Headlines Bring Sales--Where and How to Use Them
Headlines Bring Sales--Where and How to Use Them Judy Cullins
c. 2003 All Rights Reserved
Headlines are short vital statements to stimulate your potential
customers and clients to take action. That means sales! Since
you only have 10 seconds to attract your visitor or reader,
create headlines to make ultimate sales.
Your benefit-driven headlines are your 24/7 sales team working
for your while you relax your favorite way.
Without them, your ezine ads, email promotions, special reports,
eBooks, book and article titles, chapter titles, ezines and
print newsletters, and Web site will not pull visitor attention,
trust, credibility, traffic or sales.
Headlines bring far more sales than the copy following them.
Perhaps you are a skimmer too. Skimmers usually just read the
headline.
How to Use Headlines
1. EZINE ADS
Many businesses write ads and place them in strategic ezines or
Web sites. They lose contacts and sales because they don't use a
benefit-driven headline at the top of the ad. For instance, "YOU
CAN WRITE A PROFITABLE BOOK IN LESS THAN 30 DAYS! or HIGH
TRAFFIC=HIGH WEB SALES."
Start with the benefit in capital letters. Make a free offer to
get people to visit your Web site. Include contact information
in hyper links. Make your ad 5-7 lines. Don't pitch what you are
selling in the ad--this doesn't motivate.
2 SUBJECT LINE IN YOUR OUTGOING EMAIL
Make sure your headline includes a benefit for the product, the
teleclass, the seminar or service you are promoting.Over 50% of
outgoing messages are never opened because the subject line
doesn't inspire or stimulate the audiences' curiosity.
So many professionals just put an announcement in the subject
line such as "Upcoming Programs." Not specific enough, nor
motivating enough to make me want to open the email.
Here's a few winners: Quadruple your Sales in 4 Months with
Articles Teleclass, FREE report: Online Marketing is 10 Times
More Powerful than Traditional, or for an ezine, don't just put
its name in subject line, put its feature article in with a
abbreviated ezine name and ....
3.. FREE SPECIAL REPORTS AND ARTICLES
These 2-6 page informational, how-to pieces help promote your
business Online. Send one every month or so to follow up your
email group lists.
Your article title is your headline. Best titles include a
benefit and audience. People want to know what's in for them
before they invest their valuable time to read it. Don't lose
them with a weak title. Which of these are powerful? "10 Tips to
Promote your Product with Flyers." "Shorten your Journey to
Business Success with Teleclasses." "Want a Web Site that Turns
Lookie Loos into Buyers?"
Within the body of the piece use headlines to inspire and motive
the reader to keep reading to get their questions answered. The
reason they read your article is to learn how to solve their
problem. Headlines organize and guide your reader to make it
easy for him/her to read. With appreciation for your useful
article they may click on your product or service to buy you
offer in your signature file at the bottom.
Within "The BIG 3 Marketing Machine" report, this headline pulls
reader action: "Leverage your Sales Through a Short Headline."
3. EBOOK-TITLES AND TABLE OF CONTENTS
Your eBook or print book title is an example of a headline. With
only 4-8 seconds to impress, make sure it sizzles with the
number one benefit and your preferred audience included
Sample titles that sell: "Increase your Traffic and Web Sales
Five Times in 30 Days," "Ten Roadblocks BetweenYou and a Real
Life," "Cold Calling: The Reverse Selling Way," and "Speak Like
a Pro For Profit." Notice the benefits.
Within your book your chapter titles are also examples of
headlines. These are so important to guide the reader through
your information in an organized, compelling style. They help
focus your reader and make your book easy-to-read, a great
selling point. Since your chapter titles evolve into your table
of contents, make them stimulate your possible buyer to pay for
your book right now. These are what my eBook calls "Essential
Hot-Selling Points."
In one client's chapter "You're Having No Fun and it Makes You
Sick" from a book on how relationships can be hazardous to your
health, she offered these headings: "No One Told You? You Put
Off Fun Til Later? He Healed Himself with Laughter! Are You
Stuck in the Muck? and Stretch Your Fun Muscles."
4. EZINES AND NEWSLETTERS
Just as with your chapter titles, every section of your ezine
needs a headline. For instance, "Feature Article of the Month,"
"Business Tip of the Month," or "Publisher's Message." These are
listed in your ezine's table of contents near the top of the
ezine. They give your prospective reader benefit- driven
headlines to attract them to read on.
6. WEBSITES
Since headlines are the most important part of your home page
and sales letters on your Web site, think about your site now.
If you don't have headlines on your home page that lead your
visitor straight to your product or service sales letter and
order page, you probably have low sales.
Why will visitors buy from you? They certainly don't care about
your bio, your mission or purpose. They won't stay if your home
page opens with a large graphic. Your potential customers want
to learn more about how you can solve their problem, and that
demands dazzling, meaty headlines.
For an eBook, one author put this headline on his home page:
Want to Know How to Add 200 New Subscribers Each Month?" This
headline led Web potential buyers straight to his sales letter
and links to where the Online promotion product was sold.
For a Feng Shui Kit one client put this home page headline and
link to her product sales letter on her home page: "Do you Miss
the Sacred in Your Daily Life? Rediscover it with "The Sacred
Collection." In her sales letter she wrote more headlines and
bullets for specific benefits throughout her sales letter.
7. LINK EXCHANGE
Reciprocal Web link exchanges are a win-win in business, since
this is one way to optimize your search engine placement. When
you agree with another Web site to exchange links, offer both a
short and long version of your link. In the longer one, be sure
to place a benefit-driven headline with the URL and a free
offer. These annotated links stand out from the crowd and give
visitors more information to make a decision.
When you add zesty, power-packed headlines to anything your
write or use to promote yourself and your business, you will
attract your target potential buyers who evolve into buyers.