| Anglers in Maine catch trout using dry flies with | | | | try. |
| barbless hooks. Unless they keep tension on the | | | | You can start a paragraph with the word "you," |
| line all the way to the net, they lose the trout. | | | | the one word that prospects and customers |
| Your sales letters must do the same. But how? | | | | never tire of seeing in print. Or you could try |
| One secret to keeping busy business readers | | | | another proven tactic. |
| hooked is to use irresistible transition sentences. | | | | And that is starting a paragraph with the word |
| Transition sentences come at the end of one | | | | "and." Read the Gospel of Mark in the Bible |
| paragraph and the beginning of the next. Good | | | | sometime. It's one of my favourite books. You'll |
| transition sentences leave your readers hanging in | | | | find the narrative almost impossible to stop |
| a number of ways. | | | | reading, it's so exciting. That's because the writer |
| One of them is to tell your reader that a number | | | | begins so many of his sentences with "and" that |
| of things are coming up, forcing your reader to | | | | you are compelled to continue reading to discover |
| transition to the next paragraph to learn what | | | | what comes next. (I won't give away how the |
| some of those things are. If you've ever listened | | | | book ends. Read it and find out.) But there's |
| to a person with a pronounced stutter, you know | | | | another device that's just as powerful as the |
| how hard it is to wait while that person completes | | | | word "and." Do you know what it is? |
| a thought. Your prospects are the same. If you | | | | It's the question mark. Put one at the end of one |
| almost complete a thought at the end of one | | | | paragraph, with the answer at the beginning of |
| paragraph, they will begin reading the paragraph | | | | the next paragraph, and you'll keep your readers |
| that follows to complete your thought. But that's | | | | headed towards your net. |
| not all. | | | | So here's the one thing you need to remember. |
| Another way to keep your reader hooked | | | | You've figured out by now that the secret to |
| throughout your copy is to end one paragraph | | | | effective transition sentences is to keep your |
| with "that's not all" or a similar phrase. Or to start | | | | prospective buyer in a state of suspended |
| your next paragraph with the word "another." | | | | satisfaction, one where they must keep reading |
| Each device shows the prospect that you have | | | | your letter to the end before they feel gratified. |
| not finished, that the prospect has more to learn. | | | | And there's only one sure way of doing that. |
| And so the prospect keeps reading. And yes, | | | | © 2005 Sharpe Copy Inc. |
| there are some other hooks you might want to | | | | |