Wouldn’t it be nice if you simply followed a template when writing your sales letters? Something a step by step guide to writing effective copy? I’ve struggled with poor copywriting skills and writers’ block for most of my life. But I’ve learned a step by step sales letter technique that makes writing sales copy easy! (I like easy)

In this portion we are going to discuss Emotions. Emotions are the reason why people buy – usually painful emotions, but there are 10 hot points, or emotional angles that you should try to cover, if applicable:

Security

Will this method make things stable in their life? Will it prevent danger?

Sex

Does this method make them more appealing to the opposite sex?

Power

Does this method give them control over themselves, their environment, or others?

Immortality

Will this method extend their life or allow them to leave a legacy?

Wealth

Will this method make them rich or provide them with a rich lifestyle?

Happiness

Will this method bring true happiness in any area of their life?

Safety

Are you sure this method is safe, assuming other methods are unsafe.

Health

Will this method make them healthy (slim, attractive, strong, smart)

Recognition

Will this method impress their friends?

Love

Will this method increase time with family or improve relationships?

These are the emotional hotbuttons. The more of these that you can really connect to a customer with, the more likely your sales copy will perform. You do not have to use all of them, but whatever emotional hotbutton you choose to use, describe it very well and really understand how it affects your target audience.

For my writing, I take this list and think about how to integrate each into my sales letter. Then I go to images.google.com and look up images to help me understand my customer. Are they frustrated? Alone? Tired? etc. I look for pictures that help me visualize this single person, then save them all to a folder. I keep the folder open in thumbnail view as I’m writing my sales copy.

Wikipedia also lists a great table of emotions, which I think is worth reviewing. I go down the list below and check off each one that applies to my audience. Once I know exactly how my audience feels – my writing comes to life (after a few revisions of course).

Here is the list of core emotions:

Here are some Advanced Emotions to Consider:

Here is the list of emotions sorted by category – I use this list to fully understand the pain of my customers:

Go ahead and compile a psychological profile of your customer – it will greatly enhance your sales letter writing!