OK, you've got a killer product, targeted like a laser beam at a well-defined market, and you've put yourself inside that market's emotions. Now, you're ready to write the sales letter to make it all happen.

...but there's one small problem: that big empty white space.

Where do you start??

Just like in 8th grade English, you start with an outline. If you follow the right outline you'll lead your prospects right down the path, almost begging you to take their cash!

And it's really simple:

I. Promise
II. Picture
III. Proof
IV. Unique Selling Proposition
V. Offer

Let's take these one at a time.

PROMISE
Tell your prospect what your product is going to do for him! Identify the particular fear or desire that your prospect has, and tell him how your product will end that fear or fulfill that desire.

Let's say you're selling something terribly exciting - like an accounting system for Web-based businesses. Your opener:

Fellow Entrepreneur,

I've got some incredible news for you. You don't ever need to worry about the IRS again! Not only can you put the taxman right out of your mind, you'll never have to wonder which of your projects is making you money or what sales strategy is really paying off! You can forget all that number-crunching nonsense and concentrate on doing what you started your business for-making MONEY!

I guarantee you'll have their complete attention!

PICTURE
Give your prospect a vivid mental picture - make him 'see' himself already having all the benefits of your promise.

You continue:

Imagine this....It's Monday morning - you grab a second cup of coffee and sit down at your computer to log into BucksUpAccounting. While you were asleep last night, all of last week's sales and expense numbers were updated, your profits calculated, trends identified, and deposits made - all automatically. You look at the summary screen and silently congratulate yourself on another great week, click to pay a couple of bills and you're done! On to the next money-maker!

Now that your prospect can see himself being successful with your system......it's time to give him some PROOF that what you say is true. This is where you give some details about your accounting system, telling him how it was developed by a former IRS commissioner, Ivy League University Business professor and former NASA Web expert to search out all his business dealings on the web, collect all his precious numbers into the right columns and rows and calculate all things perfectly so he never needs to worry about anything.

Notice that last little bit - you remind your prospect of the PROMISE you made, and the benefit you'll provide. In fact, you do that continually, taking every opportunity to keep that PROMISE and PICTURE right in front, all the time.

You continue:

Here are the secrets behind the BucksUp accounting miracle:

* A former NASA Web expert invented a super-stealthy, untraceable way to search out and track all of your web business dealings and collect your sales numbers, expenses, project trend data, and competitor's secrets right from the Internet, without any effort on your part!
* An IRS Commissioner compacted the entire commercial tax code, Federal and State, into a fool-proof number-cruncher that covers all the legal requirements so you don't have to worry! And it updates from the U.S. Treasury Department database automatically!
* Finally, our professor from an Ivy League Business School (we're not allowed to say which one, but it's across the river from MIT!) put all his business expertise and experience into the Profit, Trend and Project Analyzer to help you optimize every aspect of your business!

Now, you build credibility with reliable and believable sources:

Here are just a few of the hundreds of unsolicited testimonials from our files:

From the Desk of R. Perrot CEO, Everything, Inc.

Gentlemen, I sure wish I'd had BucksUp when I was starting out! Never seen anything like it - I've used BucksUp for two weeks now and I'm already 3 gazillion dollars richer!

Willard P. Farquahar, Principal Dewey, Cheatham & Howe, Accountants New York, NY

Gentlemen: In our century of accounting practice, we have never evaluated so comprehensive and complete an accounting product. We shall shortly be requesting rights to license your product for our own commercial use.

Now, it's time to tell your prospect why YOUR product is the BEST AND ONLY ANSWER to his problems. This is your UNIQUE SELLING PROPOSITION.
You continue:

BucksUp is the first accounting system that truly takes most of the work and all of the worry out of running your business. It's unbelievably simple to use, absolutely complete and accurate, always up-to-date, and gives you all of the information you need to make - and keep - your business successful, profitable, legal and worry-free. There's simply nothing else like it available anywhere for any price.

Notice that the PROMISE is back again, with the benefits of the product right up front: no business worries. You've painted the PICTURE and provided the PROOF, and convinced your prospect that you have the ONLY cure to his accounting anxieties.

So what's left?

It's time to CLOSE THE SALE by making a specific OFFER. Make it short and sweet:

Right now, we're making a special promotional offer to introduce the complete BucksUp system to the Internet Business Community. Until now, only chartered accounting firms have had access to this accounting miracle, but now we want all you Web entrepreneurs to have the advantages of a big accounting firm without the paralyzing costs.

Specialized systems like BucksUp cost professional firms thousands of dollars. But you're not going to pay $5,000 - you won't even pay $1,000. If you act in the next 48 hours, you can take advantage of this one-time, special introductory offer and get the miraculous BucksUp Accounting System for only $499.

But you'll have to act fast. The next time you see BucksUp advertised, it will be at the full price of $999. So if you act today, you can save an astounding 50% off the full price.

That's all there is to it! Practise finding these five elements in offers you see on the web, in direct mail, and in magazines. The process will soon be second nature to you, and your sales will soar!

About the Author

Steve Barr writes about copywriting, advertising, and winning people over to his point of view. He is an unapologetic word engineer, has been writing sales copy for 40 years, give or take a bit, and is finally applying what he's learned directly to his own business. He has a copywriting blog at www.writeprofitablewebcopy.blogspot.com