Before you actually write the e-book we are going to write the sales letter first. Now I suggest you write it in Microsoft Word and save it. Then we can transfer it to the main “Sales site Page” when we are designing our basic site in step 5 The main reason we are writing our sales copy before we ever write a word in our e-Book is because it hasn’t actually being created yet, which means there is absolutely no limit what you can write in your sales letter. The sales letter doesn’t fit the e-Book; it’s the other way around.
Own you can describe exactly what your e-Book will show to the potential customer. There are no restrictions on what you can write in the sales letter. When the sales letter is completed you can then incorporate all the ideas you have come up with into your e-Book the main function of the header/title is to grab the reader’s attention. The header should be displayed in a large, bold font. This demands your potential customer’s attention and intrigues them to read further on. Include your logo or e-Book cover (discussed later on) close to the header. If you header is not well designed you run the risk of losing the potential customer straight away. Spend time creating your header.
This section promises the potential customer a huge benefit which is almost too good to be true. It’s ok if it’s a bit too unbelievable the testimonials will take care of that. Here is an example of such a headline in this section you include testimonials that old/new customers have sent you about your product or service. You probably don’t have any customers yet so email some potential ones your e-book for free in exchange for a testimonial. When you do start selling you now the testimonials page has assured the potential customer that you can fulfill the promises you made in your header also you have gained a bit of trust from your potential customers so anything else you say that follows the testimonials page will be taken as true. This is the reason why the testimonial is placed at the top to gain trust right away where if it was placed at the bottom after presenting some good sales copy it may be already too late. Info and product in this section you will give info on what your product or service is about. You should show your customers a list of problems in this area. Agree with the customers, on how frustrating these problems can be and how you, yourself dealt with these problems. The key is to show the person that you have a deep understanding in this area and you are an expert on the subject. That is very important. Next you must introduce your product as the solution to the problem.
Then you must have a proper e-Book cover design. This is crucial. Many people have never purchased an e-book so you must give them some idea what exactly they will be purchasing this section is basically telling your potential customer of the benefits they will receive from purchasing your product. Show your potential customers the enjoyment they will get from using the product. Give them as much information on your product as you can. Use bullet points to emphasize the benefits. Put in another testimonial just to remind the person that it’s all true. Keeping their trust is highly important. This is a powerful tactic used to increase sales. Including free bonuses with the purchase of your e-Book will increase the perceived value of the e-Book. Also a deadline on bonuses is also a good way to speed up consumer purchases. Bonuses also reduce the risk of money back returns offering a guarantee to your potential customers takes the risk off their shoulders. A good guarantee is the final bits in the jigsaw that will make the person finally purchase the product. The agreement is such that if the customer is not happy with their purchases then can get a full refund. You must remember that lots of your potential customers will be “first timers” therefore a guarantee puts their minds at ease.

I’ve been doing some prospecting lately and found that every CEO and Sale Manager I speak with has issues with their sales, but few want to do anything significantly different about their sales issues.  Sure they want everybody to do more, better and faster.  However this is the classic definition of insanity – doing the same thing and expecting different results. 

Survival Tips for the New Sales Manager

When I was a young, sales manager it was not really that hard to be good—even great. The recipe for “good” back then was fairly simple: work long hours, teach some type of sales strategy (by example) and occasionally have a pep talk with your team. If you wanted to be “crazy good” you held a sales meeting once a week, worked individually with reps and devised some type of incentive for getting people to do pretty much whatever you wanted. Sure there were challenges and competition and the need to get traffic through the door but somehow we overcame it all and were able to succeed and prosper with a fairly uncomplicated process. That was a long time ago.

Once you’ve written your e-book, you will spend nine times as much energy promoting it as you did writing it. Following are five areas you should cover in your sales letter to promote your e-book.

E-book Benefits: The first thing prospects want to know is WIIFM, egg, for more detail go to: www.killer-sales-letters.com. “What’s In It for me?” So, tell them what problems your e-book will solve for them.

Will your e-book make them more money – so they can spend more time with their family?

Whatever it is, make sure you tell them why your e-book is the key. I once read an article that said that you should list at least 100 benefits, answering every conceivable objection. By doing this, you wear the prospect down until they have no choice but to say “yes.”

E-Book Author: After you’ve told a prospect why your e-book is the answer to their problems, they’re going to want to know why they should buy it from you.

After all, if you’re selling an e-book on a certain topic, somebody else probably is too. So, tell them why they should not only buy your e-book, but why they should buy it from you.

Do you have many years of experience in what your e-book is about; is your educational background compatible with your e-book, for more detail go to: www.sales-letters-secret.com.do you have specific examples from years “in the field” that you can talk about?

It’s up to you to sell you because customers are not buying an e-book. They’re buying your expertise on the e-book’s subject matter. So, you have to sell them on the fact that you are, indeed, an expert.

E-book Ordering: Make it easy for customers to order your e-book by giving them as many options as possible. Remember, most customers are looking for a reason NOT to buy your e-book. Don’t drop the ball at this point.

Online merchants like Papal accept many different types of secure payment options, egg, credit cards, e-checks and bank transfers. Client’s not comfortable ordering e-books online? Offer to accept payment via mail, with the understanding that they will receive your e-book the day you receive payment in the mail.

The great thing about e-books is that they can be delivered electronically. So, after you receive their check or money order in the mail, you can take it to your local bank and cash it and send off the e-book – all in the same day.

E-book Bonuses: Every sales letter should have a P.S. Bundle your e-book offer with other beneficial products. This really works.

You know those late night commercials where you can order, for example, a gins knife and get everything but the kitchen sink with it – all for no additional money. For example, with the purchase of my freelance writing e-course, Launch a Profitable Freelance Writing Career in 30 Days or Less — Guaranteed!, I offer a free writing website.

Tactics like this are akin to the long web sales letter. You give a prospect so many reasons to order that they almost feel like they’d be silly NOT to order.

E-book Back-end Sales: E-books are a perfect medium for creating back-end sales. What are back-end sales? Have you ever been to a free seminar and at the back of the room a table is set up where you can order the presenter’s book, CD, t-shirt, etc. These are called back-end sales.

At the end of your e-book you can offer back-end sales, in addition to bonuses. Whatever it is, make it compatible with your e-book.

Egg, if you write an e-book about how to write and promote e-books, you might offer the following services to your e-book purchasers: create e-book covers, convert e-book files to .pdf, create e-book web sales letters, etc.

There are so many things that go into creating an effective e-book sales letter, but covering these five areas are vital. Good luck!

How to Sell More in a Down Market
 The Leadership Secrets to Dynamite Sales Results
 by R.W. Goruk

 —————————————————————————————————————————-

Following are a collection of excerpts from an eBook written by R.W. Goruk;
“How to Sell More in a Down Market – The Leadership Secrets to Dynamite Sales Results”

Terminology / Acronyms ABC figures: This is the independently audited sales figure for all recognised publications in the UK. By using the ABC figure, you can quickly establish how much the advertising will cost per 1,000 readers.

There are a number of key skills which will help you to be a more effective and successful sales person or account manager. One key skill is to recognise that in the final analysis sales is a numbers game, regardless of the business for which you work or the types of customers and products for which you are responsible. This principle is usually true for assessing the performance of a sales person or sales team, which usually amounts to the simple question ‘did you hit your number?’ However, it is also just as true at the outset of the sales process – the planning phase.

The current housing market is definitely a buyer’s market, but that does not ensure that you will get the home you want — or any home, for that matter. To ensure that your homes for sale deal does not fall through at the last moment, do a little beforehand preparation.

If you are not aware of just who Sun Tzu was, then you may want to order The Art of War. It is an absolute must read for those in business.

More than 2,500 years ago, there was a period in China known as the Age of Warring States. This was an age of great conflict and uncertainty as seven warring states fought for survival & control of China.

For these states to win they sought out any means of gaining advantage over their opponents; those individuals with knowledge on strategy & leadership were extremely valuable and highly coveted.

During this period arose a general from the state of Ch’i known as Sun Tzu. His ability to win victories for his warlord gained him fame and power.

To hand down the wisdom he had gained from his years of battles Sun Tzu wrote a book, The Art of War, that became the classic work on strategy in China. His book, which details a complete philosophy on how to decisively defeat one’s opponent, has given guidance to military theorists and generals throughout the ages.

Military greats and business leaders alike have hailed The Art of War. Former U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell said, I’ve read the Chinese classic The Art of War written by Sun Tzu. Sun Tzu has been studied for hundreds of years. He continues to give inspiration to soldiers and politicians. So every American soldier in the army knows of his works. We require our soldiers to read it.”

Today, Sun Tzu’s appeal has extended beyond the military realm into the world of business. IBM, XEROX, 3M, and many other corporate giants use the teachings of Sun Tzu in their training of executives because business by definition deals with competition.

So in looking at how Sun Tzu can be applied to short sales, let’s look at a few of his teachings and how they can be applied, and be applied successfully.

The Grand Duke said “one who is confused in purpose cannot respond to his enemy”.

This is the beginning of our journey in applying the teachings of Sun Tzu to our real estate business. Without purpose there can not be any victory. Without purpose there can be no success. Most importantly, being confused in purpose leaves you weak and unable to respond properly to the challenges of the real estate business.

For instance, if your goal is to successfully complete a short sale transaction, you have to define your purpose while simultaneously being able to respond to that of your enemy’s; in this case the foreclosing lender.

When we enter into a short sale transaction we define our purpose very clearly. Our objective is to obtain the highest possible discount on the payoff we are seeking and to sell the property by dual transaction immediately at closing to a buyer we have farmed. We also do not want to be involved in any transaction where we are not receiving at least 30% off of current market value and we expect a minimum of $20,000.00 profit per transaction.

This gives a very, clearly defined purpose and allows us to easily respond to our enemies, whether lender or real estate agent. Whatever response the lender gives us in reaction to our short sale proposal, we are not deterred in endeavoring to achieve OUR goal..OUR purpose.

Here are some other really valuable “Tzuisms” that we can apply to short sales.

“Knowledge that does not go beyond what the generals know is not good.”

This means that being successful is more than simply being on the same page. A short sale project is worthless if it’s not effectively communicated to everyone on our team (Seller, Buyer, hard money lender, agent, Title Company, attorney, office staff). As a project leader on a deal, or as an agent representing the project, one must make certain that all are informed, educated and prepared to orchestrate the transaction successfully.

How many real estate agents know how to manage a short sale correctly? Can you truly coordinate a short sale? Are you following the game plan as designed by the Buyer, or are you out there winging it, hoping it all works out? Calling a bank and asking if they accept short sales is transactional suicide. Sending every offer to the bank for approval is short sale suicide.

“If your troops do not equal his, temporarily avoid his initial onrush.”

Do not initially engage a competitor unless you are prepared. In regards to a short sale, don’t ever, ever speak to a bank regarding a short sale until you are prepared to do so. This means the only contact you are to have with a lender is to find out who the contact person is and what their contact information is. That’s it; you are not prepared at this point to negotiate. You are not educated, do not have all of the necessary information compiled, no package has been prepared and if you are just sending offers to the bank without preparing a full package to justify your requested discount then you will not likely succeed and be overrun by your opponent, the lender.

“If officers are unaccustomed to rigorous training they will be worried and hesitant in battle”

In his teachings, Sun Tzu often reiterates the importance of preparation. Proper training, proper education and battle tested experience are crucial. Of great significance is that Sun Tzu believed that training should be distinguished from education. While the latter employs a classroom setting, the former provides hands-on learning. In relation to short sales, you can see how to be a short sale expert; you need to have BOTH aspects. You need to have professional class room oriented educational instruction as well as successful hands-on experiential training. Absent both of these vital components you hardly are an expert. In addition, the value of real estate cross-training is integral to your short sale success.

You need to have knowledge of how things work in a short sale and how things impact a short sale. Issues like latent material defects, inspection problems, double closings, Hard Money lending, loss mitigation techniques, subject to transactions, obtaining deeds, foreclosure law, certain tax ramifications, and much more are parts of a short sale expert’s toolbox. What’s in yours?

“Therefore, when I have won a victory I do not repeat my tactics but respond to circumstances in an infinite variety of ways.”

Each deal is different. Sun Tzu recommends that you examine what you did right or wrong and changing your strategies accordingly. Peyton Manning is a MVP quarterback in the NFL, part of his pre-game preparation is watching every defensive play, from every single game, that his opponent has played that season. When we work our short sale deals we do the same. We review what our opponent is doing, and has done and what position they are currently in.

We look at what REO’s the bank has in inventory, we check their annual report and see what level of non-performing assets the bank has on their books, we sometimes buy a single share of stock so we can obtain various documents and the ability to attend shareholder meetings and conference calls, we see what the level of foreclosure activity they have in our immediate market; I could go on and on but suffice it to say, you need to know what changes you need to make in your presentation and approach and continually fine tune your game.

“The supreme importance in war is to attack the enemy’s strategy.”

The bank wants to make sure they get as much money back from the non-performing asset as they can. In mitigating their loss, their object and purpose is to minimize your profit. It is of the utmost importance that you attack their strategy as forcefully as possible. You have to be in a position of absolute dominance. You do not want to show up to a gun battle with a water pistol.

Our short sale package is over 150 pages once complete. Our template alone is 100 pages. We want our artillery to be armor piercing. We want to go for the jugular and not release until we win. It is of absolute importance to strike hard and attack the enemy’s strategy. If you are not prepared to use every weapon in your arsenal. If you are not educated and trained as to how to wage battle in a short sale setting, then you will succumb to the lender’s strategy.

By the way, you do know they have their own defined personal battle strategy? Don’t you? You do know they are practicing these exact precepts against you don’t you?

If not, you are underestimating your opponent and as Sun Tzu teaches, “He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared.”

The bank will own you if you do not know how to properly and expertly execute a short sale.

“To fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting.”

Your goal, like ours has been, is to reach the point in your short sale business that you no longer need to fight. Become a proven opponent. Get to a point of credibility that once the lender acknowledges your presence, you can go straight to negotiation. No need to neither battle and prove your might nor demean your opponent. A mutual respect has been achieved through previous battle. Our capacity to wage battle and the manner in which we are prepared to do so is known and precedes us. Now, with many lenders, we can break their resistance to our numbers simply by being excellent in what we do. They know what kind of package to expect, they know what lengths we are willing to go. They know we are educated, trained and skilled opponents. We are respected warriors.

We train and educate others to be good soldiers and we’ll teach you as well.

Regardless of what product or service you’re selling, you should be able to relate to her dilemma.

Outdated sales skills fail to address the core issue of how we think about selling and unless we get to that core and change it once and for all, we’ll go on struggling with the same counterproductive sales behaviors.