Marketing That Works: The Sales Letter

For someone who’s all about the next wave of technology I sure am slow to adopt. I didn’t like ebooks. I had no urge for a Blackberry. I hated sales letters. But I have converted on all fronts. Hallelujah.

So today’s topic, kids, is sales letters. What are they? Essentially they’re copy that convinces someone to buy something. It’s the infomercial gone internet. Books, teleseminars, consulting all use sales letters. They provide the direct benefits of buying the product or service, and usually contain testimonials.

Here are some examples:

-My colleague here in Orlando, Rhonda Ryder, has created an entire career around writing sales letters…and she’s good!

-Brian Clark of CopyBlogger offers a course called Teaching Sells. His sales letter is formatted differently from most I’ve seen, but it works.

So do you need a sales letter? If you sell ebooks, teleseminars, workshops, training systems, CDs or anything like this and you’re looking for a way to bring more people in, then yes, you need a sales letter. The great thing is: once you’ve perfected your letter, you can just sit back and let it do the work for you. Money just comes in all by itself!

Writing sales letters is definitely an art. I’ve just become familiar with Michele PW, who has a complete training system that teaches you how to write sales letters that will make you money. Here’s what she says are the top mistakes people make when writing sales letters:

* Talk about yourself. No offense, but your audience doesn’t care. They want to know what’s in it for them.
* Mistake quantity for quality. It doesn’t matter how many flyers you handed out at the home show last weekend. If your marketing doesn’t hit the mark, it’s a waste of time.
* Forget to include all your contact info. Show them the way home. Don’t assume they will find you – give them every possible opportunity to reach you.
* Don’t ask for the order. Most letters or flyers read more like a how-to or a bio sheet. Don’t describe it, sell it!

Her system includes a DVD that walks you through the process of writing a great sales letter, a workbook to accompany it, and bonuses that help you hone your writing skills. I’m definitely going to check it out!

-Susan

Like this post? Subscribe to the Egg Marketing Blog RSS Feed