2 builders who never spoke to each other

Amuse first, but do not joke about scarcity

Entertaining the reader is what earns the right to explain anything, so build the announcement to be enjoyed rather than to inform. Humour survives on a sales page, with one exception: a parody limited-supply line gets read literally and draws accusations of fake marketing, so push the joke far enough that nobody could mistake it.

The method

1. 01

   Write your new-product announcement to amuse people rather than to inform them, because entertaining first is what earns you the chance to explain anything at all.

2. 02

   Humour works on a sales page, but do not write parody scarcity: readers take a fake limited-supply line literally and call it out

What it returned

• Author contrasts the standard corporate launch announcement with Innocent's version, and cites a Walt Disney line to the effect that the entertainment has to come before the teaching.

• An early version of Sacha's page joked that only ten copies were left and drew accusations of fake marketing in a Hacker News thread, so he exaggerated it to millions of copies remaining to make the joke land

Sources

• Innocent know how to write copyHarry Dry · Marketing Examples · Innocent know how to write copy · undated
• $39k in eBook Sales Part 2: Design, Testimonials, and TrafficNathan Barry · nathanbarry.com · Transcript · 2012-10-08