If the heart’s in it, the brain will follow.

Buying anything is largely emotional. Whether it’s paper clips or plain paper copiers, emotions lead the purchase. Facts, specs, and the like are simply used to justify the decision, once made. This means that everything about your sales letter, every sentence, every phrase must appeal to your customer’s emotions.

What emotions?

The simple truth is, there are only two emotions that motivate people: The promise of gain or the fear of loss–with the fear of loss being the stronger. Example: Given the choice of headlines: “Save money in legal fees.” Or “How to keep from being sued.” The latter will probably get a better response.

Supporting the promise of gain and the fear of loss are seven key emotional hooks or basic human needs. No matter what your product or service, to be effective, your sales letter must directly address as many of these basic needs as possible:

• Safety/Security

• Wealth

• Good looks

• Popularity

• Self-satisfaction

• Free time

• Fun/Excitement

So how do you get them to act? How do you go from head to heart? What’s the copy paradigm? Imagine you’re in a baseball stadium facing an audience in rows of bleachers. It’s the game of the century, ninth inning, bases loaded. And ,you’ve got a bag of peanuts you absolutely must sell or the boss will fire you on the spot. What would you do to get their attention? Yell “Peanuts?”

Start with a verbal “2×4”

You’ve got to hit them over the head with an emotional motivator. And that means you start with the envelope. Remember– gain or loss–it has to be right there on the outside, in bold. (When was the last time you rushed to open a plain white envelope?) Two examples:

Gain– “We Put a Money-Making Miracle in this Envelope.”

Loss– “Throw This Away and Work Hard for the Rest of Your Life.”

Okay. They’ve opened the letter and what do they see? A boring paragraph about your leadership in the industry? Stuffy sentences about commitment, innovation, and dedication? Whoosh. In the round file, it goes.

Time to visit our key motivators–gain or loss. Again, it’s got to be there in a headline they can’t miss. And it must reinforce the headline that compelled them to rip open that envelope. Both headlines must dovetail in their message and emotional impact.

Example: “Finish reading this letter, and you’re halfway to becoming rich.”

Next comes the all-important body copy. What to say to leave them begging for your product. For this, we go right into the consumer’s emotions, mining for clues to the perfect selling pitch.

What’s the problem?

A while back, Mcdonald’s was beating the pants off its competitors. So Burger King hired a big powerhouse ad agency to gain the market share. They tried everything–analyzing secret sauces, elaborate contests, toy tie-ins. Nothing worked. Finally, they sent out questionnaires, did focus groups, and stopped people on the street. And you know what they discovered? Not what consumers liked, but what they didn’t like about hamburgers. For one thing, the leading hamburger came practically “factory-made” with everything on it. Some folks liked pickles, others hated onions or mayo. That was “the problem.” The solution was simple: hamburgers made to order, followed by the now all-too-familiar slogan “Have it Your Way.” The point is, you’ve got to find and exploit your consumer’s problem. And make your product the hero.

Life without your product–miserable

So, you’ve succeeded in getting your reader’s attention. You’ve discovered their “problem.” Now, it’s time to remind them how many ways that problem affects their lives. If you’re selling a cordless electric lawnmower, you’ll want to remind them of all the headaches of their old gas-powered mower. Like running out of gas, finding the gas can, taking it to the gas station, driving back with a can full of smelly gas in the car, maybe spilling gas on the carpet. Once at home, there’s the annoyance of yanking the starter until your arm feels like a wet noodle. And the fire danger of having a can of gas in the garage with kids playing near it. The point is, you want to paint a very troublesome picture of life without your product.

Life with your product—absolute bliss

Now that you’ve raised your reader’s interest by making them feel the pain of life without your product, it’s time to provide your solution. Here’s where you’ll briefly introduce yourself and your product or service. No more running out of gas, no more smelling gas cans in your new car, no more yanking that starter cord till your arm falls off. Just flick the switch, and you’re ready to mow. Plug it into your electric outlet, and it charges overnight. Your worries are over. You go on and on, hammering home the fact that your product or service is the perfect solution. At this point, your reader will probably ask, “Sounds interesting, but who the heck are you to think you can solve my problem? I never heard of you.”

Credentials Time

Here’s where you build trust by detailing key facts that build confidence in you and your company. You could start by listing some testimonials from satisfied customers. If these come from people in the industry who your prospect is familiar with, so much the better. And if you can get photos, phone numbers, and so forth, it will add even more to your credibility. This is also the time to mention how long you’ve been in business and any articles about your company and/or its products that have appeared in the local or national media (these can be particularly valuable since they come from an impartial source).

Now that you’ve assuaged their fears about doing business with a complete unknown, they’ll want to be sold about your product or service. Here’s where you go into detail. And this is the perfect time to do so because you’ve established trust. They won’t be thinking about who you are, but what you can do for them–how you’re going to solve their problem.

Detail benefits, not features

A key caveat here. Don’t get your reader quagmired in “Featurespeak.” It’s easy to do, and it’s what most unskilled writers fall victim to. Features peak is for your sales team, not your potential customer. Avoid things like “Our new cordless electric mower features the X9T Autoflex handle or the PT600 Zenon Battery. Better to say, “Our new electric mower’s handle easily adjusts to your height for maximum comfort.” Or “The easily rechargeable battery lasts up to 5 years without replacement.” If your product or service has more than three major benefits, list them in bullet point form to make them easier to read.

Make them an offer they can’t refuse

This is the crucial part of your sales letter. Your offer should be compelling, irrefutable, and urgent. You want your reader to say, “This is a great offer, I’ve got nothing to lose but my problem.” Try to combine the big 3 in your offer–irresistible price, terms, and a gift. For example, if you’re selling a cordless electric mower, your offer might be a discounted retail price, low-interest rate, and a blade-sharpening tool. Try to raise the perceived value of your offer by adding on products or services–for electric mowers, it might be an extended warranty or safety goggles. Augment this with compelling benefits these additional products or services will provide.

Assuage with a guarantee

There’s a little voice in the back of every customer’s head that whispers, “Buy this and you’ll be sorry.” So make your offer bulletproof. Take the risk out of the purchase. Give the absolute strongest guarantee you can. It tells your reader you’re confident in your product or service. Enough so to back it up with a strong guarantee. Don’t be afraid to make this final commitment.

Motivate the procrastinators

So they’re reading your letter and are pretty convinced that your company and your product or service can solve their problem. They want to buy. The mind is willing but the flesh is weak. Time to bring in our key motivator—fear of loss. One way to tap into this fear is by convincing your reader that because this is such a good deal, only a scant few mowers remain. Or that the extended warranty is being offered only for the next few days, or for the next 50 customers. Our old motivator–gain–can be used here as well. Example: “Buy now and get a $20 gift card–FREE!”

Call to action–KISS

You and your staff know what readers need to do to buy your product or service, but your readers are inundated with offers every day. And each offer has a different procedure for buying. Give them a break and walk them through the order/purchase process. And KISS (keep it simple stupid). Use simple action words like “Pick Up the Phone and Call Now!” If your phone number spells out a catchy slogan or company name, always add numerical phone numbers. If they need to fill out a form and mail it, say so. And if possible, use a large type on your form—especially if you’re selling to seniors. Be clear on what they’re ordering and for what price.

ABC!

Follow Alec Baldwin’s admonition in the movie Glengarry Glen Ross—“ABC…Always Be Closing.” Sprinkle your call to action throughout your letter. Ask for the order. Then when you give the call to action at the end of the letter, it won’t come as a surprise, but just another reminder. Better still, if they’re ready to order halfway through your letter, they’ll know what to do.

Postscripts are magic

Nobody reads postscripts, right? Wrong. The P.S. is the third most-read element of a sales letter—after the headline and any picture captions. The top wordsmiths use several (P.P.S) in their letters. It’s one of the best places to remind readers of your irresistible offer. But you have to be brief and compelling, establishing urgency and value, and drawing on your key motivators of gain and loss.

Drive it home on the order form

The order form is where some of the greatest sales are won or lost. It’s where that little voice in the back of your customer’s head comes alive once again and says, “You’ll be sorry” or “You sure you want to buy this now?” It’s what I call Preemptive Buyer’s Remorse.” Time to bring in our top gun persuaders–gain and loss–one last time. Use the same persuasive arguments as before–only be brief, more compelling, and urgent.

Do you want the steak knives or the El Dorado?

Okay, you’ve got the prized Glengarry leads. And the formula for writing a winning sales letter. Start by knowing your prospect’s problem, then drive home key benefits using the emotional motivators I’ve described. And don’t forget Alec Baldwin’s other maxim, AIDA–Attention. Interest. Decision. Action. Get their attention, build their interest, convince them it’s the right decision, and finally, urge them to act. Good luck. You’ve got 26 letters in the English alphabet. How you use them can make all the difference …between getting the steak knives or the Cadillac El Dorado.

The main reason we are writing our sales copy before writing a word in our e-Book is that it hasn’t been created yet, which means there is no limit to what you can write in your sales letter. The sales letter doesn’t fit the e-Book; it’s the other way around.

Now, you can describe exactly what your e-Book will show to the potential customer. There are no restrictions on what you can write in the sales letter. When the sales letter is completed, you can then incorporate all the ideas you have come up with into your e-Book.

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Your sales copy must do the following three things

• Get the attention of the prospects

• Communicate the benefits of the product

• Persuade the prospects into the desired action

Remember, the most important part of your page design is your actual sales copy. A fancy website and graphics help, but the key is in the words used

Sales letter Structure

• Header/Title

• Promises

• Testimonial

• Info product

• Benefit

• Bonuses

• Guarantee

• Summary

This is the structure that you should use for your sales copy. If you check out the best sales letter, they will all follow this formula?

Header

The main function of the header/title is to grab the reader’s attention. The header should be displayed in a large and bold font. This demands your potential customer’s attention and intrigues them to read further on. Include your logo or e-Book cover (discussed later on) close to the header. If your header is not well designed you run the risk of losing the potential customer straight away. Spend time creating your header.

A Promise

This section promises the potential customer a huge benefit which is almost too good to be true. It’s ok if it’s a bit too unbelievable, the testimonials will take care of that. Here is an example of such a headline

Discover how my 5 step affiliate program can increase your income by 10,000 a month

Testimonials

In this section, you include testimonials that old/new customers have sent you about your product or service. You probably don’t have any customers yet, so email some potential ones in your e-book for free in exchange for a testimonial. When you start selling, you can always ask a new customer for one.

Now, the testimonials page has assured the potential customer that you can fulfill the promises you made in your header. Also, you have gained trust from your potential customers, so anything else you say that follows the testimonials page will be taken as true. This is the reason why the testimonial is placed at the top to gain trust right away, whereas if it was placed at the bottom after presenting some good sales copy it may be already too late.

Info and Product

In this section, you will give information about your product or service. You should show your customers a list of problems in this area. Agree with the customers on how frustrating these problems can be and how you dealt with these problems. The key is to show the person that you have a deep understanding of this area, and are an expert on the subject. That is very important.

Next, you must introduce your product as the solution to the problem. Then you must have a proper e-Book cover design. This is crucial. Many people have never purchased an e-book, so you must give them some idea of what exactly they will be purchasing.

Benefit

This section is telling your potential customer of the benefits they will receive from purchasing your product. Show your potential customers the enjoyment they will get from using the product. Give them as much information on your product as you can. Use bullet points to emphasize the benefits. Put in another testimonial just to remind the person that it’s all true. Keeping their trust is highly important.

Bonuses

This is a powerful tactic used to increase sales. Including free bonuses with the purchase of your e-Book will increase the perceived value of the e-Book. Also, a deadline on bonuses is a good way to speed up consumer purchases. Bonuses also reduce the risk of money-back returns.

Guarantee

Offering a guarantee to your potential customers takes the risk off their shoulders. A good guarantee is a final bit in the jigsaw that will make the person finally purchase the product. The agreement is such that if the customer is not happy with their purchases, they can get a full refund. Remember that lots of your potential customers will be “first-timers,” therefore, a guarantee puts their minds at ease. Guarantees can be 30 days, 60 days, or lifetime. However, such guarantees must be backed up with an exceptional product.

Summary

This is one of the most important steps in the sales letter; this is where you close the sale. In this section, you must include your most appealing benefit and finally ask for the order, because if you don’t they won’t. Finally, make it easier for them to order like an “order now” button shown below.

At this stage, you should start to write your sales letter in Microsoft word. We will concentrate on the HTML design and implement the sales letter in it in section six. But for now, just concern yourself with writing your sales letter. To help you here are some of the web’s top e-book publishers’ sales sites. You can check out my own sales page at http://www.ebookprofitmaker.com.

Sales Letter Generator

Ok, I’ll now offer you an alternative to writing the sales page yourself. Only use this if you are willing to spend some money. You may want to check out this piece of software that writes the sales letter for you. All you do is answer the questions it asks and you will receive your sales letter. You can find this software at sales generator here

Credit Card Transactions

Finally, you will need to find a credit card processor later on so your e-Books can be ordered. The one I seriously recommend is Clickbank. I’ll go into them in more detail in section 6. But for now, I want you to know that all these company’s, including Clickbank, have a set of rules that you must abide by to use their software. Don’t panic. I’ll go through these rules now. It involves putting a certain amount of details in your sales letter and product delivery page so you can be accepted by your credit transaction company. So here they are:

You must provide on your sales page:

• Detailed description of your product

• Buy now link

• Explain how the product will be delivered

• Mention how long the delivery will take

• Remember these are rules, not suggestions

So that is everything you need to know on how to write your sales letter, hers a quick summary

We need to:

• Write the sales letter before the e-Book

• Sales letter structure must have, header, promise, testimonial, info and product, benefit, bonuses, guarantee, and summary

• You can have your sales letter made by a Sales letter generator

• Certain set of rules should be included in the sales letter for the credit card transaction company

Having the correct sales structure will keep the reader interested from start to finish. These are the steps to follow to create a successful sales letter:

1. USE A POWERFUL HEADLINE. Express the main benefit of your product in a short sentence. Grab your reader’s attention and make them want to continue reading.
2. CREATE EXCITEMENT WITH A SUB-HEADLINE. In no more than two or three short sentences, expand on the benefits of your product and generate excitement in your reader. If you are offering a limited promotion, specify the limitations of your offer here.
3. OUTLINE THE BENEFITS OF YOUR PRODUCT. Give the reader three good reasons to buy your product. These reasons have nothing to do with the product’s features; think about what your customer wants. For example, if you are selling holiday villas, say something like:

“If you want to take advantage of the comfort of a luxury apartment, enjoy the Mediterranean sun, and save money on your summer vacations, then this might be the most important letter you’ll ever read.”

1. EXPLAIN YOUR UNIQUE SELLING PROPOSITION. This is the specific benefit that differentiates your product from all the others. At this point, you must mention your USP in one or two sentences. You will explain the details later in the sales letter.
2. PROVE YOUR CREDIBILITY. The most important thing to sell on the internet is credibility. Your readers have to trust you before they will buy anything from you. Give them three reasons why they should believe you. Try to prove that what you say is true.
3. EXPLAIN THE FEATURES AND BENEFITS OF YOUR PRODUCT. Explain how your product will improve your reader’s life or how it will solve a problem. The more detail you can provide, the more convincing your copy will be.
4. PROVIDE MORE DETAIL ABOUT YOUR PRODUCT. Here is where you can tell the reader everything about your product. Use as much space as you need. Write until you get bored.
5. INCLUDE CUSTOMER TESTIMONIALS. To continue establishing credibility, mention testimonials of customers that have already bought from you and enjoyed your product. Have them mention what they liked most about the product instead of making general comments like “I loved your product…” or something similar. Mention at least five testimonials.
6. ELIMINATE THE COMPETITION. You eliminate your competition by giving your reader the information they need to see that your product is superior. Mention the elements where your product is excellent and much better than your competition.
7. BUILD VALUE. To build value in your offer, you have to let your readers know that your offer is so good, that they cannot refuse to take it. One way of doing this is to compare the value of your offer with the normal value of your product.
8. PROVIDE A SUMMARY OF EVERYTHING YOUR CUSTOMER WILL RECEIVE. Make sure your reader understands everything he is going to get from you.
9. MENTION THE PRICE OF YOUR PRODUCT. Mention the regular price and the sale price of your product. The regular price must be crossed out, and the offer must follow.
10. LIST YOUR BONUS PRODUCTS. The objective is to prompt immediate action by offering something extra. With this strategy, you are also adding value to your product. You can also try to create a sense of urgency by telling that the bonuses will only be available for a short time.
11. OFFER A STRONG GUARANTEE. The strongest guarantee you can offer is a “money back” guarantee. The willingness to offer your product at no risk will generate a lot of trust and confidence among your readers. You have to honor your guarantee for any returns you may get, but you can be sure that the sales you will generate with this strategy will be by far outnumber the number of returns.
12. RE-EMPHASIZE YOUR GUARANTEE. Remove all elements of risk by closing your sales copy with something like:

“You don’t have to decide now if this product is for you. Just get it and try it out. If it doesn’t do everything I say and more if you don’t save money, or if your business doesn’t improve, or if your life isn’t better, or if you don’t absolutely love it, just let me know, and I’ll give you every cent of your money back! So you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.”

1. TELL THEM HOW TO ORDER YOUR PRODUCT. Provide detailed instructions about how to place the order.
2. SIGN THE LETTER. Use your full name and title.
3. CLOSE WITH A “P.S.” Use this part to emphasize the most relevant points of your letter.

Remember that this will be a long sales copy that will take your readers some time to read. With this in mind, you must work on the format and design of the copy so that it is as friendly as possible. Highlight the most important statements so that the letter can also be read in one or two minutes.

1. Attention
2. What captures a reader’s attention more than an exciting list of things that will benefit THEM? Think about the effects of starting right off with 6 of the most appealing benefits of your product or service.

A Multi-Level Marketer might start a sales letter like this:

• Experience the freedom of …
• Being your boss
• Financial independence
• Benefit 3 and so on …..

That gets their attention and compels them to read on.

1. Interest
2. Here’s where we sneak in the basic facts that might otherwise be uninteresting. The nitty-gritty details of the product features won’t hold the customer’s attention for long, so keep it short and sweet. Hey, it’s great that your swimming pools have filters, etc., but let’s face it… there’s not a lot of excitement going on here!
3. Desire
4. Whet their appetite, but give them some cold and hard logic to back up their purchase. Most consumers buy on impulse, then ask themselves whether it was the right choice. Don’t make them second guess! Preparing them to face the doubts with a solid logical reason they got the best deal for their buck might include:

• The advantages of purchasing from YOU.
• Testimonials from other satisfied customers.
• An unconditional money-back guarantee.
• A good deal!

1. Action
2. Order now! Hey, it says move it, but it doesn’t pack the wallop of a stronger action statement like this one:

Hurry! Don’t miss out on this LIMITED TIME special offer. Call now to place an order, or visit us at www…..



Be sure to give details of how to order. Make it a part of the command… make it easy to do… provide several options.

In my first draft, I don’t worry about spelling or caps I just want the words to flow and get them down. Nor am I too concerned at this time about structure, these things can be worked out later. It can take me from 4 to12 hours just to create a one-page sales page, and then days going back over it and tweaking the wording, the structure, the look, and the overall feel of the sales page. Think that’s too long? It’s not, we are talking about making money here. The lifeblood of making money online is your sales page. Then I go back over what I have written and try to structure it from the customer’s eye. If I was a newbie reading this page would it overwhelm me? Is it too long and boring? Does it look funny? I ask myself these types of questions as I review my work.

Your sales page structure can be as important as the actual copy. There is a fine balance between too much ad copy and too little, this is something I battle every time I craft a sales page. Usually… not always feel like I have too much copy, but at the same time, I want to capture all the benefits of my product for the customer. Customers have different needs and ideas on what they want. One thing on my sales page may not appeal to one prospect as much as it does to the other. More questions I ask myself- Have you created excitement at the top of your page? Have you “drawn in” your prospect in the middle and kept them wanting more? Structuring your sales page properly can make the whole “sales” process much more enjoyable to your prospects, thereby creating a sale.

When crafting copy for sales pages, make sure to describe your product fully and tell your potential customer exactly why they need it. Capitalize and Bold a few keywords throughout your sales page and be sure to use Trigger words within your sales page. If you can master the use of trigger words and their placement, your sales will jump significantly.

Here is one of my favorite trigger sentences:
Don’t waste another SECOND! Take ADVANTAGE of the LOW Introductory Price NOW!!

Notice how I capitalized and bolded a few keywords. You want to do this only on words that convey action or create curiosity, in some way. Trigger means to trigger a sale… In an instant, that’s our goal. They are particularly effective near the bottom, right before your payment link. Take the time to practice these techniques for a long successful online experience and watch your sales go up…up…up.