1.Know the Purpose ? Show them something that will help them by tomorrow.  Ratio 95% Content, 5% Offer/Pitch

2.The Triangle of Trust - Video, Blog & Your Sales Letter

3.Write Effective Copy  - Know the thoughts, feelings, wants, desires and frustrations of your market.

4.Draw in the Attention of your Clients - Storytelling and A.I.D.A.

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Before you even write a single word you must know what makes the buyers you are targeting tick.  In other words forget about what you?re selling for a moment and think about who is doing the buying.

 

In fact, I?ll go even further and say you need to become your client. Because no matter how captivating your copy is, if your client has fears, doubts or hesitations which you haven?t overcome in your sales letter, then you won?t get the sale.

 

The appeal to a buyer?s emotions is the missing ingredient in so much standard advertising you see online and off. They are leaving a lot of money on the table by not understanding that people buy with their emotions and justify it with their logic.

 

You need to get into the mind of your clients, know what they?re thinking, feel what they?re feeling. Here are some very good questions that will help you do just that:

 

 

Knowing the answers to these questions is 80% of the battle. It?ll help lay the foundation for everything else you write in your sales letter ? PLUS ? I?ll put you in the right frame of mind to come up the ?BIG IDEA? or the HOOK or TWIST that could be responsible for a ?Million Dollar? payday!

 

This list of questions above will really get you started, but for me... and other pro copywriters... we use a more comprehensive questionnaire to really enter the conversation of your prospects mind. That?s more of an advanced tool that big time copywriters and marketers use.

 

I?ve made this advanced copywriting questionnaire available for my mentoring members but it?s generally only for the serious players. If you?re pretty serious about ramping up this skill then you?re more than welcome to join my private mentoring group, not a problem. But for now...

 

 

 

 

 

This is absolutely critical because the headline is the first thing people see. In fact, 80% of people read only the headline. So with just a split second to grab there attention... your headline better be powerful and spark enough curiosity to want to know more!

 

I mean, just have a look at the magazines covers in the news agencies. The front cover is pretty much made up of a bunch of headlines (or bullet points) that are meant to leave you wanting to know more, true?

 

No wonder why the front cover copywriters for these magazines are generally the highest paid! It?s because if the front cover doesn?t grab the prospects attention then nothing else gets seen or read.

 

And the same goes for your website. Don?t waste space on your top front page with fancy logos or you company name. You need to add a compelling headline up there that will compel your clients to scroll down and read more.

Here are a few hints to get you started.

 

There are 9 basic headline templates that have been proven to be successful: I won?t bog you down with all 9 on this page, but if you want a quick and easy way to get started, then here are 5 ?safe? headline templates to use.

 

1. Big benefit headline - when people are surfing the net you?ve got to stop them in their tracks or you?ll lose them. So you have to immediately show them what?s in it for them to stop and read what you?ve got to say. Here?s an example:

2. ?How to? headline ? This is probably the most common headline and it?s proven to outperform others. It has a powerful way of drawing people in. 

Example:

?How To Write an Instant Best Seller?
or

 

3. Question headline ? This is another safe template that gets uses a lot! By asking a question, you are attempting to enter the conversation that your ideal prospect is having in their mind. It works well if you ask the right question!

Examples:

or

 

4. Newsworthy headline ? This taps into people?s desire to be up on the latest news and breakthroughs ? Another safe bet. Check out your newspaper to see what I mean.

Example:

 

5. Headline offering a solution ? This is where you lead with the problem and give a solution immediately after.

Example:

 

TIP: Here?s what I do that I know most other copywriter don?t do. When thinking up a headline to use, I usually have a ?brain dump? and write out 50 to 100 or more headlines.

 

If I write a headline which I feel will work, I?ll then try and rewrite it in several different ways with similar words. Above all, I will try and reduce the number of words and make it tighter.

 

Also... Keep your eye open for winning headlines and start collecting them. Why? Because you can recycle headlines. Meaning you substitute the original theme with your own ? then ?Presto? ? instant winning headline!

 

Best advise I can give you... get busy and write out 30,50 even 100 headlines! It?s pay off BIG TIME!

 

 

 

So if you were to write out 100 headlines, what would you do with the 99 that didn?t make the cut? Two things. If I?m writing a long sales letter?, I?ll turn them into pre-heads and sub-headlines and spread them throughout the body of the sales page. The second thing I do with my left over headlines is to turn them into bullet points.

 

A really powerful tool to use to achieve better readership from your prospect is by inserting banks of 10 to 12 bullet points in your copy. Bullet points are like mini-headlines in that they give just enough information to generate curiosity. 

So what is a bullet point? Let me show you by example. Would you like to know...

Well, if you haven?t already guessed it - what I?m referring to here are bullet points.

The ability to write bullet points that powerfully stimulate curiosity and intrigue is probably one of the most valuable skills you can have. There are several different styles of bullet points that I want to share with you which will help with your conversions.

Instead of bombarding you with everything you need to know about bullets points, I want to keep it simple and easy for you. So below are 5 winning bullet point formulas.

There are more advanced insights about bullet points that I share with my mentoring members... But the list below will kick you off just fine!

1. The ?How to? Bullet. The most common bullet point you will see. Simply add a big benefit after the ?How to? and that?s it. But don?t get lazy and only use ?how to? bullet points because your client will get lazy too and may skip over one of your most important points. For example:

 

2. The ?secret? bullet ? perfect for information not commonly known. Be careful not to overuse, as your prospect will become excessively skeptical.

Examples:

3. The ?why? bullet ? ideal for building intrigue. Essentially promising to reveal why something is a certain way, and knowing why it will make a difference to your prospects? life. 
Examples:

4. The ?what never? bullet ? can be applied to many pieces of information. Its powerful because it alerts prospects of a possible mistake (tapping into fear), promises information that will protect them from the mistake AND builds curiosity and intrigue because they don?t know the answer. 
Examples:

 

5. The ?number? bullet ? groups together multiple ways, secrets or reasons why something will happen. Condenses unique information into value-added team of enticing secrets or ways of delivering a desired benefit.
Examples:

Tip: If you ever get writers block just start writing bullet after bullet.  It will get your creative juices flowing.

 

Now this secret above all others will make a huge difference in your conversions.

 

Why? The answer is simple. Conversational copy (or writing as you speak) keeps your prospect reading longer ? which ultimately brings in more sales!

 

 The trick is to write like you?re having an in-person chat with your prospect.  It gets drummed into us at school to write in stilted language using proper grammar, doesn?t it? But people don?t talk like that. And if your sales letter reads like that your prospect won?t become emotionally engaged.

 

If you struggle with this, speak into a voice recorder talking about all the features of your product and then get it transcribed word for word.  If that?s all you did, you would notice an incredible increase in sales.

 

 

 

You want your prospects to be sucked in by the headline and then swept along until the end of your sales message where they are compelled to take out their credit card and buy. 

 

But inmost cases your prospect doesn?t want to do this. Given half a chance they will click off your website or put your letter aside. It?s your job to make sure that doesn?t happen by making your sales message continue to flow with no bumps along the way.

 

Meaning, you want your prospect to start at the top of the page and have them slide all the way down to the bottom where they purchase.

 

Keep in mind; the top page of any webpage is the most valuable piece of real estate for your website. Simply because that?s all your prospect will see, and It?s your job to intrigue them enough at the start so they?ll want to scroll down. 

 

That?s why generally underneath the headline and sub headline I will put 8 or 10 of my best bullet points. A common mistake I see is people leave their ?best reasons to buy? way down the page, expecting that the prospect will read every word. Don?t risk it. Get it up in a bullet point form nice and early in the piece.

 

Here are a few other tips to keep your prospect reading

Keep it short. Try and keep your sentences short and sweet. Also, it pays to keep your paragraphs short as well (maybe 2-4 sentences). Your prospect will lose interest and may stop reading if they see big chunks of text.

Images ? I like to use images and graphics to enhance the message and break up the text. Choosing the right images can really enhance the emotional trigger points that you are trying to push throughout your letter. You can source plenty of images to use for free or cheaply by simply Google searching ?free images?.
 
?Ugly? up the text ? another way to break up the text is underlining, bolding, using italics and highlighting words that you want to draw attention to in your text. It helps stop your prospect?s eyes from glazing over in a text-heavy sales letter.

Now as far as the structure and layout goes... Every successful sales letter has a blueprint or formula that is the backbone of the letter.

 

Knowing what sections go where on your sales letter is absolutely vital! Get it wrong and you?ll lose the sale. You have to take your prospect on an emotional journey from start to finish. The psychology behind professionally structured sales letters is deep and powerful.

 

I?m tapping into some very advanced strategies here so let my keep it simple for you. Like I said before, if you really want to ramp up your success by writing persuasive copy, then there are awesome resources in my membership club ? but the structure below is all you need to get started.

 

Structure ? As far as a proven structure goes for your ?body text? of your sales letter order, I like to follow this formula: Keep in mind, this is the structure that follows your headline.

 

PROBLEM
(Identify the problem)
+
AGGRAVATE 
(Aggravate the problem)
+
SOLUTION 
(Give them your solution)
+
PROOF 
(Testimonials or case studies)
+
CALL TO ACTION 
(Make your offer and ask for the order)

 

In other words, you start by identifying the problem ? you then aggravate the problem - then offer your solution (being your product or service) ? follow that up with testimonials from other happy buyers (social proof) - then make your offer and back it up with an iron-clad guarantee to remove risk.

 

This formula and structure really supports the psychological process of a sale. And in reality, that?s all copywriting really is. It?s salesmanship in print.

 

Like I mentioned previously... there are a thousand and one other aspects that make up a winning sales letter. For example: Guarantee, opening, scarcity, urgency, credibility, and emotional triggers like Love, Fear, Guilt, Greed and Pride. And that?s not even scratching the surface!