Request Newsletter | Business Online Website | Government Information | Submit Articles and News | Return To Main Page
| |
| |
|
Copywriting Information |
|
|
|
How To Write Headlines That Grab Your Prospects Attention
It doesn't matter if you're writing an article, a newspaper or magazine ad, a web page, or even a Yellow Page ad. If it has a headline, that headline is the most important component of the entire package. Waste it, and you've wasted your time. Your headline is like an ad for your ad. It is responsible for getting the attention of your prospect and enticing her to read what you have to say. If it succeeds, your marketing has a chance. If it fails, your marketing is over before it ever began. So how do you create that heart-stopping headline? First off, there's one thing you don't do: Use your company name all by itself. You've got one shot at grabbing your prospect, and shouting your own name at her isn't going to do it. Think about it: as a living, breathing member of the human race, your prospect listens to one radio station: WIIFM (What's In It For Me?) Until you answer that question with a benefit that reaches down to her very core, your name just doesn't matter to her. Start the conversation where your prospect lives. Get her attention by putting a knockout benefit in your headline, something you know she'll respond to. Make a list of the benefits (not features) of your product or service, and use the very best one (your USP if you can). Don't try to start small and build in intensity because unless you grab her, your prospect won't stick around to find out what's next. To be successful, a headline needs four qualities: it must be Useful, Urgent, Unique and Ultra-specific (the four "U's"). It must contain Useful information. It must have a sense of Urgency - read the article now, not later. It should be Unique and not sound like every other headline on the page. And it must be Ultra-specific: full of detail. "How To Win Friends And Influence People" "Nevada Doctor Discovers Amazing Anti-Aging Serum" "If You've Got 20 Minutes A Month, I Guarantee To Work A Financial Miracle In Your Life" "How-To" headlines are very effective, as are headlines that look like news. But always remember to make your headline believable. Put some kind of proof into it - Nevada Doctor, for example. Another way is the "If? Then" headline, which asks for some kind of effort (however slight) on your prospect's behalf before she will achieve the benefit you promise. Effort makes the benefit seem more believable. It takes practice. Good copywriters say they spend as much as half their writing time just on the headline. But when a change in headline alone can increase response by 300% or more, it's certainly time well spent! Lisa Packer, author of "How To Dramatically Increase Your Business... Without A Blockbuster Budget" and "7 Ways To Get A Pay Raise From Your Web Site" is an independent Copywriter and Marketing Consultant. Find out how to get these two reports, plus more helpful articles like the one you just read at http://www.dramatic-copy.com/. Dramatic Copy: Copywriting That Dramatically Increases Your Business.
MORE RESOURCES:
Copywriting - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Kick-Starting Body Copy Several correspondents to our newsletter, AdBriefing, say that they are having trouble writing body copy for ads. Their problem seems to be the age-old one of how to kick things off - how to make a start. Copywriting for the Web: Do You Have What It Takes? In the world of web copywriters, many will try, but few will succeed. What category will you be classified as? Hopeless failure, or smashing success?Well, that's a foolish question, right? You want to be successful, of course! You know that you can razzle-dazzle 'em with your knock-'em-out, drag-'em-down copywriting skills. 10 Tips for Tech-Writers Tech-writing is a tricky business. It's not a very high profile industry, so there's not much support around. Accelerate Your Freelance Copywriting Master Business Plan! Ever wish for your own copywriting business?Ever wish you could become one of those internet marketing gurus and live out your dream of being who you really want to be?Well, what's stopping you? Is it time? Money? Fear of the unknown? These are the roadblocks that prevent so many of us from achieving our full potential for greatness.If you're good at something, and I'm sure that you are. 5 Deadly Copywriting Mistakes That Kill Sales Chances are that you are making many, if not all, of these 5 copywriting mistakes. I call them "deadly" because theyre killing your sales and your profits. Cleaning Up Your Copy When you are beginning to write, you gather as much data as you can. You continually add allied thoughts. How To Find A Copywriting School Have you heard the good things about the field of copywriting? If you have, then you know that a qualified copywriter is an invaluable asset to those looking for them. Becoming this asset means going to a copywriting school. Are Long Copy Salesletters Scams? A passionate debate is currently raging in the Copywriters Forum about long versus short copy. (If you haven't joined, do so. Freelance Copywriters on the Internet: How to Tell the Difference Between Heaven-sent and Hack If you're hunting for a good freelance copywriter and have never done it before, or if you have but find yourself needing another for the first time in a while, I don't envy you. This "brave new" e-world has turned your once straightforward search of a neatly stacked file of brochures and introductory letters into a bothersome wade through a mucky world of half-baked online listings and search results which only seem to list those freelance copywriters who are experts in SEO, or at least know what the heck it means (search engine optimization). The Truth About Negative Commands (Dont Read This!) Everyday when I read promotional emails and advertisements, or listen to television commercials and dialogue in shows and movies, or hear people around me in everyday life use commands such as the following examples, I feel dismayed for them.This is because I understand something that many others do NOT!And, since learning what I now understand, while I am BOMBARDED every day from all directions with commands like those listed below, in all their variations, I feel worse and worse for not speaking up!I feel especially badly for all those advertisers out there who are ignorant about this, because I also realize they are often sincerely excited about what they are sharing and are working very hard to attract the attention of others. How Your $2-an-Article Ghostwriter is Like a Cheap Pair of Pants Web marketers: have you figured out that article marketing is the secret to your success on the web?And did you realize that the more web articles you put into circulation, the more of a web celebrity you'll become, and the more money will come pouring in?So what did you do after you figured this out? Let me guess: You went on Elance.com searching from someone to write your web articles cheap. Do You Make These 5 Mistakes When Writing Sales Copy? Writing copy has sometimes been compared to an "art." While it does take creative skill to write great copy that generates results, there are some mistakes that you should avoid to make sure that your copy is read and acted upon. Kick-Start Your Juices Listen, consider this scenario.You have a deadline to honour. 10 Things You Should Expect From Your IT Copywriter Anyone who's ever tried marketing IT products or services knows that it's a specialist field. Your customers in the IT industry have very unique and specific requirements, and that means you do too. A Quick Free n Easy Content Writing Course I do not pretend that a one-stop shop solution to content writing exists, but my experience has taught me, that working toward a 100% effective writing formula isn't a complete waste of time.At my firm (a content writing business), we find it particularly useful to go through a number of steps before we put pen to paper. Be That Copywriter Everyone Wants to Work With So many copywriters think that it's enough to be a stellar writer and grammatical genius. Oh, but this is so far from true. Content is King IntroductionA pencil. Yes, a pencil. Can You Become a Freelance Copywriter in Los Angeles? Is it out there? The chance to be a freelance copywriter in Los Angeles? For those looking to become a copy writer, finding employment in various cities can be difficult. In fact, most freelance writers around the world struggle to find employment or jobs that are within their own cities and home towns. 5 Critical Mistakes Most Freelance Copywriters Make Think you have what it takes to be a freelance copywriter? I wasn't so sure I knew when I first started in 1999. All I knew was I desperately wanted to work from home to raise my two sons after my divorce. Fill Your Readers with Confidence Site visitors generally stay with you for as long as they feel confident that they will succeed in achieving their goal. It's a simple truth, but important.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
