Introduction

Why Write Your Own Sales Letters? 11

21 Valuable Insights You’ll Acquire By Reading This Book 12

Phase I

1. Keys To Successful Online Sales Letters 14

Understanding The Culture Of The Internet 14

Building An Online Business Is About Building Relationships 15

Understanding The Online Audience 16

Target Your Approach 17

Direct Marketing With A Twist 17

Credibility Is Everything 19

Strategy Is More Important Than Creativity 20

Think The Way Your Market Thinks -- 20

Provide Value For Your Prospect’s Time -- 21

Make An Instant Connection With Your Target Audience -- 21

Consistently Deliver The Information Your Audience Wants -- 22

Keep Your Purpose In Mind As You Write -- 23

Always Stay One Step Ahead -- 23

 

2. Why People Buy… And How To Get More Of Them To Buy From You

The Controlling Force That Directs Your Prospect’s Actions -- 25

103 Specific Pain/Pleasure Reasons Why Anyone Would Be Interested In Buying Your Product -- 27

People Buy When Offered A ‘Magic’ Solution -- 31

People Buy When You Hit Their Hot Buttons -- 32

People Buy On Emotion -- 34

People Buy When The Shopping Experience Gives Them An Emotional High -- 35

People Justify Buying With Logical Reasoning -- 36

People Buy Unique Advantages And Special Benefits -- 37

People Buy When They’re Offered Great Value -- 38

People Buy From Credible Sources They Can Trust -- 42

People Buy When Fear Is No Longer A Factor -- 42

People Buy When The Message Resonates -- 44

People Buy Solutions To A Pressing Problem -- 45

People Buy When It’s Easy To Obtain The Benefits They Want -- 45

People Buy Because You Deliver Instant Gratification -- 46

People Buy Better Alternatives -- 47

People Buy Convenience -- 47

People Buy When Presented With The Right Solution At The Right Time -- 48

People Buy Results, Not Products -- 48

People Buy Due To The Special Incentives Offered -- 49

 

3. Why People Don’t Buy

People Don’t Buy Exaggerated Claims -- 51

People Don’t Buy From Amateur Marketers -- 52

People Don’t Buy From Over-Designed Sites -- 52

People Don’t Buy From Clever, Catchy, Or Humorous Ad Copy -- 53

People Don’t Buy When They’re Uncertain -- 53

People Don’t Buy If The Product Isn’t A Good Fit -- 54

People Don’t Buy If They Feel They’re Being Pushed -- 54

People Don’t Buy What They Need – They Buy What They Want -- 55

People Don’t Buy When There’s No Clear Cut Advantage -- 55

People Don’t Buy From You Again If They Weren’t Satisfied The First Time Around -- 55

 

4. Emotions Are Key

Why Emotional Copy Sells More Products -- 57

The Number One Key To Writing With Emotion -- 58

How To Be Sure You’re Addressing The Right Emotion -- 58

How To Write Emotional Copy -- 59

Qualities Of Emotionally Charged Copy -- 60

Other Ways To Inject Emotion -- 62

Key Points To Remember About Writing With Emotion -- 64

 

5. The Sales Letter Plan

The Purpose Of A Plan -- 65

Identify Your Goals and Objectives -- 66

Define Your Market -- 67

Identify Your Competitor’s Strengths and Weaknesses -- 68

Get To Know Your Product Inside-Out -- 69

Determine Your Strongest, Most Unique Selling Advantages -- 71

Create An Irresistible Offer -- 73

Add A Strong Guarantee -- 74

Build A Case In Favor Of Your Product -- 74

Outline The Order Process -- 75

The Ultimate Sales Letter Plan Worksheets -- 77

 

6. Sales Letter Formulas

Why Use A Formula? -- 87

The A.I.D.A. Formula For Writing Effective Ads -- 87

Alternate Sales Letter Formulas By Noted Copywriters -- 89

The Two Most Important Steps Of Any Formula -- 91

Additional Elements Of Power and Persuasion -- 92

 

Phase II

 

7. Start Your Sales Letter With A Powerful, Attention-Grabbing Headline

The Purpose Of The Headline -- 95

Why Headlines Are So Important Online -- 96

The Role Benefits Play In Headlines -- 97

How To Get Started Writing A Great Headline -- 98

The Most Effective Headline Formats For Web Site Sales Letters -- 99

How To Create A Winning Headline In Just Minutes -- 101

Powerful Headline Words and Phrases -- 102

How To Make A Good Headline Even Stronger -- 108

How To Write An Emotional Headline -- 108

What Kind Of Things Do Successful Headlines Offer? -- 109

Where Else Do These Headline Ideas Apply? -- 111

Key Points To Keep In Mind When Creating Web Site Sales Letter Headlines -- 111

Simple Enhancements To Make Your Headline Impossible To Miss -- 112

How To Be Sure Your Headline Is Effective -- 112

How Long Should A Sales Letter Headline Be? -- 116

 

8. How To Create A Riveting Opening That Intrigues, Invites, and Compels Prospects To Read On

What Makes The Opening So Important? -- 117

Why Are Openings So Difficult To Write? -- 118

The Best Way To Get Started -- 119

Do Salutations Help? -- 120

Tried and True Techniques For Creating Riveting Openings -- 121

How Opening Paragraphs Encourage Further Reading -- 122

How The Headline and Opening Work Together -- 123

How Long Should The Opening Be? -- 124

The 3 Crucial Tasks Successful Openings Complete -- 124

The Quickest Way To Create A Magnetic Opening -- 125

Where Most Openings Go Wrong -- 125

Examples Of Effective Opening Lines -- 126

 

9. Successful Sales Copy Is All About Buyer Benefits

What Exactly Are Benefits Anyway? -- 131

What About Features? -- 131

Which Benefits Should Be Included? -- 133

The Easiest Way To Turn Features Into Benefits -- 133

Why Benefits Are So Important -- 134

How To Reveal Your Product’s Benefits For Maximum Impact -- 135

In What Order Should Benefits Be Presented? -- 136

Should The Benefits Of Bonus Material Be Unveiled Too? -- 137

How To Make Writing Body Copy Easier -- 137

How To Uncover Features That Can Be Converted Into Benefits -- 140

Is It Ever Acceptable To Stretch The Truth? -- 140

Using Bullet Points To Present Your Benefits -- 142

Keys To Successful Bullets -- 144

How To Write Provocative, Interest-Arousing Bullets -- 144

More Examples Of Effective Bullet Copy -- 145

Where To Find Rich Sources Of Bullet Point Material -- 148

Great Lead-Ins For Powerful Bullets -- 148

 

10. Build Your Case With Solid Proof

Why Proof Is Such An Important Element -- 151

How Other People’s Experience Helps Influence New Customers -- 152

Additional Ways To Build Credibility -- 152

How Perception Affects Your Results -- 153

Other Factors That Come Into Play -- 154

The Kind Of Proof That Matters Most To Prospects -- 155

How Your Reputation Serves You Online -- 155

What Makes Some Testimonials Better Than Others -- 156

Where To Best Place Your Customer Testimonials -- 157

How To Overcome The Fears That Concern Prospects -- 158

Why Testimonials Are Such Valuable Marketing Tools -- 160

Premium Quality Testimonials -- 161

Other Methods For Building Credibility -- 161

 

11. Creating Irresistible Offers

‘Offers’ Defined -- 163

The Kinds Of Items To Include In Your Offers -- 163

Why A Summarized Offer Is So Important -- 164

Key Points To Remember When Compiling An Offer -- 164

Knowing Your Market Is Crucial -- 165

What Makes An Offer Totally Irresistible? -- 166

How To Convert Your Offer Into Direct Sales -- 166

How To Improve A Good Offer To Make It A Great Offer -- 167

What Is It About Offers That Make Them So Important? -- 168

Background Information For Building A Stronger Offer -- 169

What About ‘Free’ Offers? -- 170

Additional Factors To Keep In Mind -- 170

Why Bother With An Offer Anyway? -- 172

What Incentives Should Your Offer Include? -- 173

How To Take A Basic Product And Create An Irresistible Offer -- 173

 

12. How To Craft A Powerful Guarantee

Why Having A Guarantee Is Important -- 177

What A Strong Guarantee Tells Prospects About You -- 178

Is A ‘Standard’ Guarantee Okay… Or Do You Need More? -- 178

The Most Appealing Types Of Guarantees -- 179

How To Draw Attention To Your Guarantee -- 181

Make An Impact With An Elaborate Promise -- 182

How To Make Your Guarantee Seem Like An Ironclad Promise – Without Sounding Like A Legal

Document -- 183

 

13. Closing The Sale

How To Go For The Sale Every Time -- 187

How To Win New Customers Without Being Pushy -- 189

What Action Do You Want Prospects To Take? -- 189

What Else Can Be Done To Convert Prospects Into Customers? -- 190

How To Reassure Cautious Prospects -- 191

The Best Methods To Sustain Interest Through To The Order Form -- 191

Additional Closing Techniques -- 192

How To Avoid Losing The Sale -- 193

Tips For Creating A Stronger, More Influential Close -- 194

 

14. Add A Powerful P.S.

Why The P.S. Is Such An Important Component -- 196

How Prospects Typically Read A Sales Letter -- 196

What’s Wrong With Most P.S.’s? -- 197

How To Utilize A Postscript For Maximum Effectiveness -- 197

How To Make It Even Better -- 198

Key Ingredients Of Successful P.S.’s -- 199

How To Ensure Your P.S. Pulls Prospects In -- 200

What About Content? -- 200

Examples of Effective P.S.’s -- 201

What About Multiple P.S.’s – Do They Actually Work? -- 203

Examples of Multiple P.S.’s -- 203

Information You Shouldn’t Include In Your P.S. -- 205

Key Points To Keep In Mind -- 205

How Long Should The P.S. Be? -- 206

How Prospects View P.S.’s -- 206

 

15. Creating An Order Form The Finalizes The Sale

Making The Transition From Sales Letter To Order Form -- 208

The Lead Component -- 209

Is An Order Form Headline A Necessity? -- 209

What’s The Best Way To Launch Order Form Copy? -- 210

How To Improve The Responsiveness Of Your Order Form -- 212

Elements Worth Repeating -- 213

How To Make Your Order Form More Universally Acceptable and User-Friendly -- 214

What Variable Options Should Be Included On The Order Form? -- 214

How The Order Form Can Reassure Anxious Customers -- 215

Where Some Order Forms Go Wrong -- 216

Problems With Secure Options and Third Party Providers and How To Overcome Them Quickly,

Easily, And At Zero Cost -- 217

 

Phase III

 

16. Review, Revise, and Edit To Make Your Copy More Effective

Easy Ways To Spot Errors -- 218

How To Minimize Editing Time -- 219

Other Things To Look Out For At The Editing Stage -- 220

Simple Ideas For Improving Readability and Flow -- 224

Specific Ways To Emphasize Key Points -- 225

How To Make Reading Your Sales Letter A Less Daunting Task -- 226

How To Strengthen Your Bullet Points -- 227

Remember Your Purpose While Editing -- 227

 

17. Design Enhancements

Sales Letter Design 101 -- 229

The First Thought You Want Running Through Your Prospect’s Mind -- 230

Why It’s So Important To Avoid Fancy Designs Altogether -- 230

How To Make A Basic Sales Letter More Visually Appealing -- 231

What Else Should You Keep In Mind When Organizing Your Web Site? -- 232

Simple Techniques To Aid Readability -- 233

Which Areas Should Definitely Be Emphasized? -- 234

What About Graphics? -- 235

What About Text? -- 236

Fine Tuning Your Design and Layout -- 238

How To Target Different Groups With Your Sales Letter -- 239

Testing Is A Major Key To Success -- 240

 

18. Common Mistakes

Lack Of Preparation -- 241

Presenting A Confusing Message -- 242

Wasting Your Visitor’s Time -- 242

Lacking Credible Proof -- 243

Not Being Clear About What It Is You’re Offering -- 243

Uninspiring Copy That Focuses On The Product -- 244

A Short Message That Doesn’t Do An Adequate Selling Job -- 245

Failing To Pull Prospects In From The Start -- 245

A Weak Close -- 246

A Site That Doesn’t Facilitate Easy Buying -- 246

A Sales Letter Or Web Site That Doesn’t Effectively Calm Prospect Fears -- 247

A Lack Of Uniqueness -- 248

Conclusion