Next time you read a sales letter, pick up a brochure or look at an advertisement, take note of how far you read before you decide whether to keep it or throw it away.

People are busy. They’re working, having meetings, looking after children, shopping etc. They don’t have the spare time to read through every page of sales copy that comes through their door or into their inbox each day. At most, the majority of people will read the first couple of lines before deciding whether or not it deserves any more of their time. This is why it’s crucial to make those opening lines count.

There’s no room for teasers in sales copy. The idea to ‘save the best till last’ isn’t a great one when most people won’t get that far. To save your copy from hurtling straight to the bin, you need to make sure you hook your customers from the off. That means putting any unique selling points, special offers, or great benefits at the beginning.

Yes – this is simple stuff and most of us know it. Unfortunately, there are times that we all forget and instead waste our crucial opening lines wittering on about trivialities.

However, there is one place where you can benefit from putting a selling point last – in the PS. On a quick glance, a PS. stands out. Anybody scanning a document will usually read it along with the first couple of lines. So make sure you a) include one and b) make it count.

The idea that you need to hook your customers from the beginning is something that can also be applied to web pages. Most visitors will require some persuasion before they will take the effort to scroll down the page. So, it’s your job to persuade them and you have half a page to do it.

Remember, the world moves fast. If you want to catch new customers you need to be clear, concise and to the point.