Associations and non-profits are a powerful resource for building and expanding networking and business opportunities. Associations hold conventions, print reports and literature, promote their cause, and use your services!

The Directory of Associations is a comprehensive source of information on associations and professional societies including business and trade associations, 501c non-profit organizations, chambers of commerce, and other charity and community associations.

Available on CD-ROM, in print, and on mailing labels -- or search online and download results using our powerful search interface.

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A persuasive convincing sales letter is a valuable marketing tool. It's also versatile. I regularly use the same text successfully in all the following formats:

* Printed letter for postal mail
* Email message (personal and on an autoresponder)
* Posted as a Web page
* Printed circular for postal mail

Over the years I developed a model to follow when I need a new sales letter. It consistently produces a profitable letter on the first attempt. This model loosely follows the well-known AIDA formula (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action). But I organized the parts of my model letter in a
specific sequence proven to work best. You can copy this same model to create your own successful sales letters.

SECTION 1: GET ATTENTION FAST WITH A LIST OF BENEFITS

A sales letter must capture the reader's attention immediately or it won't get read. Most people accomplish this by stating their biggest benefit at the top of their letter. I've found something that works even better. Start your letter with a list of 5 or 6 benefits. Place the biggest benefit first followed by other benefits in declining order of importance. Here's the format I usually follow:

How would you like to...
* Biggest benefit
* 2nd biggest benefit
* 3rd biggest benefit
* and so on . . .

Prospects won't be able to resist reading more when you shower them with all those benefits.

SECTION 2: BUILD INTEREST BY EXPLAINING HOW YOU CAN PROVIDE
THE BENEFITS

Here's where you describe the features of your product or service. It's the least important part of your sales letter. Try to limit this section of your letter to only 1 or 2 short paragraphs. It may be important to mention the triple layer of new space age insulation built into your picnic cooler (a feature). But that's not why customers buy it. They buy it because they want to enjoy ice cold beverages all day long when they're outside on a hot summer day (the benefit).

SECTION 3: DEVELOP A DESIRE TO BUY WITH LOGICAL PERSUASION

Most people buy things on impulse then look for logical reasons to justify their emotional decision. This section of your letter is where you inject 4 powerful tools to convert the reader's emotional interest in your product or service into logical reasons to buy. They are:

1. A compelling reason to buy from you instead of your competition. This is called your "USP" or "Unique Selling Proposition". It's a unique advantage customers get only if they buy from you.

2. Testimonials from satisfied users. (You do have some, don't you?)

3. Your guarantee. A strong guarantee can easily double the number of orders produced by your sales letter.

4. A powerful offer -- the best offer you can afford.

SECTION 4: STIMULATE THE READER TO BUY NOW

I often see sales letters and Web pages end abruptly with a weak statement like, "Order Now", followed by a printed order form or a link to an online shopping cart. You'll get more sales by gently maneuvering your customer toward the ordering process with the following 3 steps.

1. Command your prospect (in a nice way) to order or buy. For example:

Don't delay. Take advantage of this Special Price Offer. Call NOW to place your order or complete the coupon below and send your order by email, Fax or postal mail TODAY!

2. Explain how to order. This can be part of your command statement like in the example above. Make it easy for customers by providing as many different ways to order as you can (Online, postal mail, FAX, telephone, etc.).

3. Provide an order form but make using it optional. This applies online and offline.

Follow this model when you create your next sales letter. You'll produce a highly effective sales letter -- FAST.

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Bob Leduc retired from a 30 year career of recruiting sales personnel and developing sales leads. He is now a Sales Consultant. Bob recently wrote a manual for small business owners titled "How to Build Your Small Business Fast With Simple Postcards" and several other publications to help small businesses grow and prosper. For more information... Email: BobLeduc@aol.com Subject: "Postcards". Phone: (702) 658-1707 (After 10 AM Pacific time) Or write: Bob Leduc, PO Box 33628, Las Vegas, NV 89133

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As someone who has been running a full-time Internet business for years, I often have to remind myself that there are thousands of business "newbies" who are just starting out. As I get farther and farther into the realm of online business, I find that the basics for starting your own business still hold true.

If you begin with a solid foundation, you increase your chances of success. With that in mind, I'd like to share some of those truths with you now in an effort to help you get started on the right foot.

Build a Professionally Designed Web Site

One of the biggest mistakes startups make is to save money by creating a Web site themselves. Unless you are graphically talented and have a good deal of experience with Web design, I would not recommend this.

Your Web site is ALL that your site visitors have to base their decisions on. Your site's design simply must give your visitor a sense of professionalism, trust, security, and ease. A "homemade" looking site screams "I'm a startup business who has no money and may go out of business at any minute!" You don't want to portray that type of image.

If you can't afford to hire a pro to design your site, that leaves you with one of two choices. First, wait and save some more money. Or wait and learn to do it yourself properly.

Yes, You DO Need To Know at Least a Little HTML

Whether you have someone else design your site or you do it yourself, you'll need to have a good knowledge of HTML basics. No. you don't need to be able to write full-blown code in HTML, but you DO need to be able to make changes to your site, load scripts, and handle several other minor administrative details.

HTML basics are very easy to learn. Once you get a handle on this language, you'll be in a much better position to save time and money when it comes to keeping your Web site fresh and up-to-date.

Content Is King

The saying may be out of date, but the principle is definitely still accurate. People come to the Internet for information. Buyers need to be convinced in order to purchase. Search engines rank your site based primarily on the words on the pages. The whole virtual world revolves around content.

Not to sound like a broken record, but if you aren't able to write compelling copy that persuades your visitors to take action, you would be better off waiting to launch your site. Just as with Web design, you have two choices. First, wait and save some money in order to pay a professional copywriter. Or take the time to learn to do it yourself properly.

Never Use a Free Host

Free Web hosting companies trade you space on their servers for pop-up ads on your site. In many cases, the host uses several pop-up ads. How annoyed do YOU get when you visit a site and seven or eight pop-up or pop-under windows launch? Then don't put your customers through that same aggravation.

There are a multitude of hosts now that charge less than $10 per month. No pop-ups, lots of features, and good service, too. Use one of those as opposed to the freebie hosts.

Pursue Free Search Engine Listings

Search engines (such as Google and AOL) can be an exceptional way to drive traffic to your site. By incorporating just a few "rules of the game," you can rank quite highly in most engines. It will be VERY worth your while to learn about search engine optimization basics. This can be an ongoing source of qualified traffic for you for years to come.

Above all, don't rush! The Internet isn't going anywhere. Those who hurry to throw a site up quickly find themselves with all sorts of problems. If you take your time and get a decent "Internet business education" before you launch your site, you'll bypass many of the struggles most startups have. You'll also increase your chances of success and find that profits come much more easily than you thought!

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Diane Hughes is an accomplished Internet entrepreneur and editor of the popular ProBizTips Newsletter. Subscribe to her newsletter for more tips, tricks, and secrets of the trade -- plus get HUNDREDS of eBooks, software, and tools just for subscribing! http://www.ProBizTips.com