Identifying the Weakest Link in Your Sales Letters
| Category: Copy Writing - sales copy | Date: 2003-05-14 |
I am a big fan of the popular game show, "The Weakest Link". I love the premise of this show...identify the weakest member of your team and get rid of him/her as quickly as possible.
Whether youve thought about it or not, this is a principle that you can easily use to improve your sales letters and boost your profits. This article examines seven key areas of typical sales letters that could possibly stand improvement.
1. Weak Headline- The headline is by far the most important part of your entire letter. It is your first opportunity to capture a reader’s attention and get him interested in your offer. Top copy writing and marketing experts have reported that powerful headlines can increase your profits by up to 1700%. For a free list of the 100 greatest headlines ever written go to
http://www.mason-marketing.com/100greatest.html
2. Boring Copy- Do your potential customers fall asleep while reading your sales letters? Your copy should not read like a boring technical manual. Instead it should offer exciting copy that holds your readers attention from beginning to end. Ask someone you trust to read your sales letters and tell you what they think. Online forums also offer an excellent source to find fellow marketers to review your sales letters.
3. Unbelievable Testimonial/No Endorsements- Testimonials can really boost your sales. A good testimonial is equal to a positive word of mouth referral. Potential customers trust the words of already satisfied customers. Most customers who have enjoyed your product or service will let you know. When your receive favorable comments from customers ask them if it’s okay to quote them as use it as a testimonial.
4. No Unique Selling Proposition (USP)- What makes your product or service different from your competition? Do you offer lower prices, higher quality, a wider selection of products, faster delivery or better guarantees? Give your customer a logical, rational reason for doing business with you.
Your USP should be carefully crafted and based on your ability to fill a void that exists in your industry. Take a look at your competition. Find something valuable that you can deliver that your competition cannot. Be sure to mention this USP in all of your ads and sales letters.
5. Limited Purchasing Options- An easy way to increase your sales is by giving customers more ways to pay. Most of your customers will probably use credit cards for the convenience. However dont lose customers who prefer to pay by other means. Fatten your profits by allowing customers to mail in payments.
6. Short Guarantee Period- Another way to increase sales is by removing the risk of doing business with you by offer longer guarantees. Short guarantees make customers nervous because they don’t have long to decide whether your product works for them. Studies have shown that longer guarantees boost sales and decrease the number of returns.
7. Poor Follow-Up Plan- The overwhelming majority of visitors to your web site will not purchase your product the first time around. You must have a plan to follow-up with visitors or else you will lose most of your potential sales.
Offer a free sample of your product or a free report in exchange for contact information. This creates a win-win situation. The prospect can try out your product and you can continue to follow-up. You can significantly increase your sales by automatically contacting your customers on a regular basis.
Hopefully, the information included in this article will help you identify areas that you can improve in your sales letters. Best-selling author and speaker Brian Tracy once said, The more you teach positive ideas to others, the more you learn them yourself. With that in mind, let me go make a few improvements on my own sales letters.
Copyright 2001, Joanne L. Mason
About the Author
Joanne L. Mason’s new product Money-Making Sales Letters shows you how to create ads, sales letters and promotions that sell like crazy! Instant download available at
http://www.mason-marketing.com/money.html
This Article may be freely published in its entirety exactly as it appears above. No alterations or changes to the Article are allowed, without the express permission of the Author. The Resource Box must remain with the Article just as it appears.
If you would like to use this Article, please send a brief message to notify me:
:To contact see details below.
jlmason@mason-marketing.com
http://www.mason-marketing.com
Whether youve thought about it or not, this is a principle that you can easily use to improve your sales letters and boost your profits. This article examines seven key areas of typical sales letters that could possibly stand improvement.
1. Weak Headline- The headline is by far the most important part of your entire letter. It is your first opportunity to capture a reader’s attention and get him interested in your offer. Top copy writing and marketing experts have reported that powerful headlines can increase your profits by up to 1700%. For a free list of the 100 greatest headlines ever written go to
http://www.mason-marketing.com/100greatest.html
2. Boring Copy- Do your potential customers fall asleep while reading your sales letters? Your copy should not read like a boring technical manual. Instead it should offer exciting copy that holds your readers attention from beginning to end. Ask someone you trust to read your sales letters and tell you what they think. Online forums also offer an excellent source to find fellow marketers to review your sales letters.
3. Unbelievable Testimonial/No Endorsements- Testimonials can really boost your sales. A good testimonial is equal to a positive word of mouth referral. Potential customers trust the words of already satisfied customers. Most customers who have enjoyed your product or service will let you know. When your receive favorable comments from customers ask them if it’s okay to quote them as use it as a testimonial.
4. No Unique Selling Proposition (USP)- What makes your product or service different from your competition? Do you offer lower prices, higher quality, a wider selection of products, faster delivery or better guarantees? Give your customer a logical, rational reason for doing business with you.
Your USP should be carefully crafted and based on your ability to fill a void that exists in your industry. Take a look at your competition. Find something valuable that you can deliver that your competition cannot. Be sure to mention this USP in all of your ads and sales letters.
5. Limited Purchasing Options- An easy way to increase your sales is by giving customers more ways to pay. Most of your customers will probably use credit cards for the convenience. However dont lose customers who prefer to pay by other means. Fatten your profits by allowing customers to mail in payments.
6. Short Guarantee Period- Another way to increase sales is by removing the risk of doing business with you by offer longer guarantees. Short guarantees make customers nervous because they don’t have long to decide whether your product works for them. Studies have shown that longer guarantees boost sales and decrease the number of returns.
7. Poor Follow-Up Plan- The overwhelming majority of visitors to your web site will not purchase your product the first time around. You must have a plan to follow-up with visitors or else you will lose most of your potential sales.
Offer a free sample of your product or a free report in exchange for contact information. This creates a win-win situation. The prospect can try out your product and you can continue to follow-up. You can significantly increase your sales by automatically contacting your customers on a regular basis.
Hopefully, the information included in this article will help you identify areas that you can improve in your sales letters. Best-selling author and speaker Brian Tracy once said, The more you teach positive ideas to others, the more you learn them yourself. With that in mind, let me go make a few improvements on my own sales letters.
Copyright 2001, Joanne L. Mason
About the Author
Joanne L. Mason’s new product Money-Making Sales Letters shows you how to create ads, sales letters and promotions that sell like crazy! Instant download available at
http://www.mason-marketing.com/money.html
This Article may be freely published in its entirety exactly as it appears above. No alterations or changes to the Article are allowed, without the express permission of the Author. The Resource Box must remain with the Article just as it appears.
If you would like to use this Article, please send a brief message to notify me:
:To contact see details below.
jlmason@mason-marketing.com
http://www.mason-marketing.com
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