A lot of people shy away from writing their own ads and sales

letters when it's really not necessary. If you have even a basic

grasp of writing skills, you can easily write your own stuff that

really sells. You probably just need a few pointers about format

and language.

When formatting an ad or a sales letter, put the most important

benefits right up front. Put yourself in the customer's shoes and

ask yourself what the customer will really go for. Focus on

that point.

Keep your sentences short and simple. Sales copy needs to be

crisp and clean or people lose interest. With simple sentences

you can steer clear of confusion and get right to the point of

the ad. Take it a step further in your classified ads and

alternate complete sentences with catchy two and three-word

phrases.

Break your copy into short sections. Professional writers often

keep their paragraphs to two or three sentences. This makes your

copy much easier to follow.

Use visual tricks to grab attention. Use headings and sub-

headings to emphasize your most important features, and use

bulleted lists when describing product features.

Include a P.S. in sales letters. Most people read the P.S. first.

Use it to restate your main offer, and then add a special bonus.

Include a time limit to get the good deal. This encourages

people to buy more quickly.

And finally, once you've got your sales letter or ad set up in

this clean and simple format, make sure you're using clean and

simple language to match, and not gobbledygook.

We all know what gobbledygook is, it's that overcomplicated,

cliched and unnecessarily formal language that can either totally

confuse us or just put us to sleep. Either way it loses the

customer, and loses you the sale.

In an effort to seem smart or serious or professional, bad

business writers often end up using gobbledygook. I see sales

letters and emails all the time with business-speak phrases like

"in our considered opinion" and "enclosed please find." This

makes the seller sound stuffy and unapproachable. Simplify these

into everyday language. Write how you would speak: "we think"

and "here is," are much better choices. Customers relate to

conversational language.

If you follow these pointers you should be able to come up with

some pretty good copy. Keep plugging away at it, and you'll find

you get pretty good. Who knows? People might even start coming

to you for writing advice.

Kevin Nunley provides marketing advice, copywriting, and

promotional packages. See all his tips to help your business

or career at http://DrNunley.com Reach Kevin at

kevin@drnunley.com, or 801-328-9006.