Part 3 - The Sales Process
How to Write Killer Copy
Before you can start writing a sales letter
you have to have a product. You write the sales letter to fit the product.
The way I have always done it, is to study
other people's letters on the subject or product I am selling, then take all
the bits I like, put them together, and then just play with the wording until I
get something I like.(This where your swipe file comes in).
It is easy to find good sales copy on the
Internet. Just search for web sites on related subjects to the product you have
and read the web site. Most web sites will have a sales message.
When I start to write a sales letter I always
write an advert first. Because this will then give me the selling points to
build the letter on.
Because you are basically running an
information mail order business via the Internet, your adverts are the most
important aspect of this business. Don't worry about understanding anything
else until you understand the principles I am about to lay out.
Your adverts are your shop window to the
world. It is salesmanship in print. It is the make or break of how well you do
in this business. The great thing about this business is that you can test you
adverts/ideas in newsgroups without having to spend any money to see if they
pull or not.
A good mail order ad will have your bank
balance filling up so fast. A bad ad will have you thinking that nobody buys
anything on the net. It will mean the difference between your success and your
failure. That's my official wealth warning. (If you are going to take this
business seriously you should become an adaholic) Study every advert you see,
in papers, mags, on the train, on the net. Buy some books on copywriting. The
more you learn about ads the more you earn. (Read Bob's courses).
The good news is that you don't have to be
called Saatchi to create a winning advert. Mail order is very much a science
and the basic principles of good copywriting can be mastered by any determined
person. The key is to test. The following rules and tips will dramatically
increase the response to your ads, whatever the product.
HOW TO WRITE AN ADVERT/LETTER THAT SELLS
AIDA
This stands for;
· Attention
· Interest
· Desire
· Action
These are the four essential elements of any
advertisement. They must all be present together in a successful piece of copy.
Attention
The sole purpose of a headline is to make the
reader read further. You simply have to grab the customer's attention. Not only
is the typeface therefore larger than that of the rest of the advert, but the
message has to be clear. You have only a few seconds and even fewer words in
which to:
· Establish the reader's interest;
· Convince them that there is "something in it for them";
· Persuade them to read further.
I cannot over-emphasise how vital your
headline is. Seventy percent of ads fail because of a poor headline. If it
doesn't tempt the customer, your campaign ends right there.
Interest
This forms the major part of the advert -
otherwise known as the body copy. So far you have managed to get the reader's
attention. Now you have to go into more detail about your features and
benefits, and get them to the next stage of desire. There are six issues to
remember when writing body copy.
1. Credibility;
Your information
must be credible. Over-exaggeration does not work. Stick to specific
information rather than generalisation.
2. Benefits to the
customer;
Every product has
a set of characteristics or benefits. These features are what makes a product
individual and you should use the bulk of the advert to inform about these. You
must always remember to tell the reader what's in it for them.
3. YourUSP;
You must always
decide on the unique selling point of your product, something no other product
like yours has; this is what will make people buy, usually without questioning
a price.
4. Style;
The best sales
pitches are done in a conversational manner. Don't worry too much about the
grammar. Instead, you should try to write as though you are in a conversation
with a good friend, be personal, friendly and to the point.
5. Bullet copy;
If you are going
to list the benefits of your product, for the best impact use black spots or
asterisks set on the left-hand side of the page, followed by the benefits, for
example;
· Look great!
· Get rid of stress!
· Be fit!
6. Action;
Remember to get them to act now. You must
tell them to go to the next stage of what you want them to do NOW!
Desire
Reiterate the benefits
You only need to add a short paragraph at the
end of the body copy - simply pick out the major advantages of the product and
tell them again. Remember that people buy with their emotions, not their logic.
So, don't forget to establish desire for your product. It is the essential link
between interest and action.
Action
You have successfully lured the customer
right through the advert, now all you have to is give the your web address or
email address of the auto responder that the respective sales letter is
attached to and tell them to act straight away and go to your web site or get
your sales letter or what ever you want to call it.
When writing a letter don't be afraid to get
personal. Would you rather buy something from a machine or a person?
The first thing I am going to mention has the
most impact on the potential customer, even though it is not at the beginning
of your sales letter. Ask for the order! Ask for the order! And then ask for
the order again! I cannot emphasise this enough. You have no idea how many
people simply do not ask for the order. It has been proven by marketing gurus,
time and time again that sales can increase by at least 80% by just simply
asking for the order.
I ask for the order, backed up with a
guarantee, and then guide them to an order process. In other words instead of
just saying, "Satisfaction guaranteed", you might want to make it a
condition of the purchase. The customer then feels more confident that your
product will live up to you promise.
One myth about Internet marketing is that
"hype" does not work. This is completely false. The theory was that
most people on the Internet were college educated and quite intelligent and
would therefore listen only to a more academic approach to selling a product or
service than they would a flamboyant sales letter. The plain fact is that words
such as "amazing", "astonishing" etc. pull in way more sales.
Yes, there are a few out there that will be "turned off' by this approach,
but my testing showed that the average number of orders doubled and almost
tripled when I used glamour words and a very exciting sales letter. Words like
"fantastic" and "free" increased my sales 200-300% as soon
as the sales letters were redrafted.
I have also tried the cut-and-dried or
level-headed sales letter after the "hyped" approach to be sure the
increase in sales was the result of the approach in the letter, and my sales
plummeted by a whopping 52%. I then changed a few sentences to make the reader
more involved emotionally, and my sales increased again.
Long copy sells. The key here is that if
people are interested, they will read as much as you can write. I have proven
this time and time again.
And of course, your "hook" (or
headline) is the most important text your customers will read. Headlines can
increase your response by as much as 1700%. This has been proven over many
years by top people. You can have the exact same body (called copy) in an ad
and just change the headline to dramatically increase your sales. They say
headlines pull in 80% of the orders if done correctly.
It is very difficult to write a sales letter
without a finished product. Once you have a finished product and you know the
market place you are going to it is much easier to write a letter. Because you
write your letter to fit your product and market place.
What Price
Never put the price of your product in the
advert.
One of the biggest mistakes made when
marketing any product or service is the pricing. Pricing should never be based
on cost. Always charge the maximum any given customer base is willing to pay
and base it on what your competition is getting for a comparable product. So
start at a low price and keep raising it until you see a drop in order rate.
A very simple method for getting a higher
price than your competition with a similar product is to somehow add value your
competitors do not provide.
For example, free bonuses, special customer
service, special information to make your product more useful or efficient,
specialised knowledge about the product or industry. Whatever you can offer
your customer that the competition can't. It's easy to sell for more than the
competition if you have a higher perceived value. Don't take this lightly;
every pound you add to your price is profit in the bank for you.
(Here is tip for you while I think about it.
To find ideas for products subscribe to every
marketing/advertising/promotional/publicity list you can find and absorb the
information there. Much of the information you find will be of marginal use,
but some of it will be absolutely priceless. It is worth searching to find an
idea that will make you a fortune Go to www.liszt.com for a posting of over 84,000 mailing/discussion lists available on the net)
Creating a successful sales letter is one of
the most important aspects of your business success or failure. See end of this
manual for help on sales letter writing.
One of the most important things to recognise
in selling anything, which also applies to marketing on the Internet, is that
you must really believe in your product. If you don’t.... people will pick up
on it in an instant, and it will reflect on all your sales dramatically. If you
truly believe in your product then everything you write, say, or do with it
will be done with enthusiasm. This enthusiasm will be read in your sales
letter, email etc... And it is very difficult to fake.
General Tips
Don't use all capital letters in the text of
your sales message. It slows the average reader down 30% and can be very
annoying. Only use caps when you want to emphasise a point, but also consider
using bold text.
Make the sales letter or sales message
enticing. Either make it interactive or use exciting words so the reader
doesn't fall asleep reading a bunch of sterile text.
Use short words and short sentences if
possible. People can't and won't read long complicated copy without breaks.
· Make sure everything is done in a logical order so one point
flows naturally to the next, making the offer simple to follow. Explain to the
prospect that you are. Explain the benefits of the product. Be clear and
proactive about asking for the order. Ask yourself "Is everything
explained in detail about how the order works so the customer feels
comfortable?"
· Write your letter as though you are talking to somebody, not at
them. Use informal language and keep everything simple and easy to understand.
It is difficult to make a sale if the customer does not feel like they are
getting personal attention. Stay clear of big words and complex concepts. Once
you are done with the letter, read it out loud and ask yourself "how does
this sound?"
· You are what you write. Make sure all your information is clear,
concise, effective, and error free. Simple things like poor spelling will
convey unprofessionalism. (Which is hard for me as I am a little dyslexic, I
can look at sentence for example and I can't see that I have spelt something
wrong, or got the words the wrong way around, or written two words the the same
like I have just done. So it can take me a long time to do a basic letter, so I
hope you appreciate the effort I have to write this manual.)
· Describe your products using benefits rather than features. For
example. Don't say "this xxxxxx has a,b,c,d ...... instead say the
xxxxxx will save you time and money because it has a,b and c features. Define
the ultimate benefits your clients want by putting them into terms they can
easily understand (i.e. "layman's" terms, no big words or difficult
sentence structure).
· Your potential customers do not care about what you think about
the product, what they care about is, what it will do for them! (I.e. benefits,
benefits, benefits!) Also known as "hot-buttons".
· Try to place yourself in the position of the buyer and understand
what they want, and then show them how to fulfil that need. It is much easier
to sell a solution to a problem than it is to sell a feature or benefit. Your
marketing should highlight some of these problems, and then offer your product
or service as an ideal solution.
· Always transfer ownership in your sales letters to make them more
personal by using "you" and "your". Say, "You will
learn...", not "the book has..." or "your product will be
delivered in 5 mins", not "the product will be delivered in five
mins." Count the number of "you's" and "your's" in
your sales material You should have at least twice as many "you's"
and "your's" as "Is", "we's" "me's",
"ours" or the company name.
· "Fear of loss" and "desire of gain" should be
something that is utilised in all, sales material. "Fear of loss" is
much more powerful though. This is what you may lose risk or waste if you do
not buy. What capital you gain or save if you do buy the product is based on
desire as opposed to fear. This desire should still be considered a remarkable
sales tool.
· Offer a "no questions asked money back guarantee". Be
very specific, explain every detail and use the guarantee as a good condition
of doing business. If you have a good product you won't have many returns.
· Be very clear about how to order and exactly what they will
receive. Come up with a really dynamite reason for someone to respond to your
sales letter. Offer some kind of bonus or discount if they order immediately.
· When you have finished writing sales material.... NEVER send it
out immediately. Always put it aside for a day or two, then re read it again.
Importance of Testing Your Offer
Many people think there is one magic
technique that will get instant results when marketing online. While there are
a few techniques that do bring incredible results, there is no one magic
technique that will make you rich overnight. It is the process of testing,
evaluating, changing, and re-testing that will ultimately bring you the maximum
profits. Don't ever forget this.
When trying to increase the response to your
offer, you need to test three items.
1. Change the
headline or opening sentence (this is the first impact you have on a potential
customer).
2. Change your
offer (make your offer the most appealing it can be).
3. Change your
pricing (if it is too cheap, some will think it is no good... if it is too
expensive, some will not be able to afford it or think it is not worth it).
Make sure though you only change one of these
at a time or you will not know which one worked.
Also remember to test on a small scale and
then roll out to a big emailing once you have a winning ad.
When writing a headline for your advert,
write down minimum often different headlines. You will never get it right with
the first one. Remember this business is all about testing.
If you are not getting very good results, I
strongly recommend that you either email or phone some of the people that you
sent your offer to, and question them about your offer. You will find out
exactly where you are going wrong and how to correct it.
Targeting Is a Key to Success
"Targeting" is a very big key to
your success on the Internet.
If you offer the right product to the right
audience, you will get orders. It's that simple!
The feet are that if you have a decent
product to sell, you don't have to use a lot of gimmicks to sell it. All you
need is to write a strong sales letter that shows the benefits to the potential
customer.
And don't think your product is suited for
everyone in a certain industry. This is the most common and biggest mistake you
can make when targeting. It is better to find a niche market and dominate it,
rather than trying to market your product to a wide range of people.
For much more detailed information on the
sales process please study the entire course Called "How To Write Million
Dollar Ads" written by Bob Serling. It is the best course I have ever read
on copywriting which is available on cd-rom (available separately, email for
details)
The first step to world-class copywriting
(salesmanship-in-print) is to create a FACT SHEET about the product you wish to
sell.
You need to make your FACT SHEET as detailed
as possible and then go over it very carefully and translate the facts therein
to benefits for the buyer and to create a humongous BENEFIT LIST.
You then to think about what you are trying
to sell, think about all the benefits to the buyer and about how (in what
manner) you would like to buy what you are trying to sell. And then, you work
to come up with the sweetest, most powerful OFFER you can and to create a DEAL
SHEET which contains the strongest PROPOSITION you can offer which has been
reduced to writing.
Find the best ads and/or direct mail packages
you can find that are related to what you want to sell and use them and keep
them in your swipe file.
1. You create a
FACT SHEET.
2. You create a
BENEFIT LIST.
3. You reduce your
OFFER to writing on a DEAL SHEET.
4. You write a
headline that contains news and the promise of one or more benefits.
5. If you have more
than two hot benefits, you can put another in the lead-in sub-headline.
6. You reveal
exactly who the letter is from.
7. You begin the
salutation, "Dear Friend,”
8. You write a
first sentence that tells what's in it for your prospect if he reads this
letter.
9. You use the next
few paragraphs to elaborate specifically on your promises.
10.You
next tell why you are offering such a good deal.
11.You
enumerate facts that translate to benefits and you simply list 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
etc., etc., as many as you've got.
12.You
next write a true and believable "reason why" explanation of why you
are writing to them.
13.You
ask him to respond and urge him to hurry.
14.You
sign off with "Sincerely,”
15.You
write a P.S. that gives him a little new wrinkle on one of the hot reasons
you've already given him as to why he should buy your product
The most valuable skill you can have in
today's world... if... you want to become independently wealthy... is... the
ability to write a great sales letter!
No other skill even comes close.
Now, when I say "sales letter" I do
mean conventional direct mail sales letters... but... that same skill is the
one you must have to create a great space ad, a great TV commercial, a great
website, a great telephone script, etc. It would probably be more accurate to
refer to this skill... as... the ability to write great sales... message.
If you have the ability to write a great
sales message, you can have all the money you want, all the women you want, all
the fame you want... and... All the fun you want.
OK, with all that as preamble, I'd like to
say, in my opinion... Do not ever allow a web designer to write sales messages
or copy for your site.
People who hold themselves out to be website
designers SUCK. They know nothing about how to create sales. What they do know is
how to get you to spend an enormous amount of money to have them create for you
a so-called "professional" website that will impress people with what
a "web-sawy" guy you are.
Everything a website designer will do for you
is stupid. (NOTE: For our purposes, the definition of "stupid" is "that
which hinders sales") The first sign (usually) your website designer is a
sales idiot is... he will tell you he knows ways to get your website included
in the "top ten" when somebody uses a search engine to look for
something. What this means is, he knows a lot of ways to "trick"
people to go to your website. This, in turn, will get you a lot of
"visits" or "Hits" as the pros call them. What
"HITS" really stands for is... "How Idiots Track Success." Often,
you'll hear a not-too-swift website owner say, "I got 94,000 Hits last
week!"
"Oh," you respond, "how many
sales did you make? " "Oh, we can't reveal that," you will hear
the person reply.
You're damn right they can't. Who wants to
reveal they got 94,000 hits and three £4.95 sales? Doesn't sound so good when
you look at it that way, does it?
The second clue (as if one was needed) your
professional website designer is a stupid ass, he will constructing your site
in such a way... that... it takes fore ver to load! He'll put a lot of graphics
on your site. A lot of animation. A lot of colour photos. A lot of hard-to-read
text like light purple words against a dark purple background.
Look, when a person goes to your website,
they will be looking for information. Easy-to-access, easy-to-read,
easy-to-understand information. All that other crap on your site will irritate
readers like crazy.
And now, we come to a simple, simple truth...
You Can't Be A Great Website Creator Unless You
Are A Great Copywriter First!
If you aren't a good copywriter, it is
IMPOSSIBLE for you to create a great website. You might be able to create a
great-looking website, & fascinating website, a website which will get
people talking, a website which will attract media attention... but... unless
you are a great copywriter...
Being a good copywriter is not hard to learn,
just use your swipe file to look for copywriting than other people have done
and adapt it to your product. There is no way I could start with a blank back
and just write a sales letter. I get lots of other good copy out of my swipe
files and then write out all the bits I want to use into a file on my computer
then cut and paste them into my letter as it develops. It can take me anything
from a couple of days to put a letter together, to a month just adding bits and
editing it as I go along. But it will get to a point where you have to stop
editing the letter and just test it.
So, now that I've got all that out of the
way, let's get going. More than 60 years ago, a man named E. Haldeman-Julius
conducted the most fascinating and large-scale market research program I've
ever heard about. Are you familiar with Haldeman-Julius? He's the guy who
published the world famous Little Blue Books. In America.
The story of the Little Blue Books offers up
a treasure trove of marketing insights that is pure gold. Here are the details:
Once upon a time, way back in the 1920's, the Little Blue Books were born. They
were, all in all, a collection of some 2,000 titles. All the books had a blue
cover and measured 3-1/2 by 5 inches. Most often they contained 64 pages,
although sometimes they went up to 128 pages. The content of the Little Blue
Books was wide and varied. They covered everything from Shakespeare to the
Debate on Birth Control. Many of them were self-help books of the "How To"
genre. They were sold in large ads that appeared in many of the major
newspapers and other publications such as Colliers and the Saturday Evening
Post. They sold for a nickel (5 cents) and you had to buy at least 20 of them
with every order.
To say that the Little Blue Books sold well
would be somewhat of an understatement. How many of them were sold? I'm glad you asked because the
answer is
...
,
More Than 100 Million!
And listen to this: After Haldeman-Juhus had
sold over 100 million of these little books, and then he wrote a book titled
The First Hundred Million to tell what he had learned from this publishing
venture. His statistics are amazing. They reveal exactly what interested the
American public in the 1920s and in exactly what relative proportions. And you
know what? Those statistics are dead on target today!
What subject was the American public most
willing to pay and read about in the 1920's? The same one they're most willing
to pay to read about today.
And now, without further adieu, I am simply
going to extract for you some data from this wonderful book. Haldeman-Julius
sold 20,700,000 Little Blue Books in 1927. Many of then were about sex. Let's
see what we can learn from his annual sales figures for that year. Hmn, A book
titled The Art of Kissing sold 60,500 copies, yet one titled The Art of
Courtship sold only 17,500 copies. What Married Women Should Know (a
euphemistic titled that Haldeman-Julius really wanted to call Sex Facts for
Married Women) sold 112,000 copies while What Married Men Should Know sold
97,500 copies. Women's Sexual Life sold 97,500 copies; Man's Sexual Life sold
54,000 copies. Confidential Chats with Wives sold 52,000 copies, while
Confidential Chats With Husbands sold only 29,500 copies.
Hmn, I guess a woman's sexual revelations
have much more commercial appeal than a man's, don't they?
Hah! Here's something. It seems that Modern
Aspect of Birth Control appealed to 73,000 readers, while Debate on Birth
Control appealed only to 27,000.
I guess they didn't want to hear all the
arguments; they just wanted to know how to doit.
Ah, but let's go for what they really wanted
to read. Check out this figure: Prostitution in the Modern World -129,500
copies!
As opposed to The Evolution of Marriage which
sold only 20,000 copies.
Here's a strange one. Love Letters of a
Portuguese Nun sold 46,000 copies, while Haw to Write Love Letters sold only
23,000 copies.
And Facts about Venereal Disease sold 41,500
copies as opposed to the more specific Facts about Syphilis which sold only
36,000.
O.K. that's enough sex for now. Let's move on
to the area of self-education. Just look at this difference: How to Improve
Your Conversation sold 77,000 copies yet The Romance of Words only 10,500. Hmn,
Hints in Public Speaking sold 46,500 copies, How to Write Advertising 20,000
copies, How to Write Book Reviews only 8,000 copies. How to Psycho-Analyze
Yourself sod 43,000 while another titled How I Psycho-Analyzed Myself only
13,500. More numbers How to Fight Nervous Troubles 39,000, Facts About Will
Power 38,500, Your Memory and How to Improve It 37,000 copies, Your Talent and
How to Develop 7/35,500, Psychology of Leadership 32,000, How to Think
Logically 30,500, Psychology of Character Building 29,000, The Conquest of Fear
27,500 and Psychology of Laughter 14,000.
Here's an illuminating statistic: How to
Break Bad Habits sold 29,000 copies as opposed to how to Form Good Habits which
sold only 20,000.
And another: Care of Skin and Hair sold
52,000, yet How to Take Care of Your Mouth and Teeth only 8,000.
What do we like to eat? Or, more precisely,
what do we like to cook? How to Make All Kinds of Candy sold 45,000 copies, How
to Make Pies and Pastries 29,000, how to Cook Fish and Meats 21,500 and, dead
last, was French Cooking for Amateurs at 9,500.
The demand for info on proper manners always
astonishes me. Back in 1927, the Little Blue Book titled Hints on Etiquette
sold 72,000 copies! Less surprising, at least to me, is that Party Games for
Grown-Ups sold 46,500.
What is super instructive, however, is the
chapter called THE HOSPITAL which is subtitled How Little Blue Books Are Given
New Zest by New Titles!
Consider: When Gautier's Fleece of Gold was
changed to The Quest for a Blonde Mistress, sales jumped from 6,000 to 50,000!
When the title of Oscar Wilde's Pen, Pencil and Poison was changed to The Story
of a Notorious Criminal, sales more than tripled! The book Patent Medicine did
poorly. Yet, when changed to The Truth about Patent Medicine, sales more than
tripled! Arthur Schopenhauer's Art of Controversy didn't do squat until
retitled as How to Argue logically when, thereupon, it enjoyed sales of 3 0,000
per year.
What's to stop you re writing, or getting
someone else more importantly to write some of these titles for you? Details
later of where to find writers to write for you. I prefer to pay someone else
to write a eBook or course except this one, because I use that time more
effectively to do marketing to make money.
How to design effective money-making direct
response styled advertising.
The biggest reason nearly all businesses fail
to make the most from their advertising is because they do not understand the
secret design skills required to create powerful direct response advertising.
This method of advertising is proven to be up
to 500% more effective in leading to a response than any other form of institutionally
designed advertising method.
The best form of direct response advertising
is news-styled adverts, which are designed to appear less like the common
advertising we see around us everyday instead it is designed to look like news
or editorial features, it is this that increases readership by up to 500%.
People are naturally attracted to read news
or information - its human instinct Flashy vibrant and often expensive Institutional
styled advertising will always fail to make use of this natural interest.
Institutional advertising does not capture, teach, nurture or give any
benefit-oriented reasons to buy or take action.
News-Styled direct response advertising works
so well because it makes use of this predictable human instinct. Using
scientific design secrets, rather than 'creative art' to attract and keep a
prospects interest, greatly increases the odds of a positive buying decision
being made. It is not just the quality of the sales copy that determines
whether an advertising campaign will be a success, the design contributes
greatly too.
I am going to show you powerful design
secrets using psychology and hidden trigger word and phrases to get results.
Using these will be the difference between success and failure in your business
and making money.
Let's dispel some advertising design myths to
transform your sales message into a powerful direct response advert.
Myth #1 your advertisement must look good.
It does not matter how good you’re
advertising looks it's the response you get from it that counts. I am not
saying your advertising can not look good, what I am saying is your primary
goal when planning an advert should be 'will this advert pull a response'. The
sales message is more important than the look, with the headline being the main
focus, which bring me on to the next myth.
Myth #2 Your Company name or logo needs to be
prominent in the advert.
Fact, you should always leave your company
name till last in the advert, always at the bottom never the top. And when
using adwords your company name should not appear at all.
When people first look at an advert they
don't care who you are they are looking for W I T F M
Myth # 3 your advert must not have too much
copy (words) and have lots of artistic white space.
Fact, this is the biggest myth and number one
mistake people make with adverts. If you only have small amount of space you
need to get in an many powerful response words as you can.
It is the same with writing sales letters you
more reason you give people to buy your products, the more chance you have to
appealing to the most buying wants of your market place. Long copy sells better
than short. When people are going to spend money the more information you give
them about your product and what it can do for them the better.
Remember, the more you tell, the more you
sell—your advertising is nothing more than salesmanship in print.
Institutional or image advertising is the
style we see used around us everyday. It's everywhere, from in out mail to on
the side of buses. With 99% of businesses adopting to advertise in this way is
it any wonder that the average person has evolved to simply ignore it?
Direct response marketing works differently
especially when used in a news-styled advert. Because it doesn't look like an
advert.
Now use these following scientific design
tips and apply them to all your marketing campaigns.
Limit your font usage; Typefaces or fonts
come in all different shapes and sizes, some appear tall and thin while others
can be Short and fat with so many to choose from I recommend you use just
three.
Times and Arial Black are the most effective
fonts at attracting and keeping attention. Times or similar is used by nearly
every newspaper printed in the western world today, used for some headlines but
mainly body copy it's used because of the science behind its design. Times is
called a serif font, meaning 'with' in French. Serif fonts have a tiny curlicue
to the edge of their appearance, it is these tiny flicks that help guide the
eye from one letter to the next smoothly.
Arial Black is a great sans serif font. But
should be only used on single words, cross-heads or headlines.
Avoid using a sans serif typeface for your
advertisement body copy. It repels the eyes like water on wax paper. ALWAYS use
a serif font for body copy - it's five times more likely to be read.
Courier is the third font ever needed to be
used in your sales letters.
Always remember the most important part of
your sales piece is your headline, and sub headlines.
When writing a letter or web piece your
headline just does not have to be limited to the top line. The whole of your
first page can be a headline.
You only have a few seconds to catch some
ones attention, so get the most out of your headlines. I recommend when
possible you use Arial Black when ever possible in your headlines. Never use a
full stop at the end of your headline. Never put your headline in CAPITALS
ONLY.
Remember to use emotional and exciting word
and phrases as much as possible.
You will learn much more about this subject
when you read Bob Serlings courses.
If you look at Bobs courses and say I can not
read all those, then you are not really committed to your success. The more you
learn the more you earn Do you really want to be rich, or just make excuses
like everyone else.
A Selection of All-Time Winning Headlines
Marketing gurus take great pains to study
other people's winning headlines, looking at layout and design as well as
noticing what words the copywriter considers have the most impact. This
selection of all-time greats will help you understand what makes a winning
headline:
THE SECRETS OF MAKING PEOPLE LIKE YOU (A huge
business was established on this one headline alone)
A LITTLE MISTAKE THAT COST A FARMER $3,000 a
YEAR
(It seems the prospect of preventing loss has
greater appeal than promising gain. People fight harder to keep something they
already have than to obtain new wealth)
THE CHILD WHO WON THE HEARTS OF ALL
(The secret of this ad's success was the
little girl's photograph that accompanied it. The child appeared laughing and
running forwards, as if into the reader's arms)
HOW TO WIN FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE
(Millions of copies of the book with the same
title sold under this headline. 'How to' is a powerful phrase in most
advertisements and virtually everyone wants to have friends and be liked)
WHO ELSE WANTS A SCREEN STAR FIGURE?
(The key words, 'Who else', indicate that any
reader can have a screen star figure)
DO YOU MAKE THESE MISTAKES IN ENGLISH?
(The key word is 'These'. It raises the
curiosity factor and keeps readers reading)
WHY SOME FOODS 'EXPLODE' IN YOUR STOMACH
(The key word, 'Why' also plays to the
curiosity factor and prompts readers to continue with the rest of the text)
YOU CAN LAUGH AT MONEY WORRIES - IF YOU
FOLLOW THIS SIMPLE PLAN
(Most people have money worries of some kind
or another, so the headline targets a huge audience)
WHEN DOCTORS 'FEEL ROTTEN' THIS IS WHAT THEY
DO
('Feel rotten' adds impact to an already
impressive headline. The same ad. Was originally run with 'Feel below par'
instead of Feeling rotten'. The newer, more colloquial version, using a common
phrase, increased orders by 100 per cent.)
FIVE FAMILIAR SKIN TROUBLES - WHICH DO YOU
WANT TO OVERCOME?
(Curiosity is high, once again, as the reader
waits to hear what the five problems are and which he - supposedly - suffers
from)
WHICH OF THESE $2.50 TO $5 BEST SELLERS DO
YOU WANT - FOR ONLY $1 EACH?
(Under this headline, the ad. sold thousands
of books. For readers seeking a bargain it's hard to beat)
DISCOVER THE FORTUNE THAT LIES HIDDEN IN YOUR
SALARY
(Another headline guaranteed to arouse
curiosity as readers strive to discover what that fortune' is that lies
'hidden' in their pockets)
DOCTORS PROVE 2 OUT OF 3 WOMEN CAN HAVE MORE
BEAUTIFUL SKIN IN 14 DAYS
(The promise of speed is a major incentive
here, as is the fact that most women want to be beautiful. Reference to doctors
increases credibility)
HOW I MADE A FORTUNE WITH A 'FOOL IDEA'
(Everyone has had ideas that other people have
thought funny, even stupid. So, the very thought that those ideas could be
worth a fortune is bound to compel people to keep on reading)
THOUSANDS HAVE THE PRICELESS GIFT - BUT NEVER
DISCOVER IT! (Priceless 'promises' wealth and the fact that 'thousands of
people' have this gift means it could apply to virtually anyone. Readers are
bound to read on to satisfy their curiosity)
161 NEW WAYS TO A MAN'S HEART - IN THIS
FASCINATING BOOK FOR COOKS
(Highly specific ads. like this one,
invariably work. The desire to be loved is common to most people, so again the
headline offers huge market coverage)
IS THE LIFE OF A CHILD WORTH $1 TO YOU?
(The advertisement was for a brake-relining
service. A headline like this plays on the readers' emotions and is highly effective,
so much so the headline was eventually copycatted by numerous road safety
organisations)
DO YOU DO ANY OF THESE TEN EMBARRASSING
THINGS?
(Again, the curiosity factor is high. Most
people worry about being humiliated, especially mistakes they are unaware they
are making.)
TO PEOPLE WHO WANT TO WRITE BUT CAN'T GET
STARTED (Research indicates that many people want to write, but don't know what
to write and who for. A headline like this is bound to reach a huge market,
many sharing the same common problem)
THE CRIMES WE COMMIT AGAINST OUR STOMACHS
(The key words are 'we' and 'crimes'. The
headline promises free information in an advertisement that is aimed at a huge
audience of health and fitness enthusiasts. It has to work!)
THEY LAUGHED WHEN I SAT DOWN AT THE PIANO -
BUT NOT WHEN I STARTED TO PLAY!
(The ad. promises the chance to get your own
back on other people's low expectations of you. The before and after angle can
be highly effective.)
TO MEN WHO WANT TO QUIT WORK SOMEDAY (Well,
most people do, male and female. The audience is huge and the curiosity factor
is already working well.)
THIS IS MARIE ANTOINETTE - RIDING TO HER
DEATH
(Pure curiosity is the major element in this
ad's success)
FOR THE WOMAN WHO IS OLDER THAN SHE LOOKS
(Almost everyone wants to look younger than
their age and most people think they do, meaning this headline finds its own
audience. Under this headline, the ad. pulled countless more orders than the
earlier one: 'For the woman who looks younger than she is')
FORMER BARBER EARNS $8,000 IN 4 MONTHS AS A
REAL ESTATE SPECIALIST
(The message is, if a barber can do it, so
can I!)
FREE BOOK - TELLS YOU 12 SECRETS OF BETTER
LAWN CARE (Free is always a powerful word!)
GREATEST GOLD-MINE OF EASY 'THINGS TO MAKE'
EVER CRAMMED INTO ONE BIG BOOK
(Largess - of benefits - is a winner every
time!) |
