When you sit down to write a sales letter to your prospects, it can be difficult to know just where to start. Regardless of the purpose of your letter, it has to accomplish several things:
And furthermore, it has to have sizzle. In other words, it needs to grab your prospect's attention and appeal to them emotionally so that they want to respond.
Here is my step-by-step guide to writing a winning sales letter:
1. Establish your letter's main purpose.
First of all, what do you want to achieve by sending out a sales letter? Be specific.
Do you want to generate leads? Sell your services or products outright? Use your letter as a "get to know you" device for prospects who have been referred to you by trusted colleagues?
Second, what is your offer? Any time you contact prospective clients, you need to have something to offer them. It's a busy world, and your prospects are barraged with too much information as it is. So simplify their lives by narrowing down what you are marketing to them in a way that is easy to follow.
If you're a life coach, perhaps you would be giving away a half-hour coaching session as an introductory offer.
Do you want your prospect to contact you regarding her upcoming consulting needs? Your offer might be a special report on how to get the best results from your consultant. Giving away information is an excellent way to show your expertise without having to sell your services outright.
If the latest version of your software is about to launch, you might send current-version owners a letter offering an inexpensive upgrade if they act quickly.
The important thing here is to figure out 1 main offer for your letter. Just 1. Keeping it simple will make it easier for you to write the letter to begin with; plus, your readers will easily grasp what you're asking them to do as well.
What is most successful for your prospects will depend on how well you ...
2. Give the people what they want.
Who will be receiving the letter? Outline the types of prospects you'll be contacting.
Then list their individual needs based on what you're selling. This will help you determine not only how to appeal to your readers' emotions, but also lets you figure out how many different messages you have to have to reach your targets.
For example, if you're a real estate agent wanting to market to prospective buyers in a ritzy neighborhood, as well as to less financially able individuals who are looking for homes in a more upscale neighborhood than their own, you're going to be writing 2 different letters, or at least 2 different permutations of the same letter.
Why? Because the wealthy prospects already have established themselves and are looking for downright luxury in their new homes, whereas the latter group wants to find a home in a more comfortable neighborhood where their kids can play outside safely and go to good schools. (The well-off prospects pretty much take these aspects of home-buying for granted, though they are still important benefits.)
Ask yourself:
In other words ...
"What's in it for me?"
Your prospects are concerned about their own needs and no one else's, and they're not out to do you any favors, so your job is to show them what only you can can give them.
If you keep in mind both the rational and emotional needs and wants of your prospects, you're already a step ahead.
3. Structure your letter properly.
Although the structure of your letter is important, steps 1 and 2 lay the foundation for everything else to do with your letter. So make sure to work through the above-mentioned steps prior to getting started writing.
What's the right structure for a sales letter? The good news is that every good sales letter has several elements in common:
In Part 2 of this article, I will go through all the particulars of each element to ensure that your next sales letter is perfectly persuasive. See http://AvenueEast.com/saleslettertutorial.htm a> for the full sales letter tutorial.
Copywriter/marketing strategist Jennifer McCay helps individuals and small businesses turn their expertise into marketing success stories. She is the publisher of the Avenues to Marketing Success Newsletter, which delivers tips to help you rev up your small business marketing. To subscribe and receive a FREE special report on 7 ways to improve your sales copy, head to http://AvenueEast.com
While traditional marketing can work for the book author or... Read More
In this article, I am going to reveal a dozen... Read More
Think you have what it takes to be a freelance... Read More
You're ready to launch that new product or promotion, &... Read More
Writing for the search engines is much different than writing... Read More
Would you like to get more sales from your online... Read More
It's time to write your next ad or brochure. Maybe... Read More
One of the biggest challenges a copywriter faces is to... Read More
Ask yourself these questions:Are you an experienced writer?Do you want... Read More
Your sales copy is the life source of your business.... Read More
Chances are that you are making many, if not all,... Read More
These days, you don't have to traverse the dark forest... Read More
Summer is finally here and school is out, but learning... Read More
About 50 years ago, movie serials kept theater crowds coming... Read More
Persuasive copywriting is what draws the attention of prospective customers.... Read More
When you come to 'know' something, there is a temptation... Read More
A subscriber to my newsletter asks: "Got any good pointers... Read More
Site visitors generally stay with you for as long as... Read More
Have you ever had the experience of hiring a freelance... Read More
Whether you're an executive or a small business owner, chances... Read More
Web copy that's intended to sell or generate leads needs... Read More
Careers in copywriting are booming. Could it be that the... Read More
Listen, consider this scenario.You have a deadline to honour. Time... Read More
You can turn your $200 fee to write a press... Read More
It's a common approach to writing copy. You begin by... Read More
Your goal is to land a few nice, secure freelance... Read More
Here's a fundamental difference between copywriting offline and copywriting for... Read More
A passionate debate is currently raging in the Copywriters Forum... Read More
"Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause... Read More
Headlines are, without a doubt, one of the most important... Read More
When I show some people my advertisements, I sometimes get... Read More
It doesn't matter if you're writing an article, a newspaper... Read More
Network marketing is an art as much as it is... Read More
Year after year people make the same mistakes in direct-response... Read More
Anglers in Maine catch trout using dry flies with barbless... Read More
Most salespeople have great ideas, but when it comes to... Read More
How can you gain credibility and exposure for you and... Read More
When you are beginning to write, you gather as much... Read More
Doing the copywriting for your own website without the proper... Read More
From time to time you will be faced with an... Read More
Over the last decade, the number of companies selling their... Read More
Nothing irritates me more than being told that there are... Read More
Many of the solo professionals whom I coach are people... Read More
Overlooking simple steps such as proofreading and grammar can affect... Read More
Freelance writers are a strange group of people when it... Read More
One of my most powerful marketing weapons costs me less... Read More
While traditional marketing can work for the book author or... Read More
Just because you're running a small business doesn't mean you... Read More
Nothing can turn strong copy into a 97-pound weakling faster... Read More
Whether you're selling a product or service, the 10 tips... Read More
Putting out a high quality product is a given these... Read More
A significant reason behind websites that fail is the lack... Read More
Everyday when I read promotional emails and advertisements, or listen... Read More
Quality is what you need. What you don't have is... Read More
Copy is all about words. Or is it?Copy is about... Read More
1. Isolation technique It doesn't matter how good your... Read More
Most people with an online presence will have to regularly... Read More
Many of us have been asked to write an article... Read More
One of the keys to writing good marketing copy is... Read More
Assume you were faced with the task of hiring a... Read More
Get a Good Start for Sales SuccessThe headline to a... Read More
One statistic shows that over 80% of all buying decisions... Read More
When you're writing or evaluating copy for a B to... Read More
Why Some People's Ads Almost Always Make MoneyDiscover the Master... Read More
Grab 'em and don't lose 'em. Every marketer knows that... Read More
Have you seen those copywriting gurus, working it on the... Read More
Copywriting |