BARE NAKED LADIES AND PERSUASIVE WRITING

You can only craft a persuasive letter if you KNOW beforehand WHAT THE PERSON you’re writing to WANTS.

A persuasive letter is essentially selling in print. And if you know what a successful salesperson would "say" to an interested potential buyer then your job is 80% done.

Next comes fact-gathering about the actual product /service you’re selling. Gather your facts, then separate the most important … and most interesting facts … from the others.

List them one by one … and match each with at least one positive benefit your reader will experience if they acquire what you’re selling.

For example, if I wanted to write a persuasive letter about a miniature, vent-less, indoor propane heater I’d make a fact-benefit sheet like the following:

• FACT: Heater is small (20 inches x 28 inches) -- BENEFIT: Compact; easy to fit in any room.
• FACT: Is vent-less -- BENEFIT: Don’t need to cut any holes in walls or install expensive ducts.
• FACT: Has 30,000 Btu capacity -- BENEFIT: Heats over 1,400 sq/ft easily and efficiently.
• FACT: Has 3 temperature settings -- BENEFIT: Saves money heating as little or as much as you like.
• FACT: Has its own Piezo Ignitor -- BENEFIT: Needs no matches or electricity to start.
• FACT: Runs on propane -- BENEFIT: No electricity needed, can even heat your home even if the power is out during a winter storm.

The facts you gather before writing even one word of sales copy are the ingredients for a persuasive letter. You cannot craft a persuasive letter without knowing what your reader wants. And whatever you’re selling won’t have any appeal unless you tell them how they’re going to benefit from it.

So you want to write a persuasive letter. Let's discuss how to do this.

The most important thing you need to know doesn’t have anything to do with writing though. Persuasion relies on understanding human nature, not eloquence.
Think of the most successful salespeople you know. Do they strike you as eloquent? Perhaps. But probably not.

A persuasive letter doesn’t need to be a finely crafted literary masterpiece. But it does need to do something very important - - stir deep feelings within the person it's written to.

But how to do this?

Well … first you need to do a little homework. Fact-finding homework!

Copywriter Gary Halbert gives a priceless tidbit in one of his newsletters every writer of sales copy needs to know. He says that when it comes to sales copy, most people pay attention to the writing part … while neglecting to gather all the facts about what they’re selling first.

A persuasive letter begins with fact-gathering. Gather all the facts you can. Big ones. Little ones. Obvious details. Not-so-obvious. Etc. About …

a) the person you’re sending your letter to …and....
b) the thing you’re trying to sell.

To write a persuasive letter you have to know what the reader really cares about. The best way to do this is simply ASK them.