Recent Marketing and Advertising Articles
for Your Small Business
Chapter Seventy-one: How to write a great sales
letter
Sell just one thing
One product or service – can offer multiple bundles of that
product or service but only one core product or service
Give away your ideas and products
(or at least make it seem like you are literally giving it
away)
The importance of headlines
(Will make or break your success –
http://www.cosmopolitan.com/) – (e.g. How to Get Over Him: The No B.S. Guide to
Surviving a Breakup, Are you a big loser? Get fit and have a ball, Lose it for
good, The truth about getting in shape, Cool winter moves for a hot bod, Your
daily dose of inspiration, Trend Alert: Pre-Holiday Boot Camp, A Cure for Upper
Arm Flab)
Write as people actually speak in everyday life
(Use the readability Score in MS Word – "tools -> options
-> spelling & grammar -> grammar section -> click on "Show
readability Statistics" = = next time you work on a document go tools ->
spelling and grammar -> after spell check is done you will get the
readability stats – aim for grade 6-9)
Use emphasis tools to allow the reader to "hear" your voice
tone and inflection while reading:
Bold, italics, underlined, ALL CAPS, parenthesis
Use punctuation to allow reader to "hear" your pausing and
pacing while reading:
Write to a campaign, not just a letter
Multi-step – reuse your strongest parts – hit main selling
points differently in each step of campaign – test different headlines and
emotional hot buttons – lead them down a path
Generate emotion
Fears:
· Fear of Embarrassment ...
· Fear of Failure ...
· Fear of Poverty and Want ...
· Fear of Loneliness ...
· Fear of Dependence ...
· Fear of Death ...
Big Frustrations:
· Feel unappreciated ...
· Feel powerless or trapped ...
· Feel used or taken advantage of ...
· Feel deprived of things
· Feeling that life is going by too fast
Get to the point immediately
· (Try deleting your first 2 or 3 paragraphs – many
times it helps getting to the point – kind of like clearing your throat)
The power of the word "mistake"
· Admit you are not perfect
· Display your weaknesses
The all-important P.S.
· Surprising bonus
· Summary of offer
· Emphasis on what they have to lose or gain
Make it super easy to buy
· Multiple purchase options, fax, phone, online, offline
payment options
Make sure you have scarcity built in
(The more scarce it is the greater the demand, and the greater
the price that they would be willing to pay)
Keep it simple and clear
Easy to understand action steps.
Clear order form.
Strong headlines.
Reasons why they should buy – and buy now
One word sentences, one sentence paragraphs, one-word
paragraphs
Keep paragraphs limited to four lines, five at most
Reduce their risk of purchase
Magic words for a powerful guarantee:
a) No risk
b) No hassles refund
c) No questions asked
d) Simply return it and you’ll receive a no hassle, no
questions asked guarantee
Even if you do ask for your money back, you may keep the bonus
items as my gift just for giving us a try
"Let’s say you’ve got $1,000,000 tied up in your little company
and suddenly, for reasons unknown to you, your advertising isn’t working and
your sales are going down. And everything depends on it. Your future depends on
it, your family’s future depends on it. I walk into this office and sit down in
this chair. Now, what do you want from me? Fine writing? Do you want
masterpieces? Do you want glowing things that can be framed by copywriters? Or
do you want to see the #!@%$*&#@! sales curve stop going down and start
moving up?"
---Rosser Reeves
PS: The Direct Mail Detox Bundle – have a look and see how easy
marketing can be!
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