Sales Letter Example That Sells, No Matter The Industry
A sales letter is the page designed to sell your product. You can have a fantastic product, but you won’t earn a nickel if your sales letter lacks sizzle.
Your sales letter should grab a visitor’s attention, prove you provide a solution, remove risk, state a call to action, and hopefully (if done well) generate a sale.
Here is an example of how we write a sales letter…
All great sales letters include the following:
1. Catchy Headers and Subheaders
2. Unique Selling Proposition
3. Stated Product Benefits
4. Testimonials
5. Special Offers
6. Digital Covers
7. Video Demos
8. Exceptional Guarantees
9. Trust Building Techniques
10. Bonuses
11. Follow-Ups
12. P.S.
Catchy Headers and Subheaders
Your main header, also referred to as a H1 tag, can:
o Target a pain point. “Are You Losing Your Hair?”
o Highlight a benefit. “Now You Can Re-grow Your Hair… Without Chemicals!”
o Invoke curiosity. “Can Broccoli Prevent Hair Loss?”
o Include keywords.
Your subheaders will follow the same format as your header. These two work best when they attack the reader from two different angles. Your headline could invoke curiosity, while the sub-headline makes a bold claim like this “Now You Can Re-grow Your Hair… Without Chemicals!”
Example Headlines for a Sales Letter
o Who Else Wants _______?
o The Secret of _________
o Here’s How You Can (benefit) Without (problem)…
o Little Known Ways to _____________
o Get Rid of ________________ Once And For All!
o WARNING: This Letter Is For Serious __________ Only.
o Are You Still Suffering From _________?
o Are You Making These Same Mistakes?
o At Last! The (credibility indicator like “Bestselling” or “As seen on Oprah”) System That Is Revolutionizing ___________
o Save Yourself 30% on _________ By Following This Simple Steps
o How I Went From (loser) to (winner) in Just 2 Weeks!
o How To (Cook Thai Food) Like The (Locals)
o 56 Ways ____________Saves You Time, Work and Money
Highlight Your Unique Selling Proposition
This is where you subtly demonstrate to your reader that your competition sucks. To do this, examine your competitor’s sales letters, noting the benefits they offer- and more importantly, those they lack. Even if the two of you are selling the same product, you can position your offer in very different ways. Are they offering a money back guarantee? Do they fail to cover a specific topic that your explain in detail? Discover your competitor’s weaknesses and demonstrate them to your prospects… Chances are, your prospects will shop around before committing, and it pays to plant the seeds of doubt in their minds about your competitors. Remember that subtlety is the key; you don’t want to smear yourself as well!
Focus on Benefits, Not Features
Don’t rattle off the features of your product; explain to your prospect how they will benefit from it. For example, if you’re selling air conditioners, people aren’t interested in the features (e.g. voltage, wattage, what type of plastic it’s made of, etc.) they want to keep cool during summer!
To ensure you’re listing benefits instead of features, ask yourself “How does this feature help my prospect?” List your features, then add the word “which” after it: whatever follows is a benefit. For example:
o Low power requirements, which lowers your energy bill.
o New polymer plastic casing, which cools your house faster than traditional models.
o Timer setting, which saves you the hassle of getting up in the middle of the night to turn it off.
I’ve heard this phrase so many times I practically recite it in my sleep, and yet, so many people forget this simple law of copywriting. Bullet points tend to work best in sales letters, as they are easily scanned by readers. Keep in mind that your prospects aren’t interested in every single benefit your product offers, just the ones that apply to them. By listing off dozens of benefits, you are increasing the likelihood your prospects will come across one or two main benefits they are most interested in, and buy your product.
Include Testimonials
My wife and I were on Ko Phi Phi Island in Thailand (where the movie “The Beach” was filmed) getting ready to grab a bite. While looking at a map, a couple of guys came up to us and recommended a restaurant saying, “This is the best restaurant we’ve been to on the island. You should check it out.”
Guess where we went for dinner?
We didn’t personally know these guys, yet we trusted them. This demonstrates what is known as social proof – people making decisions based on someone else’s experience. If you’re interested in something and you see that it has worked for others, you are more likely to trust them and-case in point- buy it. Testimonials are a great way to demonstrate social proof to your prospects; they can see for themselves that your product works and provides value to real people without you forcing it down there throats. Rather than singing your own praises, why not let your satisfied customers do it for you?
Here’s two ways to gather testimonials:
1. When you’re first testing your product (that is, the product you haven’t created yet) ask people you know personally if they can provide testimonials citing your expertise in a specific area applicable to your product.
2. Once you create and sell your product, follow up with the customer via email and ask for a testimonial. Here’s what I use:
Dear ,
Thanks for taking our free course on . Many others have written to tell us how this course has helped , and I sincerely hope you feel the same way.
I’d like to ask a favor. We’re always trying to improve our course, and would greatly appreciate your feedback. If it’s OK with you, please take a moment and jot down your thoughts in the box below. I promise not to include any personal information other than your name and city.
Feel free to say whatever you feel. If you have some ideas on how to improve our course, we’re all ears.
Thanks , and I hope to hear from you soon.
Best regards,
Testimonial Box
I understand that has the right to use these comments in their marketing material. I also understand will NOT use any personal information with the exception of my name and city.
Comments:
Make sure to include a personal email address you check frequently in order to stay on top of testimonials as they come in.
Some people recommend offering an incentive in exchange for a testimonial such as a free report, though I’ve never had any trouble securing them with this form. Besides, if your free course isn’t good enough to warrant praise, you probably need to reconsider your product offer.
As the testimonials start to roll in, put them on your sales page as examples your product works!
People Don’t Buy Products… They Buy Offers
You may have the single greatest product in the history of humanity, guaranteed to cure a wide variety of ailments, train your dog to stop barking and initiate world peace, but without compiling it into a dynamite offer your product will fall flatter than a soufflé in a snowstorm.
Think of it this way: when you go to a fine dining restaurant, you’re not just paying for the flavor of the food; you’re also paying for the presentation. Your offer is the presentation; if your prospects don’t like the presentation they won’t even try your product. This is why creating a solid offer is imperative for your system’s success.
So what makes a good offer? Here are the key components you of a dynamite offer:
Have Quality Digital Cover
If you’re creating an information product that includes several downloadable CDs, create a professional looking digital CD cover for each disc. If you have an e-book or special report, create covers for those as well. Be sure to include screenshots of the content as well, which should be professionally formatted.
Include Video Demos
Videos are a great tool for marketing your product and should be used where possible- I’ve used video demos for several products with great success. The process is simple: use Camtasia to record you demonstrating your product while explaining its benefits, then upload the video to YouTube and embed the code they give you onto your website. We’ll talk about video marketing more in a bit.
Offer an Exceptional Guarantee
The main function of a guarantee is to remove all risk for your prospect. You want to make a guarantee so strong they’d feel like a fool for not buying your product. For example, you could offer a 60 day money back guarantee, and allow them to keep all the bonuses even if they decide to cancel. Another method is to allow your prospect to download your product for one dollar, and then charge their credit card the remainder seven days later if they don’t cancel.
Build Trust
When I receive emails from people asking me “Is this for real?” I know it’s time to build a higher level of trust with our prospects. Be sure to include links to your privacy policy, contact information and a brief bio about yourself.
Privacy Policy
Your privacy policy should go something like this:
: Privacy Policy
is committed to protecting the privacy and security of individuals that have contacted us. It is with that purpose in mind that we have formed our privacy guarantee. We realize that the concerns you bring to us are highly personal in nature. We assure you that all information shared will be managed within legal and ethical considerations.
Security of Information
We restrict access to personal information to employees who have a specific business purpose in utilizing your data. Our employees are trained in the importance of maintaining confidentiality and member privacy.
Accuracy of Information
We strive to ensure that our records contain accurate information. If there are any changes to your contact information (e.g. phone number, email, etc.), please email . We will promptly make any necessary changes to update your records.
Changes to Our Guarantee
We reserve the right to revise our privacy guarantee as our business needs change or as the law requires. If we revise our policy, we will provide you with the new policy at that time.
Web Links to Other Web Sites
Links to third party sites may be available from ‘http://www.yourwebsite.com’. Sites outside the ‘http://www.yourwebsite.com’ domain are NOT maintained by and is NOT responsible for the content or availability of linked sites. Recommended links are NOT an endorsement or guarantee of other sites or organizations and are simply provided for reference. The privacy and security policies of linked sites likely differ from and users are encouraged to review the privacy and security policies of these sites.
Contact Information
Buy a P.O. Box at your local post office and use that as your mailing address. Forty bucks a year provides peace of mind; you don’t want your home address advertised to hundreds of thousands of people, right?
It’s always better to include a phone number as well. You can leave your personal number, or get a redirect line through Skype or Vonage. If you receive lot of calls, consider signing up with a call center that will take messages and accept payments (there’s a list of them at the end of this book).
Bio
Including a bio is a great opportunity for you to sell yourself and build trust amongst readers, many of whom want to know a little about a person before doing business with them. Bios typically include the following elements:
o Educational Background
o Professional Background
o Experience with Current Business/Product
o Special Achievements
o Personal Information (e.g. city of residence and family information)
o Picture
All of these are completely optional and depend on your comfort level with sharing information online. internet. There is a fine line between highlighting your knowledge, skills, and achievements and coming off as a blowhard. Remember: the point is to build trust, hopefully to the point of getting a sale.
Offer Bonuses
Once you’ve demonstrated your product provides value and removed risk with a strong guarantee, push your prospects off the fence with a few value packed bonuses. The bonus is all about perceived value; many people in fact buy products for the bonuses themselves! If you’re offering an e-book on Cajun cooking, offer a video that demonstrates how to make roux, and several other Cajun sauces. How about recipes for cocktails that are famous in the South? A list of the best restaurants in New Orleans? All of these are easy to create and dramatically improve the value of your product.
Follow-Up
Let’s say your prospects sign up for a free two week course on southern cooking. They are then presented with an offer to buy the full product. If they haven’t purchased it, they receive another e-mail, but with a twist: this could be a reduced price, an added bonus, or the chance to pay in installments.
State a P.S.
Believe it or not, many people will scroll to the bottom of a sales page first. I do it all the time… once I know I’m on a sales page, the first question that comes to mind is “How much?”
This is precisely why you shouldn’t list your price at the bottom of your sales letter. Instead, use a P.S., or just another headline that reinforces your value proposition. Rather than asking “How much?” they’ll scroll up to learn more about your offer.
This sales letter example should help you craft a profitable sales letter in as little as a week. Write a draft and sit on it for a few days so you can see it with fresh eyes.