A superb product? Powerful and persuasive copy? Getting the length and structure of the sales letter right?

Wrong. All these things are important. But none of them is any use without the one CRUCIAL factor. And that is - knowing your market.

If you are a copywriter and someone wants to hire you to do a campaign for them, DON'T agree to do it until you have researched the market. You need to find out the following:

1. First and foremost - is there a demand for the product? If not, it WON'T SELL, however amazing the product, and however wonderful a piece of copywriting you do. And when it doesn't sell, the client will blame YOU (and probably won't hire you again).

2. Who are your target customers? What age-group? Male or female? What income group?

3. What will motivate your customers? What will “press their buttons”? What are their greatest fears? What are their aspirations? If you don't know these things you can craft the greatest sales letter ever written and get zero response.

4. A secret ingredient the top copywriters use - WHAT HAS WORKED FOR THIS MARKET IN THE PAST?

So how do you find out this sort of information?

· Use the Internet to establish demand. Use keyword research tools to find the top search terms, and check the sites and forums to find out what the market is really concerned about.

· If the demand is there, find magazines relating to the product. See what topics keep recurring. These will be the things the customers or potential customers are interested in.

· In those same magazines, read the “Letters to the Editor”. This is where people express their feelings and passions. This is where you will really learn what are the REAL desires, fears and concerns of the potential customers.

· The easiest though rather expensive way to find market information is from SRDS (Standard Rate and Data Services). Or alternatively there are cheaper but also very good services like WhosMailingWhat.com Choose a list relating to the product, find out who supplies the list and ask them for the mailer that went with the list. Then craft one similar to it. Similar headline, similar number of paragraphs and similar message. That way you are virtually guaranteed a decent response. THIS IS A SECRET THE TOP COPYWRITERS USE BUT USUALLY WON'T TELL YOU. The most successful copywriters don't reinvent the wheel – they use what they KNOW has already worked!

· Finally, write to some people on the list and ask them how they feel about the product. Even if you only get a few replies, these will be priceless in providing force for your sales letter.

Research is 90 percent of the copywriting task. Ask the right questions. When you know the answers to these questions, your sales campaign is virtually done for you. And it can hardly fail.