Tips to Improve Your Letter Writing by C. Richard Weylman The average prospect is inundated with over 3000 advertising messages per day and 57 pieces of advertising mail per week. Therefore, when you write to them you must have everything working in your favor. This applies to whether you are writing to approach them for the first time or to cultivate the relationship. 1. Use simple language. Write to communicate, not to impress. Use easy-to-understand nouns or strong verbs. Lincoln used words of five letters or less in 70% of his Gettysburg Address. Some lively verbs that you can use are prepare, structure, transfer, develop, explore, determine, examine, design, list, create, use, view, organize. 2. Watch those disturbing questions. It takes the mind longer to understand a negative statement than the same idea stated positively. For this reason, emphasize the positive nature of your services. Zeroing in on the negative can hurt reception. The quickest way to destroy the impact of a positive letter is to use negative words. 3. When you've finished writing something important, put it aside for a day or two. You'll come back to it with a fresh perspective and discover better ways to express your original ideas. Ask a colleague to read it for their impressions. They'll always be able to give you new insight. If you're a male writing to a majority of women, have a couple of women in the office read the letter to see if it fits the way they think and feel. The reverse is true as well. If you already have a client in the target market to which you are writing, as them to review it for content, clarity and applicability to them. Quiz them to see if they would respond favorably to your points. 4. Indent paragraphs. Research shows that block style is difficult to read. By indenting you make it easier to read, it sets off the points, and calls attention to changes in direction. It is far better than simply underlining or using bold face type. 5. Keep your sentences short. Kenneth W. Houp and Thomas E. Pearsall conducted research on sentence length. In their book, Reporting Technical Information,they indicate the following: 29 or more words = very difficult 25 words or fewer = difficult 21 words or fewer = fairly difficult 17 words or fewer = standard length 14 words or fewer = fairly easy 11 words or fewer = easy 8 words or fewer = very easy Keeping your sentences short promotes understanding and response. 6. Ask questions before you begin to write. Does the letter respond appropriately to the other party's feelings, perceptions and needs? Does it communicate clearly in their language? What is the message you are trying to convey? Are you positioning yourself or a specific product or service? 7. Tightly edit the finished product to keep the reader's attention. Instead of wordy phrases, think of alternate words that say the same thing. As an example: A great number of - many For the purpose of - for, to Make a decision - decide Since the time when - since At this point in time - now Come to a realization - realize 8. Work hard to communicate with your prospect as opposed to at them. Avoid industry jargon. It may be acceptable with people in the office, but the prospect will have no idea what you're talking about. Worse, it is clear evidence of your insensitivity and lack of focus on the person. The closer your written pre-approach or cultivation piece is to the people, the greater your access. Copyright © 2000 by C. Richard Weylman. All rights reserved. C. Richard Weylman serves as President of The Achievement Group, Inc., a Florida-based a financial services marketing firm and publishing house. As a Certified Speaking Professional, Richard has become a sought-after speaker in the financial services industry because his innovative ideas help agents and advisors build more successful operations. He is the author of "Opening Closed Doors, Keys to Reaching Hard-to-Reach People"and the author of numerous sales, relationship marketing and management audio and video education programs. He was a 1999 MDRT main platform speaker. To receive more ideas and insight on how to market to high net worth people or recruit quality people, hear Richard Weylman live at www.unlimitedprospects.com, or to find out how you can have Richard speak at your next meeting, call 1-800-535-4332 or e-mail achieve@theachievementgroup.com. Enroll in Richard Weylman's free emailed Relationship Marketing Tip of the Week at www.unlimitedprospects.com.