How to Decide Where the Promise Should Be in Your Copy
Most writers, even experienced copywriters, tend to "warm up" the page before they get serious. Most direct mail copy that I see, and this includes most good copy, has at least several paragraphs at the beginning of each sales letter that sound good but do little selling.
As a general rule, you will probably find the "true lead" on the second or third page.
To find the true lead of any package, cross out everything in the beginning until you get to a single sentence that makes a strong promise. In nine cases out of 10, this is where the sales letter should begin.
Ask yourself, "Where is the big promise?" And then, when you find it, see if the letter wouldn't work better if that were pushed ahead.
[The above article is an excerpt from Michael Masterson's daily e-service, Early to Rise (http://www.earlytorise.com/awai). If you're not on track for reaching your goals as a copywriter, you might want to consider looking into Michael's goal-setting program. Believe it or not, there are a few simple goal-setting techniques that will help you do more by working LESS. Visit: http://www.agora-inc.com/reports/700SDDGC/TGT for details.]
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