Feedback Form
Home Features Mastermind Forums About Advertise Blog Network Contact Be An Author

6 Simple Rules for Creating Direct Mail That Gets Your Phone to Ring

6 Simple Rules for Creating Direct Mail That Gets Your Phone to Ring

It almost doesn't matter what business you are in, direct mail properly executed works. Sometimes it may not be very economical if you sell a low priced item, but a well crafted letter can get a prospect to take action.

Direct mail specialists always say that direct mail is simply salesmanship in print, yet many direct response letters written by untrained people fail to sell and to follow these 6 basic rules:

1. You must have a headline that attracts attention. The headline is the most important part of a direct response letter and changing it can result in 200% -300% improvements in response, even when nothing else is changed.

2. If you don't create instant interest and value, people won’t read even the shortest letter. Creating interest and value can get the longest letters read more than once.

3. Social proof is one of the most powerful tools available to the direct response marketer. Use lots of testimonials showing that you can deliver what you claim. People want to know that you can deliver what you claim. Other proof mechanisms include specific details, numbers etc. The more specific you are the more your claims will be believed.

4. Write to people in a personal manner. Write to them in the same way you speak to people. Worry more about clearly communicating your message than the quality of your English prose. Use slang, use contractions and remember in copywriting it's OK to begin a sentence with "And".

5. Demonstrate that what you are offering is a bargain. Unless your prospect feels that what you are offering has value and that she is getting more in results than you are asking in costs, she won’t take action. Make your offer as free of risk as possible.

6. Show people how easy it is to order, by explaining exactly what to do and making ordering easy. The more complex you make it the fewer orders you will receive!





6 Simple Rules for Creating Direct Mail That Gets Your Phone to Ring - To learn more about this author, visit Michael Hepworth's Website.

Like this article? Share it with your friends

Article Feedback
 Article Feedback No article feedback found.
  Leave Your Feedback
article feedback

Article Feedback
Stephanie Robey
Stephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals.

She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com   Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences.  Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University.

Read Steph's Blog
Meet Steph and Dave
Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich
- Visit Stephanie Robey's Website

Cheryl Matthynssens

Cheryl is a life skills coach, licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor and a 20 year entrepreneur.  Cheryl's dedication to achieving a life of balance led to her expanding her teaching from the simple managing of life's daily challenges to adding financial well being as well.  A direct marketer with DrinkACT, she is gaining ground in the online community with her concepts of making sure business owners, entreprenuers and employees have well rounded life styles.  She opened up a small affiliate site - The Balance Guide-  to help others find resources for mental and emotional well being.  Visit Cheryl's blog to see more of the diversity beyond business she has began offering online at www.thebalanceguide.blogspot.com

- Visit Cheryl Matthynssens's Website

Kim Castle
With nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website


To learn more about the Evan Elite Author Program please contact us.

About The Author


Michael Hepworth
(Visit Michael's Website) The StreetSmart Marketer's business is training and coaching owners of entrepreneurial service businesses to rapidly become customer acquisition experts. His popular free marketing tips magazine is read by thousands of business owners around the world in more than 47 countries. You can get it free at www.streetsmartmarketer.com

Michael Hepworth is a Platinum author on EvanCarmichael.com
About The Author

View Author Blog
View Author Blog

View Author Video
View Author Video

Free Downloads


Michael Hepworth's

Complete
List Of
Marketing
Articles

Name
Email
Author's Free Downloads
Business Owner Guide Icon Business Owner Guide

More Michael Hepworth
You Marketing Versus Me Marketing
How To Cost Effectively Double Your Client Base
How Many Months Do You Have Left To Achieve Your Dreams
5 Simple Strategies to Boost Your Advertising Results
How Testing Your Marketing Can Improve Your Bottom Line
Become A Recognized Expert In Your Industry
How to Turn a Request for a Discount to Your Advantage
A Marketing Moron
Do you want to improve the effectiveness of your web site
A Creative Way To Get The Tools And Knowledge You Need To Excel
Free Downloads


 
 
 


Evan Elite Authors
Jay Kubassek  
Joe Dager  
Cheryl Matthynssens  
Evan Elite Authors

Become An Author
Have you written articles that would be of value to entrepreneurs? Become an expert on our site by publishing them! Expose yourself to a wide audience, drive more traffic to your website and get more sales! Click Here for details.
Become An Author

Evan's Latest Video
Modeling the Masters: Learn the true secrets behind Walt Disney's business success factors & grow your company! Video produced by Phanta Media
Evan's Latest Video

Business Opportunities
"Learn straight from Evan how you can Make a Full Time Income (And More) from a Website"

How to Start An Online Business

Click Here To Learn More
Business Opportunities



Evan's Newsletter
Get advice & tips from famous business owners, new articles by entrepreneur experts, my latest website updates, & special sneak peaks at what's to come!
Name:
Email:
Evan`s Newsletter

Free Downloads
Get Working Capital Icon Get Working Capital
Entrepreneur Flight Manual Icon Entrepreneur Flight Manual
SEO Made Easy Icon SEO Made Easy
Network More Effectively Icon Network More Effectively
Double Digit Growth eguide Icon Double Digit Growth eguide
Free Downloads - Complete List

Entrepreneur Tools and Guides
Top 50 Business Plan Blog Posts for 2008
Top 50 Business Plans
Top Business Plan Blogs
 
Top 50 Franchising Blogs
Top 50 Franchising Blogs
Top 50 Franchising Blogs
 
Entrepreneur Tools and Guides

SEO For Africa
SEO For Africa
ESTHER QUAYE Accra, Ghana,
ESTHER QUAYE
Accra, Ghana
SEO For Africa

If I Were A Startup...
Catherine Daw, > $4 Mil in revenues
Catherine Daw
> $4 Mil in revenues
Adam and Matthew Toren , $200k to $3.4 Mil in 3 Years
Adam and Matthew Toren
$200k to $3.4 Mil in 3 Years
If I Were A Startup... - Complete List

Famous Entrepreneurs
Coco Chanel, Chanel Inc.
Coco Chanel
Chanel Inc.
Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway
Warren Buffett
Berkshire Hathaway
Famous Entrepreneurs - Complete List

Entrepreneur Advice
David Allen, Getting Things Done
David Allen
Getting Things Done
Guy Kawasaki, The Art of the Start
Guy Kawasaki
The Art of the Start
Entrepreneur Advice - Complete List

Popular Articles
(Premium Authors)

     Time Control
By Swarup Dutta
     What Is a Paradigm
By Swarup Dutta
     The Secret of Paradigms
By Swarup Dutta

Have A Suggestion?
Toronto Salsa Classes / Toronto Salsa Lessons Email us your ideas on how to make our website more valuable! Thank you Sharon from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for your suggestions to make the newsletter look like the website and profile younger entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez and Sean Combs!
Have A Suggestion?

More Evan Carmichael
More Information