Self-help entrepreneurs need copywriting that relates to their prospects at a deeper level. The sales letter is not all about selling your product or service. The main purpose is to begin to establish a relationship.
In the self-help arena, you need to build the relationship first. You don't make the sale first in order to establish the relationship.
When you have a message that helps people solve personal problems, it requires that a relationship and trust be established before the prospect will buy into your message of hope.
So how do you establish this relationship in a sales letter? The following keys are based upon the assumption that most self-help entrepreneurs are in their particular niche because they personally came out of that problem.
• Identify with the emotional struggles your prospect is going through relating to the particular problem you solve.
• Tell only enough of your personal story to let the reader know that you identify with their struggles. The sales letter is mainly focused on the reader, not you and your story.
• Describe the efforts you tried which were unsuccessful in helping you overcome the problem. Do you know why those efforts did not work?
• Write out some of the common frustrations of staying stuck in this situation. Now turn them into questions for the reader. "Have you ever felt . . . ?" "Are you tired of feeling . . . ?" "Have you tried . . . and . . . to overcome this problem but still couldn't break through?"
• Identify how your approach to solving this problem is different from other approaches. This is your Unique Selling Perspective. This must be identified and stated several different ways so your reader will understand exactly how your product or service (message) is different than others and how it can help them to finally overcome their problem. Use the language of the person stuck in this problem. If you use generic terms for this problem, you'll lose your reader in an instant. They're looking for someone who understands the deep issues they're going through.
• Identify the emotional blockages you and your prospects go through in order to break free from this particular problem. Since you have overcome the problem, many times the prospect is not aware of some of these blockages. Don't assume your reader has these blockages, but you might share them as further insights for the reader to consider.
• Identify the benefits you received by finally resolving this problem. Don't just list the obvious benefits, but go deep into your heart to find the underlying peace and perhaps a brighter outlook. Can you identify any additional benefits you received that you never thought of while going through the problem?
• Your testimonials should include specific elements of the problem that were solved by your product or service. What was the "ah-ha" moment for each person giving a testimony?
These keys will be sprinkled throughout your sales letter in the appropriate places. It's important to remember that when you have a message that changes a person's life, rather than selling something like a computer, it requires this deeper, heart-to-heart approach.
The goal is to have your soul touch the soul of the hurting person you want to reach. To do so requires you to be emotionally vulnerable. Sharing the above keys will put you in this position to connect with the heart's desire of your reader.
Other ways to improve your message can be found in my free report "The 7 Missing Elements In Sales Letters For Self-Help Messages" at http://www.christiancopywriter.org
Kathy Williamson provides wisdom and insights in her copywriting and coaching thanks to her 12 years experience as a non-professional counselor on hotlines. She also wrote a book on overcoming addictions. Her expertise will help you identify your unique slant on solving problems, and how to go from one-on-one services to one-to-many programs.