Revealed Resources

Writing Effective Copy

Some points to remember

• 1. Don't tell me about your lawn mower, tell me how beautiful my lawn will look.
• 2. People read what interests them. The length of copy doesn't matter. Having said that, long copy generally out pulls short copy.
• 3. A letter can't be too long or too short. It can only be too boring.
• 4. Love your audience.
• 5. Write as if you're speaking to one person.
• 6. Use lots of white space on the page - don't cram too much in.
• 7. Good writing starts with ideas not words. Express yourself and your enthusiasm.
• 8. Do your homework.
• 9. Use brochures to describe and letters to sell.
• 10. Be concerned with every element offer, letter, order form, reply envelope, brochure, fulfilment etc.
• 11. Be detail minded.
• 12. Once you know the rules, feel free to break them.
• 13. Read all the direct mail you receive - and file the good stuff so you can copy the ideas.
• 14. There are no experts, just people with experience.
• 15. When you start writing, let it flow. Edit it later.
• 16. Test, test, test everything, every time.
• 17. Analyse, analyse, analyse.
• 18. Enjoy communicating via the written word.
• 19. Keep educating yourself.
• 20. Learn from others, but find your own voice.

 How good headlines can build your business 

The headline is unquestionably the most important element in most advertising. 

• It is the opening sentence or paragraph you use in any sales letter or written communication you ever send out to customers, prospects, suppliers, or staff.  
• The purpose of a headline is to grab your prospect's ATTENTION.  
• Your headline should zero in on precisely whom you want to reach - your target market. For example, if you want to reach homeowners, put the word "homeowners" in the headline.  
• The headline should serve as an ad for your ad. It should tell the reader immediately and clearly the essence of what you're trying to say in the body copy.  
• The headline should give the reader a Big Benefit or Big Promise. So, create a headline that tells the right people precisely the benefit you're offering them.  
• 80% of your outcome will come from having a successful headline  
• A change of headline can make a 20 times improvement in response or acceptance by your customer or prospect of your proposition. Every headline or opening statement should appeal to the prospect's or reader's or listener's self-interest. It should promise him or her a desirable, powerful and appealing benefit. If possible, try to inject "news" value or "educational" value into the headline also.

 Power words produce powerful results

The two most valuable words you can ever use in the headline are "free" and "new." You cannot always use "free," but you can always use "new" - if you try hard enough.

Other words that work wonders are: "how to," "now," "announcing," "introducing," "it's here," "just arrived," "an important announcement," "improvement," "amazing," "sensation," "remarkable," "revolutionary," "startling," "miracle or miraculous," "magic," "offer," "quick," "easy," "simple," "powerful" "wanted," "challenge," "advise to," "the truth about," "compare," "bargain," "hurry," and... "last chance." 

Don't turn up your nose at these clichés - they may seem trite and shop-worn - but they work!

Always incorporate your selling promise into your headline.  

• Make that promise as specific and desirable and advantageous to the prospect as you possibly can. This requires longer or detailed news, educational and information-worth statements.
• Research shows that most negative headlines don't work - unless you use negativity to underscore any undesirable results the prospect can expect to eliminate or avoid.
• People are looking to gain more advantage, result, benefit, pleasure, or value from their lives...from their actions...from their jobs or their businesses and definitely from their relationships.
• People want to avoid more or continual pain, dissatisfactions, frustration, mediocrity, and unpleasantness from their lives.
• Avoid blind headlines - the kind which mean nothing unless you read or listen to the whole proposition: because - if you don't gain your prospect's attention and desire immediately with your headline, that prospect won't listen, read or pay attention to the rest of what you, your ad, letter or sales message says.

What kind of rewards do good headlines promise? 

Good headlines explain how the reader, listener, or viewer or live sales prospect can save, gain, or accomplish something beneficial through the use of your product - how it will increase his or her mental, physical, financial, social, emotional or spiritual stimulation, satisfaction, well-being, or security. 

In short, good headlines spotlight the greatest "benefit" you are offering a sales prospect. Or, if you take a deliberately negative tack, they point out how the reader can avoid, "reduce," or "eliminate" risks, worries, losses, mistakes, embarrassments, drudgery, or some other undesirable condition for the use of your product or service. 

Or how it will decrease this: your prospect or customer's fear of poverty, illness, or accident, discomfort, boredom, and/or loss of business or social prestige or advantage, success, prosperity, richness or wealth. 

Whatever product or service you may think you are selling, always, when constructing your headline or opening statement, remember this: Your customer is not buying a product or service. They are buying a result or benefit or advantage or protection or increased pleasure or etc., etc., your product or service or company can offer or provide them. Always, always focus your headlines on the benefit or specific result your prospect will be receiving. 

More tips about a "negitive" approach 

While it is better to accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative, this is not always true of good headlines. 

One of the primary objectives of a headline is to strike as directly as possible right at a situation confronting the reader. People have problems and these are often upper most in their minds, so use the problem and its attendant solution in the headline.

"You" a vital word in power headlines 

The most obvious mistake most people make when writing or creating headlines is they forget to adopt the "YOU" attitude. 

To create a powerful headline, your message must telegraph benefits the prospect can expect to receive. 

Your headline or message never should talk about "we" or "our" product, service, or company. Each and every possible benefit or result must be written or expressed with the individual reader or prospect's selfish, direct interests in mind. Here are some other formulas for formulating writing or creating great headlines or opening statements. 

• Begin your headline with the word, "Announcing".  Use words that have an announcement quality to them
• Begin your headline with the word, "New"
• Begin your headline with the word, "Now"
• Begin your headline with the words "At last"
• Put date into your headline; i.e., January 18th
• Feature the price in your headline
• Feature the price reduction or a reduced price
• Feature a special offer
• Feature easy or more attractive payment terms
• Feature a free offer
• Offer information of value
• Tell a story
• Begin with words, "How to"
• Begin with the word "How"
• Begin your headline with the words "Why" or "Which"
• Begin with the words "Who else"
• Advise to offer the reader a test. Use a two-word headline that refers to a need or situation.
• Warn the reader to delay buying until they compare benefits and performance. 

To give you an idea of how important the headline is, and to help you to write good ones, these are some of the most successful headlines ever written. 

• 1. You Don't Know Me, I Realize...but I Want You to Have This Before It's Too Late
  This headline stresses the need for quick action
   
• 2. How to Develop a Silver Tongue, a Golden Touch and a Mind Like a Steel Trap
  Highlights the large audience of those looking for improvement
   
• 3. New Diet Burns Off More Fat Than if You Ran 98 Miles a Week
  A headline that anticipates incredulity in order to overcome it

• 4. What's Your Best Chance to Make Money in Real Estate? The Answer Below May Surprise You
  A stopper ad that will challenge the reader to read
   
• 5. We Always Have 200 Different Widgets in No Less than 15 Different Sizes and 10 Desirable Colours and With a Selection of 20 Optional Features in Prices Ranging From $6 to $600.
   
• 6. Five Times the Selection, Four Times the Colour and Size Choice, Three Times the Number of Convenient Locations, Two Times the Guarantees and Warranties, and Half the Mark-up of Any Other Dealer?
  
• 7. We Sell the Same Brands of Hardware as Company A or Company B at 25%-50% Less
  
• 8. Top Quality Widgets Usually Sell for $250 to $1,000. We Sell Them for $95 to $395. Which Would You Rather Pay?
• •9. Most Professionals Start Billing You the Moment You Walk in Their Door. That Can Add Up to Thousands of Dollars. At PDQ Services, Our Fee Is Always a Modest $99. No Exceptions. No Tricks.

What kind of headline works best? 

One that promises the reader a large and attractive benefit. 

A headline that offers topical "news" is often very successful. 

If your product or service is newsworthy, put that special news announcement right at the top of your ad. 

If you are promoting a product to one particular group, include de a "red flag" in your headline that will single out these prospects. And remember this: Specifics out pull generalities. Personalize a headline by singling out the city, state or group to which it's directed. Avoid humour and double meaning in headlines; they waste space and are non-productive 95% of the time. 

The key point is: The simple failure to test headlines against each other could cost you more than half of your profit potential. Don't ever run an ad without a headline. And test to see which headline pulls best.

Is all the above a bit daunting, drop me a line on rashid.kotwal@revealedresources, I'm happy to give you some pointers.