Copywriters – Don’t Make This Lazy Mistake In Your Next Sales Letter

If you write copy for sales letters, either for yourself or for clients, you already know that it is far easier to modify an existing piece of copy than it is to come up with a creative new approach from scratch. In fact, the strategy of “reuse” is something that is taught as one of the secrets by some of the very best copywriters around.
Master copywriter Dan Kennedy, for example, has often said that he rarely – if ever, these days – starts with a blank sheet of paper. Instead, he simply consults his vast library of previous work (called his “swipe files”) and finds an approach that will work for his current project. Once the template and basic text has been decided, it is a simple matter of recycling the headline, coming up with a few new bullets for the bullet list, and restating the offer.
Pretty easy, right? And pretty enticing, when compared to the tedious and time consuming effort of turning a blank page into a finished sales letter.
But here is the danger: If you begin pulling in elements from multiple different sources, you run a very great risk of creating a jumble of tones and themes and writing styles. When it’s all put together, even though each individual element is first rate, the resulting sales letter, on the whole, will be a mishmash of disjointed ideas.
Here one way to look at it. Sales Letter A follows a certain flow and sequence. Let’s call it A-B-C-D. It’s a pattern that flows perfectly from element to element.
Then, Sales Letter B follows a different flow and sequence. Let’s call it 1-2-3-4. Again, it’s a pattern that flows perfectly from element to element.
If we just grab elements from each, we could end up with a sales letter that follows a pattern like: A-B-2-4-D-1-C-3.
Doesn’t flow quite the same off the tongue, does it?
And that’s what happens in the real world when you, innocently enough, reuse bits and pieces from disparate marketing materials and try to put it all together.
So how can you reuse great sales letter elements without turning it into a mess? Here are a few tips for copy reuse success?
Re-use the sales letter in its entirety, not just a paragraph or two. This will ensure that the style and tone remains constant across multiple paragraphs and pages. Clearly you will change copy to suit your product, yet the general style will remain constant.
Use elements from sales letters that are already similar. Avoid mixing short copy text and long copy text.
Use elements from sales letters you have written. If you have a large back catalog of previous sales letters, chances are very good that you can find something worthwhile to model. And since the work is your own, there is an excellent chance that you will be able to match the tone.
If all else fails, look at the last line of each paragraph, and the opening sentence that follows. Re-write one of both of these sentences to ensure smooth transitions.