Probably the most effective form of advertising is word of mouth. And there is a reason for this. You will more readily take a friend's advice about a product she has used than trust an advertiser's blurb.

One of the lofty goals of a great copywriter then is to be transformed into a trusted friend of the reader. Instead of writing as to a crowd you can write as to one person sitting on a park bench next to you --- a friend. This proven strategy will explain the format of the sales letter used in direct marketing and fast becoming quite popular in online selling.

Letters written in this personal style reduce the buyer's resistance and ushers you into their circle of confidence and advice. The more cold and formal style of writing common to the corporate world leaves the reader feeling small and 'talked down to'-emotionally unmoved.

It's a tenet of effective copywriting that your letter must be emotionally appealing because people buy based on emotions and then justify their purchase with logic. Being guided by our emotions is not just relegated to small purchase but to ANY purchase we make.

In a recent TIME magazine article discussing the skyrocketing house prices, it was interesting to read the author's suggested reasons for this recent real estate craze:

"The boom is as much an emotional story as an economic one. It's about the excitement of potential wealth, the fear of missing out and the envy toward the guy next door who bought for a third of what you paid. … and the embarrassment of feeling too poor for your neighborhood as houses around you are torn down …" --America's House Party - June 13, 2005

Unless your sales message resonates emotionally with your prospects then you'll lose potential sales.

Here are a number of ways to increase the personal appeal of your sales letter:

1. Write as to one person. Imagine that person sitting right across from you and write as you would speak to them. When a prospect reads your sales copy you want him to feel singled out of the crowd and not as a part of some wider audience.

2. Tell a personal story. If you created the product to solve a personal problem then tell this story. The reader will more readily feel akin to you since they are struggling with the same issues.

3. Use your picture within the sales letter if possible. Adding a face to the letter can greatly enhance the emotional appeal of the letter. You must be cautious, however, if your appearance will in anyway offend your market segment. If you are a 'skin head' with bright tattoos and are trying to reach mothers of young children omit the picture and depend on the words.

4. Include your signature at the end of the letter. Even if you are cautious about using your actual signature you can use a handwritten style font as a substitute. 5. Admit to common human weaknesses. This doesn't mean that you have to start a prayer meeting confession session but you can admit to not being perfect. The American public especially likes to know that you are "real", which means that you have a few black spots. People shy away from 'know-it-alls' and 'goody goody' personalities. You don't want to portray this in your copy.

6. Use as many testimonials as possible. If you have customer emails or letters you can ask their permission to use these as testimonials in your sales letter. Again you are sharing a customer's story with your audience. People are interested in people, period.

7. Write in a conversational style by using contractions (I'm, can't, you'll, who'd, etc) and ellipsis (…) to show pauses. This helps to give the letter a less written feel and a more spoken feel. You can also use words that will build a conversational atmosphere such as "Listen up" , "Pay attention here" "I want to talk to you". All these catch phrases make your writing seem more audible than written. Keep in mind that we read by listening to our own voices in our heads. So all writings go through this translation process.

8. Build rhythm and cadence by using punctuations to emphasize important words. For example, consider the following sentence:

"Our research indicated that it takes anywhere from three to five months of REGULAR activity to measure significant changes in health and fitness, so you can expect to see real improvements in six months … IF you stick with a well-planned program of physical activity."

If you read the sentence without the CAPITLISED words " REGUALR" and "IF", then the emphasis of the message changes even though the words didn't. You can do the same to mimic raising your voice, thus giving your writing some spoken quality.

In the same way long sentences and paragraphs show slow, contemplative movement and take some time to digest properly. Short sentences do the opposite.

9. Identify with your audience as much as possible. You of course must 'know' the people you are writing for. Are they afraid? Do they have pains? Are they new parents? What are their common values? Are they patriotic? Being able to answer these questions will help you to tell your story in a way they can identify with. If your situation is totally foreign to your target audience then your job becomes more difficult.

The more personality you give to your sales letter the more persons you'll convince to buy your product or service. Soon you'll benefit from word of mouth advertising as your customers continue to tell your story; which is what you really want.

And you can't get anymore personal than that.