Still more ways to open up a sales letter:

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Still more ways to open up a sales letter:

Posted Feb 17 2009 in Direct Response Marketing

We’ve been talking about opening lines a lot, lately… and today I’m going to give you a virtual brain-dead way of opening up a sales letter or almost any kind of communication.

Heck, you can open up a love letter to your wife this way, and it would get her attention, and you can definitely open up a speech using the same technique.

All you do is open up with a nice, simple, fact.

Here are a few examples of what I mean:

“Americans are drowning in debt… and the only life preserver close enough to grab on to, is about to run out of air…”

Or this…

“At 15, she left home… at 17 she was pregnant and in jail… and at 25 she was running one of the largest publishing empires in Nova Scotia. Here’s what happened:”

Who wouldn’t want to read the rest of that story, right?

Or this one, which you can send to your wife, like I said earlier:

“16 months ago I had nowhere to go and I was at the end of my rope. I didn’t know which way was up or how to get there.”

Simple, right?

So when and how does this work best?

Well, typically it works best when your fact is provocative — opening up with “Ivory soap floats” isn’t going to motivate anybody to do anything…

A good story basically unravels and tells itself. All you need to do is get out of the way and write in plain and simple English, making everything come alive as you go along.

The other thing you want to think about is that this works because you’re just entering into the conversation. You’re not opening up with some sort of a stupid preamble about the fish on the wall or any other time-wasting nonsense about the news or what the weather is today.

Your prospects don’t have time to waste, and Lord knows I hope you don’t either.

So next time you write, think about “engaging” your prospects instead of selling your prospects. This is a subtle but powerful shift in thinking that leads to dramatic changes in how you communicate, and in the intensity of your relationship.

And that’s good.

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

P.S. Copy My Success… If You Dare!: http://www.kingofcopy.com/ssnl

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Categories: Direct Response Marketing

About the Author

Craig GarberAuthor of "How To Make Maximum Money With Minimum Customers, " and publisher of Seductive Selling - an offline marketing newsletter currently read in 15 countries, world-wide. In a nutshell, I do two things: 1. I show you how to attract a reliable, steady stream of pre-qualified leads who are ready to do business with you NOW... 2. And I increase your net profits and cash-flow, by increasing your customer, client, or patient value -- often, dramatically. How do I do this? By developing, and helping you implement, unique, personalized lead generation and marketing strategies... using compelling sales messages that push your customers emotional buy-buttons. I've worked with over 300 clients in more than 104 different industries, since March of 2000, and I really enjoy what I do. I'm a stable, reliable, happily married family guy with three kids who loves life and always follows through on my commitments and promises. I love to listen to music, workout, read, travel with my family, take pictures, and go bass fishing. I always say "Yes," when it comes to good cigars, good books, and good coffee :-)