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Sales letters. They can be difficult to write, especially when you are so close to your product or service. Because readers scan first and read the details later, sales letters are even more challenging to write.

A sales letter can be found on a website, a landing page, a blog, or an email. It simply acknowledges and talks about the pain or problem your prospects have, then positions and presents a product or service as the solution . There is no limit to what you can use a sales letter to accomplish. You can use a sales letter for something such as a free report, or to sell a product or service. You could even use a minisales letter to ask readers to take a survey if you wanted to.

Sales letters need to engage the reader and really speak to him or her on an emotional level– a good sales letter will get inside your readers’ heads and hearts and make them believe what you offer is going to make things better.

Below are a few tips to remember when writing a sales letter:

1. Create a swipe file. Find at least three sales letters that intrigue you and make you want to buy. Preferably, those that actually made you take action. Before you begin writing, read through them to get a feel for what they say and how they say it. You’ll start to see a bit of a pattern that you can use to create your own letters. Do this step each time you write a sales letter–it warms up your brain.

2. Know everything you can about your readers. Ask and answer as many questions as you can. What keeps them up at night? What kind of car do they drive? Where do they live? What do they do for a living? Post your answers for easy reference as you are writing your copy.

3. Decide what you want the reader to do. Are you trying to sell something straight from the page? Are you trying to get the reader to sign up for a free teleseminar? You need to know your call to action before you start to write. Jot it down, and keep it next to you for reference.

Quick Tip: Be sure your call to action is clear. Tell the reader exactly what you want him or her to do.

4. Fast draft a few working headlines. Your sales copy headlines and subheadlines needs to grab and never let go. Your main headline needs to promise at least one major benefit the reader will get if he buys your product. Now, some writers think you should wait until you’ve written the letter to come up with the headline. My suggestion is to come up with “working” headlines you can use to keep yourself on track. If you can come up with three or four, you’ve got the beginning of your sales letter.

Quick Tip: It is very easy to go off on a tangent when you are writing a sales letter. The call to action and the headlines will keep you focused.

5. Ask compelling questions. Grab your reader’s attention by asking a question that hooks the reader and refers to at least one benefit of your product or service. It should be a question that gets his or her mind racing, not one that could be answered with one word.

For example, if you are selling face cream, you might ask, “Would you like to look five to ten years younger and have smoother skin?” Then you answer that question.

6. Show, don’t tell, readers how your product / service is the answer. Tell a story. Give examples. You need to build credibility as soon as possible. Tell them who you are and why they need to listen to you. You want to tell them all about the special features and benefits of your product and make them visualize how it will help them with their problem or relieve their pain. Tell them if you’ve been there and how you fixed it.

7. Know the usual objections and weave answers to them throughout the letter. Relieve doubts and suspicion as you write. This is where your testimonials will be valuable. Let the readers know you understand their doubts and fears and show them why they don’t need to doubt or fear anymore.

8. Show the reader how your product is better than the competition’s. Believe me, if the reader has been trying to solve this problem for any length of time, he knows what’s out there and will be asking himself that very question. You need to make sure you answer it fully, to his or her satisfaction. Be as specific as possible about the differences, if you know them. If you don’t, you need to do the research and find out.

9. Provide a list of everything the reader gets, including bonuses and your guarantee. Remember, the reader’s concern is, “What’s in it for me?” Remember, readers scan first and read later. Listing what they get in a bulleted list is the best way to spark interest and provide all the information they are looking for in one spot.

Quick Tip: Adding monetary values to each item of the list can “wow” the reader into realizing what a great deal you are offering today.

10. Make the offer. You cannot close a sale if you don’t ask for it. Present the offer with the price tag and a plain, clear call to action.

About the author:

Michelle Salater, owner of Sumer, LLC, is an award-winning copywriter based in the Charleston area. Sumer, LLC specializes in web copywriting , and marketing and promoting websites after they launch.

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