Want More Sales? Write A Barry Bonds Sales Letter

by Dean Phillips

Anyone may use this article free of charge, provided the artticle is
not altered and the resource box remains intact.


I'm not a baseball fan. Never have been. In fact, I hate the sport.
However, I am a Barry Bonds fan. Here's why: Barry Bonds possesses
the exact same intangibles every great sales letter possesses. He's
loyal, consistent, powerful, and hits a ton of home runs, year after
year after year! Those are all things that great sales letters do
and have done from the very beginning.

And believe it or not, of all the aforementioned intangibles, the
number one intangible is loyalty. All great sales letters remain
loyal to one of the oldest of all copywriting basics: the AIDA
formula!

You MUST write every single sales letter using the following classic
AIDA formula. If you are loyal to the formula, the consistency,
power and home runs will follow. That's a proven fact. Here's the
formula:

A=ATTENTION I=INTEREST D=DESIRE A=ACTION

Let's break down each letter, so that you can understand the full
import of the formula:

A=ATTENTION: The very first thing your sales letter must do is get
your prospects attention. The best way to do that is with an
effective headline.

So, what's an effective headline? An effective headline is any
headline that answers this question: "What's in it for me?" That's
all your prospects really care about. What's in it for them? Here's
an up-to-the-second example of an effective headline: "Want More
Sales? Write A Barry Bond Sales Letter."

So, what makes the title of this article an effective headline?
Three things: First of all, I answered the "What's in it for me"
question--which in this case would be more sales. Secondly, I
brilliantly interjected the curiosity factor. I made you wonder what
a Barry Bonds sales letter is. And last but not least, the headline
made you read this article.

And that my friend is the whole point! You want prospects to read
your sales letter!

Now, we come to the second letter in the aforementioned AIDA
formula: I="INTEREST." After you get your prospects attention, you
want to get them "INTERESTED" in your product or service. You do
that by immediately telling them what your headline promises. You
don't waste their time with a bunch of fluff and garbage that nobody
but you cares about.

Tell them what they want to know, starting with the very first
paragraph, and continue to tell them, right through to the very last
paragraph. If you keep them interested, they'll keep reading, right
to the very end--just like you're doing now with this article.

Next comes the third letter letter in the formula: D="DESIRE." You
have to make your prospects "DESIRE" your product or service. And
the way to do that is with benefits, benefits and more benefits!

Remember, just keep telling them what your headline promised. Also,
tell them what they stand to gain by purchasing your product or
service. More importantly, tell them what they stand to lose, if
they don't purchase.

Push their emotional "hot buttons", by using magic selling words
like, new, save, amazing, free, guaranteed, security, no-risk, look
younger, feel better, etc!

Finally, we come to the last letter in the formula, but certainly
not the least: A="ACTION." You want to close your sales letter with
a call to action! In other words, ask them for the order. It's
important to ask for the order at least six or more times.

Here are a few examples of effective closes:

1. "Just click on the button below to order NOW--Risk-Free!"

2. "To get your FREE web site--Order NOW!"

3. "Limited time offer! Order NOW!"

Something else that's very effective is to include a post- script
(P.S.) at the end of your sales letter. Your post-script should
include an enticement of some sort, to get your prospects to order
NOW. You should also use the post-script as a final call
to "ACTION!"

Here's an example of an effective post-script:

P.S. If you order within the next 7 days, you'll also receive a
personalized calculator mouse pad absolutely FREE, with your
company's name embossed in gold lettering! Order NOW!"

You can also use a post script to tie everything together, by
summarizing your most important benefits.

Another reason that you should use a post-script is strictly
elementary. Studies have shown that most people, when reading a
sales letter will read the headline and then immediately zoom right
down to the bottom of the page to check out the price, and see if
your offer is anything that they'd be interested in.

WARNING: Don't be fooled by the simplicity of the AIDA formula. It's
been proven over time. It's powerful, and it works. In fact, the
power is in its simplicity.

Also, when writing a sales letter, there are two critical points you
must NEVER, EVER forget:

1. Most people don't make a buying decision based on logic. They
make a buying decision based on their emotions. They justify their
decision with logic, after the fact.

2. People don't want to feel like they're being coerced or pushed
into anything. They want to feel like they arrived at a buying
decision completely of their own free will.

Go back and read those two points again. Obviously, that's a very
fine line to walk. But you MUST learn the distinction, if you want
to master the art of writing effective sales letters.

In closing, follow the AIDA formula faithfully and it will rarely
let you down.

And remember, when writing your sales letters, ALWAYS, ALWAYS,
ALWAYS answer that one question we all want to know: "What's in it
for me?"

Dean Phillips is an Internet marketing expert, writer,
publisher and entrepreneur. Questions? Comments? Dean can be
reached at mailto: dean@...

Visit his website at: http://www.lets-make-money.net