Copywriting

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All of the copy that you write, whether it’s on a website, a sales letter, a postcard, brochure or email, should follow the same approach.

We are going to illustrate this approach by looking at how to draft and design a sales letter.

Please use the same principles for all of the copy that you write.

Your prospect will decide to read it or not within the first 5 seconds of looking at it!

There is a formula that I would like you to use when constructing your copy:

A ttention

I nterest

D esire

A ction

The AIDA formula is most commonly used for all sales orientated communications.

Let’s take a look at what it means…

A ttention

As soon as the letter is opened you will want to grab the attention of the reader.

This is best done by having a headline at the start of your copy.

Let’s look at an example.

Jim Smith is a coach who specialises on helping Mums to get back into the world of work after they have had some time off to raise a family.

Jim has rented a mailing list of women in their late 20’s and 30’s whom have children aged between 5 and 11.

The layout could be similar to this below:

THEIR NAME

THEIR ADDRESS

STREET

POST CODE/ZIP CODE

24th March 2030

Are you a busy mum who would like to get

back into the workplace but has not got a

clue where to start?

Dear Mrs Jones,

Blah blah blah

In the example above Jim has done two things very well.

Do you know what they are?

Firstly, he has written a headline that will immediately grab the attention of the reader.

If you are a Mum interested in getting back to work you would be a fool not to read on!

Also, the headline is in a larger font than the rest of the letter and it is in bold writing to make it stand out.

Thumbs up for Jim!

The second thing that Jim has done well is that he has personalised the letter by using the prospect’s name.

The vast majority of people who see greetings like:

Dear Mum

Dear Sir/Madam

Dear Householder

Dear Housewife

All of these will be a turn off for the reader and a high percentage of them will be thrown in the bin because the letter will look just look all of the other pieces of spam that we get through our door selling things like double glazing and internet access!

Jim has got off to a great start and has grabbed the reader’s attention.

What Jim now needs to do is to create…

I nterest

In your sales letters you will want to arouse the interest of the reader for them to read on and on and on.

One sure-fire way of doing this is by describing the problem or challenge that they are facing right up-front after the headline.

This is sure to get them interested!

Talk about their situation as though you know EXACTLY what they are going through and write the letter as though you are having a conversation with the prospect.

Let’s get back to Jim and see how this can be put together.  

Jim’s had a brainstorming session about the problems and challenges that his niche faces:

Women in their 20’s and 30’s who want to get back to work…

They have had a family and might be bored

They might want to earn extra money for the household

They don’t know how to get back to work

They need to freshen up their skills

They might not feel confident after being “away” for so long

They might want the hours that suit them

They might feel nervous

They don’t know the next steps

From the above list Jim can draw out 2 or 3 main areas that he can use in his sales letter.

Jim decided that the main three were:

•  Boredom

•  Confidence

•  Next Steps

Let’s get back to Jim’s sales letter:

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THEIR NAME

THEIR ADDRESS

STREET

POST CODE/ZIP CODE

24th March 2030

Are you a busy mum who would like to get

back into the workplace but has not got a

clue where to start?

Dear Mrs Jones,

Are you at a stage in your life where you have raised a young family and are now saying to yourself “Now it’s time for me?”

Are you getting bored with your daily routine?

Are you looking for some help and the knowledge on how to get back into the working environment?

Well, if you answered yes to any of those questions above please read on because what I have to tell you might be of interest to you.

The thing is, you have been, and continue to be a very successful Mum but now that your children are a little more grown up you are feeling a little stale and need to get your life back.

That’s understandable as…..

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Jim has created interest by asking several questions about the situation that the prospect is in.

If the prospect says “yes” to any of those questions then they will be interested and will most likely read on.

Asking questions right up-front is a very valuable technique to use and is one that I use a lot.

It seems to resonate with the reader and is the natural progression from the attention grabbing headline.

Please remember, it is very important to talk about the prospect and not yourself.

I read so many sales letters that are the equivalent of verbal diarrhoea!

Please do not fall into this trap.

Instead, talk about the prospect’s problems and the challenges that they face because you are now going to create some desire and present your solution just like Jim will be below…

D esire

Jim has done a great job so far.

He has made his sales letter personable, he has used an attention grabbing headline and he has created some interest.

Jim now needs to create some desire for what he is about to offer the prospect.

The best way for you to do this is to create a vision of what the prospects situation would be like if they had all of the information and techniques that they needed to get back to work at their fingertips.

This is sometimes referred to as future pacing.

Let’s read some more of Jim’s sales letter to see how he does this…

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THEIR NAME

THEIR ADDRESS

STREET

POST CODE/ZIP CODE

24th March 2030

Are you a busy mum who would like to get

back into the workplace but has not got a

clue where to start?

Dear Mrs Jones,

Are you at a stage in your life where you have raised a young family and are now saying to yourself “Now it’s time for me?”

Are you getting bored with your daily routine?

Are you looking for some help and the knowledge on how to get back into the working environment?

Well, if you answered yes to any of those questions above please read on because what I have to tell you might be of interest to you.

The thing is, you have been, and continue to be a very successful Mum but now that your children are a little more grown up you are feeling a little stale and need to get your life back.

That’s understandable as…..

Letter cont…

That’s understandable as your priorities at the time were right. But now some water has gone under the bridge and it is time for you to move on.

Well, just imagine for a moment that you had:

•  A blueprint guide of EXACTLY what to do and what not to do to get yourself back into the workplace

•  Confidence building resources to make you feel good about yourself and for you to build on your abilities and strengths

•  A comprehensive manual on how to design and present your CV to companies

•  Techniques and strategies on how to answer even the most toughest of interview questions

•  Methods for you to be able to walk in on day one in your new job and feel at home

•  Communication techniques on how to make effortless rapport with anyone that you met

•  A CD programme that explains to you how to maintain a balance between work, rest and play

Well, you can now have all of the above plus much more with the “Return To Work Success System”

The “Return To Work Success System” contains all of the very latest and best strategies for getting your career back on track and getting you back to work!

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A ction

And finally Jim will need to ask the reader to take some action or else what is the point of the sales letter!

With Jim’s strategy, and this is one that I recommend that you adopt as well, he is driving people to his website to download the first 3 volumes of his success system for free.

With this he is capturing the email address of the prospect, he is proving just how good his system is and he will drive more sales through this way than he ever would by trying to sell it straight from the sales letter.

Let’s see how Jim’s letter ends with the full version…

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THEIR NAME

THEIR ADDRESS

STREET

POST CODE/ZIP CODE

24th March 2030

Are you a busy mum who would like to get

back into the workplace but has not got a

clue where to start?

Dear Mrs Jones,

Are you at a stage in your life where you have raised a young family and are now saying to yourself “Now it’s time for me?”

Are you getting bored with your daily routine?

Are you looking for some help and the knowledge on how to get back into the working environment?

Well, if you answered yes to any of those questions above please read on because what I have to tell you might be of interest to you.

The thing is, you have been, and continue to be a very successful Mum but now that your children are a little more grown up you are feeling a little stale and need to get your life back.

That’s understandable as your priorities at the time were right. But now some water has gone under the bridge and it is time for you to move on.

Well, just imagine for a moment that you had:

•  A blueprint guide of EXACTLY what to do and what not to do to get yourself back into the workplace

•  Confidence building resources to make you feel good about yourself and for you to build on your abilities and strengths

•  A comprehensive manual on how to design and present your CV to companies

•  Techniques and strategies on how to answer even the most toughest of interview questions

•  Methods for you to be able to walk in on day one in your new job and feel at home

•  Communication techniques on how to make effortless rapport with anyone that you met

•  A CD programme that explains to you how to maintain a balance between work, rest and play

Well, you can now have all of the above plus much more with the “Return To Work Success System”

The “Return To Work Success System” contains all of the very latest and best strategies for getting your career back on track and getting you back to work!

Well, you can now have all of the above plus much more with the “Return To Work Success System”

The “Return To Work Success System” through 13 unique volumes, contains all of the very latest and best strategies for getting your career back on track and getting you back to work!

VOLUME 1 – Will help you to do XYZ

VOLUME 2 – Will help you to do XYZ

VOLUME 3 – Will help you to do XYZ

VOLUME 4 – Will help you to do XYZ

VOLUME 5 – Will help you to do XYZ

VOLUME 6 – Will help you to do XYZ

VOLUME 7 – Will help you to do XYZ

VOLUME 8 – Will help you to do XYZ

VOLUME 9 – Will help you to do XYZ

VOLUME 10 – Will help you to do XYZ

VOLUME 11– Will help you to do XYZ

VOLUME 12 – Will help you to do XYZ

VOLUME 13 – Will help you to do XYZ

VOLUME 14 – Will help you to do XYZ

Get the first three volumes for FREE!

This unique system has 14 volumes packed with resources and information to get you back to work and enjoying your career once more and as a special offer I am giving away the first three volumes for free!

To download your FREE volumes all you need to do is visit

http://www.returntoworkmum.com

Your FREE downloads cover:

•  How to write a winning cv

•  How to get mentally prepared for returning to work

•  Resources to brush up on those rusty skills

There is no catch. Your email address will never be used, sold or rented.

Please visit the site today and take your first step to achieving your goals.

Yours sincerely

Jim Smith

PS

Here is the download link again for your free reports

http://www.returntoworkmum.com

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Summary

Jim’s call to action was superb.

He was giving away some of his product and proving his worth.

Now, if the 3 volumes offer some great techniques for the prospect to use they will be saying “I wonder what the other 11 volumes will provide?”

Jim will also be building his list as well!

It really is a win-win scenario.

Let’s have a look at what Jim did correctly.

He listed the chapters/volumes of his product and expressed them in terms of benefits to the prospect. (I didn’t actually list these as this is a fictitious character remember!)

When you write a summary of your chapter headings or product features please make sure that you quantify what the section will do for the prospect.

All they care about is WIIIFM

W hat

I s

I n

I t

F or

M e

I do not have a problem with you saying “This product will do XYZ” but it also needs to have a “That means that you will save around 2 hours per day that frees yourself up for more family time”

You need to express the benefits to the prospect of what your product or service will do for them

An old mentor of mine used to say:

“Are you telling or are you selling Sean?”

Make sure that you are selling the benefits!

I have already mentioned that I thought the free sample volumes were an excellent idea.

Also another thing that Jim did right was to include a PS.

The majority of people will read your PS so it is a very vital piece of information.

With this example Jim used it to confirm the web address.

Your next Steps

I hope you found the case study easy to follow and that you can use it as a template to produce your own winning sales letters.

Next time you are faced with writing a sales letter please read through this section and work through each area of the letter as we did with Jim.

Remember the formula for successful sales copy writing?

AIDA

ATTENTION

INTEREST

DESIRE

ACTION