How does this sound?
Today, I'm going to show you how to get a fifteen page sales letter read from beginning to end and keep your prospect magnetized to *every* paragraph along the way. Impossible?
The real magic behind these magnetic sales letters is not some mystical skill or secret formula but rather a simple copywriting concept that has been around longer than most of us have been alive. It's one of the Grand Secrets behind copy that gets read?and that means your pitch has been delivered? and that's how sales happen!
Fortunately for you and me, the concept I'm referring to is almost a long-lost art among new copywriters. (And that's a darn shame? because it's so easy to use, once you take the time to learn the details.) So, what am I referring to?
The good ol' "Bucket Brigade".
Listen, every great copywriter employs this technique - either knowingly or unknowingly - to get their long sales letter copy read from start to finish.
Case in point; Many readers of this letter will be familiar with a guy by the name of Yanik Silver. A few years back he released a product into the market- place that he called 'Instant Sales Letters'. That package generated a *huge* amount of interest and even greater profits for young Mr. Silver even though when his sales letter for this product (when printed out) was *over* FIFTEEN-PAGES LONG!
Mr. Silver is not alone either?
It's a fact that several of my best selling products (and some of the best selling products of our time - or any time) have made use of long sales letters WITHOUT losing a prospects' attention and WITHOUT losing any sales!
So just what is the Bucket Brigade?
You've been reading it, all through this newsletter. All through every piece of copy I've ever written. Take a look at the first words of the paragraphs above. The phrases "listen"?"case in point"? "it's a fact"? "what's more"? and "what, you ask" are all proud members of the Bucket Brigade.
Simply put; the Bucket Brigade words and phrases are "keep reading" words and phrases. These are the hard working words that get your copy read!
Here's the scoop: (That's another phrase in the Brigade. :-) In the days before fire departments got organized, townsfolk would fight a fire by lining up and passing buckets of water from the nearest pump to the point of the blaze. Another line passed the buckets back to the pump.
This was the "Bucket Brigade" in action.
Moving the water along briskly. No let up. No pauses. The buckets went in a fast, efficient, linear direction to get the job done.
Early copywriters adopted this term to explain the job of certain "keep reading" phrases. Used at the beginning of key paragraphs, these phrases and words made a simple promise to the reader: Don't quit reading now - I have something really important for you right here. Don't stop, or you'll miss it. Why do you think some of the worst storylines in existence have generated millions of dollars in revenue? Because they were sold to soap opera studios that specialize in the Bucket Brigade's psuedoname - CLIFFHANGERS!
Yes, the television industry learned this secret and uses it EVERYDAY to get some of the most boring programs known to man to be watched religiously day after day because it ends just at the point of our greatest intrigue?
So tomorrow - we're back to find out what happens to seductress Suzy and the cable-guy after his fiancé died while getting a facial from a mysterious stranger that's probably the love-child of Suzy's father's brother - (twice removed, of course :-)
The most common blunder rookie copywriters make is to assume the reader will "hang in there" while the writer wanders around making a far too convoluted pitch.
Let me help you with that theory?
AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN!
The instant you bore him, or confuse him, or ask him to "bear with you" while you mumble and equivocate? he's outta there. Sale lost.
Whenever I consult with people I'll almost invariably encourage my clients to use this simple 'trick' at the bottom of each page of a letter or ad: Split the last sentence, so that the reader has to turn the page to continue reading and finish the thought.
People can't stand?
?not having the full story.
Most people don't get it, but you *don't* want to give your reader even a slim chance of losing interest. See if this rings a bell?
Were you one of those that sat glued to your TV screen waiting for the next installment of those old Buck Rogers serials?
Can you remember why (if you did?)
Yup, it was because of those 'Cliff hanger endings' :-)
Good Ol' Buck is last seen dangling off a precipice by his fingertips? and the reel ends. *Aaargh!!!* It would drive you nuts because you'd want to find out what happened?but you'd have to come back next week to find out how he got out of that precarious situation.
(Don't worry - he got out just fine :-)
It got you to 'turn the page.'
It's the secret to keeping them reading.
At page four of a twelve page letter, they might be getting a bit fatigued, but if I gave them the opportunity to take a rest - by finishing a thought, a sentence and a paragraph at the end of the page, so they could say "Oh, I see" - then I could lose them FOREVER?so?
DON'T do that!
How many times have you seen an ad or sales letter that really got your attention and come back to finish it later?
My guess is 'NEVER'?
People don't typically come back to advertising copy 'later' or 'after tea'. You've lost them. They're gone. Don't be afraid to keep this same sort of tension going all the way through your copy - you might even want to use it at the beginning of every single paragraph.
You want their curiosity burning at super-high intensity each time their eyes move down the page.
The Bucket Brigade does this so smoothly: "Not only that" ? "But wait - there's more"? "And check this out"? "One more thing - it's important"? "And that's just for starters"?"We're not through yet"? "It gets even better"?"Do you understand what this means?" Or, you can startle them: "You think I'm lying, don't you?" "The doctors were sure I was going to die." "So I stole it."
NOW PAY CLOSE ATTENTION BECAUSE?
I'm going to give you the answer to a question that I've heard from quite a few of my clients. They always want to know, "Okay, so the 'bucket-brigade' is great?but how do I memorize all of those words and phrases to use in my copy?
Nothing could be easier :-) Just use the old journalism trick of "who, what, why, where, when and how". "Who else uses this secret?" "What does this mean for you?" "Why would I share such a valuable tactic with a stranger?" "Where did I find this information?" "How would like to see it for yourself?" Using this one simple technique in your copy WILL impact your conversion rate. You will make more sales and you will generate more leads.
The good old Bucket Brigade will lead your reader in a fast, linear path straight from your headline to your sales pitch.
No let-up in tension. No chance for her to conveniently put your copy aside "to finish later". Believe me, they'll have to make an effort to tear their eyes from the page? and that's in your favor all the way.
So let's hear no more whining such as "but that sounds like some corny info-mercial" It's only corny until the checks start coming in. Then, it's music to your ears!
Copyright 2005 Marvin Haycock
Marvin Haycock is the world's first and most celebrated Internet marketing super spy! He has made a full time living on the Internet for the past 3 years and is the driving force behind trend setting products like "The 16-Minute Speed Reading Audio Program", "The Platinum Software Collection", "7-PROVEN Insider Secrets" and the "Bulletproof List Building System". He reveals all of his secret marketing strategies at his website: http://www.SecretAgentReports.com