Free Copywriting Tutorials
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The second most important part of your sales letter is the hook or lead. It "hooks" your reader into reading more. It "leads" your reader into reading more. That part right after your headline builds on your headline. It shows the reader, delivers on your big promise. How? Well, you have to create word pictures. You show the reader with these word pictures that you can deliver on your headline. What's the Big Idea? The hook or lead also starts in on the big idea behind the headline. That big idea also helps support your headline. So you paint word pictures with your big idea, you paint word pictures of the possible future after using your product or service. You use word pictures to build with. You tell the reader with word pictures that your product or service will give them the result that they're looking for.
You let the reader know, even more, what's in it for me? Why should she continue reading your letter after you've gotten her attention with the headline? You have to develop that interest. The AIDA Formula Oh, I don't think that I've mentioned the basic formula for advertising. Well, here you go: AIDA. It stands for Attention, Interest, Desire, Action. First you have to get your prospect's Attention. Then you have to develop an Interest in your product's benefits or results. Then you have to create a strong Desire for those benefits or results. Then you have to get the prospect to take some specific Action.
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Don't think that that's all there is to it, because there's techniques to building the whole process that have been honed over time to practically force the reader to take the action that you want. There's different "formulas" (so to speak) to enhance that want, and turn it into a strong NEED that will very definitely aid their survival and progress toward their goals. The AIDA formula is the basis behind every single "formula" today and tomorrow and all the tomorrows that follow. The Hook or Lead is the I of AIDA You've already gotten the reader's attention with the headline. The hook or lead builds on the I, the reader's Interest. There are several types of Hooks or Leads that have proven effective over time. You can state the offer (again if the offer was the basis of your headline). You do this with word pictures. Not just, "You can be trimmer in 4 months for just $4.95 a month." But like the above example, just add the offer. Paint a picture in words. "For the price of one lunch at a fast food joint each month, you can..." or So use word pictures and talk in the future. You can make a prediction about the future. One that paints a picture of the reader or something that will affect the reader in the near future. Something that could either threaten or enhance his or her survival. "The Total CRASH of the Stock Markets in 2005 will create widespread unemployment, poverty on an unheard of level in the U.S., and create an inflation like that of the 1970s. You can protect yourself starting today...." You can challenge a common myth that people typically have. Again, paint a word picture and prove that myth wrong. "You thought spinach was the vegetable with Iron, but you have to eat 12 cans a day to get your daily recommended allowance of Iron...." and you proceed to prove it. You can start telling a story for your lead or hook. Personal stories usually are the best type, but you can tell another's story if you want and test it. Paint word pictures with your story, too. "In 1996 the FBI practically blew up the front door of my neighbor's home. They tore through the house, scattering papers, furniture, breaking dishes and other valuables. One of them even stole family jewelry - and there was nothing my neighbors could do about it! "There was no recourse possible. They couldn't sue the FBI (They consulted with 29 different attorneys who all said the same thing.) They couldn't do a thing. Total helplessness. "All because of faulty investigation on their part. All because of a hacker stealing their phone line late at night doing illegal bank transactions. "I couldn't help but wonder, What if that hacker had chosen MY phone line?" "Now, I can understand wanting to catch the hacker, but what I couldn't understand was why there was no recourse my neighbors could take against the FBI. "Now I do understand. And I know that all 29 attorneys were wrong in saying that there was no recourse possible. THERE IS. After 4 years of digging and researching..." Okay, so that was fairly dramatic, but I hope you get the idea. Tell a story to the reader that directly influences their thoughts, that directly threatens their future survival (possibly), that shows strongly enhanced survival. And create mental pictures using words. You can impart news or information that's not commonly known and that's like a whirlwind. Paint word pictures with the news or information or data or statistics. Tell the person what the statistics mean to them, how it will affect their lives. In the future. "How will your prospects find your web site online? Consider these facts:
"So how does the big picture of all this look in the future? Well, for every dollar that is being bought online today, there's going to be over $1100 being spent. BUT for every business online making that money today, there will be 16,103 businesses trying to get that extra $1105 by the year 2005! So your marketing and promotion then will have to be at least 14 times more powerful then than today. You'll have to spend 14 times more money to get the same results. "At least using common methods of promotion..." There are a couple of other types that aren't usually as effective and take a lot more work, but you have above the main proven types of hooks and leads. Practice each one a couple of times with your own business. Introduce the big idea and develop on the promise in each of the hooks or leads that you write up. They don't really have to be long. Check out what others have done in other sales letters. (Like the sales letters in the Tools & Resources section below.) Make sure that you use word pictures to stimulate the motivations that you chose from the motivations tutorial. Make sure that all of the other basics are IN. See how each one seems to go with the various headlines that you wrote up. You'll quickly see what seems to go best in your particular business.
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