A sales letter is a sales letter, right? Not exactly. What works well for one list, one product, one situation will not work for every list, every product, every situation. Like a skilled surgeon, the skilled marketer needs a variety of sales letter tools at his disposal.

While this isn’t a comprehensive list of those tools–I’m sure people are coming up with new concepts for sales letters ever day–here are the most common types of sales letters with a brief description:

*The Long Sales Letter

This is a sales letter full of features and benefits and may run several pages. Most often this is used as the “main page” of a website selling a single product or service.

*The Medium Length Sales Letter

Similar to the long sales letter, this is a letter designed to list features and benefits of a product or service. This would most likely be 250 words or less–about one type- written page.

This type of letter is often used in email advertisements or as the main site for a low cost product or service.

*The Article Sales Letter

This is a sales letter disguised as an article.

If you wanted to sell web hosting services, for instance, you may want to write an article on the things to look for when choosing a web host. Then, somewhere in the article you would say something like: “Here are some webhosts who meet my criteria…” and then you would list the webhosting companies you are an affiliate for. To be even more effective, you may want to pick out one as your “top choice.”

The article sales letter is most often used in a newsletter or online content situation.

*The Product Review Sales Letter

This works much like the article mailer. You write an in- depth review of a particular product. In the article you include a link to the product via your affiliate code.

The product review sales letter works best when you do regular reviews, making sure to NOT recommend some products. Readers are much more likely to act on a positive review if they know you sometimes give negative ones.

Like the article sales letter, the product review sales letter is most often used in a newsletter or online situation.

*The “Teaser” Sales Letter

This is a brief–often just 3-4 line–sales letter. Short on content, it is designed to appeal to the recipient’s curiosity.

This is most often used in an email to a specific opt-in list. It can be used (less effectively) as a solo ad.

*The “Insider” Sales Letter

The insider sales letter appeals to our egos. It gives us the idea that we have a “special” insider privaledge not available to everyone. It may be a “pre-release” notice, a special price notice, a secret sale. The idea behind the “insider” letter is to get people to act because of their “special” position.

This is best used as a mailer to one’s own opt-in list.

*The “You’re My Friend” Sales Letter

This is closely akin to the “insider” sales letter. In this sales letter you make things very personal. It gives the impression of being a personal email rather than a mass solicitation.

This, again, is best used as a mailer to one’s own opt-in list, and requires that you have personalization capability.

*The “I was asked to” Sales Letter

In this sales letter, a “third person”–a secretary for instance–is the author. She states how the “big wig” asked her to write you and inquire about something.

Again, this requires personalization and is only effective when the recipient knows you and respects you.

*The Personal Recommendation Sales Letter

This sales letter can be brief or long, but the essence of the letter is this idea: “This new product completely surprised me and blew me away, it was the best I have ever seen.” When sent to a well-cultivated opt-in list, this can be a very effective tool for generating sales.

If you are well enough known, this method can also be used to generate sales through almost any method.

These preceding sales letters will give you a good foundation to your sales writting efforts. In part II I will look at some lesser-known and often overlooked types of sales letters you can profit from.

Kevin Bidwell is owner of
http://www.All-In-One-Business.com/cg-bin/at.cgi?a=274293

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