How to Write a Sales Letter | For a Beginner Copywriter

Knowing how to write a sales letter is a skill every entrepreneur should learn.

Why do I say that?

Almost every aspect of your business’s marketing plans and actions depends on this skill. Without it, your sales will sink faster than the titanic.

via GIPHY

In this post, I’m going to teach you how to write your first sales letter. I’m going to break down the steps so it will be easy for you to write your own.

Your life will change, and you’ll get all kinds of opportunities, money, power, etc.

You’ll also become a chick (or guy) magnet overnight.

More Reasons Why You Need to Learn How to Write a Sales Letter

Most people who are in business are trying to sell something.

If you are here because you enjoy writing blog posts or creative stories, this post isn’t for you. And, if you are a business that produces keyword-stuffed content, this isn’t for you either.

This post is for people who are trying to acquire prospects, clients, or customers. And the way you get these people to respond to your marketing is by writing copy that sells.

Reason #1 You Need to Sell Your Stuff

Most people who have businesses have a strategy called a “sales- funnel.” And moving people down this funnel requires words that motivate prospects to take action.  

There are several ways you can sell your products or services with a sales letter:

• You can use ads like Google’s or Facebook’s.
• Write blog posts that compel people to get involved with your business.
• Send letters through regular mail.
• Launch an email campaign.
• Advertise in papers, magazines, and directories.
• Make TV and radio commercials.
• Create online videos that sell.

If you want to do any of these things to promote your business, you need to know how to write a sales letter.

It will give you a knowledge foundation on how to sell with words.

Reason #2 You Can Freelance Write for Businesses and Entrepreneurs

Once you learn how to write good copy, you can do the same for others and make serious money. When you consider all of the different kinds of copywriting you can do, you can see how easy it would be for you to make money.

Here is a shortlist of the different kinds of copywriting:

• Whitepapers
• Scripts for commercials
• Video scripts
• Sales letters
• Email sales campaigns 
• Blog posts
• Online ad campaigns
• Printed ads in magazines
• Direct mail campaigns
• Whiteboard videos
• Infographics

This list could be even more extensive, but you get the picture.

If you think you can make good money by writing junk, think again. The better you write, the more money you can make.

Let me make this real plain for you.

Would you like to make a thousand dollars by writing 1000 crappy sales letters at $1 apiece?

Or, would you like to write five mediocre letters at $200 apiece?

How about just ONE excellent sales letter for $1000?

I’ll give you some time to think about it.

Leaves fall from trees…
Cobwebs form on bookshelves…
Elon Musk vacations on Mars…

Good, You’re back!  It was a real no-brainer, right?

Once you get good at this, you can make a lot more than a mere $1000 per contract. And the beautiful part is you don’t have to be an “A” list writer to make decent money.  You can get started in just a few months if you want, but you’ll have to practice. (More on this in a minute.)

Now that we’ve established reasons why you want to learn how to write a sales letter, let’s get to it. 

Who Are You Writing For?

There are a couple of preliminary things you need to do before you start writing. First, you need to research your audience. It doesn’t matter if you’re writing a sales letter, blog post, or white paper. Try to think about who you are writing for first.  

Yeah, you can write a great sales piece, but it won’t do you any good. People might come to your online sales page, but they won’t buy anything.  

And that can be very frustrating. 

If you are writing for a company, you will need to ask them for all kinds of information. First, ask them for any professionally written materials they may have already. If you are writing for a company that has been around for a while, they should have brochures, sales letters, and online copy you can use as research material.  

This material will tell you all kinds of things about the company’s target market and what they respond to. 

The famous copywriter, Dan Kennedy, thinks that these materials are essential. If a company does not have these materials, Dan throws his business card on the table and runs out the door. 

Why?

If a business doesn’t have any marketing materials, you can be sure it is not making any money. You don’t want to work for entrepreneurs like that. You want people who understand the value of a good copywriter and have money to pay for your services. 

More Ways to Research Your Target Market

Once you get your hands on your client’s marketing materials, you’ll need to do more research. 

First, make a massive list of things you’ll need to know on the front end.

You’ll need to know:

• The age range of the target market
• The kind of language they use
• What related websites do they frequent?
• The names of industry publications they read
• What makes them frustrated or afraid?
• Who else sells a similar product?
• Are there any online forums they frequent?
• The names of similar products and services they use
• Is there a quirk in their personalities? (Surfers have their quirks, like being in nature. Lawyers are more detail-oriented.)

Tip: If you’re writing copy for a product, you can always use eBay or Amazon. Just go to the comment section of a similar product you’re writing for and read.  

You’ll find out all kinds of things like what they liked about the product to what they hated. You’ll also be able to see what benefits and features were the most important to the buyers.  

This tactic is extremely valuable for you to understand what people are looking for in a product. 

Interview People at the Company

Once you have an extensive list of things you need to know, you can start digging for more information.

The best way to do that is by asking your client all kinds of questions on the front end. Whenever I have an introductory interview with a client, I usually tell them that I will be interviewing them quite a bit.  

I tell them that I’m going to be asking them all kinds of questions about their business or services. I need this to learn all of the benefits and features of what I’m trying to sell.  

If your client is reluctant to help you with this information, you might want to dump them. It will be hard for you to write about something you don’t understand.   

Some copywriters talk to employees about their products or services, especially the secretaries. Secretaries know a lot about what people like and dislike about a company and what it sells.  

Also, it’s a good idea to talk to the salespeople. They will unload a lot of information on you, and if they aren’t too busy, they will be more than happy to talk to you.

If you can get a list of people who have used the products and services of the businesses you are writing the sales letter for, interview them too. 

These people are important because they can tell you what they loved and what they think could be improved. 

Shortcut: Build a Swipe File

In case you don’t know what a swipe file is, it is a pile of advertisements you have compiled that are similar to your subject. For example, you need to write a sales letter for a mattress company. 

So you scour and collect magazine ads, website sales pages, online videos, review articles, and anything else about your subject you can. If you can, print them up and put them into a file.

In my opinion, the best ones to get are the ones printed in magazines. 

Why? 

Because those are the ones that publishers have paid big bucks to have printed up. Magazine ads are expensive to run in magazines, and companies must hire top-notch copywriters to ensure their success. 

You can get all kinds of ideas from using swipe files like this. 

Remember how I told you earlier in this post how you should ask your client for ads, brochures, and other marketing pieces they already have?

I usually ask them if they have been working with a copywriter. If they have, I get copies of the pieces already written. 

That will make your job a million times easier because even a mediocre copywriter will have the benefits and features in their copy.  

The bottom line is, gather together as much research material you can on this business before you start writing. Once you do that, read it over and over and take notes.  

Many of the top copywriters in the industry take weeks gathering and reading research before writing a word. So, skipping this step is probably not a good idea. 

Time to Start Writing Your First Sales Letter

I’m going to break this process down into sections to make it easier for you to understand. It’s the way I usually write copy, and if it works for you, great!

Over time you’ll find you have your methods for writing copy. But for now, follow along with this sequence.

The Headline Section

There are usually three sections to a headline in a sales letter.  

• The Prehead
• Headline 
• Post Head

Here’s an example from a magazine years ago:

I usually don’t write the headline first. I’ll write a working title for the sales letter and come back with the headline later.

(After doing so much research, I want to get as much of the first draft finished that I can. Then I’ll come back and focus on parts like the headline section later.)

Formatting the Different Parts of the Headline Section

Let’s go through each section so you can understand how to format them.

The Prehead section is usually in black italics just above the headline. In the case of the example above, the letters are large and white against a black background. Usually, they are black italics in a larger font than the body copy. 

The Headline has large letters and if you are printing in color, make them red. Otherwise, they should be black. If you are formatting in Word, you should use the Impact font.

(However, you can use any font that you feel meets the needs of your copy.)

The Post Head is the section right under the headline, and it is usually bigger than the body copy in italicized or bold font. 

Ok, now that you know how to format the different parts of your headline section, I’ll explain what they are supposed to do.

A Breakdown of the Different Headline Sections

The Prehead

The prehead helps qualify your prospect or reader. It tells them right away what the product or service does for them.  

What main benefit the service or product has, and what problem it solves for them. It will immediately let readers know what it will do to make their lives better. The reader will know right away whether or not this sales letter is for them or not.   

The prehead is also an attention grabber and will lead them down the headline to the rest of your copy. 

The Headline

As I mentioned earlier, when I write a sales letter, I’ll write a working title first and then come back later to write the headline. Initially, I’ll write the words, “working title” and then throw in a basic title.  

The headline is where you will tell the readers that you have a solution to the problem. If you look at our Buddha copy you’ll see right away what the solution to the problem is. (Or, you could look at the picture.)

You’ll also want to tell the reader in your headline that they can solve their problem immediately with your solution.

You want to be able to solve the most serious problem possible. If your headline is weak, it will be hard to get prospects to read the rest of your copy. So, make sure you bring out the big guns in the headline first.

The Post Headline 

In this part, you’ll want to give your readers an additional benefit. If you do your research right, you should know what the top 5 benefits are.  

Whatever the top problems your product or service will solve you can add some of them here.  

Look at the three problems presented in the post headline. 

• Do you need money desperately?
• Are you up to your neck in bills?
• Trying to make ends meet?

So the idea is that if you continue reading, you’ll find the solutions to your problem. 

Sometimes you can add stuff like, “…and it can happen overnight…” which creates a subtle benefit that’s appealing. 

Introductions…We Need Introductions…

Just like writing a letter, you want to greet your audience. However, you should be specific in your introduction and call your readers out.

“Dear office manager,” “Dear website owner,” or “Dear dog lover,” is the type of thing you need to use. 

You want your readers to think that you are talking directly to them.  

The next thing you will want to do is introduce yourself. Write your name and have a professional picture of yourself.

If you can get one with you standing on a stage or in front of an audience, that would be great. Whatever makes you look like an authority, the better.

A lot of profile pictures show people who look casual.

If you have a big name for yourself, then I guess that would be OK. However, most of the great marketers usually have a business suit on because it looks more pro.

If you look at Dan Kennedy’s picture above, he has a dress shirt and a coat. He is one of the best copywriters on the planet, and nine times out of ten, he is wearing a business suit with a tie.

So, if it’s good enough for him…

Turn Yourself Into an Expert

Another way to show that you are an expert at what you’re talking about is by telling your reader how long you’ve been doing it.

So, if you are selling fishing lures, you will want to mention how many years you have been fishing. If you’ve won any awards, or a member of a related association mention them as well.

One thing to keep in mind is that you don’t have to be doing something for very long to become an expert at it.

As a matter of fact, there are people on TV who claim to be experts at everything. Take a look at this:

Yep, it’s the same person, a few years later.

(I wonder what kind of knowledge or education you need to be a lifestyle or beauty expert?)

There was also a guy on the Dr. Oz show who claimed to be a rotisserie chicken expert.  So, don’t worry too much about spending years becoming an “expert” because you don’t need to.

Anything you can do to establish yourself as an authority in what you are selling is important.

One way you can become an expert is to write a book on the subject.  If you work hard, you can get a book written in a week or so.  If you have some money to spend, get it printed up and give it away to people you are networking with.

Also, make sure your book cover is prominently displayed on your website.

When you write a sales letter, you don’t have to go into great detail about how much of an expert you are, just a sentence or two should do it. 

Something like: 

“I’m an award-winning master artist and sold paintings for over $20,000. I have an online course that has been taken by thousands of students worldwide and I’m sure I can help you too.”

I Used to Be Like You

The next part of the newsletter is the “I used to be like you” section. 

What this section does is reduce you to their level. In other words, it is the part that helps them relate to you better. It tells them that you have been where they are, and you know exactly how they feel. 

You want them to feel like your happy present is their future and make them desire to be where you are right now.   

Here are a couple of ideas you will need to express in this section of your sales letter.

Stagnation – You want them to know that you understand why they are stuck in their current position.  

Uncertainty – They don’t know how to solve the problem. You also want your prospects to know that you had the same problem that they are currently experiencing. 

No Progress – Just like them, you had the same problem that they are currently experiencing. And just like your readers, everything you tried to do to fix the problem did not work.  

Here’s an example of what I mean:

“For years I tried to make money in the stock market, but I failed at every turn. So I know what it’s like to lose money that you worked so hard to get.”

When you write a sales letter, you will want to push these feelings of bad results and problems that they are having out into the open. They are having a hard time trying to be successful and they don’t know how to fix it.

You Might Need an Alternate Version

You may need to write your “I used to be like you” section a little differently. Instead of writing it like you were having a problem, you could write it as if a friend of yours was.

You can write it this way if you can’t use yourself as an example:

“Jerimiah came to be crying that he couldn’t make a cent in the stock market. He had tried everything he could to make it work and he still lost money.”

The idea behind this is you have a friend who came to you with a problem and he tried everything he could to solve it. However, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t fix the problem.

Does This Sound Like You?

This next section is called the “Does this sound like you section”. In this section, you’ll want to use bullet points.

When you write a sales letter, it’s always a good idea to break up your copy with different kinds of lettering devices. You can use italicized, bold, bullet points, underlined, anything that will make break up the page and keep your readers interested.

In this section, you can use bullet points to emphasize things that you tried that didn’t work.

Example: 

Joe tried to lose weight, but nothing seemed to work like: 

• Tried low carb diets but didn’t like the taste
• Always felt weak on low-calorie diets
• Found that Weight Watchers was too expensive
• Personal trainers couldn’t keep him away from the refrigerator

etc.

Pull Out Some Psychology Books

I want to mention at this point that you should read books about the psychology of selling or how people think of problems. Yeah, you should study all the great books on writing copy, but you should also read psychology books on selling and advertising.

This section of your sales letter is a good example of using this kind of thinking because there are a couple of things you can do to bring psychology into this.

One of the ways you can do this is by specifically bringing out the problem(s) into the open.

A lot of times, when someone has a problem, they fight it by not thinking about it.  That’s because not thinking about it is easier to do than trying to solve the issue. They may have a good idea of how to handle it but it is not clear in their mind how to solve it.

Since they don’t know how to solve their problem, you can define it for them. In other words, you point out all the things they were ignoring out into the open.  

Even if you tell them more consequences of ignoring than they thought about, they will still relate to what you are telling them. They will start to recognize that you’re right and they will see more of the problem than they did before.

Let me give you an example.

So, a person who is overweight might think about how they are unattractive. You can bring that out, by implying their relationships are nill. 

You could also say:

• People seem to shun you and you feel self-conscious at gatherings
• You feel uncomfortable in your clothes, and it’s hard to find clothes that fit
• Body hygiene is harder to maintain when you are overweight
• Your health insurance costs are greater

When you bring out a lot of these issues, even if your reader isn’t experiencing all of them, they will probably start to realize these are additional problems in their life. 

How To Write Bullet Points that Hurt

When you write bullet points in the “does this sound like you?” section, you will want to bring out the biggest pain points the reader is experiencing.

There are usually 3 things you can easily bring up.

1.  Other problems are caused by you not being able to cure the problem. (Example: You have a horrible smelling breath. This not only causes problems in your personal life but also in your business life. People who you work with shun you.)
2. You’ve tried other solutions and they didn’t work. (Breath mints didn’t work, chewing gum failed, etc.)
3. Situations that led you to this problem that was not your fault. (You have a bacterial build-up at the back of your throat that you were unaware of. You couldn’t smell your bad breath because it was in your mouth the whole time.)

When you write a sales letter, you only need 3 or 4 of these high-impact points.

If you feel that these aren’t the strongest points you can muster, shoot for 5 or 6 of them. Always lead with your strongest points first and if you can, save a strong one for your last bullet point. (There’s always a chance that some of your readers will read the first one or two and then skip down to the last one.)  

You will also need to write these bullet points in the first person tense.  

“I tired breath mints, but all they did was add to my already horrific breath…”

or

“I didn’t realize how it was killing my business…”

I want to point out that the reason you want to “I” instead of “you” is because it’s bad psychologically. (Remember earlier when I told you to read psychology books?) 

If you say, “you had a problem with your breath…” they will think, “Wait a minute! My breath isn’t that bad! How dare he suggest this!”  

However, if you talk about yourself, they will be more receptive. Once again, using psychology when you write a sales letter can help you a lot. Nobody wants to admit they have a problem, so it’s easier if they subconsciously admit it to themselves.

I want to point out that the reason you want to “I” instead of “you” is because it’s bad psychologically. (Remember earlier when I told you to read psychology books?) 

If you say, “you had a problem with your breath…” they will think, “Wait a minute! My breath isn’t that bad! How dare he suggest this!”  

However, if you talk about yourself, they will be more receptive. Once again, using psychology when you write a sales letter can help you a lot. Nobody wants to admit they have a problem, so it’s easier if they subconsciously admit it to themselves.

The whole idea behind this is to set up what is known as the problem/solution recipe. You present a problem and then hand over the solution later in the sales letter.  

The Solution Section – The Suprise Section They’ve all Been Waiting For

One thing I would like to mention before we go on is that you need to watch a lot of infomercials. You know, those early in the morning commercials that can run on for almost 30 minutes.  

They will illuminate this whole process for you so you can see it in action.  

Of course, these commercials move really fast. They first present the problem and then show you the solution, then present more problems and then the solution – ad nauseam, in layers.

However, when you write a sales letter, you will have to present the problems first and then add the solution in its own section.

(I just added the video to show you how the two components work together.)

Let’s Talk About Subheads for a Second…

One of the most important components of a sales letter is subheads. Subheads are the mini-headlines that run throughout your copy. The famous copywriter, Victor Schwab, in his book, “How to Write a Good Advertisement” (Harper & Row Publishers, 1962) wrote:

“Subheads are (or can be) much more than merely a means of breaking up body matter physically. They can really be “booster stations” of power and interest. In an electric array, a booster station takes up the current it receives and then amplifies it to send to the next station. Subheads can perform a similar function in an ad.” 

So, what Victor is saying is that you can propel a person’s interest down the sales letter page with good subheads. As you already know, people don’t usually read sales letters or ads line by line.

They skim until they find something that interests them first. If they relate to what you’ve written, chances are that they will go back to the top and read your letter with more interest. 

The main thing to remember is that you want to write the subheads so that your readers can skim them and get the whole idea of your sales letter or sales page.

The Solution Section is Coming

Once you’ve presented the problems here, the next part you want to focus on is the solution. You don’t want to write it as the “Suddenly it all changed section” that would be kind of stupid.  

But you want to tailor it so that it fits your sales letter.  

By the way, this is one of the oldest tricks in the book. A copywriter named John Caples used this in the headline of one of the most famous advertisements ever.

Here it is: 

They All Laughed When I Sat Down at the Piano

But Then I Started to Play…

You’ll notice that I emphasized the “But Then…” part. That’s because this is what the “suddenly it all changed” section is about.

So you need to write this so that it fits the situation that you’re talking about.

You could use…

• The solution just fell into my lap… 
• But then it all changed…
• My friend gave me a simple solution…
• All of a sudden I realized…
• I accidentally found the answer I’ve been looking for…

I think you get the picture.

Remember earlier I told you that you had to use some psychology when you write a sales letter? Here’s another “psyop” trick you can use.

You want to make it seem like it was mere happenstance or luck which led you to the solution to the problem.  

Why?

Because if it’s luck, it can happen to anyone. You don’t have to have some special talent, skill, or IQ level to fix the problem. It was all luck.

If you write it like, “I had to study for years to learn how to master this…” the average person will immediately quit reading what you’re putting out. 

Have you ever noticed how advertisers use the word “secret” a lot?

That’s because if you think all you needed to learn was a secret that you accidentally stumbled upon, it would all seem too easy.

In my opinion, this can sometimes be dangerous. I once saw an ad that talked about how to learn a secret to disarming a gun-wielding assailant. I don’t care if you’re a Navy Seal, don’t try it unless you have no other option.

(Heck, even Bruce Lee said his skills would be worthless in a situation like that.)

But using the “secret” is one way you can move into the “suddenly it all changed” part of your sales letter.

Use the Shortcut Idea

If you can, try to present this as a shortcut. 

I’ve taken a ton of copywriting courses over the years, and the reason why I was told I should take them is that it was a shortcut.  

“If you try to learn how to write copy on your own it could take years… 

But when you take my course…”

There is no new thing under the sun.

Everything you are learning here comes from tactics copywriters have been using for ages. 

Another part of the lucky break idea that you will use is to make it sound like you were extremely lucky to get or find the solution. 

Because if you were just lucky, it’s probably not that unique of a solution. In other words, you could have looked around on the Internet a few minutes more and figured it out. 

But if you are EXTREMELY lucky to find the answer, this is something really valuable because it wasn’t easy to find or figure out.

Watch any of the “beauty secrets” infomercials and you’ll see something interesting.  The person who is pitching the product(s) usually found the perfect, all-natural way to stay young.  The main ingredient came from the extract of a plant found in Micronesia that only the tribal leaders know how to cultivate.

The Before and After Comparison Section

One thing you will need to do now is a before and after comparison. Sometimes you will want to compare against competing products or services, but it doesn’t have to be that way.

It could be something that you tried out and it didn’t work. For example, if you were selling vacuum cleaners, you could say,

“I tried all different brands of them over the years, and they either didn’t clean well enough or they broke down after a year or two.”

Now we are going to do the polar opposite of the bullets you wrote earlier where you brought out the negative aspects of the products.

One thing you will need to do now is a before and after comparison. Sometimes you will want to compare against competing products or services, but it doesn’t have to be that way.

It could be something that you tried out and it didn’t work. For example, if you were selling vacuum cleaners, you could say, “I tried all different brands of them over the years, and they either didn’t clean well enough or they broke down after a year or two.” 

This is the polar opposite of the bullets you wrote earlier where you brought out the negative aspects of the products. 

So, in this section, we want bullets that are on the positive side of things.

All you have to do at this point is take the negative bullet points you had earlier and convert them into positive statements.

“I tried like hell to get the Zoom Master vacuum cleaner to pick up dirt, buy my new Suckitall gets the dirt on the first pass.”

One thing that is important to mention here is that you will want to use psychology in your copy again.

So, when you write a sales letter with these bullet statements, you need to phrase them like THEY had the solution. 

Remember earlier we had the negative bullet statements we phrased them like,

“I had…”

“I was…”

“I couldn’t…”

In the positive statements, you’ll want to phrase them like this:

“You can…”

“You have…”

“You are…”

So instead of, 

“I tired breath mints, but all they did was add to my already horrific breath…”

When you present your solution you can play it like this:

“The mouthwash works so well you’ll get dates in no time.”

Or 

“I didn’t realize how it was killing my business…”

Now you can write it:

“Now you are more confident and your business is taking off…”

Doing this psychologically will plant the idea in their minds that they own the solution.  It will also make them feel like they were the ones who came up with the solution as if it were their own idea.

Give Them Some Proof 

Using third-party proof is extremely important at this point. If you just want people to take your word for it, you will not fare very well.   

If you can get verified charts and graphs, screenshots, images, and other methods of proving your case, do it.  

One of the most important kinds of proof you can use is showing how something got bigger and better over time. Increasing numbers will stand out with prospects and if you can show this increase over time you will be able to pull your readers in even more. 

So, you could say something like, “Based on our past clients, your website your website traffic will go over 60,000 a week within the first 6 months.” 

There are some times where you won’t want or need to use comparisons – and that’s fine. The most important concept of writing sales copy of this nature is sequencing.

You must make sure you get the order of this more than anything else.

Some of these sections are optional, but the order of the sections is important. So if you don’t have something in a particular section, then you can leave it out, but the stack is important. Remember a result is more meaningful when you have something to compare it to.

How to Use Testimonials in Your Sales Letters

The best kind of testimonials to have are emotional ones.  

Stuff like, “I’ve bought your stuff before and absolutely love it.”  

” I was so happy to finally get this in the mail, that I shredded the package as soon as it came in.”

The more emotional – the better. 

Also, don’t worry if the testimonial is before or after the product is sold. You can have it either way, but you want positive, emotional reactions to what you’re putting out. 

It’s kind of like when you see people in commercials and they are reacting to the situation. I usually like the sunglass commercials where supposedly the glasses are making everything look so vivid and clear, the people who are trying them on freak out.  

(This is just one of those situations where the people haven’t even bought the product yet, but there is this positive reaction.)

So, the psychological reasoning behind this is that in the mind of the reader or viewer, the reaction they are reading or witnessing is their own in a way.

See?

So, in a way you’ve just pointed out a problem they have, and then they get the solution. Now you’ve got all this positive reinforcement of the idea and it now seems like it’s their idea!

(I know this is the way people think because my wife falls for it every time. Especially if it’s something she wants badly.)

Even though people know right away that they are being sold to, you can easily remove resistance by having them read or see how your product or service gets other people hooked.

One of the reasons why I think this works so well is because people relate to the folks they see on TV or read about. If they’re watching a movie like, Silence of the Lambs, and they see the abducted girl down in the hole, their minds are well vested into the movie at this point and they can feel the fear themselves.

So, if a commercial is on TV and they see something that gets them interested, it’s like they relate to the people who are in the commercial and become them for a few seconds. ( This can happen while reading too.)

When a person is emotionally involved in this manner it takes their mind off of the fact that they are being sold to.

I believe that’s why product placement is so big in movies and TV shows. The people are so sucked into the story they don’t even realize Superman is eating Cheerios for breakfast on the surface.

Two Different Ways to Use Personality in Ads and Commercials

One of the things you will need to do when you write a sales letter is to develop some personality in it. Either you will have to make yourself the persona or the letter itself. 

But making the narrative as boring as Jack Webb on Dragnet isn’t going to help you sell anything. 

So you need a personality to sell products. 

Have you ever noticed how insurance companies have the most entertaining commercials?

That’s because the subject of insurance is BORING. 

So they come up with the most colorful characters to get their products mentioned on TV. From Flo in the Progressive commercials to Liberty’s Limo Emu, they have to create personality in commercials to keep your attention.

Notice: 

I want to be clear, those kinds of commercials are not the same as writing a sales letter. Those ads are there to remind you that those products exist and are run constantly.

The kind of ads, commercials, and sales letters we are concerned with are called direct-response.

We are selling from the first word to the last and we have a call to action. And the longer we can keep you focused on this selling process, the better.  

(Ever notice how short Coca-Cola commercials are?)

Another major difference between direct-response and commercials that are like commercials and billboards is direct-response ads, infomercials, and sales letters are very measurable.

If you send out a sales letter to a targeted group of respondents, you will know exactly how successful it is. If you are selling a product on QVC you will know exactly what success rate is based on the number of people who dial your 1-800 number. 

So when you watch TV, look for infomercials, and long-winded commercials like the sunglasses one I mentioned earlier. They are written by excellent copywriters who have been around for a while. 

When You Write a Sales Letter Use Personality to Hook ’em

All of this is leading up to a very important part I wanted to mention.  (So, please pay attention…)

No matter how boring or unsexy your product is, you need to inject personality into it.  I don’t care if you are selling a can opener, or worse yet, insurance, you’ll need to get a hook.  And usually, the only way you can do that is by injecting your writing with personality.

Take a good look at the Sham-Wow! guy above.  He’s selling a stinkin’ rag, for Pete’s sake!

But I’ll tell you what, he knows how to use his personality to project it onto his product.

And that’s the big lesson in this section.

To hook your readers, you’ll need to address 4 important questions in your copy. 

• Why me? (Meaning the person who is reading it.)
• Why you? (The writer or yourself.)
• Why this product or service is the solution? 
• Why Now? (Why is this suddenly so important?)

You will want to answer these questions when you write a sales letter because it hands the answers to the prospect before they think to ask them. 

So, the answer to the first question, “Why me?” is usually revealed in the headline. You mentioned a problem the reader was experiencing. If a person is thumbing through a magazine and sees a headline with his or her exact problem in it they will gravitate toward it.

Why are you talking to them? Because you’ve already experienced the problem that’s plaguing their lives and you have the solution they are looking for.

And you want to make sure that your prospects see you as being just like them. You’ve experienced the exact problem as them along with all of the problems and hassles that the big problem has caused them. 

The more they relate to you, the better your sales letter will convert readers to buyers. 

Depending on what you are selling, you can easily establish trust with your readers. Because you are admitting to them what your problems are they will start thinking, “Why would someone admit this stuff?”

For example, if you’re selling a solution to something like bad breath, and you’re admitting all of the bad things that have happened to you as a result of it. People will feel like you are sharing an important part of yourself because you’re admitting a rather embarrassing problem to them.

Warning:  Don’t skip putting personality into your copywriting, because it will hurt your business over time. You are building trust and people who don’t buy from you now will buy from you later…if they feel like they know you.  (Dan Kennedy is a master at this.  I bought one cheap eBook from him and later on down the road, I became a constant buyer of his stuff. )

You Need Mean People and Bad Situations

When you think about the “Why you?” part of this, you need someone or a situation you can demonize in your writing. Yeah, every great story has a villain or tough situation.  

Star Wars has Darth Vader.

Rudy Ruettiger didn’t have a nemesis but he had a real problem; he desperately wanted to play on the Norte Dame football team but was too small. 

When you write a sales letter, you either need a bad guy or a tough situation to grab your readers even more.  

I’m sure you’ve brought products or services that didn’t work too well or you didn’t get what you were promised. 

“I hired a personal trainer, but every time I showed up at the gym, he spent more time flirting with women than helping me lose weight.”

“We bought several books on how to draw penguins, but most of the lessons were too confusing and disorganized.”

” I wanted to learn Karate to defend myself, but my asthma kept me from practicing for more than 10 minutes.”

Psychologically, the idea that gets placed into the mind of your prospect is that you are a good person who doesn’t like it when people get advantage taken of them.

Also, if your villain in the story is some sort of adversity then people will respect the fact that you’re trying to overcome it in some way.

When you write a sales letter, it’s these small ideas and tricks that you can use to make the whole thing more effective.

Now It’s Time to Introduce the Solution

So, now we’re in the part that addresses, “Why This?” or why your service or product is important. 

 In this section, there is another psychological process that occurs called transference.  

This is when all the suffering and agony that you have been displaying in your sales letter is relatable and since they have invested time in relating to you or your problem they are interested in what you are telling them. 

They are now vested in your view and want to hear more. And what’s more, is they are applying YOU to the service or product and they believe that you are so similar to what they are experiencing they can’t get the same solution anywhere else.

In other words, they are so vested in you that they think they can’t imagine getting it anywhere else and still having the same results. 

Now We Enter the Offer Zone…

The final of the four questions is the “Why now?” part.  

It simply answers the question of why we are talking about this right now. Of course, this is the part where we make our offer known.  

The main reason why we went through the whole shebang of telling them how you failed or why the problem sucked so much is so they could conclude how great your service or product is. And as I mentioned before, you are awesome too because you are the one who “luckily” got the problem and by now they trust you.

And the best part?

They’ll think they came up with this idea on their own because all you’ve been doing is telling about your problem and how much it stunk having it. 

You are not telling them overtly to buy what you’re representing but you are kind of guiding them along so it seems like they came up with the idea to buy it on their own.

If you’ve written your sales letter right, they will feel like they came up with the idea to buy on their own. This is the best mindset for your prospect to be in because they don’t feel as if you were selling to them. 

Introducing…Your product! (Or Service…)

Now you are at the point where you will introduce your product or service.

(You do have a name for your business or product, don’t you?)

Typically, you’ll have a picture or something representing what you’re selling. And you’ll announce it, “The Nose Cleaner 2050”. Or you can say something like, “Let me tell you about the Nose Cleaner 2050.”

The more crap you can display next to your product, the better. This is psychologically known as the ” thump factor.” The thump factor is named after the sound an actual book makes when it hits the table.

A lot of copywriters will use the thump factor or effect when they meet a client for the first time. Nothing sounds better than the sound of an actual book they’ve written hitting the table.

Oh, and by the way, the bigger the book, the better.

Since most digital marketers are selling eBooks or online video courses, the way to display their thump factor is by displaying images of piles of CDs and manuals, even though they are selling digital products that are delivered online.

Here’s a good idea of what I mean…

 

I know these kinds of images seem a bit cheesy and have been overused, the psychological effect still works beautifully.

So, even if you have digital downloads, you will want to show images like this when you write a sales letter because it will help to sell your products.

If you’re selling a service, the more people, products, and equipment you can cram into your images, the better. Just make sure they look professional.

If your products are physical, make sure you tell your readers exactly what comes with them. I sell physical products on Amazon, and I tell my prospects exactly what they will be getting and I display images of them. Tell them how many chapters, how long the videos are, how many lessons, etc. will help you sell the product.

The more images you can display and the more detailed you can be about what they will be getting, the better.

All of your features and benefits need bullets when you talk about what you’re selling. You will need 5 to 7 bullets in each section for each part. 

If you are selling a course that has 6 lessons in it, you will need to have anywhere from 5 to 7 in each one.  

The format of these bullets should be something like this:

You will get (the essence of the lesson) which will give you (this benefit) so you will get (result).

Sometimes it’s difficult to write an entire bullet like this. However, if you can get it all in there you’ll have great bullet statements.

Let’s Now Talk About…MONEY!

If you are selling something like a course or any product that has different parts, then you should put a cash value on it. 

So, if you are selling an online video course, you say something like, “Part 1 alone is worth $364.”

Or

“The information in the first chapters alone is worth thousands of dollars. Yeah, you could go to several libraries and dig up this information, but it would take you months of research to find what you need to learn it. When you consider the time, gas money, and all of the other expenses you would incur it would probably run you several thousands of dollars.”

The more you can slide a cash value into your copy, the better.

f you can add dollar amounts to each section, then you will be employing another psychological factor. Your prospect will start to add up all of the dollar amounts from each part of your sales letter.

$727 for this part…$450 from this, etc.

So, in the back of his or her mind, they are wondering, how much is all this going to run me?

Assuming that your product or service is going to cost enough money to bring in some solid revenue for your business, you keep piling on the monetary figures so that when the price is revealed it won’t seem like much.

OK…What’s This All Gonna Cost Me?

If you’ve taken great care to follow what I’ve told you so far, you’ll be ready to reveal the price of your product or service. 

This is because your price is usually going to be right around the price of a single part, lesson, or module. 

(I’ve highlighted that but you might want to go back and read that last sentence again.)

Usually, once this happens, prospects who are reading your sales letter will wonder if there is a catch.

And this is what you should tell them…

“Why are you going to get such a great deal on this? Because this is a special introductory offer (or something like that) and pretty soon, you’ll have to pay more to get the same deal.”

A Good Example of Adding Tension and Scarcity

I want to point out that there are lots of ways you can do this when you write a sales letter. I once read an online sales page that was disguised as a blog post by a famous financial copywriter. 

In his post, he hinted that he was getting ready to retire. And all through that long sales piece, he talked about his successful career as a copywriter and how it was time for him to relax on sailboats, play with his grandkids, blah, blah, blah…

As he progressed through his brilliant blog post…er…sales letter, he kept talking about all of this course material he had used in the past to teach others how to write awesome copy.

And since he didn’t know what to do with it all before he retired, he was going to get rid of it as fast as he possibly could.  His bottom line was that he only had so many copies of it left and he wanted to dump them for a mere $3567.  

He said once the remaining courses were sold, there would be no more of them. 

But he did it so seamlessly through the entire sales piece you wouldn’t have noticed it or thought about how disingenuous it all was. 

And the funny part?

He made that offer 10 years ago and it’s still running!

Ease Up on the Tension

Don’t tell your readers how much it’s going to cost them yet, just tell them that there is some sort of scarcity, but…

“Don’t worry, because if you act today, you’ll be able to get…”

In a way, you’re playing with their emotions in a very subtle way. They won’t start panting or salivating but under the surface, they can feel slightly impatient and tense as they read your copy.

Wait! There’s More…

If you watch infomercials or any of the 1-800 number commercials on TV, they offer bonuses.

The reason why they do that is that bonuses work.

When you write a sales letter, you can screw this up if you don’t know what you’re doing.

One of the big mistakes in this game is to add too much free or extra stuff as a bonus. You need to keep in mind that your main thing is the main thing.

In other words, you don’t want to sell your products based on the bonus stuff.

You want them to purchase your product based on the product, not because you’re offering them a ton of bonuses.

One of the psychological reasons for doing this is because it would make your main product look like crap.

Your prospects will probably start thinking, “Well, if this thing was so good, why in the hell are they offering me all this other stuff?”

When you’re in the heat of selling something, the last thing you want to do is start introducing doubt into the mind of your prospect.

Also, if you are selling more similar products, then you are quickly establishing the idea that all of those freebies will be included in all your packages.  If you hand them the same free stuff they’ll feel gypped.

You don’t want your future business relationship to be based on what you’re handing out for free.

The Long-Term Relationship Story

Back around the year 2000, I saw an online ad for a book called “The Ultimate Success Secret” by a guy named Dan Kennedy.  It was a book you got in the regular mail, but if you bought it now, you’d get a free eBook by Dan you could immediately download by Dan too.

(Dan also has a great book on the subject of how to write a sales letter, called The Ultimate Sales Letter.}

Since I liked the copy that sold the book the bonus pushed me over the edge to spend $19.95 to get it.

The ebook was good, but the softcover 115-page book was amazing.  Every year, I pull it out and read it from cover to cover because once I start looking at it, I can’t stop reading it.

I could go into how much it helped me in my life, but the main thing I want to point out is it established a great business relationship between Mr. Kennedy and me.

Because his book was so good, I spent thousands of dollars subscribing to his newsletter, courses, and books. (I never made it to one of his seminars yet, but I hope to someday!)

It wasn’t because of his bonuses that I kept coming back for more.

So, when you create and give away bonuses, please keep in mind they are for pushing you over the edge to get you to buy NOW and nothing more.

Do not make your bonuses more important than your main product or service.

You’ll Need to Sell the Bonus Too

As I mentioned above, the reason for your bonus is to make your prospect buy now.  You want them to think, “Gee, if I don’t get it now, I’ll miss this (these) bonus(es).

Right?

I know this sounds unethical, but it’s the way the game is played.

If you were a car salesman and someone made you show off every feature and benefit of a car to a prospect as well as take you for a test-drive.

(You could be selling anything. Vacuums, lightbulbs, insurance, etc.)

Every salesman or woman will tell you that as soon as the prospect drives off of the lot without purchasing a vehicle, it is a very slim chance that they are going to buy a car.

Now, when you consider that you are putting your blood, sweat, and tears into your sales process and someone wastes an hour of your time, you won’t feel so bad that you did everything you could to sell them.

See?

It is how the game is played.

If Mr. Prospect doesn’t want your product, then he doesn’t have to read your sales letter.

If Ms. Prospect isn’t interested in your face cream, she doesn’t have to look at your magazine ad.

It’s just that simple.

If you know anything about business at all, you know that businesses thrive on revenue.  And they will do anything they can to get you to buy or sign on.

So, when you write a sales letter using these tactics, don’t feel guilty.

Like I say, it is how the game is played. – If ya don’t like the game, don’t play it.

By the way, I don’t believe in taking advantage of people, either.

I was in sold food subscriptions for a company once, and some old guy wanted to buy this big food subscription from me.  I could have easily sold him something really big that he didn’t need. I talked him down to a much lower level that was suited to his personal needs. I will not sell someone something if I think a prospect doesn’t understand what I’m selling them.

 There Has to Be a Link to Your Bonuses

When you write a sales letter you must show a definite link between your bonuses and the product you are selling in your offer.

To make it obvious, if you were selling a bicycle, you wouldn’t add a lawnmower grass-catching bag as a bonus. Right?

You could offer a headlight, training wheels, etc.

So you have to make sure that your bonus will enhance your product in some way.

And you will have to do this in a way for your prospects to see the link and the value it brings to your main product.

Another thing you need to do is set up a monetary value of the bonuses in the minds of your readers. Remember earlier when we add a cash value to all those parts of your product? Well, you must do the same with your bonus(es).

You’ll want to describe your bonuses in the same way you did your product. You’ll want to describe it with benefit added bullet points and a great description of how it adds more monetary value to the main product you’re selling.

There are a few ways you can pull this off.

1. You can show how the bonus or bonuses speed up the process of using the main product.   So, in our bicycle example above, the training wheels bonus will teach your child how to ride a bike faster.
2. You can show how the bonus will add to your product. A bonus light on the bicycle will make it safer.
3. The bonus will make the product work better. An extra set of gears on the bike will make it go faster.

Unveiling the Amazing Price

As I told you earlier in this rather extensive post, you can learn a lot by watching infomercials.

Have you ever heard this phrase on TV…

“…and you can have it all for the amazingly low price of only $19.95!”

It is at this point that my wife just about jumps out of her chair and says something like, “Hey, Mark! That’s a really good deal at ONLY $19.95!”

 I swear it works every time. 

So when you watch these commercials, you’ll see the moderators add up the monetary values of all the things you’ll be getting.

Just to give you a good example of this, there was a commercial on TV that sold copper pans. 

They offered the pan plus these bonuses if you ordered today:

• A lid to lock in flavors
• A stainless-steel basket to fry stuff in
• A super-sharp knife to carve up stuff
• A bonus recipe book
• Free shipping
• Also, an extra pan
• 90-day money-back guarantee

https://youtu.be/yxovm4K6twc

So, you will want to number all of the bonuses and present them with a price so your prospects can see the value in them.

(I once saw an ebook online that had a price value of $4000.  Don’t do that.  If the prices of your bonuses are too high, then you’ll kill the validity of your message.)

When you do this, your prospects will start to add up the value of these items in their heads.  In the case of the infomercials, you’ll notice the last thing they do is add up the values near the end of the offer.

They’ll say something like:

“You’ll get this great whatchamacallit valued at $50…

You’ll also get the whosiebabba for that’s valued at $129

And we’ll even throw in this incredible hoochiemamma that you can’t get at any store.  Usually, we could sell to you for $33 but you’ll get it with this incredible deal!

If you add all of these great items up it would run you $217.  But if you order TODAY, you’ll get them all for FREE!”

You know, stuff like that…

So if you can go into the benefits and features of your bonuses and then reiterate the prices a couple more times it makes them seem more real.

Validating Your Pricing Further

When you write a sales letter here are few more ways to validate your prices.

What I’m telling you here can work with services, courses, or a wide variety of things you could sell.

So, you may not have to use all of this material based on what you’re selling. Selling a frying pan is different than selling a course on search engine optimization.

So, you’ll have to pick and choose which or all of these ideas you’ll want to use.

Another thing you can do is to make the monetary deal seem like it is great. You can usually do that by cutting the price in half.

So, if you are a consultant selling a course, and you average $200 an hour in consulting fees and it takes you 10 hours to write the course you can present the value as $2000. ($200 x 10 hours.)

You can tell your prospects, “…based on my fees, I get paid anywhere from $200 to $ 2000 for my time.”

After that, you can talk about how much it would cost them to learn this stuff on their own. You need to nail down the pricing to show them how much it would cost them to learn all this stuff on their own.

(You can also mention other resources that will be lost, like time, gas money driving to the library, paper and ink, whatever you can present to make the value even better.)

What to Do if You Don’t Have Any Proof or Testimonials?

You always want to keep proving your services or products when you write a sales letter, no matter how new the product is. As we were talking about above, you need to constantly prove your products with facts and figures.

If what you are selling in your sales letter is new you can talk about how much better your life is now that you’ve been using it.

For example, “Using PaintShop Pro has enabled me to get high-quality, professional results in my photo editing. And the best part? I don’t have to spend $49.99 a month using Adobe’s Photoshop subscription to get the same results.”

You could make all kinds of points on how the item you’re selling has enriched your life.

Another place where it’s tough to get evidence is in testimonials. If you have a service like copywriting, photo editing, or whatever, you know how hard it is to get clients to write a testimonial for you.

It’s not that they didn’t like your services, it’s just that they don’t have the time or experience to write one up for you.

Here’s how I handle that.

When they tell me how they liked my services, I tell them, “Look I know you don’t have the time to write up a testimonial about how you liked my writing. Would you mind if I used the words you just said in a testimonial? I’ll write it up for you and if you agree to it, I’ll use it as a testimonial.”  

I have never had one of my clients say, “no”.

Also, if you have a LinkedIn profile page or use Alignable or one of those business/social media sites, people are more apt to leave a testimonial for you on your profile page and you can use those as well.

But what if you’re selling a brand-new product and can’t get testimonials yet?

What you can do until you get them is to use a common item that’s been on the market for a while that’s been in the news.

Let us say that you are selling a new kind of light bulb that makes things brighter. (Believe it or not, they come up with new versions of that old product every day.)

You can go read articles or a book on the subject and see what people say about the basic product.

For example:

“ I find that a well-lit area in my factories has improved my engineer’s performances by 23%.”

-Elon Musk

He’s not talking about a specific product or yours, he’s talking about the benefits that the basic product brings.

By their mere words in an article or book, they are endorsing the same idea, and you can use that quote.

Once you get some testimonials for your products, you can replace the quotes you get from magazines, or wherever.

When you write a sales letter, testimonials are super important, so try to use every legitimate method you can to obtain them.

Write a Sales Letter with Some Teeth

One way to get people motivated to buy is to put a time limit on your offer and tell your readers there will be a significant rise in price if they don’t act now.

You can use a lot of different reasons to do this. Here are a few ideas:

• You have a low inventory.
• This is a trial version – the official rollout will be a lot more in price.
• Low stock – these are the last few. (For some reason this even works with digital products.)
• You are moving on with your life and you just have a few more of these to get rid of.
• This stuff is dated material but still good. The newer stuff is going to cost you a lot more.
• Tell them you sell this stuff elsewhere and if they buy it right now, you’ll give it to them at a cheaper price. (Post on Amazon or eBay your item at a much higher price. It will legitimize what you’re saying.)

You can have some fun with this and come up with a lot of great ideas.

One thing I want to mention. I’ve been to other people’s sites and seen countdown clocks. When I come back later, the countdown clock is starting over again.

Don’t do that.

If you set a time limit, then stick to it. However, if your time runs out and someone sends you an email that begs you for the deal, you’ll look like Superman to them if you kindly let them have it.

Note: When you do this kind of psychological maneuvering, you need to tell them the price it will rise to.  Hammer it down.

“After today, the price will be $372.45 — No exceptions” 

This is one of those ninja mind-tricks that works really well.

Revealing Your Hypnotic Price

I have read quite a bit about hypnosis over the years.  

One of the things a good hypnotist does is make you salivate for the magic to begin. This is why a lot of them will spend a considerable amount of time making sure they razzle-dazzle you BEFORE they hypnotize you.

By the time they ask for a volunteer, they can tell by the attitude of the volunteer if they will be a good candidate. (It will be the person who enthusiastically throws up their arm.)

It is much easier to hypnotize someone who wants to be hypnotized than a skeptic.

A basic rule of salesmanship is that people will only pay for what they want or what they think will make them happier. If the person you are pitching to is not interested in what you’re selling, you’ll have a hard time.

 This is one of the reasons why longer sales letters are more effective – they weed out resistant people.

 By the time you begin to show them the price, they will be dying to know how much they’ll have to pay.

If you watch the infomercials or QVC, you’ll see them run a list of pricing like this:

“If you act today, you won’t have to pay $259 for this amazing set of pots and pans, you won’t pay $205 for this limited deal, or even $189. You can get this incredible, certified set of culinary tools for a mere $167!”

Or, something like that.

So, the anticipation and buildup should make your prospect tense, and the relief will be your incredibly great price.

Testimonials with Numbers Show Results

In this next section, we’ll talk about testimonials.

The best kind of testimonials you can have are the ones that can show results.  So, what you’ll want to present here are numbers.

Percentages, time-frames, figures showing how many people got results, financial results; anything with numbers attached to them.

Other than that, there really aren’t any rules to testimonials.  You don’t want them really long, but hey, it’s your circus, if you feel it will make the sale – go for it.

Tell Them Again Section

When you write a sales letter, you want to make sure that you tell them one last time what they will get.

You want to briefly go BACK over the problem and then offer your solution. Once again, if you watch infomercials, you’ll see them do this.

“You get the Toilet Blaster 3000 for $299. And for a limited time, you can get it at this incredible introductory offer of $150! That’s almost a savings of $150! There’s no risk at all because we have an incredible 100% money-back guarantee!”

Tell Them Again Section

When you write a sales letter, you want to make sure that you tell them one last time what they will get.

You want to briefly go BACK over the problem and then offer your solution. Once again, if you watch infomercials, you’ll see them do this.

“You get the Toilet Blaster 3000 for $299. And for a limited time, you can get it at this incredible introductory offer of $150! That’s almost a savings of $150! There’s no risk at all because we have an incredible 100% money-back guarantee!”

The Infamous Call to Action (CTA)

There are 3 psychological ways you can use for a call to action.

• Emotions
• Reason
• Fear

You can use just one or all three, it really doesn’t matter. However it should be noted, more is better.  So if you use all three, it is more persuasive.

Another thing to think about when you write a sales letter is to use these 3 mind tricks in this order.

The Emotion Angle

The reasoning behind this is because if you use them in this order, it will get the people who are already sold out of the way first.  People who are emotional are the easiest to sell to because they are hot to buy.

Think about a person buying a car.

They get all caught up in the emotion of the moment and aren’t using their common sense. (Personally, I think it’s a big mistake to buy something like this, but when you’re selling it isn’t your responsibility to make decisions for people. You are simply trying to sell your products.)

In an emotion-based call to action, there are several different kinds of emotions you can play on depending on your product or service.

For example, you can use inclusion if you’re selling something that groups of people identify with.

Example: Join 140,000 of Your Peers!  Why be Left Out?

The idea behind this is you don’t want to be on the outside out or seem outclassed.

Another emotion is anger.

Example: If you’re sick to death of your armpits smelling this bad…

When you use this example, you can go back to your previous story in your sales letter to stir up feelings that got your reader to look at your copy in the first place.

Freedom from a nagging problem is another emotional response. People who have weight problems can identify easily with this.  You are carrying around a lot of emotions about this problem, so you can’t wait to dump it.

Example: Feel sexier, enjoy life, and do the things you’ve always wanted to do!

When you use emotion in your call to action, make sure you look at your notes and swipe files to see what other copywriters used to sell similar products.

Using Reason in Your Call to Action

This is for people who are still undecided in their decision to buy whatever you’re putting out. They are logically trying to figure out whether or not they should buy your product and all they need is advice.

So, basically, you go back into your copy and restate the logical reasons why this purchase would make sense.

“Your armpits will smell like roses.”

“Your friends will like you more.”

Your clothes won’t have stains on them anymore”

Go back and remind them of all the logical things you brought up in the copy from before.

Of course, you’ll want to tell them what to do.

“If you can see that this makes sense for you to do, click the “Buy it Now” button.”

Use Fear Last

In this call to action, you’ll need to go back and remind your readers what will happen if they don’t get your product or service.

“Your armpits will still smell and you’ll still have problems.”

Basically, you’re saying things won’t change if you don’t use your product.

Now, if you want to go hardcore fear on your prospects then tell them how much life is going to suck because they didn’t take action today.

“Your boyfriend will leave your ass.”

“You won’t sleep a wink at night crying about your problem.”

Also, remind them that they are going to lose the chance to get the great deal you’ve offered them.

“If you don’t act today, this offer will go bye-bye.”

Super Important Thing to Remember

You must, must, must tell your prospects exactly what to do in each step of the buying process.

Don’t leave anything to chance. If they have to click on a button, tell them how to do it. If they need to fill out their credit card number, show them how to do it.

One of the best places to see this in action is Amazon.  They spend a lot of money making sure that the check out process is seamless and that you know exactly how to do it.

Find other successful entrepreneurs who have been successful with their closing processes and see how to do it. Adopt and learn from the people and businesses who are successful.

Conclusion

This has been a rather long dissertation on how to write a sales letter.  Constantly practice and hone your craft and you’ll find that you will develop your own ideas and style of writing.

One thing you might want to consider.  Don’t just read books on copywriting. Try to read up on psychology and why people do the things they do. It will give you insight into the reasons why people do the things that they do and how you can help them make decisions to buy products and services that can help them.