THE SELLING SECRETS OF MILLION DOLLAR SALES LETTERS

    Regardless of what you're trying to sell, you really can't sell it
    without "talking" with your prospective buyer.  And in attempting to
    sell anything by mail, the sales letter you send out is when and how
    you talk to your prospect.

    All winning sales letters "talk" to the prospect by creating an
    image in the mind of the reader.  They "set the scene" by appealing
    to a desire or need; and then they flow smoothly into the
    "visionary" part of the sales pitch by describing in detail how
    wonderful life will be and, how "good" the prospect is going to feel
    after he's purchased your product.  This is the "body or guts" of a
    sales letter.

    Overall, a winning sales letter follows a time-tested and proven
    formula:  l) Get his attention; 2) Get him interested in what you
    can do for him; 3) Make him desire the benefits of your product so
    badly his mouth begins to water; 4) Demand action from him - tell
    him to send for whatever it is you're selling without delay - any
    procrastination on his part might cause him to lose out.  This is
    called the "AIDA" formula and it works.

    Sales letters that pull in the most sales are almost always two
    pages with 1 1/2 spaces between lines.  For really big ticket items,
    they'll run at least four pages - on an 11 x 17 inch sheet of paper
    folded in half.  If your sales letter is only two pages in length,
    there's nothing wrong with running it on the front and back of one
    sheet of 8 1/2 x 11 paper.  However, your sales letter should always
    be on letterhead paper - your letterhead printed, and including your
    logo and business motto if you have one.

    Regardless of the length of your sales letter, it should do one
    thing, and that's sell, and sell hard!  If you intend to close the
    sale, you've got to do it with your sales letter.  You should never
    be "wishy-washy" with your sales letter and expect to close the sale
    with a color brochure or circular.  You do the actual selling and
    the closing of that sale with your sales letter - any brochure or
    circular you send along with it will just reinforce what you say in
    the sales letter.

    There's been a great deal of discussion in the past few years
    regarding just how long a sales letter should be.  A lot of people
    are asking:  "Will people really take the time to read a long sales
    letter?"  The answer is a simple and time-tested, "Yes indeed!"
    Surveys and tests over the years emphatically prove that longer
    sales letters pull even better than the shorter ones, so don't worry
    about the length of your sales letter - Just make sure that it sells
    your product for you!

    The "inside secret" is to make your sales letter so interesting, and
    "visionary" with the benefits you're offering to the reader, that he
    can't resist reading it all the way through. You break up the "work"
    of reading by using short, punchy sentences, under lining important
    points you're trying to make, with the use of sub-headlines,
    indentations and even the use of a second color.

    Relative to the brochures or circulars you may want to include with
    your sales letter to reinforce the sale - providing the materials
    you're enclosing are of the best quality, they will generally
    reinforce the sale for you.  But, if they are of poor quality, look
    cheap and don't complement your sales letter, then you shouldn't be
    using them.  Another thing, it will definitely classify you as an
    independent home-worker if you hand-stamp your name/address on these
    brochures or advertising circulars.

    Whenever possible, and so long as you have really good brochures to
    send out, have your printer run them through his press and print
    your name/address - even your telephone number and company logo - on
    them before you send them out.  The thing is, you want your prospect
    to think of you as his supplier - the company - and not as just
    another mail order operator.  Sure, you can get by with less expense
    but you'll end up with fewer orders and in the end, less profits.

    Another thing that's been bandied about and discussed from every
    direction for years is whether to use a post office box number or
    your street address.  Generally, it's best to include both your post
    office box number, AND, your street address on your sales letter.
    This kind of open display of your honesty will give you credibility
    and dispel the thought of you being just another "fly-by-night" mail
    order company in the mind of your prospect.

    Above all else, you've got to include some sort of ordering coupon.
    This coupon has to be as simple and as easy for the prospect to fill
    out and return to you as you can possibly make it.  A great many
    sales are lost because this order coupon is just too complicated for
    the would-be buyer to follow.  Don't get fancy!  Keep it simple, and
    you'll find your prospects responding with glee.

    Should you or shouldn't you include a self-addressed reply envelope?
    There are a lot of variables as well as pro's and con's to this
    question, but overall, when you send out a "winning" sales letter to
    a good mailing list, a return reply envelope will increase your
    response tremendously.

    Tests of late seem to indicate that it isn't that big a deal or
    difference in responses relative to whether you do or don't
    pre-stamp the return reply envelope.  Again, the decision here will
    rest primarily on the product you're selling and the mailing list
    you're using.  Our recommendation is that you experiment - try it
    both ways - with different mailings, and decide for yourself from
    there.