Sample Chapter
Surefire Secrets of Effective Sales Letters
Masterminding with Yanik Silver
We ALL need to write sales letters -- so I'm sure you
will find this chat very interesting. Our MasterMind
guest is Yanik Silver, author of the “Surefire Sales
Letter Secrets: How To Create A Fortune in Your Business
Using Direct Mail".
Wanda:
Yanik, I use your letter templates, and I think they
are superb tools. Where did you learn writing sales
letters so well? They don't teach that in any school,
do they?
Yanik:
Copywriting is not taught in any school or college to
my knowledge. It fascinated me to be able to put words
on paper and have people send me money or do what I wanted
in response. It's amazing! Studying the masters is
by far the best way to learn. I truly believe nearly
anybody can learn how to write a decent letter. Maybe
it won’t be a control piece for Rodale, but certainly
will be a good letter for your own business.
Wanda:
Could you give us some letter-writing tips? What does
it take to write compelling copy?
Yanik:
First, you should start compiling a 'swipe' file. Look
for letters, ads, mailers that get your attention and
make you want to buy. Keep them in a special place and
study them thoroughly from time to time.
One of the absolute best ways to learn is to actually
take a letter or an ad and write it out by hand. There's
something about handwriting that transfers the writing
into your head. You can learn a lot about pacing and
the structure of a good ad by doing this.
Wanda:
Writing by hand -- I thought that I’ m the only one
who does that.
Yanik:
Another thing --- read the books written by the masters
who have spent their lives in advertising. This will
give you a 30-year education in several hours. I would
suggest these books: "Scientific Advertising" by Claude
Hopkins, John Caples' "Tested Advertising Methods",
"Advertising Secrets of the Written Word" by Joe Sugarman,
"How to Write A Good Ad" by Victor Schwab and a few
others. I have a huge library in my office -- it's
important to read constantly.
Wanda:
What is the biggest mistake people make when writing
a sales letter?
Yanik:
First, a lot of people want to stick their logo and
company name right up front on a letter. Big mistake!
Unless you're IBM or AT&T, that really doesn't help.
Instead, what you want to put right on top is a
benefit-driven headline. This way people will
continue reading. You've got only a few seconds to
get people's attention or to end up in the waste
paper basket.
Wanda:
So, you mean it is better NOT to send a sales letter
on a business stationery.
Yanik:
It is important to keep your logo and company name out
of that prominent position which is better served by
a headline. You should have your logo and company name
somewhere, but I'd save it for the end of the letter.
Unless you're sending a letter to your own customer list,
to people who recognize and already trust your logo.
Another mistake people make when writing sales letters
is taking too long to warm up. Get to the point fast.
You've got to hit people right between the eyes with
the biggest benefits up front. Many business people say
they want to wait and save that major benefit for the
end of their letter. Wrong! Chances are that if you
keep it for later, your prospects won't read it.
Another big mistake is not asking the reader for action.
People seem to always wimp out of asking readers to
order or to call. You've got to tell people exactly what
to do! And, of course, you really need to have a compelling
and irresistible offer to make your letter successful.
Wanda:
What about the length of the letter?
Yanik:
There's really no ideal length. Your letter should be
only as long as it needs to be. If you are selling a pack
of gum, you really don't need to tell much about it. But
if you are trying to sell a piece of industrial equipment
that will be used for years and years, that's a different
story. You need to try and answer in your letter every
objection a prospect possibly has. When trying to persuade
someone to part with their money and when you can't react
to their objections in person, you need to write longer
letter.
Prospects will read anything you give them as long as it
isn't boring. I was just shopping for a new car, and
I would read everything about it --- unless the copy was
boring. I have a letter that is 20 pages, and it works
great for me. It's a free report selling my marketing
program to cosmetic surgeons.
Wanda:
What about addressing letters?
How important is knowing the name of a person?
Yanik:
Typically, you'll see better results if your letter can
go to a person and not a position. But if you can't do
that, then try it without the person's name.
There's a marketing guy named Bob Morrison, and he would
get better results simply mailing to a company when
marketing his book "SOB's Guide To Business Success”.
Wanda:
Talk about a provocative title! Can we be too forward in
direct mail and lose potential leads in the process?
Yanik:
Yes, it comes down to what your market is comfortable with.
However, I'd say most people are too cautious and timid to
do anything that might offend some people.
Another important thing: you shouldn't write your letter
in a style full of big words and fancy vocabulary. It is
much better to bring your writing down to a simple
6th-grade level.
Wanda:
You talk a lot about emotional appeal. What works better:
appealing to people's pain or to their desires?
Yanik:
Both! I usually like to bring up the pain they're feeling
up front and then hit them over the head with it –-- it
really gets an emotional reaction. Then I create the solution.
And closer to the end of the copy I'll mention all the great
stuff they could be giving up by not acting right away.
I use a full array of psychological triggers. Let me share
a few of these. These really get me giddy!
The first is using a reason why. There is some built-in
mechanism in people's heads that helps them justify action
when they know the reason why. Even something as simple as
writing or saying "because" triggers this.
That's why whenever I have a low price or whenever I want
to justify anything, I will give readers the actual reason
why. You know if you have a sale on your product and you
take 50% off --- nobody thinks you're doing it because
you are so nice. So you should tell people the real reason
why you're doing it. Maybe your showroom is packed or you
need to finance your girlfriend's apartment. Whatever it
is, people react very favorable to a reason why.
Wanda:
You mean saying "This is priced so low because..."
… or something like that?
Yanik:
Yes. And then give a reason. People respond to that. For
instance, in my sales letter selling the Instant Sales
Letter program I tell people the reason why the price is
so low is because I deliver the templates and bonuses
over the Internet so it doesn't cost me much. That's
a powerful justification for the low price. This is after
I've built up the value saying that I charge at least
$1,000 for a tiny copywriting project (which is true).
John E. Powers, a copywriter from the 1900s worked for
Wannamakers, and he would advertise: "We have a lot of
rotten raincoats we want to get rid of", and they would
be sold out the next morning. Or for neckties he wrote
"they're not as good as they look, but they're good
for 25 cents." I love that!
Using stories also works very well. There's a famous
sales letter used by "The Wall Street Journal" which
talks about two kids graduating from college and how
their lives are similar except for one thing. One reads
the "The Wall Street Journal", and the other doesn't.
Then when they get together for some school reunion, one
is the CEO, and the other is stuck in middle management
position.
Wanda:
So, we should use storytelling in our sales letters, right?
Yanik:
Right. Here is another trigger: scarcity. If people see
that something will not be available to them any longer,
that object gains additional value to them. All auctions
work on this principle. You create a certain bonus that
is only available to the first 100 people. Very powerful.
Wanda:
What about those multi-step campaigns? How can you make
them successful?
Yanik:
Multi-step campaigns are great! It is a recipe for getting
double-digit response rates. In one of my campaigns, I sell
an expensive marketing course to cosmetic surgeons. If I did
not follow up with these prospects I'd lose 50% of my sales.
I've seen studies that said 80% of sales come after six contacts.
The key to making multi-step campaigns work is to first use
lead generating advertising to get the reader to raise a hand
and ask for a free report, video or more information. There's
an incredible amount of money to be made in follow-up.
I think people give up on their leads way too easily. In fact,
I will regularly mail to my "dead leads" and get a return of
$10 for every $1 spent on a high-priced product.
When it comes to Internet marketing, Yanik Silver says most of
the popular advice is dead wrong. He’s discovered a much more
profitable way to quickly and inexpensively launch web sites
which sell e-books, audios and other types of information products.
I highly recommend them!
Order this e-book
for only $19.95
