Dear loyal reader,
this blog post is going to dramatically improve your copywriting ability–instantly.
Say goodbye to writer’s block, forever. I’m about to give you the secret formula, the secret sauce…
In fact, you might even be a little angry after reading this. You’ll smack yourself on the forehead head and say, “How come no one told me this before?!!” Exquisite copy will magically roll off your tongue and onto the page with the elegance and grace of an elite ballet performer.
After learning this five-step formula, your writing is going to flow as seamlessly as water, and your bucket will run full. You’ll save time, increase your productivity, and claim an unbreakable confidence in your writing that you didn’t even know you had, until now…
The Five-Step Secret Formula to Crafting a Direct Mail Sales Letter
So, how’d I do? Was the first opening paragraph compelling enough to get you to this point?
I certainly hope so. After all, I used a technique from the “five-step” secret formula to writing a direct sales letter. It’s part of an ebook I downloaded from American Writers & Aritists Inc.
The book lays out a five-step process to crafting a direct response sales letter. And, it’s pretty darn good. Here are the five steps along with a short explanation of each of them
1.) The Promise
The first step, after creating a customer persona, is to make your prospect a promise. You’re going to promise him something that will eliminate his fear or fulfill his desire. This is the “hook.”
From the ebook: “You have to hook your prospect with an idea and bring him into your letter. You do this by identifying a desire or fear he has, and hitting a ‘magic’ button to activate that feeling.”
This means starting with your big, overarching benefit. This is the WHY. Make a bold promise that eliminates your prospect pain or fulfills his desire. Give just enough information to peak their interest before moving on to step two.
2.) Paint a picture
Step two is to paint a picture of a better state. You’re going to tell your prospect through illustrative language, exactly what their world will look like after using your product.
From the ebook: “First, you told your prospect what you were going to do for him. Then you made him ‘see’ himself reaping the benefits of your promise.”
3.) Provide proof
So you’ve made a promise, painted a picture of what the promise looks like, now what? PROVE IT. Emotion sales, logic justifies the sale. You need both. Proof and credibility can be provided in two ways.
- Testimonials
- Social proof
By providing testimonials from past buyers, you ease the prospect’s objections. Social proof has a similar effect.
4.) Include the USP
Now’s the part where you differentiate yourself. What makes you different? How are you positioned in the marketplace? Let your prospect know.
5.) Close the sale
Make a specific offer, do a price buildup and include your guarantee. Ask for the sale.
Example from the Ebook: “Right now, for a limited time, I’m making a special promotional offer. I want to get this book out to the public, so people can see for themselves the remarkable results of the peanut diet.
If you act today, you can take advantage of my limited time, introductory offer and get my revolutionary book, “Health Through Peanuts” for only $19.95.”
Also worth noting, is the use of a “time-fence” (i.e. limited time).
Oh, The Places You’ll Go…
So, there you have it. The five-step process of crafting a direct response sales letter.
- make a promise
- paint a picture
- provide proof
- include your USP
- ask for the sale
Sounds easy, huh.
There’s more to the ebook than just the formula worth talking about, but perhaps I’ll save it for another blog post. It took me about twenty minutes to read and another ten minutes or so to copy some of the examples down onto paper (Writing it down on paper helps).
If you’d like to amp up your copywriting abilities, this book is well worth the twenty-minute investment.
You can grab it here.
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