If you want your prospects to easily understand your sales letter you need to give it a breath test.
That’s because short sentences are easier to read than long sentences. But how long is too long for a sentence?
You can determine the maximum sentence length by using the “breath test.”
Without taking in a gulp of air, and just with the amount of air you ordinarily have in your lungs, read the sentence aloud at a normal conversational speed and volume. If you run out of breath before you get to the end, the sentence is too long.
Solution: Break it into two sentences at a point where a new idea is introduced.
You may wonder where I’ve been these last few months and quite rightly.
My personal life took a turn for the worse last year and this demanded all my attention, and I needed to make time to sort it out.
You see my wife and I decided to separate and then ended up getting divorced - not a happy time! Anyway that chapter is over now and I’m back , stronger and happier than ever so will be writing more regularly from now on.
Sorry to leave you in the lurch like that but life sometimes doesn’t follow the road we expect.
Before you can post or print your sales letter you need to proof-read it to ensure that there aren’t any mistakes.
But the problem is, every time you read your sales copy you run the risk of missing obvious mistakes even though you’ve used a spell checker and reread it more than once…
For instance, a major accounting firm recently sent a proposal to a Fortune 500 client. On the cover they identified themselves as: “Certified Pubic Accountants.”
An unfortunate mischoice of words I’m sure you will agree… But it’s so easy to miss when you proof-read your sales letter yourself.
You know what is supposed to have been written and your eyes play tricks on you so you misread words like the above example or read ‘their’ instead of ‘there.’
The problem is your prospects don’t make the same mistakes because they are looking at your sales copy through fresh eyes.
One great way to proof read sales letters is to get a friend to read it for you but sometimes even they may miss glaring mistakes… So you need to try another tactic that will reliably isolate msitakes that would otherwise been have missed.
Here’s how to do it:
Proofread the sales letter backwards. You’re guaranteed to catch many typos you’d otherwise miss – especially if this is not the first time you’re reading the document.
Why this works:
When you proofread backwards, you focus on each word individually. Also, the copy has no meaning when read backwards, so your attention is on the individual words and their spelling; you don’t get caught up in the content itself.
Give it a try and see how many mistakes you’d have let slip through otherwise.
And if you’ve got a great way to proof-read your sales letter be sure to leave a comment - I’m always open to new suggestions.
I found this video of Gary Halbert teaching live at the system on ‘you tube’ just now. Have a look and see why he was so highly rated - he has a certain way of putting his point across.
When I heard this news last night I couldn’t believe it. But it’s true, on Easter Sunday Sir Gary, the Prince of Print, died in his sleep.
He was the best copywriter alive and his words taught me so much.
One of his best friends, John Carlton, has written a more fitting eulogy than I ever could. Take a moment to read it on his blog: http://www.john-carlton.com/
Gary, rest in peace dear friend - the world will never be the same without you!
Every copywriter worth his salt asks four simple questions about their prospect before they start to write their sales letters — these are fundamental questions… once you understand the power of them you will ask them every time you set out to write sales letters — without a second thought.
Here are the questions you must ask:
1. What does your prospect fear?
2. What frustrates him or her?
3. What does he or she desire?
4. What does he or she know?
This is one of the most critical steps to writing profitable sales letters… once you’ve answered these questions you’ll have the basis of your whole sales copy on your plate… you’ll know how to address your prospect and have an arsenal of information to help you structure your offer.
You’ll be able to connect with your prospect’s hopes fears and worries… you’ll be able to talk to them about something that’s of vital importance in their lives right now.
This connection will definitely make them want to read your sales copy and buy your products.
“Let’s Put Those 4 Questions Into Perspective…”
Going back to the previous example… You already know your prospect has marriage problems and is not sure what to do about them.
Asking the 4 critical questions of your prospect will give you these powerful, informative answers…
Fears - Loneliness, unhappiness, rejection, guilt, loss of a lifelong partner, the trauma of a break up, loss of income, loss of stability, loss of access to children, loss of home, his/her partner is cheating, shame in front of his/her peers, physical or mental abuse, not wanting to go it alone, unknown and uncertain future…
Frustrations - not being able to get his/her point of view across, everything turns into an argument, doesn’t know who to turn to for help, has noone to talk to, wants to make things work but doesn’t know how, buys presents but they are rejected, feels inadequate, sees friends happy in their marriages…
Desires - happiness, needs to be loved, wants peace and tranquility in his/her life, escape from an oppressive partner, more self esteem, a way to solve problems, an end to the continual bickering and fighting, a partner he/she can feel proud of, someone who he/she can look after, to keep seeing his/her children daily, acceptance, stability, end to an uncertain future, no loss of income…
Knows - He/she is unhappy and miserable, he/she is being abused, a separation will be expensive and traumatic, will lose his/her home, will continue to be unhappy unless the problem is resolved, appearance in a divorce court is shameful, cannot continue to live this way, wants to solve the problems, will be lonely if he/she separates…
Compiling this list only took a couple of minutes but it has already yielded a heap of vital information about your prospect. You will then be able to use this information to write a compelling and, more importantly a sales letter that connects directly with what your prospect is experiencing right now.
So before you write your next sales letter go and do some digging about your prospect - go really deep and get inside his head. The time you spend doing this will pay you back in heaps of sales.
To your successs, always.
Stuart.
PS
I always like to hear from you, so leave me a comment to tell me what you think or if you have any questions you’d like me to answer.
I’ve just been reading about a remarkable young girl of twenty. Her name is Ladan Lashkari and I’m sure you’ll be hearing more about her in the future.
She’s making more money on the Internet than 95% of her fellow countrymen do in their regular jobs.
Nothing remarkable about that you may think until you consider that:
She’s not allowed to accept credit cards
She can’t cash USD cheques
She can’t open a Paypal account
English is not her mother tongue
She’s a young woman in a severely restrictive male dominated society
She’s not allowed to travel
Her country is viewed in the most negative light possible - so much so that she’s even recevied death threats
But despite all these hurdles and others too she is forging ahead with a really successful business. You can take a trip to her blog to see for yourself how she’s overcome all these obstacles and built herself a successful business.
To hear her say:
“I think there’s nothing hard about it. It’s the perfect kind of business for people who want to be independent and work for themselves in a business that there’s no limit to your success.”
… puts a lot of people to shame. Most people give up when faced with even a minor hurdle then turn around and say that you can’t make money on the Internet unless you’re lucky…
BS!
All it takes is persistence.
And age is no barrier either, look at Ladan, she’s only twenty, there are others who are making oodles but are even younger… And I know some people who are way past ‘retirement’ age who have only just learnt about the internet but are already making money.
No matter who you are or where you live you can make money online if you have persistance.
This is what Laskan has to say about it:
“When you are just getting started, you should know it might take some time to make the amount of money you expect, and you should keep on and don’t give up — no matter how people around you try to disappoint you. I think this is the most important and difficult part… it’s where most people give up.”
I highly recommend you read her full story. Click here to be inspired.
Post a comment below and let me know what hurdles you’ve overcome on your road to success… Nothing is too difficult if you really want to do it.
I’ve just found this interesting video and knew I had to share it with you right away. It contains a crucially important marketing lesson.
Would you do me a favour and have a quick look at it? Then post a comment telling me what you think the lesson is - it’ll only take you a couple of minutes.
When I was a teenager I was talking to an old man in a pub in England and he asked me where I’d just been.
As I told him that I’d just got back from a wonderful holiday in Morocco he said something that really made me stop and think.
His exact words were “I wish I could have done that when I was a child.”
I’ll never forget those words, words that spoke of lost opportunities, of regret about the things that could have been done if only…
Well, I really felt sorry for that man but I was grateful to him too. For inadvertently he had given me the best advice I’d ever heard.
You see as I sat and spoke to him, and listened to him lament his life, I made a vow to myself that I would never be like him in my old age, rueing the things I wished I could have done.
I vowed to take whatever opportunities life presented me and help others when I could…
That’s why I jumped at the opportunity to go live in South Africa twenty one years ago and then three and a half years ago China where I live now.
It’s been a fantastic education experiencing every facet of life in these wonderful countries and I’d never have missed it for the world.
But what about you, will you truly be able to look back when you retire and say that you’ve done everything you wished you could?
Too many people fail to live their life, they waste so many opportunities that are presented to them and end up lamenting those they missed.
Don’t be like them, whatever your dream is, it’s only a step away… Take the first step and your journey has begun.
I’d love to hear stories from you about your first steps and how you’re living your dreams so post a reply below.
There’s a hot bidding war on over at Ebay this very moment.
Clayton Makepeace has taken his favourite T-Shirt and put it up for auction (I hope he washed it first)…
And so far this hot little item has attracted bids of $1025 but… this money is not going to end up lining Clayton’s pocket. Not at all. In fact the higher the price goes the more HE will have to pay.
You see, he’s agreed to match the winning bid - up to $10,000 - and that’s a lot of money in anyones book.
But, why is Clayton being so generous?
Well as you know. Recently the lovely wife of Michel Fortin, Sylvie, recently started her own personal war. She vowed NOT to let the breast cancer that had attacked her out of the blue destroy her life.
She’s been fighting hard and is winning the battle. You can read her story here on her blog, BreastCancerVictory.com.
The Fortins are big friends of Clayton’s and he has decided to help all breast cancer victims, his mother also suffered from this terrible disease shortly before she died, so he decided to put his favourite T-Shirt up for auction.
Emblazoned across the chest are the words “Squeeze a Boob, Save A Life” — You can see a picture of it here.
Can you imagine the contacts you’d make if yours was the winning bid and you were to walk into a conference wearing this Copywriting legends favourite T-Shirt?
Everybody would be scrambling to talk to you - what a wonderful way to build up a contact list.
Go over to the auction right now and see how much YOU can make Clayton pay out… And hurry there’s only a few days left.
Stuart Elliott Copywriter
