Imagine spending thousands of dollars on web design, bells, whistles, a flash intro, and an array of colors. Firstly, this is a big waste of time, money, and effort. Also, this is like building a gaudy and non-functional house without a foundation. Your web site is a key sales tool. Fortunately, web sites do not have to be pretty in order to be effective.

In the above-mentioned case, no forethought is given to the first step in building a web site. The first and most important part of web site construction is your cover page, sales process, and the least expensive ways to send targeted traffic to your web site.

Unless your web site is just a ?hobby,? it should function as an automated 24-hour sales person, seven days per week. Your Internet sales letter is much more than a business card or company brochure. A properly constructed sales letter is a separate entity and can possibly close sales by itself.

When you have an idea about a great Internet product or service, have researched the demand, have chosen the best URL, and developed an outline of your proposed site - your next step should be to develop an award-winning sales letter. This proposed sales letter should be packed with unique content that drives visitors to you and captures their interest.

Your sales letter should thoroughly describe the benefits of your product or service. At the same time, your product or service should solve a problem that your potential clients have encountered. Therefore, any successful sales letter will have to fulfill a genuine need.

The right sales letter should develop trust from the very start and tell an interesting story along the way. This is not a guarantee of an instant sale, but the start of a relationship - built on credibility and trust. Your prospects visit your site because your product or service has ?sparked? an interest.

Prospects visit your site for a multitude of reasons - but do you know why? Do you know the top reasons why your existing customers choose you, over your competition? This knowledge is essential when constructing a sales letter for your web site.

Lastly, when deciding how to construct your sales letter, you have many choices, but choose wisely and research your choices. If you decide to hire a sales copy writer, make sure his or her previous works have produced results or are persuasive in content. If you decide to purchase the least expensive writer available, do not expect good results. When seeking out a sales copy writer, you will get what you pay for.

? Copyright 2006 ? Paul Jerard / Aura Publications