The All Important Opening

By Author: Marianne L Marshall
Total Articles: 4762
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A lot of times we get wrapped up in our products. And why not? We’ve worked for months putting our business together and our products are what people want to buy. When it comes to putting together a sales letter we want to explain every little detail so our prospect can see exactly what they’re getting when they make their purchase.

Isn’t this the way it should be?

NO! The customer doesn’t care about the late nights you spent meticulously researching your product. The customer wants to know just ONE thing: What’s In It For Me? (WIIFM) If you can’t answer that one simple question, you’ll never be able to consistently sell your product or service.

In a sales letter or ad, you have less than two seconds to gain your prospect’s attention. The first major mistake most people make is to start out with a weak headline.

If your headline doesn’t grab attention, then whatever you say in the body copy is meaningless.

The next biggest mistake ...
... is starting any piece of copy with a “me” message. A “me” message is all about you and your company. To your prospect “me” messages are boring! To get your prospects attention you must talk about THEM, not you. You must talk to their pleasure, their wealth, their challenges, their fears, their problems, and their joys. Every prospect is tuned into the same radio station †WIIFM (as in “What’s In It For Me”).

One way of avoiding this after you have written your ad or sales copy is to reread it and circle all the “me” words. Words such as “I, me, we, and our” are “me” words. Rewrite the copy using “you” and “your” words, making it more interesting and exciting to your prospect.

Imagine how much fun it would be to see your profits go through the roof. To do this, you must clearly make your business stand out and apart from all your competition. You must convey your uniqueness without spending a fortune, and the secret is all in the sales copy.

You must create a Unique Selling Proposition (U.S.P.) What do you offer your prospects that your competitor doesn’t or can’t? Maybe it’s a better guarantee, better service, availability (reachable after 9 to 5), better location, or better customer treatment. Whatever you can do to set your business/services apart from your competition gives you the “edge”.

Something many business owners don’t realize or are mistaken about is the “length” of guarantee they offer. Giving your prospect a “2-Year, No Questions Asked Guarantee” is much better than a “90-day,
Money Back Guarantee.”

The longer the guarantee, the more credible you and your business are “perceived” by your prospect. Typically the majority of your customers will never make use of the “2-Year Guarantee.” Let’s face it, by that time they like using your product, and/or they’ve long ago lost the sales slip. BUT, when a prospect reads about the longer guarantee you’re offering, it raises their comfort level and makes them choose you over your competition.

Always remember that when you’re a small fish in a big pond †you must be different to stand out. Making use of good advertising copy filled with words that make prospects eager to satisfy their WIIFM is the answer.
About Author:
Marianne L. Marshall is a writer for entrepreneur-support.com and the author of
Business Articles and