The techniques described by the author in this simple but effective book are easy to learn. The author explains a systematic process in writing the ultimate sales letter that gets read and achieves results. Overall, he describes 28 steps involved in designing, creating, and getting your sales letter to the right prospects. The book is less than 200 pages long and doesn't take more than a couple of hours to read. It does take a lot longer to implement the ideas presented though.
Here are a few things I learned in the book that really surprised me -
1. That some mail delivery personnel hate junk mail and hence do not deliver it (this is against the law but a small percentage still seemd to indulge in this criminal behavior). There are some good tips on how to minimize the chance of your sales letters being perceived as junk mail.
2. The concept of 'comparing apples to oranges' in presenting price to your customer. I have always had reservations about doing this but after reading the explanation in the book, I am no longer opposed to adopting this highly effective practice. The author has a very compelling argument on why this is the right thing to do.
3. Mailing a mockup of the sales letter to yourself to see your own gut reaction to your marketing material arriving at your mailbox. This seems the most logical thing to do but I have never done it. From now on, I am always going to mail myself a mockup package before placing an order with my printer.
The book is full of these kinds of surprises and hence the reason for the 5 stars in this review. This book is probably one of my top 10 high value purchases of 2003.
The most important lesson I learned after reading this book - never underestimate the difficulty of writing a great sales letter and be wary of letting someone else write your letter. If it is your business, there is no one more qualified to write this letter than you. Spend the time and read this book. You won't regret it. After a couple of negative experiences, I now design most of my marketing material myself.
Good luck!
When my book came out I wanted to give seminars on how to sell by phone. I wasn't sure how to go about it, so I decided to do direct mailouts to local companies in my area.
The first letter I sent made me $1,500. Dans right about people. 90% of us stand over a garbage can and look through our mail. My letters 4 pages long!If they're not interested, wheter it's one page or twenty they won't read it. If they are interested, they'll read the entire letter no matter how many pages.
I can assure you, by using Dans methods,when someone calls you from one of his letters, he's a high probability prospect.The letters are better than cold calling!Buy the book, there's really no way you can fail.You'll also find two books that go very good with Dans.Words that Sell and Phrases that Sell.You'll get thousands of ideas to help give your letter impact.Buy the book, this guy knows his stuff.
Great job Dan!
