Writing Your Own Sales Letter
Randy S. Hall
Whether you're selling through direct response letters or on the Internet you will need
effective sales letters. Writing effective sales letters is a talent that you cannot
afford to be without. Learn some of the basics of how to write the words and structure the
letter to get people to buy your product or service.
To write a sales letter you must learn the basics. It has to IMMEDIATELY GRAB THEIR
ATTENTION. Once you have grabbed their attention you have to keep it. What you say is very
important and you need to follow these two guidelines:
1. Write what they are interested in.
2. Write like you are talking to a friend.
The format is as follows:
1. A catchy headline that immediately grabs their attention.
2. The opening paragraph should be short and to the point.
3. Next a sub headline featuring a main benefit.
4. After that another paragraph of benefits.
5. Then another headline about a benefit.
6. Then another paragraph a benefit.
I’m sure by now you have gotten the point, if not, it is ALL ABOUT THEM. Write
descriptive phrases that help them to envision living the life they can have using your
product or services. The sales letter has to be fast hitting and entertaining or they will
quit reading it.
There is way too much competition out there and once you have gotten someone to your
landing page or to open your direct mail sales letter you have very little time to gain
his or her interest. You must, also in a very short time get them to trust you. The use of
testimonials will help here, but what you are saying has to ring true.
Appealing to their desires is something else that will keep them reading. Using their
basic drives to sell you product is something you will need to learn how to do. Learn the
psychological reasons why people would want to buy your product or service.
Now that all that has been said they probably won’t read your sales letter word for
word. Therefore you need to format it so that it is scannable. Use subheads to make points
periodically. Highlight areas you want them to notice. Make boxes around important parts.
Use quotes, underlines, italics and bold fonts to make your special points. Pull out
important parts and put them in a colored box and repeat it.
Separate your testimonials and put a picture of the person making the testimonial along
with the quote. Give their full name if allowed and where they reside. All of this just
gives more credence to your sales letter. I personally would never buy something from
somebody if it didn’t have credence.
Trust has to be instilled for a sales letter to be effective. There needs to be a lot
of truth in what you are saying or you will not make sales. Evident truth will build the
trust you need to write a successful sales letter. Otherwise you might as well not write it.
Target your sales letter to people that have shown signs of wanting your product. If
you send it to people that don’t want whatever it is your selling you are just wasting
your time and money.
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