Why THIS is my favourite 'swipe file' salesletter tool.

[justbill]

If you ever struggle to write a sales copy of any sort, you could do worse than study Mens Health sales letters.

I am on their mailing list (unfortunately I don't yet have the body of an Adonis) and receive roughly 3 sales letters a year from them in the post (snail mail).

Each one of them gets saved in my swipe file for future reference.

Here is the reason why, using the very latest letter that I received yesterday:

• The sales letter is created in booklet form and is spread over 20 pages. However, the format could easily be adapted for an online long sales letter...or and here's a thought....you could actually keep your reader glued to your site by having them click on a new page at appropriate places just as you would turn the page of the Mens Health booklet.

• The booklet is packed with 'relevant' glossy pictures, showing you the benefits of what their new book is designed to help you achieve. The models all show off their ripped six packs. They are handsome, tanned, look happy with life and have beautiful girlfriends. They sell the dream, the lifestyle that their target audience want. They show mouthwatering pictures of food, implying that you don't have to compromise on taste and enjoyment, despite being low in fat good for you.

• They have attention-grabbing headlines. This is just a small selection of headlines and sub-headlines that they have throughout the booklet:

- Learn how to pack on rippling new muscle in just 12 weeks
- Wouldn't you like to look good naked
- Eat all you want and lose up to 7 pounds of fat in just 6 weeks
- Learn how to knock down high blood pressure like a fighter
- Shortcuts to huge muscles - gain up to 125% more muslce with fewer workouts
- Belly-off, biceps-on muscle foods
- The countdown to a body like this (picture of handsome muscle man) can begin in 1 second.

• Attractive, relevant free gifts. In this case they are offering a "1-2-3 Free! The Body Perfector 3-pack!" which consists of a Built For Sex, book, Supplements That Really Work book and 125 Best Foods For Men. Each gift has almost half a page dedicated to reinforcing why these are essential books. They are treated as part of the product itself and not as trivial bonus items.

• Great use of the yellow highlighter: This works particularly well. It isn't overly used, but when it is used, it creates a powerful motivator, highlighting just the very main points.

• Testimonials: All marketers know the value of these, but when the testimonial are accompanied by photographs, before and after pics along with a unique, tailored headline created for each one, it is more effective.

• Superb guarantee: "Take It For A Test-Run". Try it FREE for 14 days.

I use their letters as a template for my offline newsletter and achieved great results with it. It will work equally well for your online sales letters too.

I'd be interested in hearing if anybody else has any personal favourite letters that they use for inspiration.

Bill

[Don Schenk]

Good idea Bill.

I keep a text file titled swipefile.txt on my desktop. Whenever I see a good headline or a useful wording online, I simply highlight it, then copy/paste to the swipefile.txt.

BTW I just copied the the headlines from your post and pasted them into the swipefile.

Thanks

:-Don

[justbill]

Originally Posted by Don Schenk

Good idea Bill.

I keep a text file titled swipefile.txt on my desktop. Whenever I see a good headline or a useful wording online, I simply highlight it, then copy/paste to the swipefile.txt.

BTW I just copied the the headlines from your post and pasted them into the swipefile.

Thanks

:-Don

Don

That's a really good tip and is an easy way to do 'instant' swipes (much better than printing them all).

Glad the headlines in the post were useful to you

Bill

[Mike McBride]

Originally Posted by Don Schenk

Good idea Bill.

I keep a text file titled swipefile.txt on my desktop. Whenever I see a good headline or a useful wording online, I simply highlight it, then copy/paste to the swipefile.txt.

BTW I just copied the the headlines from your post and pasted them into the swipefile.

Thanks

:-Don

Don,

I use the Firefox plug-in ScrapBook ( https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/427 ) to easily grab entire salesletters (and other goodies, of course) for my swipe file. Works like a charm.

[justbill]

Originally Posted by mmr556

As a newbie I found the information given in the post and replies above very useful.

Richard

Hi Richard

I am not sure if you were referring to my original post at the start of the thread or not, but if so, then I am glad that it helped.

Bill

[briancollins]

Great post Bill,
I done something similiar in a niche I have websites in, some particular offline booklet salesletters have great copy in them, most can be adapted easily into completely fresh compelling copy.

Just wondering Bill, how did you get on these snail mail lists, did you buy something, or was via a free method ?

I subssribed to one of the magazines in my niche and since then have had many mail order promos!

[justbill]

Originally Posted by briancollins

Great post Bill,
I done something similiar in a niche I have websites in, some particular offline booklet salesletters have great copy in them, most can be adapted easily into completely fresh compelling copy.

Just wondering Bill, how did you get on these snail mail lists, did you buy something, or was via a free method ?

I subssribed to one of the magazines in my niche and since then have had many mail order promos!

Hi Brian

I have bought books from Rodale (Mens health publishers) before but I tend to request a lot of information from various companies in order to get on their mailing lists.

The Mens Health sales letters really stand out from the crowd though and are very well written for their target audience.

Bill

[justbill]

I forgot to add that they list key points from the book and give the page number of where you will find this valuable information.

I think that this is a powerful feature on a sales page.

Bill

[zenmn]

I love Mens Health and have subscribed on and off for years.

The writers are as creative as they come and you are right, the copy rocks!

Love the the Bartender Advice Column!