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22 Questions to Ask Before You Write a Single Word
To write successful copy, you need to know as much as you can.
It goes beyond reading background materials, reviewing old
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You need to get inside peoples' heads.
Start with your...
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How To Enhance the Personal Appeal Of Your Sales Letter
Probably the most effective form of advertising is word of mouth.
And there is a reason for this. You will more readily take a
friend's advice about a product she has used than trust an
advertiser's blurb.
One of the lofty goals of a great copywriter then is to be
transformed into a trusted friend of the reader. Instead of
writing as to a crowd you can write as to one person sitting on a
park bench next to you --- a friend. This proven strategy will
explain the format of the sales letter used in direct marketing
and fast becoming quite popular in online selling.
Letters written in this personal style reduce the buyer's
resistance and ushers you into their circle of confidence and
advice. The more cold and formal style of writing common to the
corporate world leaves the reader feeling small and 'talked down
to'-emotionally unmoved.
It's a tenet of effective copywriting that your letter must be
emotionally appealing because people buy based on emotions and
then justify their purchase with logic. Being guided by our
emotions is not just relegated to small purchase but to ANY
purchase we make.
In a recent TIME magazine article discussing the skyrocketing
house prices, it was interesting to read the author's suggested
reasons for this recent real estate craze:
"The boom is as much an emotional story as an economic
one. It's about the excitement of potential wealth, the fear of
missing out and the envy toward the guy next door who bought for
a third of what you paid. … and the embarrassment of feeling
too poor for your neighborhood as houses around you are torn
down …" --America's House Party - June 13, 2005
Unless your sales message resonates emotionally with your
prospects then you'll lose potential sales.
Here are a number of ways to increase the personal appeal of your
sales letter:
1. Write as to one person. Imagine that person sitting right
across from you and write as you would speak to them. When a
prospect reads your sales copy you want him to feel singled out
of the crowd and not as a part of some wider audience.
2. Tell a personal story. If you created the product to solve
a personal problem then tell this story. The reader will more
readily feel akin to you since they are struggling with the same
issues.
3. Use your picture within the sales letter if possible. Adding
a face to the letter can greatly enhance the emotional appeal of
the letter. You must be cautious, however, if your appearance
will in anyway offend your market segment. If you are a 'skin
head' with bright tattoos and are trying to reach mothers of
young children omit the picture and depend on the words.
4. Include your signature at the end of the letter. Even if
you are cautious about using your actual signature you can use a
handwritten style font as a substitute.
5. Admit to common human weaknesses. This doesn't mean that
you have to start a prayer meeting confession session but
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you can
admit to not being perfect. The American public especially
likes to know that you are "real", which
means that you have a few black spots. People shy away from
'know-it-alls' and 'goody goody' personalities. You don't want
to portray this in your copy.
6. Use as many testimonials as possible. If you have customer
emails or letters you can ask their permission to use these as
testimonials in your sales letter. Again you are sharing a
customer's story with your audience. People are interested in
people, period.
7. Write in a conversational style by using contractions (I'm,
can't, you'll, who'd, etc) and ellipsis (…) to show pauses.
This helps to give the letter a less written feel and a more
spoken feel. You can also use words that will build a
conversational atmosphere such as "Listen up"
, "Pay attention here" "I want to
talk to you". All these catch phrases make your
writing seem more audible than written. Keep in mind that we
read by listening to our own voices in our heads. So all
writings go through this translation process.
8. Build rhythm and cadence by using punctuations to emphasize
important words. For example, consider the following sentence:
"Our research indicated that it takes anywhere from
three to five months of REGULAR activity to measure significant
changes in health and fitness, so you can expect to see real
improvements in six months … IF you stick with a well-planned
program of physical activity."
If you read the sentence without the CAPITLISED words "
REGUALR" and "IF", then the
emphasis of the message changes even though the words didn't.
You can do the same to mimic raising your voice, thus giving your
writing some spoken quality.
In the same way long sentences and paragraphs show slow,
contemplative movement and take some time to digest properly.
Short sentences do the opposite.
9. Identify with your audience as much as possible. You of
course must 'know' the people you are writing for. Are they
afraid? Do they have pains? Are they new parents? What are
their common values? Are they patriotic? Being able to answer
these questions will help you to tell your story in a way they
can identify with. If your situation is totally foreign to your
target audience then your job becomes more difficult.
The more personality you give to your sales letter the more
persons you'll convince to buy your product or service. Soon
you'll benefit from word of mouth advertising as your customers
continue to tell your story; which is what you really want.
And you can't get anymore personal than that.
About the Author
Ray Edwards is a master copywriter, published author and Internet
Marketing Consultant. He can bring any dead website to life again by
writing engaging hard-working copy for you. You may find more
hard-hitting articles and more about his copywriting services by
visiting his website at
http://www.webcopy-writing.com
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