Many entrepreneurs don’t know what they don’;t know about sales and marketing. This often has dire consequences for the bottom line. Good sales copy is an example of something that most business owners know nothing about. Dan Kennedy, aka the Millionaire Maker calls creating great sales copy, “writing your own check”.

Basically it is a salesman on paper that keeps working and working without the need for profit sharing or vacation days. There is nothing particularly special or unique about good advertising copy, except that it works. The fact is that most businesses never make use of the power of good advertising copy in any form.

Failure to make use of the power of good advertising copy and it is noticeable in lost profits. Just so it is clear, there is no set “format” for a sales letter to work to create customers. No reason to worry. Take the attitude that even bad copy is close to your goal because there are very specific things you can do to make it good, fast.

First: Hit the library and go to the magazine area. You want magazines from the categories of sports, fitness, health, fashion and entertainment. From each category, pick a specific title and a more general title. For example, in beauty pick up Cosmopolitan and one of the magazines on hairstyles or something. Browse through them lightly and make note of the ads.

A sales letter aka advertising copy most often offers a free report or gift, (although sometimes you can buy direct) and is advertising for a non major corporate entity. The sad truth is that most of your big operation corporate advertising, like the guys who drop $1,000,000 for 30 seconds during the Oscars or the Super Bowl, don’t have the foggiest idea about basic advertising principles and even less about effective sales copy.

Trust me, you’ll know really good sales copy right away. It is interesting to read and makes you interested in the product or service being sold. Put a book placeholder and go get two or three past issues. If you see the same or very similar ad in those back issues, the ad is very likely a successful ad.

What the big companies do is promote a brand with entertaining ads with dancing lizards or whatever. Before you begin to think that sort of thing is real world advertising, remember that advertising must be readily measurable. Did it work or didn’t it. Often, these companies can’t measure the return on the millions spent. This is not for you. You have to get the benefit of your product to the average potential customer right now.

Strategy #2 is to provide your unique benefit to your customer. You want to answer the question: “Why should I be doing business with you and not others offering the same product or service. What is it can you do for them? Always keep that question in mind in creating winning advertising copy.

It is widely documented that a simple USP can have a powerful impact on a business. When Tom Monaghan started Domino’s Pizza, he basically took a fledgling mom and pop and turned it into an empire based on the USP: “Fresh Hot Pizza delivered in 30 minutes or Less, Guaranteed”.

A billion dollar empire ensued. With that USP, and the guts to try to back it up on a mass scale, Domino’s eventually had the big boys racing to catch up.

So you might be wondering where Rule #1 is?

It is the headline. The headline is the first thing that captures the reader’s attention. It is vital. How to put together a good headline is a great topic for future discussions.