Trying to create anything “great” is a tough task. You can often help yourself out by using formulas. Using a formula should get you from creating something that ends up being awkward to one that ends up being “good”. If you expected you could create something “great” by putting it into a formula, then ‘Whoops!’, It’s not that easy.
Formulas, by their very nature, come AFTER something really great has been created. Someone analyzes it, comes up with a parameter list, sticks it into a formula, and then shares it with the world. For example, if you wanted to know how to write great headlines according to a formula, you can check out CopyBloggers post on ‘10 sure-fire headline formulas that work‘.
Don’t get me wrong, formulas that are proven can help you go a long way in creating an ad that really pulls, or a race car that really moves, or a persusasion technique that really presuades, etc. But, if you want to create great stuff, you have to know when to push the bounds a little and really tap into the essence of the moment.
Let’s apply this to creating a sales letter and see what happens…
When you’re creating an ad, you hear the old school tell you that after your finished, put the ad down on the table and take a step or two back. Physcially take a step. Not metaphorically. Then, ask yourself, “What’s the biggest thing that stands out on the page?” Then, make adjustments according to what you want the ad to accomplish the most. Often times, you’ll find yourself very surprised.
How can we get a little “art” into the process of a sales letter? Well, I found a new new tool that might help out. It lives here and it’s a called Wordle.
I think the intention of it is to make pretty pictures but I wondered if it could be used for marketing purposes. You see, what it does is analye the words on a page and the more often it finds the word, the more bigger it shows up on the page.
This is, in effect, like taking your sales page and stepping back to have a look at how a person’s subconscious mind mind hear it as they read it in their head. Or, it’s just plain fun.
Pretty cool stuff, huh?
What this site looks like to Wordle
So, you can ask yourself if you’re actually communicating whta you want to with that sales letter?
PS. I typed in my website address and got the picture you see above. Pretty cool to see ‘marketing’ is the biggest word on the page since my site is about helping small businesses with their marketing.
PPS For the detail-noticing reader, the headline for this post seems to have a strikingly familiar resemblance to the CopyBlogger post I referenced above….hmm…..