The Easiest Ways to Create Eyeball-Grabbing Headlines for Your Marketing Materials

Join Tom Trush, content specialist for Write Way Solutions, and special guest Joey Borane, director of marketing at Design44, on Thursday, January 31, as they present ...

The Easiest Ways to Create Eyeball-Grabbing Headlines

for Your Marketing Materials

During this seminar, you’ll discover …

• How to use your choice of 5 words in any headline to tap the most powerful force in direct marketing and seize your prospects’ attention

• Why an advertisement from the early 1900s was so profitable it ran for a record-setting 40 years without a single change … and how you can achieve similar results

• How a $3.29 purchase found in your grocery store’s checkout lane can instantly improve your headline writing skills and ignite your sales

• A 2-word question that transforms your product or service’s features into the benefits your prospects desire

• 8 marketing pieces you can use for any type of business and how to use each one with the most success

• What eating on an airplane has to do with writing headlines that seduce your prospects into reading your marketing materials

• How to use the magic 4 P’s of marketing to create unmatched demand for whatever you offer your prospects

• Why getting a “yes” response in a headline question can spell doom for your marketing message

• How to use a skill you started learning in first grade to create headlines that “test” your prospects’ needs, while building desire for your product or service

• The single most important quality you must have in every headline … and how you can include 3 additional attributes to make it even more powerful

• 5 things you must know about the human mind to maximize your marketing and, ultimately, create more sales

• 11 secret formulas for writing response-boosting headlines that will pump up any promotion

• And much more!


Seminar Schedule:
7:30 – 8 a.m.: Networking
8 – 9:15 a.m.: Presentation
9:15 – 9:30 a.m.: Q & A session and free raffle

Location:
RE/MAX New Heights Resource Center, 6437 S. Central Ave., in Phoenix

RSVP:
Please RSVP to Tom Trush at info@tomtrush.com by Jan. 29 to secure your seat.


Comments from previous seminar attendees:

“You are awesome! Thanks for the tip about ‘Onlywire,’ it works very well. Now when I Google “SoMo Vacations,” I’m #1, #3 and #6 in the top 10! Not to mention the other tips you shared that got SoMo Network to the top of Google. I just want you to know I appreciate all your ideas, insight and expertise. If you ever need anything, please do not hesitate to ask.”

Isreal Young
Owner, SoMoVacations.com


“Your seminar was amazing – one of the few marketing seminars I've been to that has real take-away value. I started using the secrets and tips the next day and, best of all, they fit into my non-existent marketing budget!”

Shaun Breese
Co-owner, Urban Cookies


“By simply using your tips in a press release to announce a groundbreaking event, we received news coverage from a local business publication, an interview with an industry journal in England, a potential consulting opportunity, and three requests from people interested in leasing space at one of our developments ... and that was just within the first 6 hours of sending out the announcement!”

Jeffrey Garza Walker
Director of New Business Development, P.C. & Development

An Introduction to the Five Wheelerpoints

I came across this clip of sales legend Elmer Wheeler today. Although the sales video was produced in 1947, many of the same principles still hold true today. Wheeler was brilliant at organizing words in ways that make prospects take action -- or creating "sentences that sell." (You may need to click the "Play" button twice to view the video.)

Can Your Marketing Materials Pass This Grade-School Challenge?

As the son of two teachers (my mom taught 7th and 8th grade English, while my dad was a sociology and anthropology professor at a local community college), I lived in an educational environment for the first 19 years of my life.

In fact, I was literally born in a school setting.

On May 19, 1975, my parents were at Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan -- on a field trip with my mom’s 8th grade class -- when my twin brother and I entered the world two months early.

With all this seemingly insider knowledge about teaching, you’d think I might have had an advantage in school, especially when it came to taking tests.

But, like most people, tests made me nervous. I could study for days, but it still wouldn’t eliminate the sweaty palms and stomach aches I felt prior to putting my pencil to paper.

Today, however, tests take on a new meaning. Because of my curiosity, I am actually drawn to certain types of tests.

And here’s a fact: Many of your prospects also enjoy taking tests.

Presenting prospects with tests in the headlines of your marketing materials is a proven way to generate more responses.

By reading this far, you’ve confirmed how well a test works on you. Go ahead and re-read the subject line of this post to see what I mean.

In a previous article, I mentioned a legendary advertisement headline created in the early 1900s by Maxwell Sackheim that read, “Do You Make These Mistakes in English?”

This advertisement, which ran for 40 years without any changes, uses a headline that appeals to your curiosity. A perceived test that you can take yourself makes the advertisement difficult to ignore.

Here are a few similar headlines you can adapt to fit your own industry:

Can You Spot the Design Flaws in This Kitchen Remodel?

Does Your Mortgage Broker Ask You These Questions?

Do You Know These 5 Indicators That Signal the Start of a Recession?

When writing tests for use in your marketing materials, the key is to create “answers” that reinforce why it’s necessary to use your product or service.

For example, a publisher might use the headline in the third bullet above to demonstrate how you receive exclusive information as a subscriber to their magazine. Or, a mortgage professional might use the second headline to highlight characteristics that set his services apart from the competition.

Coming up with test ideas for marketing materials is often easier after reading samples. Here is a rare copy of Sackheim’s advertisement to help with your brainstorming. (If you can’t read the text, click on the image for a larger view.)

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3 FREE Newsletters You Don’t Want to Miss

Sure, I would love for you visit my blog regularly and read every one of my posts. However, I understand there are a lot of copywriting/marketing blogs, online newsletters and websites competing for your attention. In fact, I believe some are so valuable that I’d like to point you to a few.

Get ready. The free information you’re about to discover will help send your sales soaring ... guaranteed.

1. Clayton Makepeace’s The Total Package. The archives for this daily newsletter contain the most comprehensive collection of copywriting and direct marketing articles I have ever seen. Many times while reading The Total Package, I find myself wondering how Clayton can provide such valuable information for free.

2. Trey Ryder’s Lawyer Marketing Alert. If you’re in the legal industry, you’ve likely heard of Trey -- and used his techniques to boost your business. Even if you’re not a lawyer, I encourage you to sign up for his weekly newsletter so you can learn all about The Ryder Method of Education-Based Marketing. Trey is among the best in the business.

3. AWAI’s The Golden Thread. In addition to the great tips in this weekly newsletter, I enjoy studying the sales e-mails that comes from American Writers & Artists Inc. The copywriting is first-rate. One of the most valuable features of The Golden Thread is the in-depth interviews with copywriting legends.

Headline Help from Jay Abraham

A couple of weeks ago, I came across Jay Abraham's list of The 100 Greatest Headlines Ever Written. It's already been a great tool for helping me come up with new headline ideas for a couple of recent projects. If you're in a jam and don't know what to write, nothing works better than studying effective examples from the past. Happy writing!

How 5 Words Can Instantly Create Curiosity in Your Headlines

I make no secret in my belief that curiosity is the strongest force in direct marketing. Since people have a natural desire to find out more than what they know, tapping into this trait is one way to increase the effectiveness of your marketing materials.

Whether you're writing a sales letter, website content or just an e-mail, your headline (or subject line in the case of an e-mail) is arguably the most important factor in determining your prospects' interest level. After all, as your prospects' interest grows, so does their desire to satisfy curiosity.

Copywriting legend Joe Sugarman is famous for saying, "The sole purpose of the first sentence in an advertisement is to get you to read the second sentence." Of course, your prospect needs a reason to get to the first sentence -- and that's why your headline is so important.

The success of supermarket tabloids relies on curiosity-driven headlines. After all, who wouldn't give at least a glimpse to the following statements?

Woman Delivers Own Baby While Skydiving!

Taco Vendor Turns Tiny Visitors' Abandoned Spacecraft into an ... ALIEN SOMBRERO!

Doctors Successfully Remove Banjo from Alabama Man's Knee!

Obviously, you don't want to make claims that are this outrageous, but that doesn't mean you can't brainstorm some surprising statements to trigger curiosity. Below are five words -- and five time-tested examples -- for helping create curiosity in your next headline.

1. How

I recently read an interview with John Caples, who mentioned using the headline How a Bald Barber Saved My Hair to promote a hair tonic. Although the market was saturated with products when he launched the advertisement, he generated a significant amount of sales. One reason why, he said, was because the word "how" tells prospects a story is involved. A compelling story is one way to keep your prospects reading and, ultimately, buying.

2. These

In the early 1900s, Maxwell Sackheim wrote the famous headline Do You Make These Mistakes in English? to promote an English mail-order course. The advertisement was so successful it ran for 40 years without any changes. Notice how the headline poses a question you can't answer with a simple "yes" or "no." Because of the word "these," you must continue reading to find out the mistakes.

3. Why

Read the headline Why Some People Almost Always Make Money in the Stock Market, and you feel like you're missing out on confidential information successful stock traders already know. What makes this statement credible are the words "some" and "almost." By demonstrating there's still risk and not everyone will make money, the headline portrays less hype and more believability.

4. Which

The headline Which of These $2.50 to $5 Best Sellers Do You Want -- for Only $1 Each? leaves you wondering what books are for sale and why they are priced at only $1. Unfortunately, I couldn't find who wrote this headline, but the pricing leads me to believe the offer is from many years ago. In addition to curiosity, this headline targets your prospects' desire for bargains.

5. What

When the copywriters at Bottom Line/Personal created a headline to help attract magazine subscribers, they used a subject that anyone who travels knows well: airline food. What Never ... Ever to Eat on an Airplane! will keep you curious for a long time -- unless you become a subscriber and find out the answer. Also, with this headline, you feel like you're getting access to rare information as a subscriber, which is perceived as being more valuable.

An additional benefit ...

When you write headlines similar to the samples above, prospects are more likely to view you as someone who provides information that solves their problems. As a result, they'll feel less pressure and your credibility increases -- two factors that go along way in generating more sales.