Creating a great headline

[GordonJ]

Originally Posted by gkeehner

Hi everybody!

Can anyone offer me some tips as to how I can go about creating a killer headline? Thanks.

To create a "killer" headline...you simply _____________.

And you'll get about 1001 OPINIONS from the marketing/copywriting crowd. I can see how you can be easily confused from all the conflicting opinions. A winning headline (I'm not sure what "killer" means) is one that works. And you know it works because you test other headlines against it.

But there is ONE secret, and in the vernacular of the so-called Internet Marketers: (get out the mop), I'll spill my guts and open the vault, I'll reveal my most closely guarded secrets, and it won't cost you a dime because I'm such a darn nice guy to boot...

The one truth about HEADLINES that "THEY" don't discuss is....

TIMING.

When your prospect sees your ad, and the state of their mind at the TIME they see your ad determines whether the headline has any interest to them or not. And that is the truth.

Consider this. Sept. 11, 2001. IF you ran a "killer" ad that day, it didn't work. And it didn't work for the next couple of weeks. Why? You know. WE were preoccupied with more important things.

Your promotion is competing with all the other things trying to get our attention, including news, drama, celebrity, contrived media importance (democratic primary???)...but,

YOUR prospect has something on her mind. IF your message resonates with her preoccupation AT THE TIME she sees your promotion, you can throw up just about any headline you want...as long as it is able to break through her preoccupation and pick up an internal "conversation" (often right below the consciousness)...and join in, in a non-threatening, rapport producing, resonating sort of way.

OK. Example: Young mom just picked up the kids from the sitter (she's feeling guilty for not being able to stay at home, she entrusts her valuables to someone else for the bulk of the day)...she has to get home and feed them, get dinner (probably stops somewhere and buys it)...gets the kids ready for Karate practice...and in the process she picks up the bills and that sets off an internal conversation, often subconscious...

"We will be able to meet the bills this month?" type of process, figuring out her budget.

IF within that pile of bills she sees an envelope that says:

"Stay at Home and Make a Full Time Income with Benefits--Details Inside" and this is your promotion, you may have a good chance of getting her to open it later in the evening.

If it lands toward the end of the month, money might be a higher preoccupation for her than in the beginning or right after pay.

Likewise, if she is just checking email before she leaves for yoga, and you have one of those make money subject headers (which landed in her bulk/spam folder)...you just messed up your chances.

If she later starts surfing and looking for 'Work from Home Moms'...then she runs across sites like WHAM (google it) and her preoccupation is now in synch with what she is seeing...and in just a short glance at a headline or two will help her to determine if this is what she is seeking. And since WHAM has a pretty decent alexa rating, this subject must resonate with more than a handful of people.

Bottom line: create your headline after you fully understand your target's preoccupations as it regards your subject matter..and the TIME they will encounter it.

TIMING is, in my lonely opinion, as important as the headline itself.

Start by writing subject headers at forums that get read.

Gordon Jay Alexander

PS. Having a copy of Remote Influence wouldn't hurt you any.