So far we’ve grabbed the reader’s attention with a powerful headline.

We’ve drawn their interest into the message with compelling stories.

We’ve substantiated our story with some solid evidence, luring their desire with emotions or logical data.

So guess what this is all leading up to?

See, all the emotional hooks and logical proof are fine.

But they don’t mean anything unless your reader takes Action – the final “A” in AIDA.

They’re more likely to do so if you ask them to do it.

Experienced copywriters know that even if you’ve done everything correctly up until now, you’re only going to get a fraction of the responses that you want unless you ask.

I have found that this is where a lot of people drop the ball, because I read a lot of newsletters.

I read a lot of newsletters because I like to get new ideas and see what other people are doing.

But I’m always amazed when I’m reading a good story and it suddenly ends.

I think, “Okay, what is it you want me to do?”

People skip writing a call to action for a couple reasons.

Number one, they might be a little timid or shy to boldly and directly ask the customer to take action.

If this is you, you need to get over this in a hurry, because if you’re assuming that the reader will figure out what to do and how to go about it, you may be assuming too much.

You’ve got to tell them what you want them to do – and you’ve got to lead them to do it step-by-step.

Bill Glazer said something in a talk once that I’ll never forget.

He said, “For many of us our target customer is Homer Simpson.”

If you picture Homer Simpson in your head when you’re writing, it will do wonders, because it will enable you to simplistically write out steps one, two, and three, telling readers exactly what you want them to do.

Be as specific as possible.

You can’t depend on them to connect all the dots.

You’ve got to invite them to do it.

Cap't Jim Palmer, The Dream Business Coach

Cap’t Jim Palmer, best known internationally as the Dream Business Coach, is creator of the Dream Business Mastermind and Coaching Program and host of Dream Business Radio – a weekly podcast based on Jim’s smart marketing and dream business building strategies. Claim your FREE Dream Business Transformation now!

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