Interestingly enough the majority of people who ask me whether their sales letter is too long have missed the boat somewhat.

You see, their mind is focused on the length of their sales letter rather than the job the sales letter has to do, and when they do that it is impossible to write in a manner that will convince the reader to take action and buy their product.

No, your main focus when writing a sales letter must be on the job it has to do and that, in a nutshell, is to convince the reader that he/she needs to buy that product.

Pay special attention to the word ‘need’ here, you must focus upon the emotional need of the reader – this could be nothing more than ‘one-upmanship’ from his neighbour not a logical need. For it is a fact that man…

“Buys based upon emotion and justifies that decision with logic.”

Just think about that for a second, when was the last time you bought something for no better reason than cold hard logic? Probably never right? It was your emotions that pointed you toward the purchase.

Take a shiny new car as an example.

If you were to look at the purpose of a car through the eyes of cold hard logic then there would be very little reason to buy one with all the latest gizmos that are designed to pamper you. (and by the way cost you more)

All a car has to do is get you from A – B safely, dryly and quickly. Given that logical explanation, who has need of a radio, electric windows, self adjusting vibrating seats, automatic distance sensor for reversing and so on?

They don’t help you in the primary purpose of getting from A – B no, they rather serve to pamper you on an emotional level.

So going back to your sales letter you need to identify these emotional triggers inside your prospect and write about them in an exciting way that is sure to trigger the emotional needs of him/her.

If this means that you have to write 30 pages of copy to do so then do it!

The more you have to write the better the chances you will have of getting the sale, if you need to prove how your product has helped others add some testimonials and, the more the merrier. Proof from other satisfied customers is often all that needs to be added to convince.

You should ensure that your pages are full of emotional excitement and not just page after page of boring old features.

Going back to the car again:

“It has the latest auto-reversing, sensing device” – So What? What the $#^&!@ use is that to me?

““““““““““““““““`

“The seats vibrate as you drive” – Er… Why do I need a car that has seats that shake about when I drive? I mean if I drive over a bumpy road I get the same effect don’t I?

““““““““““““““““`

Blah, blah, blah… What is this doing for your prospects emotional needs? Nothing! It’s just another page full of boring old words, Goodbye!

Now if you change the above sentences to something like:

Save Money On Your Insurance Premiums!

The truth about sky rocketing premiums is out! Major insurance companies have admitted that 60% of all claims for minor ‘bumps’ on vehicles they insure is due to parking bay mishaps.

“Many people just don’t know how big their car is and accidentally bump into another when manouevering around in busy parking lots.” Insurance company spokesperson.

Your premiums are being loaded because of this, but…

Now you need never worry about how big your car is, because it will actually tell you when you are getting too close to another car! This means you have the pleasure of driving and saving on your insurance premiums at the same time.

““““““““““““““““`

Personal Masseuse For Free

Imagine your very own personal masseuse… yours to pamper you as you drive. Take away the stiffness in your back and legs in an instant, so that you stay fresh and alert whilst you drive and arrive safely at your destination – No other car has massaging seats that will treat you like a king!

““““““““““““““““`

Don’t these two paragraphs create a little more excitement in your mind?

All you have to do is keep building a little excitement with every word you write until your prospect suddenly says “Wow! I gotta have one of those!”

It doesn’t matter if you have to write 50 pages of copy to create that feeling, as long as you keep the excitement up your copy won’t be too long.

Remember that your sales letter has to be exciting and long enough to do it’s job – no shorter otherwise you won’t get the sale.

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Resource Box

Stuart Elliott is a world-class copywriter who has written numerous articles about sales letters and copywriting.

Drop by: http://howtowritekickbuttcopy.com to pick up your Free Copywriting Power Guide.

Article Copyright 2006 Stuart Elliott, All rights reserved. You may only reprint this article in its entirety and you must leave this resource box intact.

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If you want to get someone to pay attention to what you are saying, tell a story!

Everybody loves to listen to a good story but not many people tell stories in their sales letters and that’s a pity because story telling is a sure-fire way of capturing a persons attention.

Selling and story telling are skills that we all possess but very few of us capitalise upon…

Think about your life and the things you’ve done and you’ll be able to come up with hundreds of stories, all you’ve got to do now is package one and include it next time you write.

Start off with something like “I can remember the day I… ” and instantly your listener will give you their full attention, waiting to hear more.

Here’s an example of some selling that everybody does at some time or another, without even thinking:

Remember that fantastic movie you saw the other week and how you told all your friends about it, and you said they’d be mad to miss watching it?

Well that is selling by using stories in a nut-shell, and we all do it, we all have it inside ourselves!

What is more difficult, however is to take that natural skill and transfer it to our product. In other words to actually take those words and put them down on paper or in the case of online selling, onto that ‘magic’ little screen that allows us to talk to millions of other people around the world.

We often come up with a total blank when we try to put our thoughts down and write copy to sell our product.

When this happens we should revisit the wisdom of our ancestors, go back to the days before we all had computers and further still, to the times before books or even paper were thought about.

Go on think back…

Are you there yet?

Well, how did our ancestors pass on their messages and the folk lore of their times? They used stories. They told stories that captivated their listener’s attention and kept them where they were, listening in enraptured silence to the lore of ancients.

Motivational Speakers Use Them Too

Think about all the great motivational speakers, how do they capture their audience’s attention? They use stories of course. They paint a picture with words so powerfully that it allows their audience to SEE exactly what they are talking about!

I remember watching the great Jim Rohn in action a few years ago. He was telling a story of how, as a youngster, the bank wanted to repossess his car because he was having difficulty meeting the monthly payments.

He went on to tell how, on the day the tow truck came to take his car back, he stormed into the bank with a bag full of one cent pieces and slammed it on the desk right in front of the manager. How he told the manager to count out the money, every last cent that was owed, and the great satisfaction he had as he sat there for over an hour and watched the manager do just that, clear his debt and call back his hounds!

The audience were gripped, there were several thousand of us there that day, we all felt Jim’s acute pain and embarrassment at having the tow truck appear outside his house to repossess his car. We shared his feelings of joy and triumph over the bank so intently that we were transformed into the person who made the manager reluctantly accept our money, all the thousands of one-cent pieces!

Did we listen to the rest of his speech? You bet we did!

Picture now, an audience of thousands perched so far onto the very tips of their seats that they are in constant danger of falling to the ground, afraid that if they breath or move even a fraction of an inch they would miss one of the momentous words that were being spoken.

That was us! So intent were we upon his words that if he had whispered his speech to us we still would have heard it no matter how far away we were.

This lasted for a full 90 minutes and in that time not one of us moved lest we missed a single word from the master. Afterwards we were left gasping for breath and sat there, momentarily stunned into an awed silence as we digested what we had heard.

Such is the power of words in the hand of a master, but the tools he uses are tools that we possess, each and every one of us!

They are tools that we should be using whenever we sell our product.

Everybody has stories they can tell and you should use your own personal stories the next time you write a sales letter to sell your product!

Don’t rely on the tired words and experiences of others, you are unique in this world – market that uniqueness.

What have I just done to make you read this far? Simply share a story in my own way, that’s all. It is something you should be applying right now in your business, every time you think about your products and how you can market them.

Your life is full of stories, share them with the thousands who want to listen, use them and you will sell more of your products!

Stuart Elliott

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Beat The Sales Letter Blues Today.

Learn how to write a sales letter that sucks in sales like a casino sucks in cash.
http://howtowritekickbuttcopy.com/FYC5.html

Article Copyright 2006 Stuart Elliott, all rights reserved. You may only reprint this article in its entirety and you must leave this resource box intact.

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Many people have told me that they have a mental block when it comes to writing their sales letter.

No matter how hard they try and think they just can’t seem to get things moving.

Are you the same? Do you ever sit there staring into space struggling to find the words?

It’s really frustrating and can happen to us all from time to time but there’s a great way to get those ideas flowing and break out from the mental blocks.

Let me ask you something first though… Do you know your product?

I mean really know your product.

You see in order to be able to sell something you really have to know it in intimate detail. I mean how can you sell the benefits of Liposuction unless you are a woman who’s actually been through the process?

What do you know about it apart from heresay? You don’t know whether there’s any pain involved, whether there’s a special diet you need to eat afterwards.

What feeling is there immediately after the operation? – Do you look into the mirror and see the hour glass figure you were dreaming about before you went for the op, if not how do you feel deep down?

Are there feelings of anger and dismay or is there a deep sense of ecstasy as you look out and see the real you that was hiding inside that tired old body all the time?

Only someone who has really experienced those first fearful glances can really tell this with an emotion that rings true.

You have to know every little thing that you can about your product defore you sit down and try to write your sales letter.

Knowing and loving your product gives you the burning passion to tell all the world about it and is the first step in overcoming the dreaded ‘blank screen’ that so many sit in front of for hours on end.

So the first thing you need to do is to get hold of your product and fall in love with it – that means buy, borrow or test drive it.

Look, you’re going to be writing a story form your heart telling me exactly why I should buy your product, if you don’t know and love it how can you in all truth and honesty tell me to buy it?

Next list the reasons why it’ll help me, look at it, ‘feel’ it, live with it.

How heavy is it? Is it easy to use? Does it have any weaknesses? Understand why I need it and should buy it from you.

An easy way to do this is by ‘brainstorming’.

The way you do this is to take a blank piece of paper and draw a small cicle in the middle, write your product’s name in the middle of the circle.

Now it’s time for you to get the magic going!

Look at the name of your product and write the very first thing that comes into you mind down on the paper.

Draw a line radiating out from the circle and write your thought at the end of the line.

Don’t think or worry about spellling, just write. As Soon as you’ve finished writing one thought another will be there, write that down also.

Soon you’ll have so many thoughts hitting you that you won’t be able to keep up – Just keep going until you have nothing left inside your head.

This is such a stimulating exercise that it’ll often leave you panting for breath!

Once you’ve finished all you need to do is look at what you’ve written and make a list of all the great ideas you have. List them in order of importance.

Now you have the outline for your letter.

Use the most important reason on the list, the main reason why I should buy your product and make this into a sensational headline.

Allow the ideas on the list to flow into one sales letter using sub-headlines when you need to emphasise a point, soon your letter will have almost written itself.

When you write your letter remember to only write it to one person at a time – make it personal!

That’s it for now, go and grab your product, fall in love with it and start to list the reasons why I should buy it. Go on do it Now!

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Resource Box

Stuart Elliott is a world-class copywriter who has written numerous articles about sales letters and copywriting. Pick up your free copywriting power guide at
http://howtowritekickbuttcopy.com

Article Copyright 2006 Stuart Elliott, All rights reserved. You may only reprint this article in its entirety and you must leave this resource box intact.

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Today let me tell you something that you may not
remember.

You are UNIQUE, you are special, there is nobody like you amongst the billions of people on this whole planet!

Think about that for a little while, let it really sink in…..

That’s right, there is nobody in the whole world like you, nobody looks like you, talks like you or writes like you and that is a fact.

Take Jack Nicholson for example, he is a world famous actor who has played many famous characters but every time you watch his films you see him portraying the character in the way that only he can, not a different person.

He injects his own personality into every single character he plays and that is why he is good.

Why does he or any other actor do that?… Because that is what makes him different and stand out above all the other actors! That is why he is famous and rich because he is himself, he doesn’t try to be another person.

If you go online and read any sales letter you will see that the best ones contain the personality of the writer, as you read the words you can see his/her personality shining through and you know that you are ‘talking ‘ to a real person and not some automated robot.

When you write your sales letters you must remember your uniqueness, let it come into your letter, let your personality shine through.

But how? I hear you saying!

Well, how do you talk and act if you are talking to your best friend?

Yes, that’s right you act naturally, you don’t have any ‘airs and graces’, if you want to be sad – you can be, if you want to jump and shout for joy – you can do. If you are excited about something you show it in your words, the tone of your voice and your gestures.

In short you act as YOU!

This is what I mean by write from the heart. Let all your feelings come out onto the paper, be truthful, let your words tell me exactly how you feel and be yourself. You have a unique way of expressing your thoughts and views. Don’t try to be somebody you aren’t, leave that to somebody else.

You are a real person and I want to listen to the real you, warts and all!

When you write what do you see?

Do you see the computer screen staring back at you or do you see beyond it?

Right now as I write these words I see you, I don’t see anybody else and certainly not the computer screen. I’m talking directly to you, so I see your face and it is my pleasure to do so!

This is what you must do as you write your sales letter. It doesn’t matter how many people may see it at the same time, you can only address it to one person.

Keep this firmly in your mind whenever you write – I’ve got a big ‘post it’ note that says ‘Write Articles/ads To Only One Person’ stuck to the top of my computer screen.

I don’t need the reminder this minute, because I know I’m talking directly to you, my friend, but sometimes I forget, I get a mental blank and sit there staring into space. Then I see my note and I’m reminded that I have to talk to you and nobody else!

This helps me to direct everything I write only to you, not to anyone else who may read this letter – YOU are the only person reading at this moment and I am only talking to you!

Have a good think about the power of that last statement, put it into practice and you will see a major change in the responsiveness of your sales letters!

Keep well and enjoy your writing!

Stuart

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Resource Box

Stuart Elliott is a world-class copywriter who has written numerous articles about sales letters and copywriting. Pick up your free copywriting power guide at
http://howtowritekickbuttcopy.com

“The Best Copywriter On This Planet Is Free… No Hired Gun Has More Passion For Your Product Than You Do”

Article Copyright 2006 Stuart Elliott, All rights reserved. You may only reprint this article in its entirety and you must leave this resource box intact.

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This article follows on from my previous one, “Adding Excitement To Your Sales Letter – Part 1″ where I outlined the steps you need to take to really get to know your product, customer and opposition before you write a sales letter for your product.

OK, so now that you know what product you are really selling and who you are selling it to it’s time to start thinking about words and emotional buttons to press to make your prospect excited.

I love to use adjectives and metaphors that create pictures in my prospects mind as he reads my sales letter.

Metaphors especially are such wonderful tools to create a mental picture in someone’s mind, take a very common one for instance:

“Like a Hot Knife Through Butter…”

Immediately your reader sees this phrase he subconsciously imagines himself effortlessly running his knife through the block of butter without any effort at all.

There is no need to explain how easy things are, the mental image created in your prospects mind does this for you, immediately he understands exactly how effortless the process you are describing is.

Warning – it is imperative that you know who your target market is and only use metaphors that they can understand and relate to.

Take the above example for instance, if I were addressing my sales letter to people in China and I hadn’t taken time to research my market I’d be very surprised when I found out that this particular metaphor has no effect on them other than to have them say “What is he talking about?”

You see, butter is not a culinary item in China, most people have never tasted it, heck you can’t even buy it outside of the big cities – I live in Nanning, a city of 2 to 4 million people and there are only two shops where you can buy it!

As a side note you can and should use your words and phrases to qualify your prospect to continue reading further – you only want people who are really interested in your product to purchase it otherwise you could end up with all sorts of complaints and refund requests.

Describing words, or adjectives as the grammar purists would call them, are powerful little words that immediately tell you about something.

For instance if I tell you that I met a girl the other day and… you will probably say “Yeah? So what.”

But if I tell you that I met a girl who was so beautiful she should have been a model on the cover of ‘Vogue’ magazine… Immediately your ears perk up and you listen more attentively.

Why?

Well, firstly I have used an adjective to describe the girl and then supercharged that adjective with the allusion to the fashion model. Not only are you creating a picture in your mind of a beautiful girl you’ve met but you also start to think of glossy magazines and picture all the beautiful girls that you’ve seen on the covers.

You start thinking to yourself “you lucky so and so, I wish I’d met her… ”

You want to find out what happened and you’ll really listen to what I’ve got to say – I’ve created a little bit of excitement in my story.

Another way to add excitement to your sales letter is to allow your passion and feelings for your product to come through into your copy.

I received an email the other day with the title:

“As Important As a Bag Of Cobras Sitting In Your Lap”

This was a brilliant eye catcher and practically forced me to open the email.

Now this headline is about emotion, you’re stirred by the vision of snakes in your lap – How much would you like to have a bag of snakes in your lap? Would it get your full attention? – You bet it would!

But if, I add one more word, a word that refers to emotions, it makes the headline even stronger. See what happens to the headline when I add anger into it”

“As Important As a Bag Of Angry Cobras Sitting In Your Lap”

Oh my god, help me, not only have I got snakes in my lap but they’re mean and angry too… HELP!

Now I’m riveted and have to open the email.

Back to the content of this email, I opened it expecting an interesting, important message and I wasn’t let down.

The writer had just been through a bad experience with a former customer and allowed his passion and feelings to be transferred into his writing. You could feel his pain and emotion as you read his message.

You need to do the same when you write your sales letter, use your passion for your product and whatever emotions it triggers in you to get your message across. Since you know your target market well by now it will be easy to write in a way that they can relate to and understand.

Go on give it a try.

All the best,

Stuart.

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Resource Box

Stuart Elliott is a world-class copywriter who has written numerous articles about sales letters and copywriting. Pick up your free copywriting power guide at
http://howtowritekickbuttcopy.com

“The Best Copywriter On This Planet Is Free… No Hired Gun Has More Passion For Your Product Than You Do”

Article Copyright 2006 Stuart Elliott, All rights reserved. You may only reprint this article in its entirety and you must leave this resource box intact.

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