News
 Writing
the Sales Letter of Your Life
By Bob Martel
Here’s the scenario. You’re in the position of
having to write the single most important sales
letter you have ever written. You only get one shot
at it. Everything is on the line and this letter
must be a winner or all is lost. Forget, for a
moment, all of those rehashed formulas for writing a
great sales letter. Sure you want to follow those
tried and true rules of direct marketing, and you
need to know which rules you are breaking when you
toss them out the window, right? Set aside what you
have learned about headlines, sub-headlines, fonts,
offers, the secondary reason for response, the
premium, and the call to action.
Are you ready for the challenge? If so, you have
lots of decisions to make as you take your pen in
hand. Yes, grab a yellow pad and get far away from
any keyboard or phone. No interruptions or
distractions. This is too important. After all, you
are about to start marketing from the heart and you
have to get in touch with the emotional heart
strings that you are going to tug on and, most
importantly, the desired outcome you seek. Do you
know what the recipient truly desires and have you
figured out how you are going to help them acquire
what it is you think they seek?
Here are seven pointers to consider as you begin to
scribe:
• What outcome or behavior do you seek to influence
with your letter and why is this outcome important
to you, and to the recipient? What do you want the
recipient to feel (and do) as a result of reading
your letter?
• Write the letter to one person. Later you can
figure out how you’ll personalize it to your entire
list, or maybe you are writing to one person.
• Don’t let writers block stop you. Just start
writing. Organize it later. Consider mind mapping
techniques to organize your thoughts.
• Get in touch with the psychographics of your
recipient.
• Write a “rough draft” then put it down for a few
days! Come back to it and tune it up, then read it
aloud to yourself. Record it and play it back. Make
final adjustments.
• Choose a letter format, paper and envelope that
match the sincerity of your words.
• Forget the long copy vs short copy debate and make
it as succinct as possible. Remember, if you engage
the reader with good, persuasive and compelling
copy, you’ll be successful.
While you may not be writing a love letter to your
customers and prospects, you can certainly take a
page out of Casanova’s playbook or the legend of Don
Juan. Lord Byron’s poem, Don Juan, may trigger some
thoughts as you pen the sales letter of your life.
Good luck!
Bob Martel is a
marketing consultant, direct response copywriter and
corporate hot air balloon pilot. He can be reached
at (508)481-8383 or bobmartel@jmbmarketing.com.
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Melissa Data
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