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TIPS OF THE TRADE
ONE
Huh – you say? YOU? Yep. It's YOU. (Repeated here three times just to make sure you get the point.)
If your letter doesn't appeal to the person reading it by using the word YOU as often as possible – then forget about sending it out.
People are interested in mainly one thing: themselves. They don't give a hoot about how your life is going, how your business needs cash, or how your service will save the world. Unless you can show them how those things affect their life, their business or their health – then you've just wasted your time and theirs.
Too many appeals and direct mail pieces take the stance that the reader wants to know all about your problems. They don't. They couldn't care less. Unless you are willing to solve their problems, don't bother to put pen to paper.
TWO
You want another tip? Write as if you are sitting across the table from your reader. Write as if you were just talking to him (or her) on a one to one personal basis. That means forget about the William Buckley school of writing, which assumes most of us really want to hear obscure ten dollar words that a college professor couldn't decode. You don't talk that way. You don't want someone talking to you that way. So don't use it when writing!
THREE
Third tip. People love stories. Start off your appeal with a short story and you've got 'em hooked. Start off with facts and figures and you've got 'em lost. Think about it. Which paragraph would cause you to read on:
It was a cold Christmas day. Little Suzie wasn't opening up presents under a tree in her own home. She was gasping for breath in a hospital, wishing for only one gift – the gift of life. However ....
Did you know that one kid in twenty won't be home for Christmas? They'll be in a hospital – some fighting for life.
Yep – you'd pick door number one. Why? Because it grabs you – tugs at your heartstrings, makes it personal to you. You want to know why little Suzie is struggling for breath – and what you can do to help her out.
Door number two tugs at nothing. It's too abstract. Yea – lots of kids have it tough, you think. But hey – life is tough. We can't help everyone, can we?
The first letter will rake in the bucks. The second will be raked over the coals.
AND MORE ...
There are literally dozens of other "tips of the trade" that will improve your fundraising, direct mail and web copy. And if you start right now and read all you can about it, invest thousands of hours in writing and re-writing appeals of all sorts and nature, take course work that deals specifically with this subject - you'll get to know most of them!
Or you can use us and put your time to better use. Give us a holler at: (402) 827 1668
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