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Grab three or four advertising, direct mail sales letters from your junk mail pile and read them. As you are reading them, see whether the following questions pop into your mind?

1. Who are you?

2. What do you want?

3. Why should I care?

4. What's in it for me?

5. What do I do now?

They did, didn't they? I hadn't noticed it until it was pointed out to me by a copy writing expert.

If you rely on direct mail or email to promote your construction business, you MUST craft your piece to answer those questions in the order shown.

Those five questions go through every prospect's mind whenever you telemarket, direct mail or cold call them.

That is because your prospect's defense system is on high alert as soon as they come across your message. They are thinking...

"I'm busy. Do you realize how important my time is? If you can solve a problem, I might give you a few more seconds to explain yourself."

When you try to get their attention, you are interrupting their day. You've got to get their attention quickly and hold on to it.

If you don't address these questions in the right order, you will lose their attention. You will frustrate them. They will throw your letter away, hang up on you, delete your email, erase your voicemail, or have their receptionist send you packing.

Getting them to stay with you until you answer the fourth question is the trick. You can't jump the gun by answering question number four first. It will not work.

Most advertisers makes that mistake. They go right to question #4.

Naturally, your answers to each question must be worded properly. Don't say something like:

"I'm Carl the Painter. I paint anything and everything." (Who are you?)

"I want you to hire me for your painting needs." (What do you want?)

Yeah. That's going to work well.

Listing services is a mistake commonly made by contractors. Look at their web sites. Look at their advertising. It's simply amazing how frequently contractors answer the first three questions by listing their services without ever mentioning a

benefit to the prospect.

Get to the point and get there fast. Tell them why your offer should matter to them. Give them a reason to care and some of the benefits they'll gain and they will keep reading.

"Hey Paul, Carl Friendly here, and I have a quick question for you.

"Do you enjoy painting your house? You know what I mean - repairing the walls, covering the floors, climbing ladders, and cleaning up afterwards? I don't know about you, but I just hate the long hours it takes to keep my house looking good. I know I've got better things to do with my time. Don't you?

"Wouldn't it be great if you could snap your fingers and make your house look great again? Well, I've got the next best thing for you. Hire me to do the work for you.

"I'll get the work done quicker, it will look better, and you will be free to spend your time on more enjoyable and valuable activities.

"Call me (866-555-1212) to get your house looking great again while you are out golfing, fishing, or doing whatever you like to do with your free time."

Sounds better, right?

Something else to keep in mind - people buy what they want, not what they need.

People buy things to solve the problems they want solved, not the problems they need solved. Don't try to pitch to a problem they don't care about.

Last but not least, you must understand your prospect's frustrations and problems before trying to write copy. Make sure your copy commiserates with them (shares their pain). You know, misery loves company. It's an emotional thing.