The AIDA formula is as old as dirt. It was taught when I was in school over a decade ago. And it's still being taught for good reason - it works! When you apply it to your cover letter, it has the power to transform a regular cover letter into an attention-grabbing "Killer Cover Letter" that'll make your phone ring off the hook.

AIDA is an acronym. It stands for Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action. It describes the process marketers want to take their prospect through in order to make a sale.

In this case, the prospect is the hiring manager and you're selling yourself in the sense that you want the hiring manager to contact you for an interview. So I'm going to show you how to grab the hiring manager's attention, create interest, arouse desire, and ultimately get him or her to take action (pick up the phone and call you for an interview).

By the way, I've tested this killer "System" so I know it works. Ready to get started? Then let's go.

Attention

The first thing you need to do is grab the reader's attention. You must get the reader's attention before he or she can become interested and desirous of your offer to come in for an interview. We're all busy and we all have several things going on in our lives. So how do you cut through the clutter and grab the reader's attention?

There are several ways actually. One way is to create an attention-grabbing opening sentence or headline as copywriters call it. Think of it like the headlines in newspapers and magazines. You choose which articles to read by quickly glancing at the headlines, don't you?

So why not put an attention-grabbing headline on your cover letter? Most cover letters don't have an attention-grabbing opening sentence so the mere fact that your cover letter even has a headline separates you from the pack and draws attention to your message, wouldn't you agree?

Let's say you're walking along a crowded street and you spot a friend of yours on the other side of the street. Let say his name is Joe. How do you get Joe's attention? You could start jumping up and down and yelling, "Hey! Over Here!" That might work.

A better way would be to yell "Hey Joe! Over Here!" That'd be more likely to catch Joe's attention, wouldn't it? Because he hears his name. Personalization increases response dramatically.

Now let's take that thought and apply it to your headline. Adding personalization to your headline is a great idea. Use the recipient's name right there in the headline. It makes the message more personal and increases the chance the message is read.

Let's take that one step further. Say you're looking for a job as a nurse and you know the hiring manger's name is Susan. Susan is understaffed and looking for nurses. So give Susan an attention-grabbing headline to open your cover letter.

How about this, "Susan, Finally! A Nurse Who Can Do More Than Take A Temperature! But don't stop there. Make it big and bold. Remember, it's a headline. Make sure Susan notices the headline. Grab Susan's attention.

How could Susan possibly not notice that headline strategically placed at the top of your cover letter? And you can take that simple concept and apply it to a cover letter to any hiring manager for any job.

So work on an attention-grabbing opening sentence and in Part II we'll talk about interest, desire, and action.

Robert is an author, speaker, and real estate entrepreneur(both on & offline). Robert applied his direct response marketing skills to develop a Killer Cover Letter System that produced 3 job offers in 72 hours. Please visit http://www.CoverLetterGuru.com to find out more about Robert's Killer Cover Letter "System."