From The Golden Thread Mailbag …
The Three Fundamental Rules of Selling
By Scott Rempe

This week, I heard from several people who were very impressed with April’s Monthly Copywriting Genius (MCG). (Wait ’til they read May’s issue!) I’ll share one of them with you today – along with a question about "justifying the sale" and some very good news from Diane E.

Let’s start with Bob R.’s comments…

"April’s MCG was excellent! I was extremely impressed with what Herschell Gordon Lewis had to say about direct-response copywriting… And, yes, I did order both of his books. I had a difficult time tracking down "Direct Mail Copy That Sells," since the 1984 Prentice-Hall edition is out of print. However, I finally found a copy from Fox Books in Louisiana.

"Looking forward to May’s MCG. Have a GREAT weekend!"

Hi Bob,

I’m glad you enjoyed April’s issue. The May issue is already posted and waiting for a read. Bob Concoby, a health market specialist, wrote this month’s featured package (for Swiss Flower Pollen). It has mailed over 1.5 million pieces.

Interestingly, Bob taught himself how to write copy by studying what other successful copywriters did. Now he’s a master at it. This is the principle that’s at the heart of MCG. Every month, we take a groundbreaking promotion that’s currently in the mail and deliver it to you to scrutinize until you figure out what makes it tick. If you get stuck on a particular element, no problem. We include a complete analysis of the copy at the end of each issue.

[If anyone who’s reading this hasn’t read MCG, I highly recommend it. Click here to subscribe http://www.monthlycopywritinggenius.com/topcopy/]

Next, a question from Markaye M.…

"Dear Scott: I am recently enrolled in the program and I have a question. I want to know how to identify where the justification of the sale is. When I did the exercise in Part II Section 9, I missed that part of the question and was surprised by the answer. I went right to the end of the letter thinking that was the justification. So I need help."

Markaye, justification of the sale isn’t necessarily relegated to the end of a promo. The justification is there to satisfy a particular principle of selling. Remember, in the beginning of Part II, Section 9, you learned "The Three Fundamental Rules of Selling":

1. People don’t like to be sold.
2. People buy things for emotional reasons.
3. Once sold, people need to satisfy their emotional decisions with logic.

A good copywriter will intuit when a prospect is hooked, and then justify the sale throughout the rest of the package. You should weave rational reasons through your package just as you would weave the golden thread (the major benefit).

Feed your prospects bits of information for their rational brain and follow that up with the more rewarding, persuasive emotional bits that hooked them to begin with.

And for our grand finale today, good news from Diane E.…

"I’m happy to say that it’s only been around three weeks since I’ve started seriously marketing my copywriting services, and I have one client I just signed an agreement with, another I’m talking to today who contacted me through a mutual friend, two more possibilities pending, and another person who has a potential ghost-writing project that sounds very interesting. I don’t even have my website up yet – no time, too much work! So you can encourage people that the work really is out there, and that when they’ve taken the AWAI program, you really do know what you’re talking about when you talk to potential clients."

That’s Great, Diane! Let us know when your website is up.

Thanks to one and all. Keep those emails coming!

Scott