The following is a letter in response to a question about how to write sales letters. This is something you could model in layout, tone, and ideas, to write your own letters.  By the way, this is where your letterhead should go.

Jerry Jenkins asked me to tell you how to write letters that get read and get results. That’s a tall order! Well, here’s what I think the “laws” are:

1. Know what’s in it for your reader.

Get out of your ego and into your reader’s ego. Complete this sentence: “Get my book so that you can…(fill in the blank).” Your book (or whatever you are selling) is the feature. What people get as a result of having your book is the benefit. Focus on benefits. Always! Without this, your letter will bomb.

2. Write a headline that telegraphs the key benefit to your reader.

ALWAYS use a headline. There is only ONE exception to this rule. When you personalize your letter, the “Dear (whoever)” opening becomes your headline.

There are few headlines more powerful than the reader’s own name. The headline is THE most important part of your letter! Spend nearly all of your time on it.

3. Be brief.

Say what you have to say in terms of the reader’s self interest and shut up. This does NOT necessarily mean a short letter.

If you are trying to make a sale, and the reader has never heard of you or your item for sale, you may have to write four or more pages to get your message across. If all you want is a return call, a one page letter may do. Don’t be afraid of length. People will read any length of copy AS LONG AS IT’S INTERESTING!

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If you’ve been a subscriber to Marketing Tips Report for any length of time, you’ve probably heard us talk a LOT about the importance of benefits in salescopy. Benefits show — in detail — how your product will solve your customers’ problems, improve their lives, save them money, and so on.

In a nutshell, benefits answer the BIGGEST question on readers’ minds: “What’s in it for me?”

But how do you know which benefits to focus on? What are people searching for when they type words into a search engine and end up on your sales page? More importantly, why are they searching?

(Hint: it’s not because they like to spend money on random sites on the Internet!)

The answer to “why” is the secret ingredient that lies at the heart of EVERY successful salesletter: emotional appeal.

People don’t buy things for rational reasons. They buy for emotional ones. They want to feel good… hopeful… satisfied… proud… relaxed… acknowledged… secure…

… you get the picture.

If you can identify the underlying emotional needs your product or service satisfies, you can write copy that identifies with your reader in a very intimate way. In a way that says YOU understand them. That you’ve been there yourself. And that you’ve found a solution to the very problem their emotions are driving them to solve.

That’s powerful stuff.

So how can you write emotionally-charged salescopy that connects to your reader? Start by looking at the problem your product solves. What’s the underlying emotion it addresses?

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Is this going to finally be the year that you have decided to make some big changes? Have you re-evaluated what happened last year as of yet?  Have you figured out where it is you could have made a more conscious effort to improve the overall performance of your business and make more money? I hope these are the questions you have tossing back forth over the past couple weeks and I am in hopes that you have made and laid out a solid game plan for your self that is going to allow you to double and triple the results you got the year prior.

There are few things in online marketing and offline for that matter, that matters more than ones ability to generate more traffic to their businesses and convert more of that traffic to make more money for yourself and your family. If you have spent any time at all reading this blog, I am always trying my best to get those of you who have an interest in writing your own  copy to make the necessary leap to get it done.

When it comes to sales copy and your ability to write solid sales copy that converts then everything about your business venture changes and those changes are almost immediate and so very track-able. Poor copy gets poor results and when you have poor results every prospect that you are able to harvest is costing you so much more than it should. Which comes directly out of your bottom line. If you are into the Pay Per Click game then this is something that quickly becomes ever more critical to you as a business owner. Read the rest of this entry

Copywriting seems to be a very misunderstood term and job. Most people might confuse “copywriting” with “copyright” and it certainly does sound the same. It is not the same though. Copywriting is used by companies and individuals to promote or entice people. It can be on the web, on television or in print.

Web copywriting has increased in the past few years as the popularity in search engines rises. Web copywriting is most often in regards to articles written in a specific manner. The articles are called SEO (search engine optimized) and are specifically written around certain key words.

copywriting
The key words are recognized by the search engine used and then cause the article or product to be displayed in the results. An example would be the words: dog clown suits. Any articles or promotional writing that is on an internet webpage that have those specific words written in sequence would come up as a result. Read the rest of this entry