Two Quick Formatting Tips That Will Boost Response To All Your Ads and Sales Letters

1. Don’t end a page in your sales letter — or a column of copy in your ad — with a period.

2. Put a footer in the bottom right-hand corner of each of your sales letters that says something like “go to next page.” If you run multi-page newspaper or magazine ads, do the same.

Here’s why: When you end a page (or column of copy) with a period, you give your readers a chance to stop reading. Bad! Very bad! Instead, you want to think of your promo as a greased slide, where, once they get on, there’s no way for them to stop … until the very end, when they whip out their wallets and buy. Let’s say, for example, that your prospect is reading your sales letter and is near the end of a page … and the phone rings.

If he can finish that page because you ended it with a period, he is much more likely to do that and answer the phone. Doesn’t have to be the phone. Could be ANY distraction. And once he is distracted, he may never get back to your letter. And what may have been your one chance to get an order will be gone forever.

Remember this: DELAY IS THE DEATH OF A SALE. Once you’ve hooked ’em, don’t ever, ever give them an opportunity to get away. Could you imagine a salesman, in the middle of his pitch, saying, “Excuse me, I have to go to the bathroom”? Another thing that helps keep your prospect moving down the greased slide is a footer that says “go to next page” or “go to page 2.” (I like to put the footer in parenthesis and bold italics. Use the bolding to draw attention; the italics are optional.)

I can’t tell you how many sales letters cross my desk without these simple response boosters. And I’m not talking about letters written by amateurs either. Advertising and marketing gurus (I won’t name them here) make this mistake too … OFTEN! There’s no reason for it (other than laziness or sloppiness).

Don’t make this mistake yourself. It’ll cost you money. It’s also a good idea to try to make your pages end with a cliffhanger — just as you are getting ready to reveal a secret or something important. Here’s an example: “Not only will I tell you how to DOUBLE your income in 5 days or less, I’m also going to reveal a (go to page 2) … Or something like that.

Here are a few other sample phrases you might use:

* (go to the next page)

* (next page, please)

* (Please go to the next page and continue reading …)

* (turn over)

* (over …)

Study sales letters and ads to find others that you like. Personally, I like to keep the footer simple but specific. This is not rocket science, but it sure can make a big difference in response … and it’s so simple to use. So why not do it?

(Editorial Note: Scott Haines is the editor of ETR’s Monthly Marketing Genius, which gives you access to secrets and techniques responsible for hundreds of millions of dollars in sales revenues. Click here to learn more: http://www.agora-inc.com/reports/XCW/WXCWD501/. Visit Scott’s copywriting resource website at http://www.killercopysecrets.com.)