On the seventh day of Christmas, Mesmerizzzed! gives to you -

seven direct mail steps,

six customer solutions,

FIVE MARKETING KEYS,

four sales methods,

three pricing strategies,

two engineered products and a focused target market.

Step 1 - Get the list right

No matter how good a job you do on your offer, the most important step in

any direct mail program is getting the list right. Be sure you have

discovered your focused target market and that the people you choose to mail

are the right people.

Step 2 - Get it opened

Creativity starts on the outside. Your envelope must have the right teaser

copy to make it worth the decision maker's time to open. Perhaps more

importantly, you must discover how you get through the gate keeper

(receptionist, secretary, etc.) and be sure it lands on the decision maker's

desk.

Step 3 - Headlines are everything!

Repeat after me - Every letter needs a headline! Every letter needs a

headline! Every letter needs a headline! What does every letter need? A

HEADLINE!!!

Don't just launch into your copy. Take the time to convey the most

compelling benefit you have to offer in your letter - give the reader a

reason to continue reading - or run the risk of having your letter tossed

immediately.

How many headlines should you try before you pick the one you will use? Two?

Five? Ten? Twenty? The answer is as many as you can conceive. We'll often

write fifty headlines or more before we even test the first one - and we

continuously test headlines against the control once we've launched a direct

mail program.

Here's a quick sample from the legendary Jay Abraham:

Headline # 1: "Auto Insurance at Lower Rates if You Are a Careful Driver"

Headline # 2: "How to Turn Your Careful Driving Into Money"

Headline # 2 pulled 1,200 percent better than headline # 1.

How important are headlines to your business?

Step 4 - Long Copy Wins!

We love it when people tell us that our sales letters are too long.

We ask them if they would read every word of a 24-page letter. They

immediately respond "no way!" After we negotiate the bet, I tell them the

headline is:

"This letter is all about YOU!"

We haven't lost that bet yet! They know they'll read every word.

The point is your sales copy needs to educate your reader on why to consider

your offer. If your copy is compelling, there is no rule that says you have

to keep your letters to a page. We routinely develop four, eight, sixteen -

even twenty-four page sales letters for our clients - that sell thousands of

times better than any one or two page letter.

How long should your next sales letter be? Long enough to motivate the

reader to take action now - that's all!

Step 5 - Make a compelling offer!

You must have a CALL to ACTION in your sales letter. There must be something

that the reader needs to do right now - or never have the opportunity again.

You must create urgency - they must do it now!

Everything in your sales letter is leading the reader through to your call

to action. The benefits of choosing your business, your emotional appeal,

your proof and credibility through testimonials, endorsements and awards,

your unique selling proposition, your guarantee - all lead the reader to

take action now!

Don't forget the "secret" closing to any sales letter - always, always,

always include a "P.S." that reinforces the urgency of taking action now!

Step 6 - Measure Results and Test! Test! Test!

You've got to track results. Why? Because you have to learn what works - and

do more of it - and what doesn't work - and stop it immediately.

What are you tracking? How many responses are you getting? How many are

turning into sales? Keep records of each for every mailing. You've got to

learn from the numbers.

You've also got to test. You'll test one envelope vs. another envelope.

You'll test one headline vs. another headline. You'll test one offer vs.

another offer.

The secret is to only test one variable at a time - you can't change the

envelope, headline and offer all at once and learn which variable caused the

change in results. Get in the game for the long haul, not the quick fix.

Step 7 - Commit to a continuous direct mail program!

Have someone ever told you direct mail doesn't work?

Most of the time, they are right. They did one mailing, maybe two, and

didn't get results.

Two things hurt them. First, their mailing probably wasn't designed for the

right target market, with great teaser copy, a compelling headline,

educational sales copy or an "action now" offer. It was a set-up for

failure.

Second, there was no commitment to stay with the program. Prospects need

multiple exposures to even be conscious of your existence. How many times

should you communicate with a target audience before you can expect results?

There's no magic number - although some suggest nine, twelve, fifteen even

as many as twenty-one exposures - but we know it's more than two! So, plan

your direct mail program for the year and start communicating with your

focused target market today!

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