Writing sales letters is the art of copywriting, selling to people using the written word.  And the more you write, the easier it will get.

Writing copy that sells is not a creative act so much as it is mechanical process, adhering to formulas, and assembling essential component parts within a reliable framework.

STEP 1: Get “Into” the Customer.

The goal is understanding. To persuade someone, to motivate someone, to sell someone, you really need to understand that person. You might (and probably should) know the ages, incomes, hobbies, and political affiliations of the people you’re writing to even what magazines they read regularly.

You must determine accurately, in advance, what their priorities are. And you must address their priorities, not yours. For example, A salesman providing services to dentists says, “I read every industry publication every month. I visit websites that host discussion forums for dentists. I subscribe to e-mail groups where only dentists communicate back and forth. I attend industry functions, conventions, seminars, and trade shows. I ‘play prospect’ with other product and service providers to dentists. I routinely ‘mastermind’ with dentists and with other marketers and vendors who provide services to the profession.” Listen to the conversation he is already having with himself.

My “10 Smart Market Diagnosis and Profiling Questions”

1. What keeps them awake at night, indigestion boiling up their esophagus, eyes open, staring at the ceiling?
2. What are they afraid of?
3. What are they angry about?
4. Who are they angry at?
5. What are their top three daily frustrations?
6. What trends are occurring and will occur in their businesses or lives?
7. What do they secretly, ardently desire most?
8. Is there a built-in bias to the way they make decisions? (Example: engineers = exceptionally analytical) Do they have their own language?
9. Who else is selling something similar to their product, and how?
10. Who else has tried selling them something similar, and how has that effort failed?

STEP 2: Get “Into” the Offer

Just as you try to crawl inside the letter recipient’s mind and heart, you want to crawl around in your product or service, too.

• Build a List of Product/Offer Features and Benefits

Good copywriters often look for what’s called the hidden benefit to emphasize. This means it’s not the obvious benefit, not the first benefit you think of yet one that is of profound importance to your customer. I.e. If your clients just want play golf or spend time with family, advertise with this benefit in mind.

STEP 3: Create a Damaging Admission and address flaws openly

By acknowledging the flaws, you force yourself to address your letter recipient’s questions, objections, and concerns. You also enhance your credibility.

• Build a list of objections, concerns, fears, doubts, and excuses.

Honestly Assess the Disadvantages of Your Offer and Face Them

STEP 4: Get Your Sales Letter Delivered

Early in the process of putting together your sales letter, you need to think about getting the finished letter into the hands of people who can respond.

A FedEx envelope or package remains the thing least likely to be waylaid or delayed and least likely to be delayed or discarded by gatekeepers.

For this reason, the savviest, most successful direct-mail marketers continue to affix actual postage stamps to their envelopes, and so should you.

Plain white envelopes actually addressed by hand often outperform all others in controlled split-tests.

STEP 5: Get Your Sales Letter Looked At

Picture the person you’ve sent your sales letter to with a stack of mail in his hands, sorting through that stack, standing next to a wastebasket.

STEP 6: Get Your Sales Letter Read

In case you had illusions to the contrary, no one is sitting around hoping and praying that he will receive your sales letter. When it arrives, it is most likely an unwelcome pest. How do you earn your welcome as a guest? By immediately saying something that is recognized by the recipient as important and valuable and beneficial.

What your headline says and how it says it is absolutely critical.

Fill in the blank:

• They Didn’t Think I Could ________, but I Did. (They Laughed When I Sat Down at the Piano but Not When I Started to Play!)
• Who Else Wants ________? (Who Else Needs an Extra Hour Every Day?)
• How ________ Made Me ________ (How a “Fool Stunt” Made Me a Star Salesman.)
• Are You ________? (Are You Ashamed of the Smells in Your House?)
• How I ________ (How I Retired at Age 40 With a Guaranteed Income for Life.)
• How to ________ (How to Win Friends and Influence People.)
• Secrets Of ________ (Secrets of Four Champion Golfers.)
• Thousands (Hundreds, Millions) Now ________ Even Though They ________ (Two Million People Owe Their Health to This Idea Even Though They Laughed at It.)
• Warning: ________ (Warning: Two-Thirds of the Middle Managers in Your Industry Will Lose Their Jobs in the Next 36 Months.)
• Give Me ________ and I’ll ________ (Give Me 5 Days and I’ll Give You a Magnetic Personality.)
• ________ ways to ________ (101 Ways to Increase New Patient Flow.)

Tips for Mailings to Sell Professional Services

• Credibility is critical here. However, “believability” is even more important than “credibility.” More persuasive is what clients have to say about their real-life experiences with you, benefits realized, and skepticism erased.
• Consider offering a free initial consultation or a free package of informative literature.

STEP 7: Beat the Bugaboo

If you are selling an information product like books, courses, or subscriptions, remember that one way to convey bulk is a list of the 1,001 (or some other huge, specific number) pieces of information contained in your product.

Tips:

• Discuss the Price Paid to Develop the Offer
• Make the Parts Worth More Than the Whole
• Conceal the Price
• Three Letter Formulas That Let You Transcend Price Questions

1. Formula #1: Problem-Agitation-Solution – When you understand that people are more likely to act to avoid pain than to get gain, you’ll understand how incredibly powerful this first formula is.

• The first step is to define the customer’s problem.
• Once the problem is established, clearly, and factually, it’s time to inject emotion. This second step is agitation.

1. Formula #2: Fortune-telling
2. Formula #3: Winners and Losers

• The reason I was taught this material and the reason it is used so widely, repetitively, and continuously is that it works. People understand it. It creates fear of being in the 95 percent group. It creates motivation to be in the 5 percent group.

Sales Pressure

All successful selling is by nature and necessity manipulative and must apply pressure to get decisions and action. The only things people buy entirely of their own initiative and decision are basic commodities like soup, cereal, and toilet paper at the supermarket, and goods or services that respond to emergencies, like plumbing repair.

The sales letter writer needs to put as much pressure as possible on the reader to buy and buy now because it is easy for that reader to do otherwise there’s no salesman sitting across the table.

STEP 8: Motivate Action

Technique #1: Intimidation

1. Limited Number Available
2. Most Will Buy
3. You Will Buy Only If …
4. You Can Buy Only If
5. Only Some Can Qualify …

Technique #2: Demonstrate ROI Sell Money at a Discount

1. ROI is basically demonstrating how you’d sell $1000 bills for $50

Technique #3: Ego Appeals

1. You don’t to seem “behind the times.” Get a fax machine!

Technique #4: Strong Guarantee

1. Basic Money-Back Guarantee
2. Refund and Keep the Premium
3. Redundancy
4. Free Trial Offer
5. Make the Guarantee the Primary Focus of the Offer

Technique #5: Be a Storyteller

1. Study good fiction and fiction writers so you can write good stories and create good storylines for sales letters.

STEP 9: Write the First Draft

STEP 10: Rewrite for Strategy

Secrets of Successful Long Copywriting

“Who’s going to read all that copy?” The answer is those people most likely to respond. Write for the buyer, not the nonbuyer. Real prospects are hungry for information.

Strategic Rewriting

Frustrate the English Teachers – successful sales letters read much more as we talk than the way we’re supposed to write. Inject that kind of action of a 12-year old into your sales letter and you’ll have a winner.

Increase Readership with the Double Readership Path

Write to the analytical type reader and the skimmers.

In the same sales letter, you can convey your basic sales message and promise:

1. In a straightforward statement
2. In an example
3. In a story, sometimes called a “slice of life”
4. In testimonials
5. In a quote from a customer, expert, or other spokespeople
6. In a numbered summary

Build the “yes” momentum

Get your prospect to answer to get the “knows”

Tease the Reader at the End of Each Page.

Never end a page with a completed sentence.

STEP 11: Rewrite for Style

Increase Readership by Improving Readability

Short sentences, enticing words, and short paragraphs.

Use the First Paragraph as an Extended Headline

Don’t bury the lead.

Be Entertaining

Don’t be deadly serious or boring.

Appeal to the Senses

Remember, your sales letter copy needs to make the reader visualize pictures and feel experiences.

Use Big Impact Words and Phrases

Raymond Chandler’s novels are extremely impactful.

Make Your Letter Reflect Your Personal Style

Sell in print as you would in person.

STEP 12: Answer Questions and Objections

The Reasons Why Not

In either case, the answers to most objections or questions should include most, and, in most instances, all of these items:

1. A direct answer
2. A verifying testimonial comment, case history, or story
3. A restatement of or reference to the guarantee/free trial offer

STEP 13: Spark Immediate Action

The Mañana Antidote: How to Get Immediate Response

“Imagine your letter being read by a guy in an apartment in Cleveland, in the midst of a ferocious winter storm, with gusting winds and snow outside at thigh height. You’ve got to get him so excited that he’ll get out of the chair in front of the fireplace, bundle up, slog through the snow, go out to his cold car, and drive down to the post office to get a money order and a stamp to send his order in rather than take the risk of waiting until tomorrow.”

To get immediate action:

1. Limited Availability
2. Premiums
3. Deadlines
4. Multiple Premiums
5. Discounts for Fast Response, Penalties For Slow Response
6. Ease of Responding

STEP 14: The Creative PS (postscript)

Increase readership by writing a second headline in the PS

STEP 15: Check the Checklists

Answer the 10 Smart Questions:

1. What keeps them awake at night, indigestion boiling up their esophagus, eyes open, staring at the ceiling?
2. What are they afraid of?
3. What are they angry about?
4. Who are they angry at?
5. What are their top three daily frustrations?
6. What trends are occurring and will occur in their businesses or lives?
7. What do they secretly, ardently desire most?
8. Is there a built-in bias to the way they make decisions? (Example: engineers = exceptionally analytical) Do they have their own language?
9. Who else is selling something similar to their product, and how?
10. Who else has tried selling them something similar, and how has that effort failed?

STEP 16: Use Graphic Enhancement

Use selective emphasis. Not every word of your copy has the same level of importance, so you must draw the reader’s eye to critical areas, such as a benefits list, call-to-action, phone number, or website address.

27 Essential Copy Cosmetic Enhancements Boldfacing

1. Use bold type to emphasize subheadings, important words, phrases, dates, and other segments of important copy. Bold type instantly draws attention to these important points and allows your reader to skim the critical content.
2. Borders draw attention to important items such as headlines, testimonials, and coupons. A red border around a coupon grabs attention. Consider adding borders to your guarantees to make them look even more valuable. Use borders around light-colored illustrations, graphics, charts, and photos to help set them apart.
3. CAPITALIZATION Use capitalization to set off a single (or two or three) word(s) which need extra emphasis. Use sparingly, since oftentimes it’s perceived as “shouting.”
4. Captions These should always be used under illustrations, graphics, charts, and photos, because captions are one of the most often read Copy Cosmetic enhancements when placed next to an attention-grabbing image.
5. Cartoons, Comics, and Caricatures These little beauties are among the least used, but most effective, ways to grab attention and lighten up your copy. To get an additional boost in response, personalize the caption with the recipient’s name (more on “Personalization,” below).
6. Color Blues and softer colors relax us; reds and hotter colors energize us. Use strong colors to grab attention and create urgency (I prefer red). Be careful you don’t use too many colors, which will distract your reader. Also, understand the concept of “reverse print” (light copy on a dark background) and be very careful to not overuse it.
7. Columns 50-to 70-character-wide columns are easier to read than single, wide columns. Look at your newspaper and classic direct-response advertisements to see how they use columns to “air out” the copy.
8. Drop Caps An enlarged, initial capital draws the reader’s eye to the beginning of your letter. Studies show this simple technique increases readership.
9. Fonts and Typefaces Whole books have been written about this enhancement alone. Here’s the simple rule for maximum readability: Use serif fonts (serifs are the short curls at the tops and bottoms of letters) for example, Times Roman, Courier for print marketing, and use sans-serif fonts, for example, Arial, Verdana for online marketing. Consider using handwriting fonts for added personality.
10. Highlighting This adds a touch of realism and color. Use highlights to emphasize key copy. Be careful not to overuse. (When everything is emphasized, nothing stands out.) Yellow highlighting mimics what you would do by hand with a yellow highlighter pen.
11. Indenting Indentation of paragraphs makes for easier reading and helps break up long copy.
12. Italics Use italics to create emphasis on a word or short phrases. Italicizing creates urgency and intensity. Always use italics for book titles.
13. Line Justification Justified text is typically harder to read (where both the left and right margins line up, like this book) and should not be used in your sales letters. Instead, use flush left and ragged right. An exception to this rule is multi column advertisements and newsletters.
14. Line Spacing This is critical for maximum readability. Proper line spacing is based on the typeface, font size, and line length. Wider sections of copy should have more spacing to enhance readability.
15. Lists Include bullet, number, and checklists among your copy. This is an important technique because it communicates priority and “airs out” your copy.
16. Personalization is a critical Copy Cosmetic strategy because it can yield significant bumps in customer response, much more than simply inserting the reader’s name in the salutation. Consider personalizing your headline and response device (e.g., certificate or fax back form). Always sign your letters by hand or add a graphic signature in blue for an added personal touch.
17. Photographs and Illustrations Studies have shown that photos and illustrations are two of the most-often looked at parts of a letter and help to increase interest because people love looking at compelling photos. Consider photos of products in use, close-ups, before-and-after, people, and pets. Always include a caption.
18. Screen Tints Use screen tints to draw attention to specific areas of copy. This gives the appearance of more than one color when doing the one-color printing. Use light backgrounds for maximum readability.
19. Short Words, Sentences, and Paragraphs Short. Delivers. Punch. Short grabs attention, helps keep the reader reading and effectively breaks up long copy.
20. Sidebars help hold together and differentiate blocks of copy. They are excellent for case studies, testimonials, and product highlights.
21. Simulated Hand-Drawn Doodles A.k.a. CopyDoodles ®. Simulated hand-drawn doodles help draw the reader’s eyes to important areas of your copy, add variety and interest to the eye and brain, and create a more personal reading experience.
22. Simulated Handwritten Margin Notes These margin notes add a unique, “me to you” look. They generate interest and grab attention. All the great copywriters agree that handwritten margin notes can increase response. Use CopyDoodles ® to add high-quality handwritten enhancements quickly and easily.
23. Simulated Rubber A favorite technique of mine, especially on envelopes and order forms. They help create an attention-grabbing, unique, one-of-a-kind look.
24. Subheads Subheadings break up long copy and offer eye relief. They are also critical for skimmers and make long copy less imposing. They should be written as “breadcrumbs” to draw and entice the reader to follow you along your copy. Format font style, size, and bolding is a critical consideration to ensure maximum readability of subheads.
25. Text Boxes A powerful way to draw the eye to important areas of information. Consider using text boxes for testimonials, offers, and guarantees.
26. Underscoring This Copy Cosmetic technique allows you to emphasize keywords or phrases. Always underscore with a continuous line. Use to signify e-mail and web addresses. Use sparingly, since overuse distracts and distances the reader from your content and can decrease readability.
27. White Space This is necessary for readability; too much and you lose valuable real estate; too little and the content is difficult to read. Add white space around headlines and images for maximum impact.

STEP 17: Rewrite for Passion! Edit for Clarity!

“Cold fish” sales letters rarely work. Convince your illicit affair lover to take a week off with you – be enthusiastic.

Aggressive editing means cutting out every word or phrase that fails to advance, strengthen, or reinforce your basic sales story. You’re not editing to shorten. Cut out the parts the reader tends to skip.

STEP 18: Compare Your Draft to Examples

STEP 19: Pretest

Read the Letter Aloud – it should flow, with no tongue hangups.

Have a Young Child Read the Letter Aloud to You

Read the Letter to Several People Who Might Be Typical Customers for the Offer

Sophistication Trap: stubbornly believing that your customers are more sophisticated than they really are. – write to a 6th-grade reading level.

STEP 20: Bring Your Letter to Life

STEP 21: Change Graphic Enhancements

STEP 22: Edit Again

STEP 23: Mail a Mockup

STEP 24: The Cool-Off – allow 3-5 days before sending out

STEP 25: Get Second Opinions

STEP 26: Give It the Final Review

STEP 27: Go to Press

STEP 28: Test (A/B test your headline)

STEP 29: Sometimes, Outsourcing

Using Sales Letters in Business

1. To Create Qualified Leads
2. To Introduce New Products or Services to Present or Past Clients
3. For All Sorts of Business and Personal Correspondence and Communication

Online Marketing

1. Know Your Audience
2. Get Those Big Benefits Front and Center
3. Pay Attention to Layout and Design
4. Give Special Attention to Your Call to Action