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Copywriting Tips: 13 Steps to Creating the Perfect Sales Letter Template

Once you  have created an information product, you may think you've completed all of the hard work.  Unfortunately the most challenging piece of product creation is yet to come -- the creation of the sales letter landing page where you talk about and sell your product.

Creating an effective sales letter is really all about following a formula.  If you look at enough sales letters, you realize that most of them follow the same template.  While there aren't necessarily any hard-and-fast rules, here are 13 steps to help you create the perfect sales letter for your product or service:

1.  Headlines.  First create an intro headline, which appears in smaller font just before your primary headline and gets your reader warmed up for the headline to follow.  Then comes your primary headline, which is a large font in a different font color that must grab your reader's attention.  The best way to get your reader's attention in your headline is to tug at an emotion, like fear, insider secrets that no one else knows, or how to do something. 

Then, you have mini-headlines that are scattered throughout your text.  Usually they contain a benefit and are meant to draw the reader's eye to a certain section of text.  They are in a larger font although smaller than the primary headline and in a different color than the text of your letter.

2.  Greeting.  Start your letter with "Dear <target market name>, a date, and your geographic location.

3.  Introduction.  This is section where you reiterate the details of a particular problem suffered by your target market, empathize with those who have a similar problem, outline why it's important to seek a solution, and begin to drop hints that you've got the solution to this problem.

4.  Your story and credentials.  Elaborate on your background and credentials that make you qualified to sell this product or service, as well as the story that led to the creation of this product.

5.  Product introduction.  Here's where you talk more about your product and begin to list and explain the main benefits (not features), or what's in it for your reader if your reader buys the product.

6.  Bullet points.  While this isn't technically a part of the template, you'll want to make full use of bullet points throughout your sales letter as a way of cleanly listing the many benefits and features of your product.  Bullet points make it very easy for a reader to scan your page and pick up the pertinent information she needs to make a decision to buy your product.

7.  Testimonials.  Testimonials serve as social proof that your product works. If others have purchased and used your product and gained the benefits that you promise, the reader feels more certain that they can purchase it, too, and receive similar benefits.  Make your testimonials believable by including a photo, web site URL, phone number, audio, or video of the person giving the testimonial.  The more that your visitor can identify with the person giving the testimonial, the more likely she is to purchase from you.

8.  Product details/benefits.  Here's where you get to break everything down for your reader, with all of the details of all of the specific components of your product.

9.  Your offer and bonuses. Your offer can make or break the sale of your product. Make the offer so irresistible that your reader can't help but think, "I've gotta get that!"  When you add bonuses to the mix, you increase the value of the offer immediately. Make sure that your bonuses are directly related to your main product so that your reader sees the enhanced value.

10. Guarantee.  Make your reader feel safe by offering an iron-clad guarantee that takes all the risk out of the purchase. 

11.  Price justification. Compare your pricing to other products/services that you sell, or to items your reader might use regularly.  Your goal here is to make the price a non-issue for the reader by reminding her how much continuing to deal with this problem is costing her.

12.  Final call to action.  Again make your offer here, with clear, specific instructions on how your reader can purchase the product.  Remind her of your guarantee and any bonuses she receives for purchase.  Remind your reader why she should take action now, and include a sense of scarcity here, as in time limits, product limits, or limiting the bonuses to the few xx number of orders.

13.  Closing and postscripts (P.S.).  Sign off on your letter and include at least one post-script.  The post-script serves as a a powerful place where you give readers a reason to go back and consider the offer.  Believe it or not, the P.S. the third most-read section of your sales letter, so don't forget to include at least one.  The P.S. is also the last place many of your readers will end up after reading your offer – just before they leave. Your P.S. needs to be the last persuasive offer to get them to stay and buy.

When you follow these 13 steps, you have now created a powerful sales letter. By following this 13-step formula, any online business owner can create an effective sales letter that sells her product or service.

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this blurb with it:  Internet Marketing Automation Coach Donna Gunter helps independent service professionals create prosperous online businesses that make more profit in less time by teaching them how to automate their businesses, leverage their expertise, and get found online.  Would you like to learn the specific Internet marketing strategies that get results? Discover how to increase your visibility and get found online by claiming your FREE gift, TurboCharge Your Online Marketing Toolkit, at ==> http://www.TurbochargeYourOnlineMarketing.com

Copywriting Tips: How to Market Benefits vs Features

One of the most difficult concepts to grasp for online business owners who are writing their own sales copy is to write about the benefits of your product/service, rather than the features. Even though this skill is critically important, I would guess that less than 10% of business owners truly understand it.  Not surprisingly, it's also the primary reason that so many marketing campaigns fail.

Think about the products and services that you buy.  Why did you purchase them?  One of the reasons I go to the local Firestone auto servicing center to buy my tires and get my oil changed and my car maintained (despite the fact that it's 30 miles from my house) is because Dale, the customer service manager, told me when I first visited this center, "We take care of you so you don't have to worry about breaking down on the side of the road."  That sealed the deal for me -- no other explanation was necessary.

I'm no different than you are.  It's taken me a long time to begin to write about the benefits of what I offer, because, like you, I always assumed that prospects will understand why they should buy the product or service just because I've told them about it.  After all, isn't listing the marvelous features of what I'm offering enough?  Unfortunately, the answer is no.

When you try to sell the features of your product or service, you're making the customer do all the work to figure out why they want the feature. As the seller of your products and services, it's in your prospect's best interest to draw the connection for them. In order to do that, however, you have to know the results yourself.

So, then, what's the difference between benefits and features?  A feature is a factual statement about the product or service being promoted. However, it's not the features that entice customers to buy. That's where benefits come in. A benefit answers the question "What's in it for me?"

The best way to understand the true benefit that your product or service offers is to focus instead on the results that your customer will receive when using said product of service. It is the customer's perception of each feature's result that will attract a prospect to buy a particular product or service.

So, for example, if you were selling a car, one of the features might be "all wheel drive". While your advertising might include that information, you'll fare better in your sale when you focus on the benefits of that feature, such as greater safety when driving on poor surfaces, ability to drive places other vehicles can't, and minimizing the likelihood of getting stuck in the winter. If the prospect says "so what?" when hearing of an aspect of the product, then that aspect is a feature. The answer to the "so what?" question is a potential benefit. 

Let's play this out:

Car ad says: This car has all wheel drive.

Customer reads and says: So what?

Salesperson responds: This means that you're much less likely to get stuck in the snow in the winter.

Ideal customer response: I hate when that happens! That's something I need!

If the response to the answer is another "so what?" or a shrug, then the answer did not nail a benefit for that customer (maybe they live in an area of the country where getting stuck in the winter isn't an issue). Perhaps they would respond better to the "ability to drive places other vehicles can't" or something else.  The key here is knowing and understanding your customers and what they need.

To help you create your list of benefits for your product or service, create a Features and Benefits Sheet. Take a piece of paper and draw a line down the middle. On the left hand side write a list of the features of your product or service. On the right side write the corresponding benefit that goes with that feature. answering the "so what?" question (what problem are you solving) in the process. Once you have completed this exercise, share the sheet with colleagues who will give you honest feedback about your benefits listing.

Remember, success in sales and marketing in your business is all about the benefits to your audience rather than the features you're going to deliver.  It's all about selling the sizzle, not the steak.

Members of OnlineBizU.com can download the Features and Benefits worksheet here.

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this blurb with it:  Internet Marketing Automation Coach Donna Gunter helps independent service professionals create prosperous online businesses that make more profit in less time by teaching them how to automate their businesses, leverage their expertise, and get found online.  Would you like to learn the specific Internet marketing strategies that get results? Discover how to increase your visibility and get found online by claiming your FREE gift, TurboCharge Your Online Marketing Toolkit, at ==> http://www.TurbochargeYourOnlineMarketing.com

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