The Basics of a Sales Letter
Posted 1st November 2008 at 12:06 PM by Robert Plank
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhXElxdg9RY
A direct response sales letter, which can be a web page, magazine ad, commercial, or some other form of advertising, meant to lead the reader into some action and usually a sale, consists of three main parts. Those three parts of a sales letter are: a star, a story, and a solution.
Every sales letter needs a star. Sometimes this is obvious and the ads you read will contain a story. The ad will talk about Martha, the woman of three children who kept getting worse and worse headaches which became painful to the point where she could no longer function at her job. The star might also be the writer of the ad, telling you how easily he accomplished a task or what struggles he overcame, and how he can teach it to you. The star might also be about you, the reader, and the ad is sympathizing with whatever desires or needs you have at the moment.
Once the sales letter establishes a star, it leads into a story. The story might be more detail about our headache star Martha and how these migraines affected her life... how she wishes there was some easy cure she could find to get her life back on track. Just like with the star, the story might be about a fictitious character, be about the writer of the ad or about you in particular.
Finally, you have the solution. There is not much wiggle room for this final section. Your star has a story where they go through some sort of pain either from the existence of some problem or the absence of a solution... and then you swoop in with the solution. If you apply this S.S.S. (star, story, and solution) formula to everything you do... sales copy, presentations, and arguments... you will be able to associate with your readers and listeners much more than if you simply launched into a solution. Most importantly, remember the S.S.S. strategy for sales letters and you will have a much easier time writing copy.
Create a professional sales letter to sell products in just five minutes, total hoax or feasible reality?
http://www.fiveminutecopywriting.com
A direct response sales letter, which can be a web page, magazine ad, commercial, or some other form of advertising, meant to lead the reader into some action and usually a sale, consists of three main parts. Those three parts of a sales letter are: a star, a story, and a solution.
Every sales letter needs a star. Sometimes this is obvious and the ads you read will contain a story. The ad will talk about Martha, the woman of three children who kept getting worse and worse headaches which became painful to the point where she could no longer function at her job. The star might also be the writer of the ad, telling you how easily he accomplished a task or what struggles he overcame, and how he can teach it to you. The star might also be about you, the reader, and the ad is sympathizing with whatever desires or needs you have at the moment.
Once the sales letter establishes a star, it leads into a story. The story might be more detail about our headache star Martha and how these migraines affected her life... how she wishes there was some easy cure she could find to get her life back on track. Just like with the star, the story might be about a fictitious character, be about the writer of the ad or about you in particular.
Finally, you have the solution. There is not much wiggle room for this final section. Your star has a story where they go through some sort of pain either from the existence of some problem or the absence of a solution... and then you swoop in with the solution. If you apply this S.S.S. (star, story, and solution) formula to everything you do... sales copy, presentations, and arguments... you will be able to associate with your readers and listeners much more than if you simply launched into a solution. Most importantly, remember the S.S.S. strategy for sales letters and you will have a much easier time writing copy.
Create a professional sales letter to sell products in just five minutes, total hoax or feasible reality?
http://www.fiveminutecopywriting.com
Total Comments 2
Comments
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I like your "star" component. People love to relate to people not inanimate facts, don't they?Posted 1st November 2008 at 10:02 PM by PatC
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Yep, exactly Pat! Write about people. To paraphrase Allen Says... don't write, "We here at Beltman Industries, blah blah blah..." No one wants to hear it...Posted 2nd November 2008 at 01:26 PM by Robert Plank
