place and promotion, (and sales: ) based on your Marketing 101 class in Marketing responsibilities (like: ) are distinct from sales in that Software selection, training, maintenance of customer contact
Information
Market Research:
Market definition, prioritization, project management, data
gathering
Pricing Analysis:
Pricing as a marketing tool...initiate and analyze competitor's
pricing practices
Product Audits:
Establishment of a formal means to evaluate competitive
offerings
Public Relations:
Establishment, guidance and coordination of all areas of public
Relations
Trade Shows:
Definition, participation, prioritization and audit for
effectiveness of all trade shows
Product Promotions:
Strategy formulation, program composition, premium definition,
all media coverage
Marketing Communications:
All printed / electronic communication: brochures, catalogs,
price lists, case histories
Media Selection:
Assist in selection and prioritization of all media options:
print, broadcast, multimedia
Internal Communications:
Establish and maintain all inter-company corporate communication
"Have you ever felt you wanted to charge more..."
This gets them involved, and if they answer "Yes!" in their minds to any of these, then I've got them thinking they want to find out more. Then I say, "If you've ever felt or experienced ANY of these things, then pay careful attention to what I'm about to tell you in the next 5 minutes." This gives them a reason to keep reading. Remember, your visitors will read only so long as it's INTERESTING and RELEVANT to them.
The Subheadline Story
My next section immediately starts with a subheadline: "I promise this will help." In fact, I use subheadlines throughout my sales letters, and you'll want to tell the story in your subheadlines too, because many readers will first SKIM THE SALES LETTER to determine whether they want to even bother reading it.
So I always make the subheadlines tell their own story. For example, these are the first four subheadlines in the example sales letter, and notice how they tell a story for the skimmer:
"I promise this will help."
"It's time we did something about it..."
"We face two big problems."
"How to tackle them both, and make more money..."
Each one is also designed to "hook" the reader into wanting to read that section. For example, if you're a sales letter skimmer and you saw, "We face two big problems", you might want to know what those problems are! If so, you'll read the sales letter more carefully.
Bullet Points Build Desire
I consider bullet points to be one of most important aspects of a sales letter, because they are easy to read, and they can "sum up" the benefits and reasons to buy, in an easy to view format.
Each bullet point should highlight a particular feature of your product or service, and the ultimate benefits of having that feature, or the consequences of not having it. For example, here's a bullet point from the example sales letter:
* How Would You Like No Competition? How to COMPLETELY distinguish your writing service from everybody else, so clients want to use YOU, and ONLY YOU! (p44-54)
place and promotion, (and sales: ) based on your Marketing 101 class in
Marketing responsibilities (like: ) are distinct from sales in that
Software selection, training, maintenance of customer contact
Information
Market Research:
Market definition, prioritization, project management, data
gathering
Pricing Analysis:
Pricing as a marketing tool...initiate and analyze competitor's
pricing practices
Product Audits:
Establishment of a formal means to evaluate competitive
offerings
Public Relations:
Establishment, guidance and coordination of all areas of public
Relations
Trade Shows:
Definition, participation, prioritization and audit for
effectiveness of all trade shows
Product Promotions:
Strategy formulation, program composition, premium definition,
all media coverage
Marketing Communications:
All printed / electronic communication: brochures, catalogs,
price lists, case histories
Media Selection:
Assist in selection and prioritization of all media options:
print, broadcast, multimedia
Internal Communications:
Establish and maintain all inter-company corporate communication
"Have you ever felt you wanted to charge more..."
This gets them involved, and if they answer "Yes!" in their minds to any of these, then I've got them thinking they want to find out more. Then I say, "If you've ever felt or experienced ANY of these things, then pay careful attention to what I'm about to tell you in the next 5 minutes." This gives them a reason to keep reading. Remember, your visitors will read only so long as it's INTERESTING and RELEVANT to them.
The Subheadline Story
My next section immediately starts with a subheadline: "I promise this will help." In fact, I use subheadlines throughout my sales letters, and you'll want to tell the story in your subheadlines too, because many readers will first SKIM THE SALES LETTER to determine whether they want to even bother reading it.
So I always make the subheadlines tell their own story. For example, these are the first four subheadlines in the example sales letter, and notice how they tell a story for the skimmer:
"I promise this will help."
"It's time we did something about it..."
"We face two big problems."
"How to tackle them both, and make more money..."
Each one is also designed to "hook" the reader into wanting to read that section. For example, if you're a sales letter skimmer and you saw, "We face two big problems", you might want to know what those problems are! If so, you'll read the sales letter more carefully.
Bullet Points Build Desire
I consider bullet points to be one of most important aspects of a sales letter, because they are easy to read, and they can "sum up" the benefits and reasons to buy, in an easy to view format.
Each bullet point should highlight a particular feature of your product or service, and the ultimate benefits of having that feature, or the consequences of not having it. For example, here's a bullet point from the example sales letter:
* How Would You Like No Competition? How to COMPLETELY distinguish your writing service from everybody else, so clients want to use YOU, and ONLY YOU! (p44-54)
I have 19 bullet points in that sales letter.