Calvin Candie and your sales letter
Did you see Django Unchained?
A few weeks ago, when I was returning from a trip from Japan, I watched it on the plane.
It was REALLY long - but also really good.
In the movie, Leonardo DiCaprio plays a guy named Calvin Candie.
Such a good performance (as usual).
Anyway, at one point in the movie he says to Django and his partner Dr. Schultz, "Gentlemen, you had my curiosity - but now you have my attention."
And it made me think that's EXACTLY what people need to focus on more in their sales letters.
It's easy to get people curious about what you've got to say.
Make a bold promise.
Have a crazy guarantee.
Or even just have a product worth talking about.
But it's much harder to keep people's attention.
When writing sales letters for clients, I spend (at least) a day going through the Sinkers.
A "Sinker" is what keeps people reading your letter.
So, you pique curiosity through your headline, but you keep attention with every word you write.
There's a few things you can do to keep people interested...
But the #1 thing I like to do is what I call the Prospect Pummeler.
It's simple, really.
And, honestly, I could write an entire course on this one topic. (Maybe I will one day)
Back when I was in training to become a hypnotherapist - I decided I didn't care for sitting and talking for an hour at a time - I learned about something called "loops".
Essentially, you start a story but do NOT finish it.
Well, you do, but first you interject more content.
So, you could start a story about how you got into your field of expertise - then flow into a success story of a customer - which then flows into a story about why the offer is only available for a limited quantity...
...You can see how this works.
You 'loop' your stories in and out of each other to keep people reading - all while making the important points you need to make to get the sale.
Once you've covered all the important sales points, you can close your stories and go for the close.
By this point, they're ready to move forward and buy.
It's a little 'hypno-trick' that'll pay you dividends for a long time - but it takes a little creativity.
Sit down and think about how you can use it in your letters and emails.
It's WELL worth the effort.
A few weeks ago, when I was returning from a trip from Japan, I watched it on the plane.
It was REALLY long - but also really good.
In the movie, Leonardo DiCaprio plays a guy named Calvin Candie.
Such a good performance (as usual).
Anyway, at one point in the movie he says to Django and his partner Dr. Schultz, "Gentlemen, you had my curiosity - but now you have my attention."
And it made me think that's EXACTLY what people need to focus on more in their sales letters.
It's easy to get people curious about what you've got to say.
Make a bold promise.
Have a crazy guarantee.
Or even just have a product worth talking about.
But it's much harder to keep people's attention.
When writing sales letters for clients, I spend (at least) a day going through the Sinkers.
A "Sinker" is what keeps people reading your letter.
So, you pique curiosity through your headline, but you keep attention with every word you write.
There's a few things you can do to keep people interested...
- Use plenty of ellipses...
...And continue on with them on the next line - Promise something big later in the letter - Like the Prospect Pummeler that I'll mention in a minute)
- Make all your headlines flow into one another - Think of it like a story broken into sentences as headlines
- Get them to take tiny actions - This is SO easy to do in the digital world, just add little forms to your page with questions to answer
- Use as many 'power words' as possible
But the #1 thing I like to do is what I call the Prospect Pummeler.
It's simple, really.
And, honestly, I could write an entire course on this one topic. (Maybe I will one day)
Back when I was in training to become a hypnotherapist - I decided I didn't care for sitting and talking for an hour at a time - I learned about something called "loops".
Essentially, you start a story but do NOT finish it.
Well, you do, but first you interject more content.
So, you could start a story about how you got into your field of expertise - then flow into a success story of a customer - which then flows into a story about why the offer is only available for a limited quantity...
...You can see how this works.
You 'loop' your stories in and out of each other to keep people reading - all while making the important points you need to make to get the sale.
Once you've covered all the important sales points, you can close your stories and go for the close.
By this point, they're ready to move forward and buy.
It's a little 'hypno-trick' that'll pay you dividends for a long time - but it takes a little creativity.
Sit down and think about how you can use it in your letters and emails.
It's WELL worth the effort.