6. Use as many testimonials as possible. If you have customer emails or letters you can ask their permission to use these as testimonials in your sales letter. Again you are sharing a customer's story with your audience. People are interested in people, period.

7. Write in a conversational style by using contractions (I'm, can't, you'll, who'd, etc) and ellipsis (…) to show pauses. This helps to give letter a less written feel and a more spoken feel. You can also use words that will build a conversational atmosphere such as "Listen up" , "Pay attention here" "I want to talk to you". All these catch phrases make your writing seem more audible than written. Keep in mind that we read by listening to our own voices in our heads. So all writings go through this translation process.

8. Build rhythm and cadence by using punctuations to emphasize important words. For example, consider following sentence:

"Our research indicated that it takes anywhere from three to five months of REGULAR activity to measure significant changes in health and fitness, so you can expect to see real improvements in six months … IF you stick with a well-planned program of physical activity."

If you read sentence without CAPITLISED words " REGUALR" and "IF", then emphasis of message changes even though words didn't. You can do same to mimic raising your voice, thus giving your writing some spoken quality.

In same way long sentences and paragraphs show slow, contemplative movement and take some time to digest properly. Short sentences do opposite.

9. Identify with your audience as much as possible. You of course must 'know' people you are writing for. Are they afraid? Do they have pains? Are they new parents? What are their common values? Are they patriotic? Being able to answer these questions will help you to tell your story in a way they can identify with. If your situation is totally foreign to your target audience then your job becomes more difficult.

The more personality you give to your sales letter more persons you'll convince to buy your product or service. Soon you'll benefit from word of mouth advertising as your customers continue to tell your story; which is what you really want.

And you can't get anymore personal than that.

6) Are they insecure? About what?

Greed and fear are probably most targeted emotions in direct mail. Read some ads and see if you can identify emotions they target.

Is it fear? Fear of what? Loss? Of losing health? Fear of death? Fear of failure? Of just being average... of never amounting to anything? Fear of physical harm? (In order to target fear in your copy fear has to be realistic... genuine... and specific.)

How about combining benevolence and guilt as emotions in your sales letter? "Who would do that," you ask? Charity letters and fundraisers do it all time. Readers of fundraising letters often feel guilty about not doing enough to help those less fortunate than themselves.

How about insecurity? This emotion often lies underneath other emotions. People are often greedy because they’re insecure about themselves. (The things they buy and show off are really used to cover up an insecurity of some sort.)

The American Express sample sales letter (I use as an example on my website) targets vanity (exclusivity). The emotions in YOUR sales letter are generated by benefits your product or service offers. There are many emotions. Sometimes it’s hard to know where one emotion stops and another begins.

The following are all potential emotions to stir in your sales letter ...

Achieve comfort Altruism Anger Annoyance Avoid embarrassment Be among leaders Be recognized as an authority Benevolence Boredom Complacence Confidence Confusion Curiosity / satisfy curiosity Desperation Disgust Enjoy health Envy Exhaustion Fear Gain knowledge Greed / make money Guilt Happiness Hope/optimism Indifference Insecurity / achieve security / protect future of your family Laziness / avoid effort Loneliness Love Lust Optimism Passion / attract opposite sex Patriotism Pessimism Pride / gain self-respect Resist domination of others Revenge Sadness Save money / frugality Save time Self-reliance / independence Shyness Stupidity Surprise Sympathy Take advantage of opportunities Vanity / be popular / social acceptance Whimsy Win acclaim Wit

You obviously can't put all these emotions in your sales letter. Most sales letters target one or two primary emotions and then appeal to 1 or 2 others. The more emotions you can blend into your copy though more powerful your letter will be.