The Importance of writing long Sales Letters

Usually in your copy, the more you write, the better. Ireceive one page sales letters all the time for productsand services and they don't have enough room to tell mewhat they're offering. There's always a debate whether along salesletter works better than a short one. People willsay they don't like to read a long salesletter, but theyare not the customer.

There is no debate what so ever, without exception, a longsalesletter outsells a short one.

The ones that like short copy are the ad agencies becausethey like to write snappy slogans and fancy copy and winawards. There's one major drawback to award winningmarketing campaigns. The awards are based on how creativeand clever you can be and how pretty the marketingcampaigns are. What does that do for you? They look great,but they don't sell.

The only award you want to win is with dollars that areinvested in your company by your customers. Shortsalesletters don't make sense. When you take time to thinkabout it, if you were going to send a salesman out to dohis job, you wouldn't say, "You have to do this in oneminute or less. You can only talk to the prospect for oneminute." Or, "You can only say up to 100 words." If youdon't do that to your salesmen, why would you do this toyour salesletter?

One thing that you want to start thinking is that allsalesletters are is salesmanship in print form. Youwouldn't limit your best salesperson to one or two minutesto make the pitch. The same goes for writing saleslettersand getting people to read it. If what you offer is trulyinteresting to your prospects, they will keep reading andwant more information to help them make their decision. Youowe it to yourself to tell them as much as possible.

When writing your sales copy, if your reader is even halfinterested in your offer, they need detailed informationbefore they even consider buying from you. Lots of it.

And if they are interested in what you have to offer, theywill read as much as it takes to get the full picture.Facts and information give both the confidence and thecourage to make a purchase.

So I suspect that far too many writers are stingy withtheir information because they are afraid of producingcopy, which they think may be 'too long'. They believe thatlong copy will bore their readers. This is far from thetruth.

If you can take it one step further try to paint a picturethat the reader will envision if they buy your product. The art of writing a great sales message is getting theprospect to visualize what you talking about while keepingthem interested enough to want to read on. If you get theprospect to visualize as I mentioned earlier it creates aharmonious bond with you that they can relate to. They thencan see their desired outcome through the benefit of yourproduct or service.

If you can achieve this the reader will be well on theirway to making a purchase. The constant use of the hiddenbenefit will reinforce the need for the reader to takeaction and that after all is what you are intending to dowith your copy, "take action". 

The final point I would like to make on this subject is theorder process. Ask for the order. Do not assume that thereader knows how to navigate your website to the orderform.

Point it out and show it to them. Take them by the hand ifyou must, but please do not be afraid to ask for the order.Asking and showing the order form can increase your salesdramatically.

When you do this back it up again by your 100% guaranteeshowing them they have nothing to loose by buying yourproduct and everything to gain. Make the reader comfortablewith you and your product and show them you have nothing tohide and have their best interests at heart. By offering agood guarantee it will inspire confidence and trust. Thenre-state your offer and direct them to the order formagain. Ask for the order at least 3 times.