Instant Sales Letters - A More Creative Approach
Speaker and coach Anthony Robbins is often quoted as saying, "Success Leaves Clues.
" I'm not sure if that thought is original with Tony, but regardless of where it came from, quote is still true.
Success does leave clues.
It leaves tracks for us to follow, and if we do the same things, we should achieve similar results.
Now what does this have to do with writing persuasive sales letters? Just this - if we can analyze successful writing and see what makes it work, then we can modify our own writing to fit these successful models.
When I was writing my first real hard hitting sales letter, I had a problem - the words just wouldn't come together.
Oh sure, there were good ideas and some nice phrases, but overall the piece just laid there.
Here is what I did: I went out and found a sales letter selling a product similar to mine, and I tore it apart.
I noticed how the author wove in the great phrases, and crafted powerful stories to suck the reader in.
In the end, all it took for me to improve my letter was a little rearranging and cutting, and poof, like magic, I had a really nice sales letter.
I've even used this technique on projects of all sizes - from my first novel, to short stories, to sales letters.
Find a sample to model, and then break it down paragraph by paragraph and find out the formula that makes it work.
When I did that for marketing pieces, I found that there are actually several powerful formulas that seem to repeat over and over.
Let me share one with you right now.
I call this one the EIGHT PARAGRAPH formula, and it goes likes is:
For example, you could start with a character that is overweight and depressed, and you describe his or her pain in two paragraphs.
Your magic pills can solve this pain, so you share that information with the reader in the next two paragraphs.
Of course, in the story, the overweight person has tried it all before and is skeptical, so you provide 2 paragraphs of scientific proof describing how and why the magic pills work.
Then finally, your story wraps up with the main character lean and happy, thanks to your magic pills.
It's a classic formula, and one that's used more than you might think.
Now, with that as a base, here is a creative twist that you will want to implement: Try making the "story" about you.
Take the first two paragraphs and make them all about you and your journey that led to the creation of your product or service.
One of the most interesting breakthroughs in ad copy these days is the idea that the more you reveal about yourself, the more your customers relate to you as a person.
When they relate to you, they will like you and trust you.
And when that happens, you'll have a customer for life.
" I'm not sure if that thought is original with Tony, but regardless of where it came from, quote is still true.
Success does leave clues.
It leaves tracks for us to follow, and if we do the same things, we should achieve similar results.
Now what does this have to do with writing persuasive sales letters? Just this - if we can analyze successful writing and see what makes it work, then we can modify our own writing to fit these successful models.
When I was writing my first real hard hitting sales letter, I had a problem - the words just wouldn't come together.
Oh sure, there were good ideas and some nice phrases, but overall the piece just laid there.
Here is what I did: I went out and found a sales letter selling a product similar to mine, and I tore it apart.
I noticed how the author wove in the great phrases, and crafted powerful stories to suck the reader in.
In the end, all it took for me to improve my letter was a little rearranging and cutting, and poof, like magic, I had a really nice sales letter.
I've even used this technique on projects of all sizes - from my first novel, to short stories, to sales letters.
Find a sample to model, and then break it down paragraph by paragraph and find out the formula that makes it work.
When I did that for marketing pieces, I found that there are actually several powerful formulas that seem to repeat over and over.
Let me share one with you right now.
I call this one the EIGHT PARAGRAPH formula, and it goes likes is:
- 2 paragraphs describing the person and the problem
- 2 paragraphs providing the solution
- 2 paragraphs of proof why the solution works
- 2 paragraphs showing the results the person achieved by using the solution
For example, you could start with a character that is overweight and depressed, and you describe his or her pain in two paragraphs.
Your magic pills can solve this pain, so you share that information with the reader in the next two paragraphs.
Of course, in the story, the overweight person has tried it all before and is skeptical, so you provide 2 paragraphs of scientific proof describing how and why the magic pills work.
Then finally, your story wraps up with the main character lean and happy, thanks to your magic pills.
It's a classic formula, and one that's used more than you might think.
Now, with that as a base, here is a creative twist that you will want to implement: Try making the "story" about you.
Take the first two paragraphs and make them all about you and your journey that led to the creation of your product or service.
One of the most interesting breakthroughs in ad copy these days is the idea that the more you reveal about yourself, the more your customers relate to you as a person.
When they relate to you, they will like you and trust you.
And when that happens, you'll have a customer for life.
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