formality—enable you to write to your specific audience; these steps comprisse
the second tool of this chapter.
Before you write, you need to think about what thoughts, beliefs, emotions,
or ideas are meaningful to your target readers. You need to be able
to answer the question “Why would they do what I’m asking?” Given
that what will inspire one person to act may not motivate someone else,
it’s important that you look at the situation from your specific readers’
points of view—not your own—and identify what represents a benefit to
those readers.
Consider the difference between features and benefits. A feature
belongs to the product or service. A benefit belongs to the user of the product
or service. People respond to benefits, not features. For example, let’s
say you want to write a flyer offering a discount on purchases of your
grass seed.