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.