I am a believer in long sales copy. The long sales copy I've used on my site has worked much better at converting visitors than the short sales copy. But then I have a higher ticket sales item ($99).

I'm starting to see, though, sales copy that goes beyond the description "long"--ENORMOUS would be a better world, or NEVER-ENDING.

Honestly, I -never- read all of that copy and almost always get bored and leave the site.

Does this super-ultra-long copy work for anybody?

I know as a personal thing that sales copy which extends past the fold(eg that makes me scroll) i just wont read unless it has a benifit which makes me want to keep reading. Now again if i find that by continued reading i am only reading the same benfit again reworded, i am outta there.

I can make my decision in 5 minutes with a list of features and a couple of compelling reasons why i should buy. I absolutly hate seeing and more so having to read page after page of sales copy to just find the order button, because i think most people whoa re going to read more then the first few paragraphs will have made there decision before reading any furthur.

Long copy does work as long as it keeps the reader's attention. I was just looking at one on a site that couldn't grab my attention with a net.

And I've heard of a 38-page direct mail piece that worked. Personally I hope I never see a hefty monster like that in my mailbox.

How long does yours have to be? As long as it takes. If you can get the sale in a 1000 words -- power to you. If you find your sales double with 2000 words -- even better. Depending on the product, it may take 5000 words, just to get through the reader's resistance.

Whether people actually read every word....

I have always been taught that sales copy is as long as it needs to be. The only crime is to be boring.

But I am with you NewsGuy, the current trend is to incredibly long, repetitive copy.