Copywriting Tutorial 4
"How To Write Attention-Grabbing
Headlines That  Refuse To Be Ignored"

"8 Out Of 10 Readers
Will 'Scan' Your Headline"

"So Doesn't It Make Sense To Spend
80% Of Your Effort Writing It?"

Yes, you read it correctly.

Reliable research has shown that 8 out of 10 of us scan the headlines in a newspaper or sales letter, until we find a headline interesting enough us to draw us into the actual content. And when it comes to browsing Web pages, we both know that scanning for the 'interesting bits' is the norm.

We just don't have the time, or the inclination, to search through long blocks of text to discover what the writer is trying to tell us. It's headlines that turn 'scanners' into prospects.

So doesn't it make a heck of a lot of sense to spend a high proportion of your Copywriting efforts coming up with a 'stop-em-in-their-tracks' headline? Why so much time?

Well, you can write the most brilliant, motivating, and inspirational piece of body copy that anyone has ever written. But if your headline doesn't interest your prospects they sure won't read the rest of your masterpiece. You've lost them. And you'll never get a second chance.

It's a hard cold world out there, so you'd better make absolutely sure your headline hits the reader right between the eyes and shouts;

"Hey Read This-
It Concerns YOU."

But a good headline must do more than just grab attention. It also needs to identify those who are the best prospects for your product. And then guide them to the benefits of buying it.

A headline saying " World Will Crash On December 31st." will catch the eye. But many readers will feel cheated enough to stop reading when you go on to talk about a fix for the Millennium Bug. But a headline reading "World Will Crash For Computer Owners." will interest your target audience - computer owners - enough to at least read the first few lines of the body copy. Then you have a chance to steer qualified prospects toward your fantastic offer.

So your headline has to perform many tasks. It therefore makes much sense to devote a lot of time and care in it's preparation.

After one of my clients complimented me on a particular headline I had just written for him I thought to myself, "I'm glad you like it because it cost half my fee to create it".

"Where do you start? How do you start?"

First of all you need to know your product's Unique Selling Point, or USP as it is known. You shouldn't attempt to write any advertising until you determine the USP of your product or service.

I have already written about this extremely important subject, so I am going to assume you already know what makes your product, service or subject matter different or better than your competitors. ( You have no competitors? Lucky you but you still need a USP.) If you haven't yet identified your USP, I have written a tutorial that will help you. To read it click here.

Now this will make make a lot of people sit up!

"Fire Your Biggest Gun First!"

That's correct. Write down the greatest possible benefit that your prospect can gain by owning your product, AND HIT HER WITH IT STRAIGHT BETWEEN THE EYES. And don't be shy about it! There is absolutely no point in holding back your greatest benefit until you get half way down the page. Because unless your prospect is hooked right away she won't even make it past the first couple of lines. So your headline should ideally shout the greatest benefit your product will give to the reader.

Some copywriters make the serious mistake of starting with a lesser benefit (or no benefit at all) and gradually building up the benefits within the copy. They do this in the mistaken belief that this will build up a desire for the product until the prospect is so fired up he will be eager to buy.

Wrong!

Fire up your prospect right from the start, and keep him hooked by piling on even more benefits with professional, motivating copy.

Then close the sale!

Let's assume our world-beating product is a lightweight, compact device called Speedy Iron. This amazing appliance enables anyone to iron clothes 6 times faster than the conventional ironing method.

You have already determined your USP. Speedy Iron saves up to 3 hours a week on ironing chores. Also, it only weighs 6 ounces, folds flat in 3 seconds, and hangs on the wall. These are it's features.

Now put yourself in your prospects shoes. How will Speedy Iron help me? How will I benefit by having this product? What will it do to improve my life? Write down as many features and benefits as you possibly can, in as many words as you need, until you run out of ideas.

e.g. 'Saving 3 hours a week' is not a benefit - it's a feature. 'Helping me spend more quality time with my kids' is a benefit.

"Now translate each feature into a benefit"

For example "Folds flat" (feature) "will save me storage space" (benefit). Then reduce each of these benefits down to as few words as you can. Now list your benefits in order of importance. Closely examine each sentence and pick out Key Words that you think will be powerful triggers in your headline. For instance 'Affordable. Family. Leisure. Chore-free. Kids. Easy storage. Relax. Handy. Lightweight. Easy to use. Free Time. Envy (of the neighbors) and so on.

OK let's write our first headline. How about;

"Speedy Iron Cuts Your
Ironing Time By Over 80%"

Hmm, it identifies your prospect, but it describes a feature rather than a benefit. It doesn't exactly jump out at you does it? Let's put some emotion into it. We buy when our emotions are stirred, then we often justify the purchase with logic. ("I'm glad I chose that red 2 seater sports car, because now I won't be asked to take the neighbors kids to school.") Let's try;

"FREE To Every Busy Mom,
3 Hours A Week To Spoil Yourself!"

Yes that's much better, but No that's not the actual headline I would use. I have used this to illustrate how the headline can be structured. I am sure you could come up with something much better.

First I have used one of the many powerful words that are proven 'triggers' to excite and motivate readers. I have listed some of the most commonly used 'power words' in the left hand margin of the page. I cannot stress enough, the proven power of these 'triggers'. Study them and others you will come across in your readings, and refer to them every time you sit down to write. They are gold dust.

The trigger word I have used is 'Free' and it fits in nicely with the message. And I have used the word we all love to hear 'You'. Or in this instance 'Yourself'.

Next I have identified my target, or prospect, 'Busy Mom.' (Or I could have targeted 'Harassed Homemakers' or whatever.)

Then I have fired the main benefit, 'extra time to spoil yourself.'

We now need a subheading to expand on the headline. How about;

"FREE To Every Harassed Mom,
3 Hours A Week All To Yourself"

"Because When You Own
A Speedy Iron You Will
Hardly Ever Use It!"

Now that you know how to create really powerful headlines, I'm sure you can come up with a far superior 'knock-em-dead' eye-catcher of your own. All it takes is knowledge of the basics and PRACTICE, PRACTICE and even MORE PRACTICE. Yet once you have the headline, a remarkable thing happens.

Because you have examined every feature and every conceivable benefit of your product, the writing of the Body Copy very often writes itself! It just seems to pour itself out onto the paper.

Notice I said paper. Unless you are an extremely speedy typist it's better to let your pen flow fast and furious, without having to break your train of thought with problems of grammar, structure and the rest. That can be sorted later in a calm and professional manner!

"For the final professional touch"

NEVER USE ALL CAPITAL LETTERS IN YOUR HEADLINE

It's very difficult to read and extremely off-putting. Just read that first sentence again and notice how you slow right down to read it, then speed up again to read the rest of the paragraph.

"Always Write Headlines In Quotation Marks"

It's psychological. Your headline is your personal communication directly to your reader. And you should always strive to achieve that one-to-one feeling.

Begin each word in your headline with capitals. Sorry;

"Begin Each Word In Your Headline With Capitals"

See the difference? It emphasizes the importance of your message, and makes it stand out from the normal text of the body copy. It's these, and other small but proven techniques, that will help make your copy a winner. We'll discuss many more of these as we explore the other areas of sales-generating Copywriting.

For Your Sub-Heading Use A Smaller Font Than Your Headline

Otherwise you may lessen the impact of your main message.

Don't Put A Period At The End Of Your Headline

Yes I know you probably think it's a small point (pun definitely intended) but if some of the top copywriters in the world believe it's important why argue? We'll discuss many more of these as we explore the other areas of sales-generating Copywriting.

"Just one last thing"

I mentioned earlier the valuable use of powerful trigger words - both for headlines and throughout your copy itself. These are your stock-in-trade. The experience of some of the world's most successful copywriters has proved that changing just one or two words in a headline can increase response by as much as 300%. So if you are really serious about writing sales-grabbing copy (and I'm sure by now you must be), buy yourself a really good reference book of powerful 'trigger' words'.

Strangely enough good ones are hard to come across, but the one that I have had on my desk for over 10 years is 'Words That Sell' by Richard Bryan. You'll hardly ever fail to find the very word or phrase you're looking for on those occasions when you seek inspiration. It contains over 2500 trigger words, slogans and phrases. And even better news is that it's cheap! You may find it at Amazon.com

Now let's look at writing the Body Copy  

The most incredible piece of Copywriting Software I have ever seen. I was so staggered I bought a publishing license and created a Website using the software  to create the headlines for it. See for yourself how revolutionary this product really is at http://headlinewriter.com

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