how write a response producing sales letter

8/6/2019 How Write a Response Producing Sales Letter

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Prepared by:

Ernest Nicastro

Positive Response

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Email address: [email protected] Website: www.lorman.com Seminar ID: 382891

December 8, 2008

How To Write A

ResponseProducingSales Letter


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How To Write AResponse-Producing Sales Letter

Ernest Nicastro, Positive Response

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Todays AgendaTodays Agenda

I. PreparationIf I had six hours to chop down a tree, I'd spend the first hoursharpening the ax. Abraham Lincoln

II. Gaining and holding the attention of yourreader

III. Additional pointers for successful sales letters

I. PreparationI. PreparationProper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance

Youre on the inside looking out, writing for people who are on theoutside looking in. - Roy H. Williams, The Wizard of Ads

Know your customer/prospect. What motivates them?

Read your white mail and talk to your customers.

Talk to your best salespeople.

Study the work of successful copywriters and their sales letters.

All the genius I have lies in this; when I have a subject in hand, Istudy it profoundly. Alexander Hamilton

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II. Attention: How To Get It, How To Hold ItII. Attention: How To Get It, How To Hold It

5 Deadly Sales Letter Mistakes

1. Writing Your Letter For the Hundreds or Thousands of PeopleYou Will Be Mailing It To Instead of One Special Person.

The sales letter is the pen-and-ink embodiment of the salesperson who istalking personally and directly to the prospect on a on-to-one basis.- Malcolm Decker

How Not To Do It: The Federal Government operates in an informationintensive environment, and an increased capacity to share information andoperate across technology platforms is paramount.

Unlike the personal computing market that has standardized on MicrosoftWindows, the enterprise environment within the Federal Government has nocommon operating system standard, and is plagued with fragmentation.

II. Attention: How To Get It, How To Hold ItII. Attention: How To Get It, How To Hold It5 Deadly Sales Letter Mistakes

How its done: Thank you very much for having written to me for my latestcatalog. A copy is being sent to you in another envelope and should reach youin a day or two. When my catalog arrives I hope you will give it as friendly awelcome as if I were visiting you myself. Maxell Sackheim

2. Thinking that Your Prospect Wont Read a Long Letter.

3. Being a Slave to the Formal Rules of Grammar.

Example: How would you rate a general...

...who rushed into a battle without a plan? A general who squandered blood,sweat and tears without a blueprint?

And yet you fight the toughest battle in history. Every day. And its not justyour skin thats at risk. But your nest egg. Your home. And those you love.

Sig Rosenblum for Bache Financial Planning

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II. Attention: How To Keep ItII. Attention: How To Keep It

9 Tips To Keep Your Reader Reading1. Stay tuned in to WIIFM at all times; think FAB

Features This accounting software has a reporting feature.Advantages - This reporting feature provides real-time, on-demand, updated mission-critical information to key businessmanagers.Benefits - Managers are able to keep their finger on yourcompanys financial pulse at all times, thereby reducing costs byas much as 50%, maintaining greater control over expenditures,and increasing their output by 10-20 times at any given time in

just a few clicks.Source: Michel Fortin http://www.michelfortin.com

2. Write in a clear, simple, direct and conversational style

3. Use active, action-oriented language

II. Attention: How To Keep ItII. Attention: How To Keep It5. Write emotional copy

If you can't touch your prospect's heart, he'll never let you touch his pocketbook.Michael Masterson, http://www.earlytorise.com.

Fear Your wealth is in imminent danger. Michael MastersonEgo-gratification/Vanity Deluxe Spa Hand Treatment With Manicure Includes asoothing hand bath, a gentle exfoliating treatment and a seaweed mask. A light handmassage performed with a glycolic acid based cream will leave your hands feelingsatin soft. A Paule Attar manicure is the finishing touch. Youll need both beautifulhands to count the compliments!Anger Ill get right to the point. One or more of your basic service providers telecom, gas, electric, water and sewer, waste disposal may be ripping you off.

6. Read your copy out loud

7. Make sure your thoughts and ideas transition smoothly - And, so,that said, on the other hand, whats more, best of all, thats why

8. Write as much copy as it takes to get the job done

9. Never end any page but the last in a complete sentence.

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Additional Sales Letter PointersAdditional Sales Letter Pointers

How To Play The Q Card For Winning ResultsOur Commitment to Quality

Quality Training

Quality Tools

Quality Lighting Systems that enable you to see the "entire dent"

Quality Staff to Support You

Quality Training Facilities

Quality Instructors to Educate You

Quality PERIOD!!!

That is exactly what The Ding King Training Institute will provide you with Quality!

In order for your "Q-Card" to be effective you must include relevant, specific andmeaningful (to your target audience) details about your product or service to supportyour express or implied claim of quality.


Quality Tools - All Ding King tools are manufactured in the U.S. by ISO-9001 certifiedmanufacturers and come with a seven-year performance guarantee.

Dont write in wandering generalities.Write in meaningful specifics.

Mr. Frank FarmerSoftTools Inc.1389 NE Fourth St., Ste. 1600Bellevue, WA 98004

Dear Mr. Farmer,

Few decisions are as important to your companys future success as where you choose to

locate your company and under what parameters. And yet few business decisions you willmake can be made with as much confidence as relocation with the help of BKPCommercial Tenant Advisory Services. That is because with BKP as your exclusiverepresentative, you can be assured you are not only seeing all your options, you areentering into the most economically favorable transaction.

Nothing in the above offers any specific details to back up their claims.

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Quality, Service, Value, Etc: Meaningless Without Specificity Always specify oroffer proof of exactly what you mean when you use such words and phrases as quality,quality services, customer-service-oriented, we put the customer first, value, etc.

Example: Amica Insurance direct mail letter.

"You can choose to get great coverage and exceptional service at a low price - for abetter all around value.

Value is a combination of what you get, what you pay, and how you're treated."

Weve been making quite a name for ourselves by employing a simple, but often-forgotten principle of good business: putting the customer first.

"...our commitment to superior service has earned us a prestigious distinction. J.D.Power and Associates has rated Amica 'Highest in Customer Satisfaction AmongNational Auto Insurers' for seven years in a row.'"


Choice Words On Word Choice

"Eighty-seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation..."The Gettysburg Address

The difference between the almost right word & the right word is really a large matter--it's the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning. - Mark Twain

Think harder about the words you choose

This is literally the equivalent of Microsoft coming to your house and locking a CD inyour car CD player.

More CIOs are disinterested in Linux

Given the enormity of the job, it's no wonder the men who built the railroad seem like

giants to some of us today.

WasteWise has collected the following environmental factoids to help youunderstand the impacts of waste prevention and recycling. (From the web site of theU. S. Environmental Protection Agency)

Factoid - Something fictitious or unsubstantiated that is presented as fact, devisedespecially to gain publicity and accepted because of constant repetition.

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Choice Words On Word ChoiceChoice Words On Word ChoiceChoice Words On Word Choice

Choose small, simple words

Find outAscertain

ReadPeruse

UseUtilize

WriteInstead of

"The more simply and plainly an idea is presented, the moreunderstandable it is - and therefore the more credible it will be." -Words That Work: It's Not What You Say, It's What People Hear- ByDr. Frank Luntz

Choice Words On Word ChoiceChoice Words On Word ChoiceChoice Words On Word Choice

Use mainly nouns and verbs and vigorous, active-voice words

"Write with nouns and verbs, not with adjectives and adverbs....It is nouns and verbs that

give to good writing its toughness and character. Strunk & White, The Elements of Style

"Unless you specifically want to avoid reader involvement in your message, always write inthe active voice. Herschell Gordon Lewis

Study Software enables you to learnfaster by organizing exam notes asconcept maps....

Study Software allows you to learn fasterby organizing exam notes as conceptmaps...

When you click the button, weimmediately generate your order andautomatically send you an e-mailconfirmation.

Once the button has been clicked, theorder is generated immediately and an e-mail confirmation will be sentautomatically to you.

SmartList To Go makes it possible foryou to create, view and managedatabases on your handheld.

SmartList To Go allows you to create,view and manage databases on yourhandheld.

WriteInstead of writing

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Use a P.S. One of the first things people read. Has been shown to boost response.

Sales letter outline: Tell them. Tell them. Tell them.

Restate your primary benefitIntroduce a completely new surprise benefitProvide a sense of urgencyRestatement of guarantee or highlighting testimonials

P.S. Today is your LAST chance to register for Bootcamp with the Early BirdDiscount. The price goes up $200 at 5 PM today.

P.S Remember, when you work with Audit My Bills you have everything togain and nothing to lose. Because if we dont save you money you dont payus a cent. So give me a call and lets get together soon.

P.S. Get 13 months of service for the price of 12 with this special Leap Yearpromotion. Plus youll receive a nice gift just for talking with me. Why not give

me a call right now while you still have this letter in your hands? You haveeverything to gain and nothing to lose.


Steal Smart Good artists borrow. Great artists steal. Picasso

Study your mail. Especially those pieces you get multiple times.

Use Google

Get sales letter compilation books

Million Dollar Mailings by Denison Hatch.

World's Greatest Direct Mail Sales Letters by Herschell Gordon Lewis &Carol Nelson.

The Greatest Direct Mail Sales Letters of all Time by Richard S. Hodgson

Use Whos Mailing What - Worlds largest library of direct mail, archiving informationon over 130,000 packages in nearly 200 categories. And its all searchable by anynumber of parameters. For more information go to http://www.whosmailingwhat.com.

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Case Study: Chris Beaudoin(51% meeting rate)

Case Study: ChrisCase Study: ChrisBeaudoinBeaudoin(51% meeting rate)(51% meeting rate)

Concepted and created by-

Mothers of Invention

Robert Rosenthal, Founder2 Clock Tower Place, Suite 260E Maynard, MA

01754978-897-3000 ext. 11

www.themothersofinvention.com

Teaser on outer box read:

Dont bother bringing this to your next photoshoot.

Inside copy block under blood pressure kit:

"One prop you'll never need when working withBoston photographer Chris Beaudoin."

SummarySummaryI. Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance

If I had six hours to chop down a tree, I'd spend the first hoursharpening the ax. Abraham Lincoln

II. Gain and hold the attention of your reader

III. Additional pointers for successful sales letters

- Play The Q Card For Winning Results- Choose every word carefully

- Write in meaningful specifics- Steal smart- Use a P.S.

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Ernest NicastroErnest NicastroThank yah, thank yah vuhry much.

www.positiveresponse.com614.747.2256

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how write a response producing sales letter

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