Here's How To Avoid Catastrophic Mistakes When You Buy Your First Narrowboat

Jim and Karen arrived moored next to Calcutt Boats' slipway on a warm spring day in April 2013. They had purchased the 72' cruiser stern narrowboat the previous week and needed help resolving a few worrying problems. The engine made a noise like a cat with its tailed trapped in a door every time they tried to move their boat. To add to their woes, they couldn't fathom how to get the lights, fridge or water, bilge or shower pumps to work.

The happy-go-lucky couple, both HGV drivers, had recently sold their three bedroom Derby house and used the equity to buy a narrowboat. They £5,000 left after buying the boat, a sum they hoped would support them for six months. Jim told me that this was a dream they'd had for many years. He said that they couldn't wait to experience life in the slow lane for a few months before returning to full time employment in the autumn. 

The cost of the work required to resolve their engine issue used up most of their cruising fund. The electrical problem wiped out the rest. The sad part of the story was that by approaching the purchase slightly differently they could have kept their savings and avoided the heartache.

Jim and his wife were forced to abandon their summer plans, move onto a claustrophobic mooring in a crowded residential marina and return to work full time. They could have lived their once-in-a-lifetime summer cruising dream if they had someone to guide them.

By the way: short paragraphs and highlight boxes like the one above are a great way to keep the text light and easy to read. Don't overwhelm your visitors with a "wall of text".

One of my customers, Sue, told me that she had her heart set on a 60' traditional stern narrowboat with a vintage Kelvin. The old engine, all sparkling brass and copper, occupied a spacious engine room forward of the boatman's cabin. Sue told me that she planned to offer the owner his full asking price the following day.

Sue, despite her willingness to get her hands dirty, didn't know the first thing about her engines or the need for caution when considering a narrowboat with a vintage model. She fell in love with a narrowboat powered by an old Kelvin with its shiny copper and brass pipes and fittings.

INTRODUCTORY LINK HERE

I moved onto my first narrowboat knowing nothing, nada, zip. I knew so little that if someone had called me clueless I would have taken it as a compliment. At least moving into my new home wasn't an ordeal. I had a single rucksack stuffed with hiking gear. That's all I brought with me from my failed twenty year marriage.

I was so desparate to find somewhere cheap to live that I didn't give any consideration to the boat's condition, which was just as well because it was falling apart.

Peeling paint hung in faded ribbons from the cabin's wooden sides. 

Also remember that what you're looking at is only a template. Maybe you want to spend more time on the story. Maybe you want to add several more headline + text blocks, to really elaborate and evoke emotions. With Thrive, you can easily do so (just duplicate some of the existing blocks). Let the template inspire you, but don't let it limit you.

Below is an example of a simple image section: use images or icons to illustrate a point you're making. This can assist in your story telling or be used to showcase features (although only if you use it further down the page, after the product reveal).

Now it's time to present your offer as the perfect solution to everything you've been talking about so far in your story.

While we were holding back before, it's now time to be very specific. Talk about your product, what it is, what your customer gets when they purchase. At this point, after all the buildup, your readers really want to know what you have to offer, so don't hold back.

After the first call to action, use testimonials, case studies, more points lists and more text blocks to address all possible objections your visitors may have. Knowing these objections is very important... and you can learn all about them by talking to your customers and visitors. Give them a way to communicate with you and you'll quickly learn what's on your reader's mind as she goes through this page.

This part of the sales page can be a lot longer than it is in this template. There may be many objections that come up and you can address them all. If you dedicate a separate text block or a sub-heading to each one, your visitors can easily find the ones they have on their minds and skip the rest.

People are risk averse. We dread making a mistake and wasting our time and money on something that turns out to be rubbish. This is the part of the sales page where you can appease all those worries. One of the most important things you must learn about people in your market is what kinds of objections they have, so that you can effectively address them here.

Here's a section that you can use for many purposes. For example, you can use it to showcase how your solution is better than other solutions out there. Or, compare the problems your reader is facing right now with the great solutions they'll enjoy once they purchase.

P.S.: Welcome to the post script section of the page. You can have one or several of these. This part is all about loss aversion. Here is where you can remind your reader that if they don't jump on this opportunity right now they will be missing out.?

After the post scripts, use the link below to link to your purchase section or the checkout page.