- Simplicity sells! Short sentences. Short paragraphs. Easy words. You’re not out to win the Pulitzer Prize. You only want individuals to respond to your letter. They will if they understand the benefits of doing so. Keep it simple! - Be explicit with your instructions. The letter must not only detail the great benefits, but tell the person exactly what they must do to obtain them. Be specific and make it easy to respond -- including a postage-paid card or a toll- free number are usually great methods. - Freebies earn responses. Giving something away usually helps the response dramatically. - Convince the reader that the product or service being advertised is backed up by a strong company that guarantees the results and benefits detailed in the letter. Readers must be convinced of the authenticity and the ability to back up the strong comments within the letter. Letters can be 2 to 4 pages in length or even longer and you can probably charge $50-100 per page to write the copy. This is a small investment for a business in exchange for the sales growth direct mail can achieve. In summary, small local businesses are a great source of writing work for you in a variety of forms. THE "READER’S DIGEST ANGLE" Successful writers usually begin by writing about themselves or events which have happened to them. The familiarity about the material makes it easier to write and there is an air of authenticity about the writing for obvious reasons. It is these life experiences which even the beginning writer can fashion into small works that can be published. Anyone that has children has plenty of humorous stories to relate. As television personality Art Linkletter used to point out, "Kids say the dandiest things." If you have a funny story like that, try writing it down. Or if a friend tells you a tale in a similar vein, record it and read it back to them. Practice writing these short pieces. Short anecdotal type writing must relate the story quickly. Short means short! Work at cutting out all the excessive words you can. Trim the piece to its "bare bones," yet don’t lose the humor in it. It’s almost like writing good comedy bits for stand-up comedians. Their material is never overly long. Henny Youngman and Rodney Dangerfield talk in rapid-fire delivery, a joke to every sentence. This is the kind of writing you would ideally do since there are plenty of paying outlets for these funny works. The best known "is Reader’s Digest", who has an array of popular columns like "Life in these United States", "Humor in Uniform" and "Campus Comedy", among others that pay $400 for each anecdote of less than 300 words (1 page, double- spaced is about 250 words). That’s good pay, but you should realize that "Reader’s Digest" receives thousands of submissions each month. If your anecdote is one they think is publishable, it will probably go on a waiting list. But this is one outlet.
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