Copywriting For Marketers And Entrepreneurs Write Headlines Like A 30 Year Veteran (Yes You)

Headline writing is the perhaps the most useful skill in copywriting. Headlines are how you start a conversation with your potential customers. It is the first piece of copy that they will read in most cases and how well it grabs their attention determines if they want to stay with you or go and do anything else…
If you don’t have a whole lot of experience in writing copy then I can recommend the following three techniques for getting a great headline. There are different rules for different levels of copywriting experience. The headlines a beginner should write are completely different from what many pros actually do.
Here are the three best strategies for creating a headline that could have come from a 30 year veteran…
Swipe Headlines you know are working in your market and adapt them for your sales letter. This is always the easiest way to create great headlines. Take somebody else’s hard work and tweak it to make it work for you.
You know there is a fine line between borrowing and stealing. So take the idea and structure and use them as the foundation to make your headline work. Don’t go and steal the words.
Just Sell the Damn ‘Product.’ Sometimes all the advanced copywriting strategies in the world can’t help you. Using indirect sales techniques… Just sit down and hit the prospect between the eyes with what you are offering. If you are stuck or struggling, begin here. It is a simple strategy that will appeal to the buyers in the market. It is far easier to write this sort of copy as a beginner and it can work better than using ‘advanced copywriting’ techniques you aren’t familiar with. The acid test for nailing this strategy is if you ran just the headline and the phone number would it make the phone ring.
Break Out All Your Headline Formulas. Just about every copywriting book has a set of headline formulas. If you can’t find a headline that works by yourself break out a set of formulas and paint by numbers. If they don’t give you a good headline they may just give you a good enough headline for now. Two books I grabbed off of my shelf with a decent set of headline formulas are Bob Bly’s ‘The Copywriter’s Handbook’ and Dan Kennedy’s ‘Ultimate Sales Letter.’ (I have older editions of each of these books – can’t say for sure about the new ones).