use to speak to them. In mainstream it's quite easy to sound pompous and as if we're talking down to the people we want to sell to. Here in adult we tend to go the other way and try to sound like someone off the streets or someone who has just emerged from our own tough little neighborhood.

Either way we're going to lose sales because no matter how hard we try to have a conversation with our surfers we just don't connect with them. To avoid going too far either way you should form a mental picture in your mind of the average person that visits your site.

What socio-economic group do they fall into? Where do they work? What level of education have they achieved? Even think about what sort of car they drive ... yes I know that may sound a little weird but you need to have as complete a picture of this average person as you can get.

Once you've got that picture then start thinking about the words ... the language ... that you and that person would use if you were having a conversation. Then, keeping that person in focus, start writing your sales text ... you're having a conversation with him or her and that's the way your sales text should appear.

Let me remind you again, it's a conversation. It's not about ramming the product you're selling down the throat of the person you're talking to. It's about sharing your thoughts and experiences with that other person in a way that gradually leads up to the point where you can talk about the benefits the person you're talking to will enjoy if they buy the product that you're selling.

Now after all that effort you've put into talking with your surfers and helping them get into their fantasies that it may be a little crass to actually ask your surfers to buy what you're selling but that's not the case at all.

No matter how good you are at getting a conversation going with your surfers you still need to ask them to buy what you're selling. So always include a call to action ... a request that they do something positive.

You can make that call to action in words at the end of your conversation or you can include it as a button. Just don't get so carried away with the idea of building a conversation that you forget to ask them to spend their money because that's the whole idea of everything you've done throughout the site with your words and your images.

Talk with them and ask them to buy and many will do so ... show nothing but images or talk at them and you will get fewer sales. While getting volume sales in adult is often all about the numbers of people who actually make it to your website you can increase your sales if you take the time to let your words do the talking.