How To Get a LONG Sales Letter That Pulls People In And Makes
Them BUY!
You can't make a sale unless your customer is emotionally and
logically involved. They have to THINK your product or service
is a good buy and they have to WANT to buy it.
A good LONG sales letter is the classic way to capture your
customer's mind AND heart.
I'm talking about a web site page that has at least 900 words
(about 3 pages worth of copy on a word processor.) Long letters
also work well for sending through the mail or including in
sales packages. They can be three pages, six, even twelve pages
of copy.
Here's why long copy works. Only a very few of us buy things on
a whim. More than 70 percent of people like to get more details
and think about it before buying. The problem is most folks
never get around to buying if they walk off to think about it.
There are just too many other tasks competing for their
attention. This is especially true for web sites where the
customer has one zillion other sites they can buy from.
Long copy gets the interested customer even more interested.
While they sit reading your engaging copy for one, three, even
five minutes, they become logically and emotionally involved in
your copy. While they are reading, they are getting more
information and thinking about the purchase. This is EXACTLY
what the majority of your customers need to make a purchase.
But how to you get a long sales letter? It's not as hard as it
looks if you know how.
Start with a headline. Good headlines focus on one key goodie
the customer gets when they buy for you. SAVE TIME...EARN
CASH...LESS HASSLE...SPEND LESS--are all good benefits to start
your headline with.
Follow your main headline with a second, smaller headline. This
one can be a bit longer and give a few more key details about
your offer. Your first and second headlines might look like this:
SAVE TIME WITH MONTY'S NEW MONKEY GREESER!
Nothing is more embarrassing than having a squeaky monkey.
Monty's patented grease makes your monkey run smoother for years.
Ah, now think what you can do with a REAL product or service.
Next, give a quick rundown of your features and the benefits
they provide. A bulleted list is often best for this. Then give
people a link or directions on how to buy. A good 17 percent
don't care about getting more information. They just want to buy
NOW. Don't make them hunt for your order info at the end of your
copy.
Now on to reach those 70-plus percent who need more info and
more time to think about buying. Here's where you start to lay
on the sales pitch. Tell a short story about a typical customer
who has the problem your product or service can solve. Tell how
the problem gets worse, how the problem can practically ruin
their live or business.
Then you present your product or service as the BIG SOLUTION.
Tell why your product works. Give details, features, a few
statistics that prove your points, and some comments from two or
three satisfied customers.
Now come back to your story of the customer whose life was
almost destroyed by the problem. Talk about what their life is
like NOW that they have purchased your product or service.
Then bring home the sale. Tell the customer how to buy, where to
find you, how to call you, and when they will get their stuff.
If you can, include a satisfaction guarantee. If they don't like
their purchase, you'll refund their money, do the service over,
whatever you can afford to do to make customers feel more secure
about buying.
Finally, put a time limit on your offer. It's only available to
the first 50 customers, for 30 days, or while supplies last.
Most of us are procrastinators by nature and need a time limit
to motivate us to act. Your time limit makes this happen.
Do you recognize the sales letter formula I've just laid out? Of
course you do. You've seen thousands of TV commercials and print
ads that use the same technique. One famous TV critic likened it
to a religious experience: the customer is experiencing Hell,
then buys your product and is delivered into Heavenly Bliss.
It has been used by top marketers for decades because it works.
Corey Rudl uses it in his legendary 25 page website letter and
Jim Daniels uses it in his famous 52 page website letter. You
can bet these guys make a VERY good living from their LONG
letters.
If writing isn't your favorite thing to do, ranking right along
with getting a tooth filled, let a pro write it for you. Jot
down your ideas, then send them to a writer along with this
article.