Reverse Engineering A Sales Letter...TRY THIS

Here's how to come up with an idea...let's say an ebook...and you haven't written the book...I'm going to show you how to come up with the material by first writing the sales letter...

I got a nasty email the other day that really pi**ed me off...

It read something like: Dear Marcus...you act like you know everything there is about copywriting...you don't know jack. You're just trying to make yourself look good...maybe if you'd quit trying to sound like an all knowing a** and start helping more, you'd be more appreciated on the forum...

that really crimped my attitude for a few minutes...

The nerve of some people...then again, maybe they're right.

So here is my best step by step process on writing a sales letter...even if you have no idea what to say...but you need inspiration for writing your ebook.

I call it reverse engineering...it's worked for me...I know it's not what some would call "creative thinking", but what the heck...give it a try...

I'm offering a lifetime guarantee if the info doesn't help.

1. You have got to start a swipe file: Back in the 70's when I was in high school...I was always into ads...I'd collect all the ads that caught my attention...cut them out and place them on the big pile of other ads.

The Wall Street Journal was one of my favorites...the ads in there are priceless. Think about it...the ads cost hundreds of thousands to place so they're usually not some idiot placing them. They've usually been placed by bright thinking people. Collect the best headlines from the National Enquirer...I did this way before anyone else ever mentioned them. They're priceless.

When you're looking for ideas...just going through your swipe file will get your mind thinking like a copywriter on steroids.

Anyways...I'll try and keep this short and to the point...

2. One of my swipe files is headlines from Cosmopolitan...they hire good writers and their headlines are super. I'll use this swipe file to continue my story.

3. I need a product...so off the top of my little head I'll pretend I'm gonna sell a course on marketing. Just sayin...

4. I need a headline. I go through my massive swipe file on cosmo ads...several are good...I'll grab this one...

First...

Here's something important -- once you start going through your swipe file, you'll confuse yourself if you find a killer headline then keep scanning...show some discipline and stop at the first good one you find that fits into what you're doing...use it...you can test it against others...so here we go.

5. (doing this in real time) I go through the headline swipe file...the first one that catches my attention that I think I can work with is this:

50 Sex Tricks. Trust Us -- You'll Be The First Girl Naughty Enough To Try #43 On Him.

This was about the 4th headline...but I'm going with it to prove a point...remember I said grab a headline and go with it.

I'm gonna change it to this:

50 Online Marketing Tricks -- Trust Me, You'll Drop Everything And Put #12 and #34 To Work Right Now.

Is this the best headline? Don't know...I'll test it and see...then I'll go through my list and grab the next headline that appeals to me and test that.

6. Now I'm gonna move on and come up with some bullet points. I do that because the bullet points will help me come up with something to put in the ebook...

I use headlines and turn them into bullet points...a little trick that works wonders.

So here's the before and afters:

Still just using my cosmo headlines to save time for this post.


Before:The Dirty "Sex Rule" Happy Couples Swear By
After: The Dirty "Marketing Rule" Happy Marketers Swear By

Before: 5 Rules That Get The Truth Out Of Guys
After: 5 Rules That Get The Truth Out Of Buyers

Before: Revamp Your Closet With 8 Sexy Pieces
After: Revamp Your Marketing With 8 Secret Ideas

Before: Out Smart An Attacker
After: Out Smart A Potential Buyer

Before: Colors That Make A Man's Heart Race
After: Words That Make A Buyer's Heart Race

Before: 8 Things Guys Notice Instantly
After: 8 Things Readers Notice Instantly

Before: Mind Tricks That Melt Pounds
After: Mind Tricks That Make Money

Before: The Silent Clue Men Give Off When They're In Love
After: The Silent Clue Buyers Give Off When They're Ready To Buy

Before: One Question No Guy Can Resist
After: One Question No Buyer Can Resist

See what I'm doing here? It's simple.

I didn't even spend a lot of time doing the "afters", I'm trying to show you how simple it is to swipe from a swipe file.

Now that you have your bullets...you've got a guideline of stuff to put into your book.

I have a sales letter format that works everytime...but I've already gone on for too long.

Hopefully you'll get some use out of this post...