Here is an article I wrote back in 2006, but it is just as relevant today as it was then…

1) Try to make the sales letter personal. Be very graphic and descriptive and whenever you can relate personal stories and get the reader involved.  This is the hardest thing to do. People are getting bombarded every single day, with ads, ads, and more ads.  I don’t know the real figure but I read somewhere that the average American and I’m sure this may be similar for my overseas readers, is EXPOSED to more than 2000 ads a day!  So when he sits down to his computer, he wants to be entertained and educated, not SOLD SOMETHING!  Try to make your copy fun to read.   Try to keep a “you” attitude throughout the copy.  Write all your copy from you personally – companies don’t write letters, people do, use “I” instead of “we”.  In fact when you have finished your letter, go through it and highlight anywhere that you have used “I’d” or “We’d” and see if you can re-write those sentences with a “you” attitude.  Also when you are done, read the copy out loud and see if it comes across how you intended it to.

2) Don’t sell the product, sell what it will do for them.  People don’t buy desktop publishing software – they buy great looking, professional documents that are easy to produce.  Before you start writing your copy, sit and make a list of features and benefits, you will find it much easier to write the sales copy once you have this in front of you.

3) Keep your paragraphs SHORT!  This is very important, so I will repeat myself – keep your paragraphs short! Also try to keep your sentences plain and simple, avoid the use of words that could even remotely confuse your average reader.  I Know that people who can log onto and use the Internet should be able to read at a higher level, but we’ve all  seen posts on various newsgroups where it looked like the person hadn’t passed fifth grade so don’t assume anything about your readers.

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