weak and you didnt promise anything. In essence, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.   12. Use a two-step process   Never try to sell a high-priced product or service in one step. It wont work! Big purchases require a significant amount of education and relationship building. Your primary objective is to get your reader to request more information or come to your place of business. Nothing more. It must be a risk-free action on their part.   People are naturally skeptical. They need to make small steps. Convincing people to go to your website or to your information phone line is a non-threatening step that your prospect may be willing to make.   This is a key pointremember it. It could mean the difference between a successful or failed mail offer. Remember, inform first, and sell second.   13. Write to One Person   When you write your letter you need to mentally block out you, your business, your friends, your prospects friends, and everything else. You should just write to a single person as if they were the only person with whom you are talking.   To remind myself of this sometimes when I write copy I will get an enlarged picture of a typical reader who meets the demographics of my target prospect. In this case it might be a man between the ages of 40 to 55. I put small "problem stickers" on him that represent the problems he has.   Some problems that I might include are not enough money, doesnt need it right now, their problem isnt that bad etc. In addition, your prospect probably distrusts you personally and doesnt believe your solution works. This little copywriting tactic helps me to focus on who I am writing to and what problems I need to address in order to get the person to respond.   14. One Objective Only   Its easy for a prospect to get sidetracked and confused. There should only be one central objective of the direct mail piece. You need to determine this objective before you start writing your letter. This may sound too obvious to discuss but it isnt. If you are trying to get people to call your information line to request a free report, dont confuse them by asking them to come into the store.   All your copy should focus on that one central theme. If its to make a phone call then your testimonials should say, "And when I called the toll free information line" and your benefit section should say, "and when you call right now youll receive" and your call to action at the end of the letter should be, "Call right now."   15. Test and Improve