2 posts tagged “sales letter”
I had a late breakfast with my dad today. Around 6:00pm. We'd each had lunch, but we'd planned on breakfast, and somehow with internet marketing stuff flying around, time got away from me. But I did find out something interesting I'd never known.
People are good at keeping secrets. Not the ones you'd like them to keep, granted, but they certainly do withhold information. For example:
My dad, apparently, was a one time partner in a direct marketing firm. Granted, it was in college, and they worked out of the other guy's basement. But there they were, reprinting antique catalogs from the early 1900s, and running space ads in magazines. They sold for $5 or $10. First, who would have thought there was an interest in decades old catalogs? And they were expensive (we're talking about the late 60s).
On a side note, there was once a little old lady from California (Pasedena?). She ordered a catalog. Then she ordered the Pretty Princess Tricycle.
Sent her $1.25 by check through the mail across the country to Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Must have been a great ad.
There are two lessons here. One, never underestimate the power of strong catalog copy. Two, I had no idea my dad had this in his background. And I think if I had to, that could become a hook for a sales letter.
Some posts back I quoted Claude Hopkins. It was in his writing that I first encountered it. But as far as I can trace it, "Advertising is Salesmanship in Print" actually originated in the mind of another. Pour yourself some Scotch, get settled in your favorite leather wing chair. Here's the story:
One May evening in 1905, just as A.L. Thomas (of the Lord & Thomas ad agency) was getting ready to call it a day, a note arrived. It read as follows:
You do not know what advertising is. No one in the advertising business knows what avertising is. No advertiser knows for certain what advertising is. If you want to know, tell this messenger that I should come up. I'm waiting in the lobby downstairs.
It was signed – John E. Kennedy.
As luck would have it, this promised the answer to a question that had occupied the mind of junior partner Albert Lasker for some time. Kennedy was sent for. They conversed until 3am. So we have the idea, first given us by Claude Hopkins, from its source.
As you can imagine, more was said in the 9 hours they were conspiring together.
And that brings us to today's wallet-fattening topic: reason why copy.
If you've done a good job with your hook, explaining it in the copy, and if the copy supports the offer, and your prospect is emotionally charged to make the purchase, then you're just one step away from a sale. It is at this point that logic steps in and begins to evaluate the situation. But is it logic?
Never fear, it's just another tangle of emotional reactions. The critical thinking involved is more along the lines of "how can I convince my wife that this pool table was a good idea? How bad will it be if I can't convince her?" Or "what will others think of me" etc.
Your sales letter should challenge your prospects emotionally. Get 'em worked up. But give them a reason why for each statement. Not "Half Off". "Fire Sale. Entire Inventory Half Off". Not "Will Regrow Your Own Hair", but "11 Years of Searching, Medical Scientists Discover Formula That Will...". Of course, you needn't always use a reason why in your headline. But everywhere there is a claim, consider how you can back it up. The formula is to use the word "because" and fill in the blank. And give a reason why.
To your Copywriting Mastery
P.S. Stay tuned for more hard hitting copywriting tactics. We'll be moving into offers pretty quickly – because – much of your body copy is to set up the offer that follows.
