Getting people to part with their money, the old-fashioned way.

Written by Walter Burek


Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, norrepparttar rising cost of postage can keep a well-written sales letter from persuading readers to send money directly to its writer or organization. And many ofrepparttar 108177 techniques successful direct mail writers have been using for years work equally well on-line today. Here are ten tried-and-true tips fromrepparttar 108178 snail-mailers.

1. Have a plan. Writing a sales letter is a lot like writing an ad. And successful advertising starts with clear thinking about what to say 末 and to whom. Picture your prospect in your mind 末 in terms of age, income, attitudes, andrepparttar 108179 product she or he uses. Then determinerepparttar 108180 single most important benefit your product offers. The essence of a good plan is sacrifice 末 playing downrepparttar 108181 lesser benefits to concentrate onrepparttar 108182 biggest.

2. Start fast. The first sentence of your letter isrepparttar 108183 most important. That's when your prospect decides whether your letter is just an other piece of junk mail or something that will make him say, "This sounds interesting. I'd like to know more about it." Involve your reader in your first sentence, or your second sentence may never be read.

3. The early offer getsrepparttar 108184 worm. Direct-mail pros work onrepparttar 108185 coupon first, notrepparttar 108186 letter. What'srepparttar 108187 offer? How should it be stated? What arerepparttar 108188 terms? The offer is what getsrepparttar 108189 action. So make it clear. Make it direct. And make it early. Because a good offer can outpull any other technique to get your letter started.

4. Showrepparttar 108190 benefits Write about benefits, not features. A feature describes a product; a benefit explains what it does forrepparttar 108191 reader. Remember that people don稚 want to buy grass seed. They want to buy a beautiful green lawn.

5. Show some personality. The tone of your letter should be as important as what you say. Writerepparttar 108192 way you speak, usingrepparttar 108193 language ofrepparttar 108194 reader, so he perceivesrepparttar 108195 sales pitch is coming from a peer rather than an outsider. By using this approach, you receive empathy fromrepparttar 108196 reader by saying, "Look, I'm just like you. I know your problem; I've been through it; I have a solution." Writing peer to peer 末 writing as you would speak to a friend 末 isrepparttar 108197 tone you want to cultivate in every letter you write.

6. Go long. The amateur letter writer assumes that people will not read long letters. Allrepparttar 108198 research tells us otherwise. The fact is that long letters sell better than short ones. If they make an attractive offer. If they getrepparttar 108199 reader's attention atrepparttar 108200 top. If they are packed with facts. You are asking your readers to make an investment 末 of their time, money, or both. They need to be 末 they want to be 末 convinced that what you're selling is worth it. And that takes plenty of information. Sorepparttar 108201 more you tell,repparttar 108202 more you'll sell.

5 Overlooked, Yet Deadly Reasons WhyYour $ales Letter May Be Getting Poor Results

Written by Mike Jezek


Please understand, I'm not going to list every disease that can afflict a sales letter. Rather, I'm going to display 5 response killers I sometimes see when working with clients. Is your sales letter afflicted with any ofrepparttar following? 1) To Much Windup. Get torepparttar 108176 point right away in your sales letter. Make your offer crystal clear. Try to at least do this by paragraph #2 as a general rule of thumb. Most people skim online sales letters. 2) Wordy Sentence Structure. If you're not a polished writer - odds are you have overburdened sentences. Cut out all excess and contradictory words to make your point. Wordy sentences make persuasive arguments weak. They kill response. 3) Inappropriate Use Of "Hot Words". Use "hot words" where relevant. Example: Unless you're writing about strange phenomenon in nature or health matters or supplements -- think carefully about usingrepparttar 108177 word amazing, astonishing stunning, mysterious, miracle, potent, orrepparttar 108178 phrase

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