(Oh, and by way -- depending on sweepstakes rules in your state, you may even be able to say up front "This sweepstakes is only valid if we receive 2,000 entries.", or whatever numbers work for you.)

And... let's say your average customer sale is $1,000 dollars.

This means, you'll need to make 10 sales to at least break even on deal -- now. Plus, whatever it costs you to promote your sweepstakes, so... let's say you need to make 12 sales to make this promotion break even.

What you have to ask yourself, is... will you make 12 sales, to 1,500 people who've come into your store and signed up for your sweepstakes?

That's one sale, to every 125 people who come sauntering through your front doors.

Can you do this?

Honestly, I don't know.

It depends on what your conversion ratio of prospects-to-customers is. Meaning, how many of your prospects, do you actually convert into paying customers?

But at least, now you have a working formula to use, so you can figure out what numbers you need, to make this sweepstakes of yours work!

Plus remember... you're using this sweepstakes to generate leads for future sales, not for making sales today, right?

So what you also have to take into consideration, is...

How many sales will you make over next 12 months, by sending out a monthly marketing piece to all these 1,500 qualified new leads you've now got?

After all, isn't that what you're supposed to be doing with your qualified leads, anyway?

And this translates into, "Will you be able to make a sale to 1 out of every 125 people who came through your doors, sometime during next 12 months?"

Well, even if you're only a halfway decent copywriter... as long as you're consistently making these prospects a compelling offer each-and-every-month...

You Should Be Able To Do That!

Sweepstakes are especially good for retail stores, since they seem to have a hard time building their prospect list up.

It's tough to get people's name and address when they come in your store, especially if they're just browsing and they don't buy anything.

And why are sweepstakes so effective at generating qualified leads for you?

The answer is simple: For most part, people don't go out of their way to enter sweepstakes for items they don't want, or wouldn't buy at some point in time, on their own.

And really, almost any business can run a sweepstakes.

Like if you're a hotel, raffle off an overnight stay in one of your better rooms. Then you do same thing furniture store owner did -- you make a consistent offer to each and every person who signed up to win overnight stay.

When you're running a sweepstakes to generate leads, you must remember purpose of "lead-generation". And that is, sometimes it's easier to build up your list of leads, so you can make consistent offers to your prospects, than it is to just try and sell them something directly.

(For more information on using "2-Step" lead-generating selling formulas, see my article and "2-Step" writing samples here.)

And running a sweepstakes is a fun and exciting way to get your prospects motivated and all fired-up about your business.

Do you know most popular sweepstakes ever ran? (Yes, even more popular than "Ed McMahon's Publishers Clearinghouse Sweepstakes!)

Well, most popular sweepstakes ever ran, was put on by AOL in April, 2004. Over 1 Million people entered contest to win a Porsche Boxter seized by federal authorities, from a major internet spammer.

And let me ask you this: Do you think AOL did just a "little" marketing to those 1 million entrants?

Did you know, if AOL only got a 0.25% conversion rate, of entrants who eventually became AOL subscribers (that's 1 out of every 400 people)... even at lowest AOL subscriber plan of only $24 Dollars a month, this turns into...

$60,000 Dollars A Month... or... $720,000 Dollars A Year... Forever... For AOL!

Ka-ching! Not bad, hey?

This was an easy book to digest... a fast read (maybe 2 hours of your time)... and boy-oh-boy, what a joy it was.

The sense of empathy (using very plain-and-simple English), Sachar was able to stir inside you, over main characters plight, was heartfelt and simply wonderful.

If you can stir up emotions like that in your sales copy...

You've got a rock-solid money-making machine on your hand!

And when you can show a "struggle to success" story way he did, taking you by hand and letting you walk alongside his characters as they overcome obstacle after unjust obstacle, your outcome's going to be fantastic!

Can you do same thing in your sales copy?

Of Course You Can!

For example, whatever you're selling, has got to be solution to some kind of problem... so tell your prospects stories about how you developed your product... or, how your product or service has changed someone's life.

Either of those stories can be made into "rags to riches" or "struggle to success" stories, no?

I definitely shed a few tears after I finished reading uplifting and pretty ironic conclusion of "Holes", and... if you can move your prospects same way, believe me you'll make more than your fair share of ducats.

So read as much good fiction as you can get your hands on.

Start thinking about how your authors are painting their characters and bringing them to life for you.

And begin figuring out how dynamics of characters relationships are handled, and how YOU can use these same dynamics in your sales copy, to make your sales pitches compelling and "real".

The bottom line here is, if you do following three things, you'll be able to use your fiction readings, to leverage your creative juices so they start flowing like roaring rapids of Snake River in Colorado, and not Black Muddy River of folklore.

Here are these three simple things you must do:

Read! Read voraciously and read like your life's depending on it. Pretend each book you read is like a juicy thick sirloin steak, and then imagine...

You're Freakin Starving!

And start devouring those books!

Think! As you're reading, s-l-o-w-l-y digest every single morsel you're taking in. Discover what's making your characters tick, and... even more important, figure out what it is about what's making them tick...

That's Going To Make Your Prospects TickToo!

Do Something! You know, last week I saw this bit on one of those prime time television news exposés, about some poor gal who was just so desperate to lose weight.

The only problem was... she was eating enough food in a day...

To feed a small farming country in mid-east!

Now what's up with that?

Do you need to be a rocket scientist to figure out that's NOT road to losing weight?

I'm not saying it's easy for someone in her position -- NOTHING good is easy.

Anything worth while, is usually worth fighting for, and... it's also usually incredibly difficult to achieve.

Period.

Sorry, but there's just no getting around that one.

So if you think simply "reading" and "understanding" everything you must know about "how to write", is going to make you even one thin dime, then you're sorely mistaken.

To do this, you've actually got to go out and...

Write something!

Be, as Teddy Roosevelt said, "man in arena". Feel sweat pouring down sides of your head... bounce back from your mistakes... and then... emerge victorious, baby!

Before I go, check out what Rod Argent said, back in 1968. (Do you know who he is?)

"Really, music is a very personal thing. It's product of a person's experiences. Since no two people have been exactly alike, each writer has something unique to say. That makes anything which is not just a copy of something else, worth listening to."

So listen to music that moves your soul... read good books that quench your thirst for becoming whole, emotionally... and enjoy creating and basking in "non-real" things life's imagination is offering you.

And then, use these gifts to go out and create very best damn sales letters you can, and... start...

Enjoying... Your Results!