Persuading People to Buy – Copywriting Questions Answered for a Business Owner – Part 4

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Author: Carol Bentley

In a recent consultation a client, who is a business owner, asked questions about writing compelling letters and adverts.

In this fourth article he wanted to know how to make his Sales Letters appear attractive and easy to read for the recipient…

Question: OK, I understand about the relevance of the offer (see previous articles on Copywriting Questions Answered for a Business Owner) - how can I make the letter attractive and an easy read?

Answer

That depends on the way your letter is laid out. It can be appealing, attractive and easy to read or it can give the impression of hard work - especially for people who are not keen on reading. Having said that don't go for balanced, aesthetic looks - you want something that draws the eye because it looks a bit odd.

1 - Never put a full-stop at the end of your headline - it stops your reader and they may not continue on to your letter.

2 - Never use ALL CAPS in your headline - it's very difficult to read ALL CAPS - especially if your headline is long. You want your reader's eyes to slip smoothly across your headline and down into your letter.

3 - Position your headline so it is the first thing they see at the top of the page - especially if folded to fit a DL envelope. Your company letterhead or logo does not encourage readership, especially if the person you are writing to does not know you or your company.

4 - Check what shows through the window part of the envelope when your letter is inserted. Is any part of the large, bold text of your headline showing through? If so it could prevent the envelope being opened - your recipient assumes 'junk mail' and bins it.

5 - Use opaque envelopes. If the heavy print of your headline shows through the envelope it could suppress opening.

6 - Never finish a sentence or paragraph at the end of a page, especially the first page. It invites your reader to stop at that point. Let the word or sentence spill over onto the next page.

People rarely stop reading mid-sentence or mid-word so it draws them onto the next page. If you are using Microsoft Word, set your paragraph formatting to ignore widow/orphan controls so you can have single lines of text at the bottom or top of a page. And use manual hyphenation to let words split at the end of a line.

7 - Indent the first line of your paragraphs. It makes the page look friendlier and is easier to read than the modern 'blocked' style. It also exudes the impression of 'old-fashioned' values - which a lot of people really do like.

8 - Keep words, sentences and paragraphs short. No more than 6 lines in a paragraph. And vary the number of lines in your paragraphs to break up the page.

9 - If using bullets or numbered points - do have a line gap between each point. In Microsoft Word you can add a line space before each paragraph - just press Ctrl + 0 (zero) to add or remove the line space before the paragraph the cursor is on.

10 - Use no more than three fonts in your letter; 1 for the headline big and 'blocky'; 1 for the main body of your letter with a slightly larger, bold version for your subheads and one for any quotes / testimonials you are including in your letter.

11 - Use a serif font for the main body of the letter. A serif font, such as Times or Courier, has a small tail at the bottom of the letters. This draws the eyes along the word and makes it less tiring for your reader.

Do you have a Question you want answered? Visit http://www.CarolBentley.com and Click on Got a Question?. I'll send you an answer and might include your Q&A in a future article.

Carol Bentley; author of 'I Want to Buy Your Product... Have You Sent Me a Letter Yet? (How to create powerful sales letters, advertisements, flyers, brochures, web pages and newsletters that persuade hundreds, or even thousands, of additional customers and clients to buy from you!)***** Rated 5-star on Amazon.co.uk by 7 reviewers.