7 Tips To Dramatically Boost Response (How Many Are You Using)

Professional writers of all types remark that writing is easy – simply sit down at your keyboard, open up your wrist and bleed.
Writing sales letters and copywriting in general is no different or perhaps much worse. Not only do you have to write you have to sell.
Writing is hard and when you sit down to write, faced with a blank screen or a blank sheet of paper, then it gets even harder. Doubt creeps in, then anxiety, all of a sudden you are checking your email. Or finding all sorts of irrelevant information on Wikipedia. I know one copywriter who when faced with a blank screen spent her time reorganising her underwear drawer…
I’ve compiled my top 7 tips for writing a sales letter.
1) Do your research.Great copy is written on the back of copious research. Forests are destroyed printing the research you need to write good copy. And far bigger virtual forests are destroyed compiling information. You’ll need about 7 times the length of your sales letter in research to be able to write a good letter.
2) Practice selling your product in real life. Most entrepreneurs know how to sell. Your sales letter is about 80% the same as a face to face sales presentation. If you can get someone to buy from you face to face, then you are on your way to a good sales letter. If you don’t know how to sell, go and get a job in sales.
There is a reason why nearly all the copywriters who make the big bucks have a background in face to face sales.
3) Tell Stories. Stories are the glue of human civilisation – universally people love a good story. Find a way to present the story of your product in an interesting way, that is far more exciting than ‘just the facts.’ How to lose 10Kg in 10 weeks is pretty boring compared with Jared from Subway who became a celebrity on the back of his story.
4) Never Start With a Blank Slate. There are two schools of copywriting about blank slates. Eugene Schwartz claimed that all the fun was in the blank slate and the other school which is “I’ve never had an original thought.” Both work some of the time. If you are a mere copywriting mortal, find successful sales letters to swipe. Preferably sales letters that have worked in your market.
5) Be one of ‘them.’ Your sales letter will work better if you are able to write like your target market speaks. Most copywriters will tell you to write like you speak. You probably aren’t a buyer for what you are selling. Write like your market speaks.
6) Collect A Swipe File. You can estimate the calibre of copywriter by the size of their swipe file. Mine is a 3 drawer filing cabinet full of promotions. Swipe files give you letters to model should you ever need inspiration. It can give you chunks of copy to model. They also give you an indication of what is and isn’t working at the moment. Do the hard yards. Build a good swipe file.
7) Write good copy out by hand. There is a reason that this is the first thing legendary Gary Halbert got his students to do. It programs your mind to create winning copy as soon as you start writing. But only do this with great copy. You want your subconscious mind programmed to produce great copy on demand.
Good copy takes time to think, practice and lots of rewrites. I can’t stress the rewrites enough. Polishing and endlessly searching for the right way to say things. These seven tips will help you boost your response rates if you use them,
But if you need a better response right now then your only choice really is to hire a pro to write the sales letter for you. Sorry but that is life. Mastering copywriting is like mastering any skill. It takes 1,000 hours to become proficient and 10,000 hours to master.