Comments (0)

So, you have a brand new client wanting a brilliant sales letter – how do you know where to start?

Don’t’ Panic! 
You and I, and the prospect are thinking, feeling beings dominated by positive and negative emotions. 

Imagine…
…Your client’s product is an (admittedly) unglamorous special bandage for bunions. Never had a bunion? No, me neither. But for a moment close your eyes and imagine how painful each untreated step would be, how the pain would permeate your whole body as it travelled along your foot and then there’s the referred pain because you aren’t walking normally. Oh yes, and the DREAD of putting on your shoes each morning, being constantly ground down by the pain. Imagine the pain etched on the face of the sufferer as they gingerly put one foot in front of the other…in those extra-wide unfashionable shoes  and this lady’s only young!  But men get bunions, too!

See how easy it is to recreate the emotions of your prospect?  I feel like rushing out and buying the soothing treatment I’m writing about and I don’t have bad feet!

Imagine walking in your prospects shoes (literally in this case!) really helps identify your product’s strongest benefits with your prospect’s most compelling emotions.

Don’t Forget Your Nearest and Dearest!
Whatever your product, think of the people you know who may be in your target market.  Everyone loves being asked their opinion so there’s a captive audience only too willing to tell you what their greatest needs are and the benefits they desperately desire from your product.  Free market research!

And What About Strangers?
Ever had a conversation with someone in a queue or in a shop when you casually asked them a question and the unedited version of everything they have experienced is released in a seemingly unending torrent.  Me, too!
But what a great resource for finding out how your prospects think and feel.  Just don’t ask when you’re in a hurry!

Why Re-Invent The Wheel!
Publishing is big business and browsing around the local book store and magazine racks will help you see the current angle on a given subject . . . I’m thinking generally now, I’ve left the painful feet behind, the feelings were a bit too vivid! If you’re looking for an angle to write about, look for themes that appear more than once in current magazines. Look at all publications for your type of product/industry – what stories are they focusing on?

Front covers are a gold mine. 
Publishers spend big money researching what to put on their cover to trail the story. Let them pay and it’s right there for you to build on. Easy, right? How do the articles ‘feel’?  What is the mood behind them – resigned, excited, angry?  Build on that and then your benefits provide the solution! Great way to have millions of pounds of research for free, don’t you think?  Don’t forget, magazines know the words that sell the most because they have years of experience – let them help you to terrific sales!

And What Are Your Competitors Doing?
Having a browse around your competitor’s sites and reading their material will give an insight into how they see their market and the strategies they’re employing. They will have done their research too, so more free info for you! Google is a treasure trove of information on products, prospects and what’s troubling them – look on forums and message boards for your target market to really drill down into the emotions of individuals in your niche market. They’ll tell you all you need to know.

Having so much information at your fingertips, your only difficulty will be how to cut it down and that’s a positive problem!

HAPPY WRITING!

Janet Swift
Writing to Win

URL : www.swiftcopywriting.com
Email : enquiries@swiftcopywriting.com
Tel : +44 (0)208 133 4088

Please feel free to use this article but I ask that you kindly include the above URL and signature.

Comments (0)

Why have a P.S.?
A certain Christian Godefrey, one of Europe’s most successful direct marketers once admitted to Ted Nicholas that for his first 5 years in direct marketing he never used a P.S. When he added a P.S to an already profitable sales letter his response rate increased by an amazing 300%.

 “How can a small thing like a P.S. make that much difference” I hear you ask. Well as a copywriter you would love for your reader to read every word of your carefully crafted letter wouldn’t you? We all know that’s not going to happen, but after the headline the P.S. is the best read part of your letter.

You see what actually happens is that your prospect will read your headline which will obviously interest them enough to find out more. They then look at the bottom of your letter where they find your signature and P.S. People tend to scan through a sales letter picking up on the parts that interest them. Here are 5 types of successful P.S.’s:-

1. Motivate the prospect to take action now.
   An example of this would be “P.S. We will not repeat this offer. Please act now. This offer expires on…..” 
2. Reinforce the offer. 
   Can be very powerful if properly used providing the offer is compelling. 
3. Introduce a surprise benefit. 
   This could just make those ditherers decide and take action. “P.S. I nearly forgot to mention,included in your membership is this beautiful….and best of all it’s free” 
4. Emphasize the price or terms of your offer. 
   An example of this would be “P.S. Send no money now. If you are not completely delighted with…return within 30 days and owe nothing” 
5. Emphasize the guarantee. 
   A money back guarantee takes away the risk for your prospect. “P.S. Don’t forget our no-risk money back guarantee”

I have seen some people experiment with a P.S. longer than the sales letter itself. I don’t really like this and as a rule if you can’t read the P.S. without taking a breath it’s too long.

What about a P.P.S.? I don’t know about you but this appears to me to be a bit desperate, as if you haven’t done a good enough job of selling.

So only one P.S. and always treat it with the respect it deserves, after all it is your letter’s bottom line.

Anne Pearson
Compelling Copywriter

http://www.mapcopywriting.com
anne@mapcopywriting.com
Skype – mapcopywriting
Tel / Fax – 01772 468979

Please feel free to use this article. All I ask in return is that you include the above signature and URL. 

Comments (0)

What’s the difference between Benefits and Features?
A lot of people struggle with this one. You will hear time and time again from copywriters that your copy must be full of benefits. Your problem is how you determine the difference. Ok let’s look at some everyday examples. If you have a hairdressing salon it might look something like this.

Feature: -

1. We have 10 of the best trained stylists.
    
2. The most up to date salon including fully adjustable seats.
    
3. We stock only the best brands of hair products.
    
4. We have 3 of our own fully trained nail technicians.

Benefit: -

1. Fully trained redesign specialists means we will give you at least 5 brand new drop dead gorgeous hair designs to choose from.

2. Which means, no more uncomfortable hair washes leaving you with a sore neck.

3. Which means, our products will condition your hair to leave it silky smooth and manageable.

4. Which means you can complete your new look by having your nails beautifully manicured.

It’s a good idea before you start writing to make a list of the features of your product. To do this properly you have to really know your product. Beside each one write “which means” then write a benefit for your reader. If you can’t think of a benefit chances are it’s not an important feature.

Some writers take this a step further. The highly acclaimed Ted Nicholas for example writes as many benefits as he can think of on 3×5 cards. He uses short action words which are appealing to the reader always keeping in mind WIIFM.

The only reasons your reader will be interested in your product are the benefits they will gain from it, remember people are only interested in themselves. Quite often when you are going through this process of listing the benefits you discover your headline.

You then need to decide the order of the benefits, ie placing the strongest benefit first then the second and so on. These can be used in bullet form or weaved into your copy or sometimes even a combination of the two.

So remember, you have to think Benefits, Benefits and then more Benefits, you can never have too many!

Anne Pearson
Compelling Copywriter

http://www.mapcopywriting.com
anne@mapcopywriting.com
Skype – mapcopywriting
Tel / Fax – 01772 468979

Please feel free to use this article. All I ask in return is that you include the above signature and URL.