The trick is to look at your sales letter or webcopy--or any text intended to persuade a reader--and eliminate that first paragraph.
 
We all fall into the trap our English teachers set for us: the notion that we need an introduction.
 
General statements like, "Rising fuel costs and a general weakening of the economy are driving companies to look for cost-savings measures" might be appropriate in a news article, but in a marketing piece, they don't convey any valuable information.
 
In marketing pieces, introductions discourage interest and lead to the loss of a significant percentage of your busy audience. These readers immediately delete the email, toss the letter or hit the 'back' button and move on to more pressing matters.
 
I've reviewed too many websites where the meat of the message--the most valuable information about how the company actually helps its customers--is in the last paragraph of a sub-nav page, where the average reader is unlikely to ever see it.
 
The best approach is to write a complete first draft and then go back and delete the first paragraph. In some cases, you may find you've buried the benefit even deeper and need to delete more.