Writing a piece of copy to sell your products or services, whether for printed matter or the web, has to have the same energy as a face to face presentation. You remember long ago when you learned how to "funnel" a client into the sales situation where the handshake to clinch the deal was an inevitability? No? Well let me refresh your memory.

Make sure to do your research; always prepare; present clearly without fudging. Sell the sizzle; overcome any objections (by knowing what they are going to be in advance, this goes back to prepare); close. Simple isn't it? No. I quite agree - it wasn't easy then, it isn't easy now (it never will be). But let's break it down.

You have to know what is special about the product (from here on, for product read service and vice versa). Research - get some feedback from the people who make it. Talk to the people who buy it. Get testimonials from people who love it. Research.

Preparation. Take all the research and get all your thoughts down on paper. It doesn't matter how garbled it may seem at first, the more you can get down, the more you have to work with. The sort it all out into some kind of coherent order. Then work on it so that the emphasis is in the right places, and that it all reads well.

Present - It's different when this has to be done in text. You can't gesticulate to make a point, but you can envisage the situation, you can't evaluate the prospect's mood and work on buying signals (body language etc), so you have to find a way of grabbing the ATTENTION of as many readers as possible. This means the headline assumes a great importance. Work on it. It's vital. If you don't grab their attention with the headline, you might as well forget about everything else underneath it. You've wasted all that effort and expense. It's that essential. Next - the sub heading - hold their ATTENTION. If you don't, guess what - you've wasted all your effort after that. Next - 1st paragraph - keep their ATTENTION. If you don't…..do you see what I'm getting at here?

Sell the sizzle. Nothing changes - features and benefits. Displaying the goods is fine - the customer has to know what they're getting. But paint them a picture - tell them how it's going to make their life better / easier / longer / sunnier. Lead them gently down the funnel….

Dealing with objections is rather academic- you'll never hear the objections, how can you deal with them? It's difficult, but what you have to do is empathise. This get easier the more you do it. Read through what you've written, and put yourself in the position of the customer. What doesn't sound right - what's not making sense after you've read all the way down the page? Get a colleague to read it through - and find out where they have to read something twice, and what makes them draw breath through their teeth? In short, find out where the objections would come to the surface, and deal with them in context.

So here we come now to the close. If you have written a great piece of copy, held their ATTENTION, and the customer has read all the way through, closing should come as naturally as possible - it's simply the next step.

It all sounds easy, I know. But if you want to get it right, call someone who could make a difference to your campaign. Copywriting is an important part of any Direct Mail arsenal, and copywriters are more than happy to talk about any projects you're thinking of - and I don't know of a single one who would charge you for making an enquiry!