Crash Course in Writing Sales Letters Conversationally

By:Sean Mize

What is the secret to sales letters that get read? That sell product? That keep readers reading until the last line? What about emails? Which ones get read? Which ones keep the reader “hooked” until the last line? Why do we buy from some email letters and not others---assuming the same product, same benefits?

I propose that it has to do with the conversational tone of the sales letter or email. Now don’t get me wrong here.

I think there are rules to follow that send readers down a path that leads to a click or a sale. Sure, you gotta ask for the order, you gotta use compelling language.

But after that, some emails get read, others don’t.

Think about your own email box. Which letters do you quit reading after the first paragraph? Don’t know, start keeping track. I do. Which letters do you read until the last word? Are they consistently written by the same authors? What are the common factors?

I suggest that the letters that you continue to read are conversational in tone. You actually feel as though you are talking with a friend, sitting on the front porch with a refreshing glass of iced tea. The family dog is nearby, you can hear the creek running behind the house.

So how do you create a conversational tone?

1) Use shorter sentences. When you talk, do you use long sentences, or do you talk in short sentences? Or phrases? When you are truly comfortable, when you are talking with a best friend, you talk in phrases. You talk in thoughts. Thoughts aren’t thought in sentences. They are thought in phrases.

2) Use word pictures. I love word pictures. I use word pictures in my normal conversation. It really helps people see inside my mind. I love to compare. Compare something logical with something emotional. For example, if I am talking about beauty, I can create a word picture about beauty. Imagine a sunset. Over the beach. Beautiful orange hues. Waves lapping in the background. Short sentences. Word pictures. Now you feel beauty.

3) Write what comes from your heart, unedited. When you are writing, do you constantly edit as you are writing? Do you edit when you are talking with your best friend? No, of course not. Occasionally you may even say, “I take that back, that isn’t what I really meant”. But most of the time, we talk from the heart and don’t edit. Try it.

4) Imagine that you are explaining something to your best friend, who doesn’t know the language of your field. Keep in mind, many of your readers don’t know the language of the field. They are learning--that may be why they are reading your sales letter or email. But they don’t know your language yet.

Just try it. Do you have an email list with at least a few hundred or few thousand names? Do a test. Randomly split the list into two groups. Write a letter using this process, and one using your typical method, and track click-thrus and sales rates. You may be surprised at the results.

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Sean Mize is a successful offline and online entrepreneur and marketer, and is currently writing his third book.

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