The Secrets to Crafting Compelling Headlines That Convert Prospects Into Loyal Customers And Raving Fans!
Target Your Market With Pinpoint Accuracy
Without a doubt, your headline is the most critical piece of information you will ever write on any document, web page, social post or any other form of advertising. Learning to write a headline is the number one skill every aspiring entrepreneur and content publisher must understand and develop.
Consequences of NOT writing a good headline:-
• You’ll become increasingly frustrated and confused and likely want to quit.
• Not enough of the right people see your sales message
• You waste a lot of time and energy producing content that nobody will ever read
• Poor to zero sales
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You Need To Know What You Need To Know
Without a great headline, the emotional journey of the buying/selling process cannot begin. A good headline will stop your reader dead in their tracks and force them to read or watch your advertisement, video sales letter, long-form sales letter, or blog post.
You might have money to burn and can pay someone to write a headline for you – but you still need to know how to write a headline. Albeit the only reason is to see whether or not the headline or sales copy you just paid a fortune for is crap.
Write A Headline To Ignite The Fire
One secret to writing a killer headline is connecting emotionally with the person representing your perfect customer.
- A well-written headline will target your perfect customer’s emotions, specifically fear or desire.
- Your ideal headline will either avoid (fear) something happening to your customers or give them something they want (desire).
- A great headline targets your ideal audience at an emotional level. No emotion = no sale ☹
How To Kill Writers Block Faster Than A Bullet!
Have you ever sat down to write a headline or article, and no thoughts came out?
There was no tap, tap, tapping of the keyboard because your fingers and brain had gone numb.
It wasn’t because the cursor on the screen was broken; it meant you were a writer.
The good news is that this situation is perfectly normal and easily avoidable.
Take some time off to watch infomercials for inspiration and ideas, and look for ways to improve the advertising copy.
Create a ‘Swipe file’ for yourself. Every time you see a great headline put it in your swipe file. Every time you see a bad one, make it a fantastically awesome headline! Dripping with urgency, absolutely jam-packed with explosive and emotive words that convert like an evangelist having a big night out and THEN put it in your swipe file.
Whenever you get an idea to write a headline that races through your head like an express train on a cold, dark night, put it in your swipe file.
Eventually, you will create a resource you can return to time and time again. You can do this for other blocks of copy too. Other building blocks such as stealth closes, magic bullets, subheadings, product stacks, etc can all be saved in seperate swipe files.
Here are some templates you can use immediately and save in your brand-new, shiny swipe file.
How To Write A Headline
The first group of headlines we’ll examine is the ‘How To’s.’ These are fun and involve your customer getting results.
How to Get __________
• How to get rid of acne
• How to get a great score on your exams
Let’s take it up a notch and add a timeframe. Timeframes are also an excellent way to squeeze in a guarantee.
How to __________ in as little as _______
• How to get rid of acne in as little as 24 hrs!
• How to lose two dress sizes in as little as 14 days or your money back!
• How to lose the beer belly in as little as 14 days and still keep the beer!
Adding a timeframe and/or a guarantee makes this previously insurmountable task achievable. They are saying to themselves, ‘Oh yeah, I can do that.’ However, be careful to ensure the timeframe is believable and achievable. And never make any false or misleading statements.
This template shows you how to remove an objection or barrier that may be in their way.
How to ______ in as little as ______ even if you ______ !
How to snow ski in as little as 1 hour even if you’ve never seen snow!
How to become an expert tree pruner in as little as 30 minutes, even if you’ve never pruned a tree before!
How to get rid of pimples in as little as 24 hrs even if you’ve tried everything else and failed!
There is one more ‘how to’s’ that has proved to be very effective is the ‘every can’
How Every _____ Can
• How every wheat farmer can have a maintenance-free harvester
• How every failing high school student can pass exams
• How every unlucky fisherman can catch fish
How To Write a Headline To Get What You Want
As we said before, people want to receive pleasure and avoid pain, usually by the fastest and easiest means possible. We call these headlines ‘Quick and Easy’ – the key here is the use of numbers. Odd numbers 3,5,7 work well because they arouse curiosity and carry credibility.
5 Quick and Easy Ways To ________
• 5 Quick and easy ways to pass exams
• 5 Quick And Easy ways to get rid of pimples
• 5 quick and easy ways to bake a sponge cake
3 Quick and Easy Ways To ________ and avoid ______!
• 3 Quick and easy ways to pass exams and avoid dropping out!
• 3 Quick and easy ways to get rid of pimples and avoid embarrassment
Headline Mistakes For All Content Creators
People hate making mistakes. From early childhood, we are taught not to make mistakes. If we make too many mistakes during our school years, we are penalized for the rest of our lives. As a society, being reminded of these mistakes it becomes natural for people to want to avoid mistakes as much s possible.
The worst mistake for any serious writer or content creator, of course, is a spelling mistake! We are concerned however with helping our prospect avoid mistakes.
Which Of These _________ Mistakes Will You Make?
• Which of these horse-riding mistakes will you make?
• Which of these learner-driver mistakes will you make?
• Which of these acne treatment mistakes will you make?
What I like about ‘mistake headlines’ is that you can target a specific group of people.
_____ Mistakes All _______ Need To Avoid
• 7 rookie mistakes all bricklayers need to avoid
• 5 life-saving mistakes all learner-drivers need to avoid
• 3 mistakes all acne sufferers need to avoid
Key Take Aways:
- Headlines are the most important piece of copy on the page.
- A good headline will stop a person dead in their tracks
- People are usually motivated to buy to avoid either something bad (fear) or to have something good (desire)
- Create a swipe file from headlines you see around you. When you see a crap headline, don’t just make it good – make it so good that it is fantasmagorically great and add it to your swipe file
- Have fun with your work and take time out for breaks
Advanced Templates
Here’s The Perfect Solution If You Want _______ Even If _____
My Proven ____ Method To ______
__ Little Known ___ Mistakes That _______
A Step-By-Step Guide For ________
How To Get Rid Of _______, Even If __________
The Ultimate Guide To ______
The ___ Things Most People Don’t Know About __________
Want _______? Try ______
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Most Common Questions
An ideal headline will make an emotional connection with the reader and force them to buy
Your headline can be as long or short as you like. However, to be effective, your headline needs to be short, sharp, and sweet!
Emotive and descriptive words work best. Your goal is to create an emotional link with your prospect and solve their problem.
One that exudes emotion and stops your prospect dead in their tracks
