THE END

• Shorten the first name of the writer to sound friendlier and to close the gap between reader and writer: Bill sounds better than William, Kathy sounds better than Kathryn.
• Make the signature legible.
• If you are mailing small quantities (say, a few hundred at a time), print the letter without a signature, then
  The Writing Expert
  I had just logged online and an alert popped up that I had an important private message. These messages tend to always get my immediate attention when I receive them right away. I don’t want to be interrupted while I am working later. So I opened my messenger service to read it.I had been a member of a writer’s group for quite some time and the message was from one
  Successful sales people dress their best when in front of prospects. And so do successful sales letters. Here are some tested sales letter design and layout tips, some of them from direct mail designer Ted Kikoler, and excerpted from The Lead Generation Handbook by Bob Bly.
  
  

  FONTS

  • Use a serif typeface for the body. A popular choice is to set the body in Times Roman and the headlines and subheads in Helvetica bold.
  • Type the body of the letter in black. Use an accent color for subheads if you wish.
  • To add emphasis to your headline, make it bold, a larger point size than the letter, and center it.
  • Make sure your typeface is large enough for your readers.

  MARGINS

  • With a standard 8 ?'' x 11'' letter, set your margins at one inch on all sides.
  • Make the right-hand margin "ragged right" (also called "left justified"; never justify it).

  INDENTATIONS

  • Indent all paragraphs five characters.
  • For block quotes and other copy that you want to highlight, indent the entire paragraph by 10 characters on each side.

  PARAGRAPHS

  • Keep your first sentence and first paragraph short.
  • Limit all paragraphs to seven lines.
  • Single space the letter.
  • Put one blank line between all paragraphs.
  • Never end the last sentence on the page with a period. Always break the sentence in two so that the reader must turn the letter over and keep reading.
  • Do not add "Over, please" to the bottom right. That's patronizing.

  SUBHEADS

  • If you want your letter to look like personal correspondence, do not use subheads.
  • If using subheads, center them and make them bold.
  • Do not set subheads in all caps.

  EMPHASIS

  • Use emphasis sparingly. If you emphasize everything you emphasize nothing.
  • Underline words or phrases that should be emphasized.
  • If you have facts to present, render them as a bulleted list.
  • If you have a number of points to present in order, render them as a numbered list.

  THE END

  • Shorten the first name of the writer to sound friendlier and to close the gap between reader and writer: Bill sounds better than William, Kathy sounds better than Kathryn.
  • Make the signature legible.
  • If you are mailing small quantities (say, a few hundred at a time), print the letter without a signature, then s
    A Look at Color Brochure Printing
    Brochures have become vital in today’s workplace, serving a wide variety of purposes. Some are quite complex and others are simpler; color brochure printing is one of the simpler options. It usually refers to printing using only a single color. Because brochures are extremely versatile in both content and use, a process that uses only one color for both text and images
    lor for subheads if you wish.
  • To add emphasis to your headline, make it bold, a larger point size than the letter, and center it.
  • Make sure your typeface is large enough for your readers.

  MARGINS

  • With a standard 8 ?'' x 11'' letter, set your margins at one inch on all sides.
  • Make the right-hand margin "ragged right" (also called "left justified"; never justify it).

  INDENTATIONS

  • Indent all paragraphs five characters.
  • For block quotes and other copy that you want to highlight, indent the entire paragraph by 10 characters on each side.

  PARAGRAPHS

  • Keep your first sentence and first paragraph short.
  • Limit all paragraphs to seven lines.
  • Single space the letter.
  • Put one blank line between all paragraphs.
  • Never end the last sentence on the page with a period. Always break the sentence in two so that the reader must turn the letter over and keep reading.
  • Do not add "Over, please" to the bottom right. That's patronizing.

  SUBHEADS

  • If you want your letter to look like personal correspondence, do not use subheads.
  • If using subheads, center them and make them bold.
  • Do not set subheads in all caps.

  EMPHASIS

  • Use emphasis sparingly. If you emphasize everything you emphasize nothing.
  • Underline words or phrases that should be emphasized.
  • If you have facts to present, render them as a bulleted list.
  • If you have a number of points to present in order, render them as a numbered list.

  THE END

  • Shorten the first name of the writer to sound friendlier and to close the gap between reader and writer: Bill sounds better than William, Kathy sounds better than Kathryn.
  • Make the signature legible.
  • If you are mailing small quantities (say, a few hundred at a time), print the letter without a signature, then
    Three Ways to Transmit Loud and Clear
    The heart of a fool is in his mouth, but the mouth of a wise man is in his heart. --Benjamin FranklinHow often have you said something that you thought was perfectly clear, only to find out later that the receiver had taken it in exactly the wrong way? A boss’s ability to communicate well with direct reports depends on the capacity to transmit meaning between peo
    .
  • For block quotes and other copy that you want to highlight, indent the entire paragraph by 10 characters on each side.

  PARAGRAPHS

  • Keep your first sentence and first paragraph short.
  • Limit all paragraphs to seven lines.
  • Single space the letter.
  • Put one blank line between all paragraphs.
  • Never end the last sentence on the page with a period. Always break the sentence in two so that the reader must turn the letter over and keep reading.
  • Do not add "Over, please" to the bottom right. That's patronizing.

  SUBHEADS

  • If you want your letter to look like personal correspondence, do not use subheads.
  • If using subheads, center them and make them bold.
  • Do not set subheads in all caps.

  EMPHASIS

  • Use emphasis sparingly. If you emphasize everything you emphasize nothing.
  • Underline words or phrases that should be emphasized.
  • If you have facts to present, render them as a bulleted list.
  • If you have a number of points to present in order, render them as a numbered list.

  THE END

  • Shorten the first name of the writer to sound friendlier and to close the gap between reader and writer: Bill sounds better than William, Kathy sounds better than Kathryn.
  • Make the signature legible.
  • If you are mailing small quantities (say, a few hundred at a time), print the letter without a signature, then
    When You Buy A Franchise Opportunity Be Tough
    In recent years the rush to Franchise has been as much about companies wishing to grow as it is about people wanting to start their own business.Why do companies want to Franchise? Well! It is a case of simple economics; a small company can grow and expand much more quickly and much faster by adopting the Franchise model.To grow quickly small companie
    ding.
  • Do not add "Over, please" to the bottom right. That's patronizing.

  SUBHEADS

  • If you want your letter to look like personal correspondence, do not use subheads.
  • If using subheads, center them and make them bold.
  • Do not set subheads in all caps.

  EMPHASIS

  • Use emphasis sparingly. If you emphasize everything you emphasize nothing.
  • Underline words or phrases that should be emphasized.
  • If you have facts to present, render them as a bulleted list.
  • If you have a number of points to present in order, render them as a numbered list.

  THE END

  • Shorten the first name of the writer to sound friendlier and to close the gap between reader and writer: Bill sounds better than William, Kathy sounds better than Kathryn.
  • Make the signature legible.
  • If you are mailing small quantities (say, a few hundred at a time), print the letter without a signature, then
    The ProsAnd Cons Of Professional Anaheim Mold Removal
    Are you an Anaheim homeowner who suspects that you have a mold problem? If you do, you should get that problem taken care of right away, as some molds can be dangerous to your health. When it comes to taking care of a mold problem, you need to have your mold removed. While there are some instances where you could try and remove the mold in your house yourself, it is alwa
    facts to present, render them as a bulleted list.
  • If you have a number of points to present in order, render them as a numbered list.

  THE END

  • Shorten the first name of the writer to sound friendlier and to close the gap between reader and writer: Bill sounds better than William, Kathy sounds better than Kathryn.
  • Make the signature legible.
  • If you are mailing small quantities (say, a few hundred at a time), print the letter without a signature, then sign each one individually with a blue pen. This creates a look and a feel very close to a personal letter.
  • Indent the entire body copy of the P.S. by five characters so the letter's P.S. stands out.
  © 2006 Sharpe Copy Inc. You may reprint this article online and in print provided the links remain live and the content remains unaltered (including the "About the Author" message).