I joined Jeff Walker‘s Launch Club in November 2015 to learn how to launch products and services online. Instead of doing things my tried-and-true way, I did what Jeff recommended.
My thinking was, if I’m paying an expert to show me the ropes, shouldn’t I follow their advice?
Lessons Learned
In the past I’ve written headlines after writing my blog post, web page, or e-book. Following Jeff’s advice I did just the opposite and achieved greater success.
How I Created Better Headlines — And More of Them
I first reviewed my notes about my perfect customer and thought about their problems and struggles.
Having only an vague idea of the type of product I wanted to create, I filled-in-the-blanks on headlines such as:
- How to_____________(solve a problem or achieve a dream) without ______________(normal undesirable solution)
- How to _____________ in 5 minutes
- 7 Ways to ________________(do something)
Jeff gave us eleven fill-in-the-blank headlines, and recommended writing out 50 possible headlines from the samples.
Some fill-in-the-blank headline examples seemed easier than others, so I kept writing until those headline ideas stopped flowing. By the time I finished I had 81 headlines!
Not all were great, and it was difficult narrowing the list down to my top 10.
The next task was putting my top 10 headlines in front of a group of prospects to find out which headlines they liked best. Out of 45 people, one headline emerged as the winner — but only by one vote.
My biggest surprise was that the headline I thought would come out on top, ended placing near the bottom.
Headline Crafting Resource
How To Write Copy That Sells: The Step-By-Step System For More Sales, More Customers, More Often is a new book from an accomplished and seasoned copy writer, who also happens to be one of Jeff Walker’s Product Launch Formula superstars.
In his chapter on headline creation, Ray Edwards includes a headline template. I’ve also used Ray’s template to help me write better headlines:
- The “How-To” Headline
- How to Write a Blog Post Every Day
- The “Transactional” Headline
- Try These 5 Tactics for a Week, And be Twice as Productive
- The “Reason-Why” Headline
- 7 Reasons Why You Should Be Using Social Media In Your Marketing
- The “Probing Question” Headline
- Why Don’t Doctors Get Sick?
- The “If-Then” Headline
- If You Can Follow a Recipe, You Can Write Better Headlines
Writing Headlines Not Your Thing?
Last week I spent the most enjoyable 2 hours writing headlines with my website client Victoria Travis. She needed to jazz up her sales letter and asked for my help.
Much to her surprise we started with the headline.
30 minutes into our session she protested, “This is hard. I don’t think I want to do this any more. Can’t we just work on the letter?”
We did work on her sales letter, but only after a few more attempts to draw out some stronger headlines. By the end she excitedly said, “I love my sales letter! I want to give you a testimonial!…
When I work with you, I feel I can say how I feel and you don’t ever seem to take it personally. That way I can stay in my ‘creative’ pre-frontal cortex and together, we create the very best work!”
Do you need help writing better headlines?
I’m not only a graphic designer who builds WordPress websites with all the bells and whistles, in my 20s I was also an editor at Glamour, Weight Watchers’ and Mademoiselle magazines — and I love helping people tweak their headlines and web copy.
Contact me by phone or email. Let me know how I can help you.
