Six Essentials of Letters.md

Six Essentials of Letters from The Robert Collier Letter Book

1. The opening, which gets the reader's attention by fitting in with his train of thought and establishes a point of contact with his interests, thus exciting his curiosity and prompting him to read further.
2. The description or explanation, which pictures your proposition to the reader by first outlining its important features, then filling in the necessary details.
3. The motive or reason why, which creates a longing in the reader's for what you are selling, or impels him to do as you want him to, by describing, not your proposition - but what it do for him - the comfort, the pleasure, the profit he will derive from it.
4. The proof or guarantee, which offers to the reader of the truth of your statements, or establishes confidence by money-back-if-not-satisfied guarantee.
5. The snapper or penalty, which gets immediate action by over your reader's head the loss in money or prestige opportunity that will be his if he does not act at once.
6. The close, which tells the reader just what to do and to do it, and makes it easy for him to act at once.