P.S. Practice: 5 Ways to Create a Powerful and Passionate P.S.

Some readers go straight to the P.S., so it's got to be good. Here are five secrets for creating a strong and effective "afterclose" for your sales letters:

1. Restate benefits. The easiest way to evoke emotion is to remind your prospect of all the wonderful things your product or service will bring him/her. I'm talking about restating benefits.

   For example:

   P.S. If you take pride in work well done, want to give your family the better things in life, then you need POPULAR MECHANICS' how-to-do-it information on AIR CONDITIONERS, BARBECUES, BOATS, BIRDHOUSES, BOOKCASES … BURGLAR ALARMS, CAULKING, CAMERAS, CONCRETE, CLOCKS, DOORS, DRILL PRESSES, ENGINES, FAUCETS, FENCES, GUNS.

2. Make another promise/introduce a surprise benefit. Hold back one (or two) strong benefits or promises from your letter and introduce them here. This will throw your prospect over the edge.

   For example:

   P.S. Don't miss Dr. Hrachovec's supplementary chapter, How to Survive a Heart Attack. As you probably know, coronary heart disease needn't be the killer it is. Simply by following the book's advice, you not only reduce your chance of heart attack, you also reduce your risk of dying from a heart attack you might get by 90! But, in case you should suffer a heart attack before this program has had its full beneficial effect, it would be good to know how to recognize the symptoms (including those tricky "silent" attacks). And you should also learn the two critical things you must do in the first 15 minutes to ensure survival.

3. Provide more credibility. Give your reader an extra dose of credibility – an ironclad reason to believe that you and/or your product or service are the real thing.

   For example:

   P.P.S. I've talked at length about the remarkable people The Oxford Club is privileged to count as members. Here are some comments from them:

   "I joined the Club in 1991 and I've made a lot of money from your recommendations over the years. The two I've most benefited from were Caledonia Mining and Hopewell Holdings. I made over 1,000% with Caledonia and a little more than $17,000 profit with Hopewell. I also saved a fortune with your sell recommendations on Japanese stock a few years back. Furthermore, I was never a successful currency investor until I joined The Oxford Club. I haven't had a negative return since …" Cliff M., Redding, California

4. Communicate urgency. Motivate your prospect to take action. This is very important, as most people are procrastinators. So the P.S. gives you an opportunity to remove any foot-dragging on the part of your prospect by reminding him/her how important it is to act right away.

   For example:

   P.S. We've ordered enough FREE CREELS "we think" to meet the anticipated response. But they are likely to go fast, so why risk waiting months while we re-order? Since your creel will be shipped as soon as you pay for your subscription, why not get it immediately by enclosing your payment now?

5. Restate/expand your guarantee. Remember, you can never mention your guarantee too many times. If you want to remind your prospect that he/she has, in fact, nothing to lose – if you want to spell out your terms further – you can do it right here.

   For example:

   P.S. INTERNATIONAL LIVING will show you how to live the sort of life that used to be available only to the very wealthy. Try it yourself. If you're not completely satisfied, simply cancel your subscription. We'll promptly reimburse you for all the issues remaining in your subscription, no questions asked. And no matter what, all of the free INTERNATIONAL LIVING reports are yours to keep.

Have you got the general idea? Are you ready to try writing some P.S.s of your own?

OOPS! I ALMOST FORGOT!

6. There's one more powerful type of P.S. You can use it to introduce a new premium or bonus.

   For example:

   P.S. The Oxford Club not only wants to make absolutely sure you have every opportunity to begin earning mouth-watering profits right away – we want to ensure your money is safe, too. That's why if you join within 10 days of receiving this invitation, I'll make sure you get "Insider Secrets to the Stock Market Revealed" – your guide to how brokerage firms really work. Just some of the valuable information you'll discover in this information-crammed report includes …

Did you notice how that worked? You thought we were done giving you information about the P.S. And now, you're pleasantly surprised to find another very useful angle. Done right, the P.S. can't help but please and surprise.

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Published: July 16, 2001

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• Quick Tip: Turn Your Offer on Its Head for Better Results
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