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Suppose the letter replying to his inquiry starts out in this style:
"The picture on page 5 of our catalogue is a pretty fair one, but I wish you could see the desk itself."
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The reader's attention is immediately gripped and he reaches for the catalogue to look at the picture on page five.
To get attention and arouse interest, avoid long-spun introductions and hackneyed expressions. Rambling sentences and loose paragraphs have proved the graveyard for many excellent propositions. Time-worn expressions and weather-beaten phrases are poor conductors, there, is too much resistance-loss in the current of the reader's interest.
The best way to secure attention naturally depends upon the nature of the proposition and the class of men to whom the letter is written.
One of the most familiar methods is that known to correspondents as the "mental shock." The idea is to put at the top of the letter a "Stop! Look! Listen!" sign. Examples of this style are plentiful:
THIS MEANS MONEY TO YOU—BIG MONEY LET ME PAY YOUR NEXT MONTH'S RENT READ IT—ON OUR WORD IT'S WORTH READING STOP SHOVELING YOUR MONEY INTO THE FURNACE NOW LISTEN! I WANT A PERSONAL WORD WITH YOU CUT YOUR LIGHT BILL IN HALF
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