Keep Sales Letters Looking & Sounding Friendly

Sales letters are not the same thing as sale flyers. They are more subdued in tone and style, and they address the reader directly and personally. Still, sales letters do not have to be boring or bland. By using some of the following tips, you can make a simple sales letter come to life.

Keep paragraphs short. The long ones tend to create a barrier. That solid wall of words looks like a technical report instead of a friendly opportunity.

Use underlines where they fit. Do not just underline for the sake of underlining. The goal of underlining is to help the reader read faster and to help him get the gist of the message, even if he does not take time to read the entire letter.

Indenting entire paragraphs helps set off different thoughts and ideas. And indenting to a double indent moves the eye away from the left margin, deep into a thought or an important idea. But like underlining, use indenting and double indenting sparingly so the technique does not lose its effectiveness.

One or two lines set to the left margin with a space above and a space below, and using bold, underline, or all caps move the reader along to the next major thought and help him find it if he wants to go back to it later.

Using a different ink color for the signature adds realism. If the signature is offset or laser-printed, the introduction of a second color gives you the ability to add realistic-looking margin notes. These can be very effective when they are neatly handwritten and are used selectively.