Want More Sales? Write A Barry Bonds Sales Letter

I'm not a baseball fan. Never have been. In fact, I hate the sport. However, I am a Barry Bonds fan. Here's why: Barry Bonds possesses the exact same intangibles every great sales letter possesses. He's loyal, consistent, powerful, and hits a ton of home runs, year after year after year! Those are all things that great sales letters do and have done from the very beginning.

And believe it or not, of all the aforementioned intangibles, the number one intangible is loyalty. All great sales letters remain loyal to one of the oldest of all copywriting basics: the AIDA formula!

You MUST write every single sales letter using the following classic AIDA formula. If you are loyal to the formula, the consistency, power and home runs will follow. That's a proven fact. Here's the formula:

A=ATTENTION I=INTEREST D=DESIRE A=ACTION

Let's break down each letter, so that you can understand the full import of the formula:

A=ATTENTION: The very first thing your sales letter must do is get your prospects attention. The best way to do that is with an effective headline.

So, what's an effective headline? An effective headline is any headline that answers this question: "What's in it for me?" That's all your prospects really care about. What's in it for them? Here's an up-to-the-second example of an effective headline: "Want More Sales? Write A Barry Bond Sales Letter."

So, what makes the title of this article an effective headline? Three things: First of all, I answered the "What's in it for me" question--which in this case would be more sales. Secondly, I brilliantly interjected the curiosity factor. I made you wonder what a Barry Bonds sales letter is. And last but not least, the headline made you read this article.

And that my friend is the whole point! You want prospects to read your sales letter!

Now, we come to the second letter in the aforementioned AIDA formula: I="INTEREST." After you get your prospects attention, you want to get them "INTERESTED" in your product or service. You do that by immediately telling them what your headline promises. You don't waste their time with a bunch of fluff and garbage that nobody but you cares about.

Tell them what they want to know, starting with the very first paragraph, and continue to tell them, right through to the very last paragraph. If you keep them interested, they'll keep reading, right to the very end--just like you're doing now with this article.

Next comes the third letter letter in the formula: D="DESIRE." You have to make your prospects "DESIRE" your product or service. And the way to do that is with benefits, benefits and more benefits!

Remember, just keep telling them what your headline promised. Also, tell them what they stand to gain by purchasing your product or service. More importantly, tell them what they stand to lose, if they don't purchase.

Push their emotional "hot buttons", by using magic selling words like, new, save, amazing, free, guaranteed, security, no-risk, look younger, feel better, etc!

Finally, we come to the last letter in the formula, but certainly not the least: A="ACTION." You want to close your sales letter with a call to action! In other words, ask them for the order. It's important to ask for the order at least six or more times.

Here are a few examples of effective closes: