My experience has been that one of the skills most people lack is letter writing. I am not one to complain, as my writing abilities are quite questionable. However, I can give you some very simple, yet very important tips for writing a sales letter.
1. Establish Rapport: This means establish a connection between you and your prospect. Do this by mentioning a previous contact with the person, a group you are both involved with, or a common interest.
2. Grab Attention & Create Desire: What results is your prospect wanting? Additional income? An effective product? Tell them the ultimate result of what it is you are promoting.
3. Describe Benefits: Tell the benefits of your product or service. Benefits are different from features. Features describe the product or service. Benefits describe what the product or service can do for the prospect.
4. Describe Features: Tell the best features of your product or service.
5. Create Uniqueness: How are you different from the competition?
6. Imply Urgency: Make your prospect feel they need to act, and act now!
7. Ask for Action: Ask your prospect to buy the product or to sign up.
8. Easy Action: Make it easy for them to buy the product or sign up. Include an order form, or offer a toll-free number or web site.
When writing your letter, remember that the average American reads on about the 8th grade level. So keep it simple. Use short sentences, short paragraphs, and commonly used words whenever possible.
Let’s take a look at a sample letter. The following letter is used to market a skin care product.
Dear Ms. Smith:
Today, I discovered that your son Ben, and my daughter Jennifer, are both in the same class together at Sunset Elementary School. Jennifer often speaks of your son. I am glad that she has chosen good children like your son to associate with.
Watching our children grow up really can make us feel old. We even try to blame our wrinkles on the worries caused by our children. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to turn back the clock and get rid of those ugly wrinkles and age spots?
Recently, I was introduced to an amazing product which has been proven to reduce those wrinkles and make age spots less visible . . . or even totally vanish! Many women visit dermatologists and pay more than $100 for a microdermabrasion treatment to help reduce wrinkles and age spots. Our product gives similar professional results in the comfort of your own home. Best of all, you get up to 15 treatments for less than you might pay a dermatologist for a single treatment.
There is no equipment to buy, or batteries to replace. This is totally a self-application system that takes only minutes. With Microdermabrasion, you can see immediate improvements in skin texture regardless of skin color.
Until recently, this particular product was available only in three luxury spas worldwide. Through a special arrangement, it is now being made available exclusively through my supplier who has an almost ten-year history of marketing truly exceptional products.
I have a very limited supply of microdermabrasion cream on-hand right now. Simply complete the enclosed order form, or call me at 404-608-8723, and I will be happy to personally deliver your order to your door. Act quickly to prevent having to wait for the product to be shipped from out of state.
Sincerely,
Brande McCree
The above letter covers all the bases, and can be tailored to meet almost any situation. Practice writing sales letters. Let your friends and family read over them and make suggestions. If you have children in school, ask the English teacher to review the letter for correctness. Follow the simple rules explained in this article and you will be well on your way to writing effective sales letters.
Brande and Chris Bradford are active participants in a home based business opportunity and are the publishers of GREAT HEIGHTS, a monthly newsletter focused on home based business issues. To subscribe to their newsletter, send a blank e-mail to: Great-Heights-Subscribe@yahoogroups.com or visit: http://www.brandebradford.com