Article Advise

submitted: Jun 9th 2008 | by: ScottNelson | Total views: 2 | Word Count: 670 | |

One of the biggest mistakes made by business people is operating with prejudice based on ignorance. In the crucial areas of sales and marketing, this mistake is made most often by neglecting the absolute most effective vehicle for obtaining new customers and reigniting the interest of existing ones. An important mentor of mine, Dan Kennedy calls it "writing your own check". This vehicle is known commonly as a sales letter.

Basically it is a salesman on paper that keeps working and working without the need for profit sharing or vacation days. There is nothing particularly special or unique about good advertising copy, except that it works. The fact is that most businesses never make use of the power of good advertising copy in any form.

This omission is devastating to the bottom line, or at least what the bottom line could be. To clear it up, there is no one way or format to create a blow them out of the water, panting for more sales letter. So have no fear.

To get started: Go to the nearest library and pick up a pile of magazines from the popular genres. The areas you are most interested in are sports, fitness, health, fashion, and entertainment. Pick a specific category within the genre and then a more general one. In the area of health and fitness, pick up Men's Health and then more specifically one dealing only with getting bulky through weightlifting. Read through them and focus on the ads.

A sales letter aka advertising copy most often offers a free report or gift, (although sometimes you can buy direct) and is advertising for a non major corporate entity. The sad truth is that most of your big operation corporate advertising, like the guys who drop $1,000,000 for 30 seconds during the Oscars or the Super Bowl, don't have the foggiest idea about basic advertising principles and even less about effective sales copy.

When you find really good sales copy you'll know it. You'll know it because it is interesting in that it makes you interested in the thing they are selling. Mark it with page tag and go get two or three of the previous issues of that magazine. If the ad is in there again, it is safe to say that it likely has been a success.

By way of comparison, the ads you see during a popular prime time show are focused on mass marketing of products to a generally large audience. They use things like talking horses and the like. Keep in mind that they usually have no clue of the effectiveness of their millions spent. That is not wise advertising. They have the millions to spend. You must bring the general public who has never heard of you what the benefit of your product is and make it clear right away.

Rule #2 is to convey a unique benefit to your customer. The question to answer is: "Why should I be doing business with you and not others offering the same product or service?" What can you do for them? The ultimate question.

It has been written many times over about the power that a simple USP (unique selling proposition) can have for a business. Tom Monaghan, founder of Domino's pizza took a fledgling pizza joint in a college town (he lived in the back room at the beginning) by carving out special turf in the brutal market of pizza with: "Fresh Hot Pizza delivered in 30 Minutes or Less, Guaranteed".

That simple USP frankly brought the big boys to their knees and had them playing catch up.

So you might be wondering where Rule #1 is?

It is the headline. The headline is the first thing that captures the reader's attention. It is vital. How to put together a good headline is a great topic for future discussions.

About the Author

Scott Nelson is an entrepreneur with "Texas" style. Building over 20 new Businesses in his lifetime, he has had quite a few Top Wins with just as many hard "Life Lessons". With some ingenuity and good copywriting training he will help you skip some hard lessons. Get a totally unique version of this article from our article submission service

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