Unfortunately, many marketing letters do not end with a compelling call to action. When you're developing your marketing plan you always want to think about what is next? What do we want our reader to do? That is why you need to create intriguing and compelling offers that motivate people to take that next step.

Marketing letters are a very powerful tool.

How can you maximize the business potential of giving a speech? Rainmakers don't simply rely on someone in the audience happening to call them. By the same token we don't want to waste a lot of time with people who are unlikely to ever purchase our services and just happen to be at the meeting for the camaraderie.

What we want to do is to offer them incentives to self-nominate themselves for future contact while screening out those unlikely to actually buy our services.

In my last article I gave you a template for hooking the reader’s attention. It’s important to reiterate that the purpose of the first sentence is simply to get the reader to read the second sentence.

Not surprisingly, the purpose of the second sentence is to get the reader to read the second paragraph. If we can get the reader to read the second paragraph then we have a good chance that they’ll go down the entire slippery slope of readership and read the entire letter.

"I started off speaking because I had always heard that it was a good way to build your reputation. In the beginning I would speak to anyone who would invite me. In a way that was good, because it gave me the chance to hone my speaking skills, which weren't that great in the beginning. Toastmasters and a personal coach help me gain the confidence I needed.

Let me tell you a quick story. Perhaps you will find it relevant.

In the early 1990s Fortune magazine decided to do an article on selling. The question they set out to answer was:

Why were some people so good at selling while others so blatantly bad?

To find out the answer the writers interviewed 24 top sales performers across a broad spectrum of fields.

We've all experienced that sinking feeling you get when you look at an empty computer screen or a blank sheet of paper. Starting to write is the most difficult part of the process, and this is where formulas can help get you over that initial speed bump.

The first and easiest one is the interview. You can interview colleagues, clients, prospects or even yourself, if you're so inclined.

"One of the concerns I had about calling on key decision-makers was determining what I was going to say. My experience had been selling much lower in the organization and I considered myself pretty effective at the standard features and benefits presentation. I knew that this wasn't going to be enough if I was fortunate to get the attention of the top person.