Got this question recently…
“Ben is it really necessary to read my sales letters out loud?? why can’t I just read silently since that is what my readers are doing??”
There are many reasons.
One of which is obviously catching errors.
For example:
Just last week I was editing a 28 page (ugh!) sales letter and read it silently several times. Then I started reading it out loud. Usually I like to do so 10 times, but time was of the essence so I could only do it 5 times.
Anyway, on reading #3 I caught a doozy.
The word?
“workalcoholic”
(Instead of “workaholic”)
Jinkies!
I missed it on the “silent” readings and first 2 aloud ones.
And here’s something else:
I cannot explain it, but when tediously reading a sales letter out loud (in addition to annoying anyone within earshot) you will generate many more ad ideas, solutions and improvements than you would otherwise.
Different ways of phrasing things pop up.
New headlines appear in your mind.
And you might even see whole sections that should be moved, eliminated or expanded upon.
So there you go.
Reason #1001 to read ’em aloud.
And you know what?
Last year I wrote a series of 5 newsletters showing you how to write ads from scratch (one of which included my methodology for editing sales letters).
Very important stuff.
Today they’re in The Copywriting Grab Bag:
Ben Settle
P.S. You can also get them by subscribing to the Crypto Marketing Newsletter and purchasing the May-September 2010 back issues (for sale only to subscribers):
