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Sales Letter Layout

Posted on : 28-06-2006 | By : Stuart | In : Copywriting Tips

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Like everything else in life learning to write Killer copy takes a little work and the more time you spend perfecting it the better you will become.

But just how do you start to write such a letter?

Well, the very first thing you should do is read as many good sales letters as you can and study them to see what grabs your attention, try to find out what words and phrases get you hooked.

All good sales letters make use of words that trigger emotions and these have a very powerful influence on the reader.

After reading a few letters you will begin to notice a pattern – all of them follow a general template.

The basic ‘Killer Sales Letter’ Format looks like this:-

  • Lead-in [Mini headline teaser to lead into main headline]
  • Main Headline [Big and bold]
  • Sub-headline [Hook]
  • From: [Insert your name here]
  • Date: [Today's date]
  • Introduce yourself. Confirm/agitate the problems/challenges your prospect is facing.
  • Sub-headline: [Introduce your product here]
  • Highlight the benefits of your product
  • Sub-headline: [Introduce testimonnials here]
  • Testimonials Include a collection of neatly-lined up testimonials and endorsements
  • Sub-headline: Bonuses (optional)
  • Sub-headline: [Guarantee]
  • Sub-headline: Call to action [Reason To Buy now!]
  • Persuade your prospect to buy now. Include Order Form here
  • Signature and Picture [A hand written signature adds more power to your sales letter]
  • PS’s [Main Benefits of owning your product/fear of loss/extra bonus]
  • Final Order Button
  • Contact Details [Don't make your email address clickable or the spam robots will pick it up and bombard you with spam]
  • Privacy/Disclaimer

The list above is an overview, a rough format of what your sales letter should look like.Of course you can vary it slightly as you wish but this format has been proven to work time after time so why reinvent the wheel?

Now that you’ve seen what the format looks like go back to a couple of the sales letters you read before and see if you can pick out the points above.

Next you need to start imprinting the words and phrases into your brain and the most powerful way of doing this is to actually copy a few really great sales letters out by HAND!

Do not try and type them or copy and paste them, you have to write them down word for word. As you do so the very act of writing the words down will start to implant them into your brain so that they are there to call upon when you need them.

The more often you take the time to do this the quicker you will become a master copywriter and start producing killer copy that propels your readers into action.

Remember there are no short cuts to success so take some action now and write down a couple of killer sales letters!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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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Sales Letters And Story Telling

Posted on : 24-06-2006 | By : Stuart | In : Articles

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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

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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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But What If You Could Live Your Dreams?

Posted on : 23-06-2006 | By : Stuart | In : Uncategorized

0

Hi there,

What do you want out of life?

Do you want to keep on struggling to pay off your debts and
keep slaving away in that boring old 9 – 5 that is sucking
your life’s blood away even as we speak?

Or do you want to live your dreams…

Live Your Dreams

How would you feel if someone handed you a million dollars
and said “here you are my friend, a little present from me,
spend it how you like”?

Would that make you happy?

You bet it would!

Well do you know that there’s a million dollars worth of
information lying unused inside your head right now.

If only you could learn how to use it…

Live Your Dreams

If only someone would show you how simple it is to convert
it into cold hard cash…

If only someone would show you how to convert more of your
visitors into buyers…

No matter what you are selling…

No matter where you live…

No matter where you are right now…

Live Your Dreams

To your success, always,

Stuart.

PS
Don’t let the naysayers tell you it’s too difficult either,
you can live your dreams if you want to.
Live Your Dreams Now

————————————————————

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Should You Be Using These Words In Your Sales Letter?

Posted on : 21-06-2006 | By : Stuart | In : Copywriting Tips

0

Do You use words like ‘buy’ or ’sell’ in your sales letter?

Well then you could be turning away potential customers without even knowing it.

Words are very powerful tools, so powerful that they can persuade people to jump off the nearest cliff. But you do need to learn how to use them correctly to get the best results from them.

Learn to use them well and you will get results that will make your heart soar but use them badly or make the wrong choice and you will turn people away so quickly that you will wonder whatever hit you!

Below I have included a list of key words that are commonly used in sales letters. These words often produce negative feelings in the reader, feelings which often propel the reader NOT to buy your product.

So every time you want to use one of these words look at the replacement I have suggested and use that instead or consult a Thesaurus for an alternative. (This is a tool that you should have open at all times you are writing your sales letters, emails, headlines or anything else to do with marketing.)

Sell
People in general do not like to be sold to, so use words to make your prospect feel involved. Replace with: Help, acquire.

Cost, price
An investment is something that will return you money, a cost is a bill to pay with no return. Replace with: Investment, amount.

Monthly fee
Do not make your prospect think that he is paying bills. Instead make him see a monthly investment for something worth while. Replace with: Monthly investment.

Buy
‘Buy’ means that your prospect parts with his money for little return. Ownership means that your prospect acquires something of value in exchange for his money. Replace with: Own.

Deal
‘Deal’ sounds somewhat dirty and shady – crooks and drug dealers often do “deals” in the back alley – somewhat unsavoury eh? Replace with: Opportunity.

Problem
Everyone has enough problems, don’t give them another, rather give them a challenge and they’ll rise to it. Replace with: Challenge.

Cheaper
‘Cheap’ is always perceived as less in quality. Economical means being thrifty. Replace with More economical.

No Brainer
This phrase seems to have been specifically designed to upset me, for some reason I always ’see red’ when I’m faced with this! It has a very strong effect on me, but always in the opposite way to the users wish – I simply click away! Replace it with: Bargain or one time offer

To maximize the profits from your sales letter it is imperative that you are very careful about the words you use and are aware of the effects they may have on your prospects.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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/FYC2.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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How Many Pages Should A Sales Letter Have?

Posted on : 19-06-2006 | By : Stuart | In : Copywriting Tips

0

Hi there,

Let me ask you a question:

Do you know how many pages you must have in your sales letter?

There must be only ONE page, No Page 2, or [continue on next page] whatsoever. The reason for this is simple: you want to get your prospects to read your sales letter from top to bottom, keep their focus on your words and make the decision to buy your product right there and then without having to click away to another page to find out more info.

Nothing should be there to distract them, everything should lead to one goal only and that is to have your prospects BUY your product.

If you haven’t achieved that by the time they get to the bottom of your page there are no second chances, you’ve lost them – never to return!

If this happens, then you have some work to do.

Maybe your headline is not strong enough or you you need to rewrite your copy – make it flow more or if necessary make it longer or shorter.

If you need to, add some more testimonials or empahasise the value of the benefits to your prospect, change the style of your words a little – in short do whatever you have to, to get the buy impulse into your prospect from one page only!

I am often asked “how long should my sales letter be?” The simple answer is as long as it needs to be to get the sale! – No Longer and no shorter.

Any Other Links?

Generally speaking, the ONLY link on your page is the link to the Pay Button, there should be no other links in your sales letter.

This is such an important key to success for the same reasons as restricting your sales letter to one page only – to FOCUS your prospects mind on your words and entice him/her to buy your product!

That means: no links to About Me, F.A.Q., Sitemap, or even Page 2, definitely no advertisements (banner ads, Google Adsense and the like) on your sales letter, either.

The same thing holds true for testimonials.

I often see sales letters that have a great testimonial included, but at the end of the testimonial there is a hyperlinked URL inviting the reader to click and see what else the testimonial giver has said.

Just think for a minute what will happen to your reader in this case, he’s focused on your story and has the benefits of your product backed up by the testimonial then he notices the hyperlink at the end of the testimonial, so he thinks to himself “let’s just see what else ‘Joe Bloggs’ has to say…”

A quick click and your reader is gone – of course he means to return but…

His concentration has been broken and what is worse is, that by following the hyperlink he is often taken to sales page for a completely different product. Once there his attention is captured by the headline and he starts reading…

Meanwhile all thoughts of your product have gone!

If you are remotely lucky he will return to your page later on and try to continue readng your sales letter but even if this happens his concentration has been broken and it will be almost impossible to capture again.

Anything that distracts your prospect from your primary goal is a No-No. As soon as you allow him to lose focus that’s it!…

He’s gone never to return and you can’t allow that to happen can you?

Keep well and keep learning!

Stuart.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beat Those Sales Letter Blues Today.

Learn how to write a sales letter that sucks in sales like a casino sucks in cash.
http://howtowritekickbuttcopy.com/FYC2.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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