I can't give you a hard-and-fast rule about how to ask for the sale. Just some guidelines. Feel free to vary the order of these in your own sales letters.

Here are is a typical order for concluding a letter.

* Sum up your offer with a bullet-point list of your product benefits.
* List the bonuses
* Describe the guarantee
* Mention the scarcity of the product again
* Provide the price
* Link to the order form

The Stealth Upsell

Now here's an old copywriter's trick: on the order form, do an upsell.

In other words, give your customers the option to purchase what you've just described, but then offer a deluxe version for a few dollars more. Or offer a service plan. Or a bonus product, sold at a great discount.

Many direct marketers have reported enormous success with this one simple technique. Why does it work? Because once someone has made a decision to buy, they are more malleable and open to your suggestions. They already trust you, and are willing to take your advice.

For example, suppose you are selling wool socks.  Your main offer, which may include five sets of socks, may cost $47.  Now, on your order form, you present them with an upsell of 15 sets of polyester socks that only will cost them $20 more. This would be a very difficult thing to pass up, don't you think?  Just make sure that the upsell increases you profit.

A Classic Close to Your Sales Letter

At the final conclusion of your letter, just after the link to the order form, you should ask the reader a question. Something like...

* Don't you deserve to be...
* Don't you think its time to finally get rid of...
* Isn't this the chance to take care of ... once and for all?
* Don't you think you should give ... a try?
* Why should everyone else have ... except you?
* Isn't it time you switched to ...?
* Others have already ... How about you?

And Joe Vitale recommends ending your letter with a simple subliminal command.

* Do it
* Go for it
* Order now.

And then comes your signature. Ideally, it is a graphic of your real handwriting.

Don't Forget the PS

And then comes one of the most important parts of your sales letter. The P.S.

After the headline, the PS is saidto be the most-read part of the sale letter. Many people jump right to the end because they expect the whole sales letter to be summarized there. So it needs to do a complete selling job in just a sentence or two. Here are the main applications for the PS:

Highlight the main benefit of your product. "Just imagine, just ten minutes from now, you can be taking your first exciting steps to that dream life you’ve always known you deserve."

Remind them of the guarantee. "Remember, I’ve taken all the risk away from your shoulders and put it on to mine, with my gold plated better than risk free guarantee. The only way you can possibly lose out is by not ordering this product right away".

Remind them of the free bonuses.  If possible, come up with an extra bonus – not mentioned before – at this stage. For example: "I nearly forgot the best early bird bonus of all: me!

And a few more examples:

• P.S. Please reply right away. Your first free issue is all ready to mail. I just need your OK on this.
• P.S. To show my appreciation for giving our newsletter a try, I’m going to send you two valuable free gifts, which are yours to keep, no matter what you decide.
• P.S. Remember to reply within ten days, because then you’ll qualify for our prompt reply bonus, which I know you’ll love!
• P.S. Send your order today and you’ll get my unique no-time-limit guarantee
• P.S. Our guarantee is a reflection of our complete confidence in our product’s ability to thrill you.
• P.S. Please remember, your no risk free trial is exactly what it says. In fact the only way you can lose out on this is by not accepting this invitation and depriving yourself of the greatest chance you will ever have of complete success.
• P.S. The most amazing part is this: this tax slashing publication is a tax deductible expense, courtesy of the Inland Revenue Service!
• P.S. Taken together, there are more than 40 ways you can add to your bottom line using the insider tactics in this new program. Don’t you owe it to your company – and your family, to take advantage of our 30 day free trial and examine all these profit enhancing techniques for yourself?
• P.S. You’ll be amazed just how simple it is to apply these techniques. Your FREE bonus will allow you to begin immediately – even before you listen to the main program!