I'm not a baseball fan. Never have been. In fact, I hate sport. However, I am a Barry Bonds fan. Here's why: Barry Bonds possesses exact same intangibles every great sales letter possesses. He's loyal, consistent, powerful, and hits a ton of home runs, year after year after year! Those are all things that great sales letters do and have done from very beginning.And believe it or not, of all aforementioned intangibles, number one intangible is loyalty. All great sales letters remain loyal to one of oldest of all copywriting basics: AIDA formula!
You MUST write every single sales letter using following classic AIDA formula. If you are loyal to formula, consistency, power and home runs will follow. That's a proven fact. Here's formula:
A=ATTENTION I=INTEREST D=DESIRE A=ACTION
Let's break down each letter, so that you can understand full import of formula:
A=ATTENTION: The very first thing your sales letter must do is get your prospects attention. The best way to do that is with an effective headline.
So, what's an effective headline? An effective headline is any headline that answers this question: "What's in it for me?" That's all your prospects really care about. What's in it for them? Here's an up-to-the-second example of an effective headline: "Want More Sales? Write A Barry Bond Sales Letter."
So, what makes title of this article an effective headline? Three things: First of all, I answered "What's in it for me" question--which in this case would be more sales. Secondly, I brilliantly interjected curiosity factor. I made you wonder what a Barry Bonds sales letter is. And last but not least, headline made you read this article.
And that my friend is whole point! You want prospects to read your sales letter!
Now, we come to second letter in aforementioned AIDA formula: I="INTEREST." After you get your prospects attention, you want to get them "INTERESTED" in your product or service. You do that by immediately telling them what your headline promises. You don't waste their time with a bunch of fluff and garbage that nobody but you cares about.
Tell them what they want to know, starting with very first paragraph, and continue to tell them, right through to very last paragraph. If you keep them interested, they'll keep reading, right to very end--just like you're doing now with this article.
Next comes third letter letter in formula: D="DESIRE." You have to make your prospects "DESIRE" your product or service. And way to do that is with benefits, benefits and more benefits!
Remember, just keep telling them what your headline promised. Also, tell them what they stand to gain by purchasing your product or service. More importantly, tell them what they stand to lose, if they don't purchase.