Wordpreneur.com

BY CLAUDE WHITACRE

The single biggest reason an ad works (or doesn’t) is the selection of the headline. Nothing comes close.

Remember, the purpose of a headline is to “grab the reader by the face” and make him want to read the rest of the ad. Have you ever read a newspaper without headlines? Never. There’s a reason.

Give the reader a reason to read further. “Buy your heater before it freezes!” Wow! It implies that everyone gets a heater. And you now have a deadline, before it freezes. It may freeze tonight! Let’s go! Thanks for the headline, Sandy.

Here’s how to use that headline as a template:

Buy your____ before it____,

or

Buy your ___ before you___.

See? That headline gives you a hundred more headlines. Hey! Let’s do more…

Attention pet owners! Get rid of hair on carpets & furniture with this! Is templated as… Attention___ Get rid of______ with this! Getting the hang of this?

A free $39 hand vacuum just for trying the new Tandem Air Riccar vacuum cleaner. Is templated as… A free _____ just for trying the new ___. or A free _____ just for trying out the new ___ free for 30 days! That will sure get them in the door!

I would be very selective about who I make the Freebie offer to. I personally would only send it to my high end customer list. In fact, I did. New discovery quickly kills airborne mold, germs, and bacteria. Makes your indoor air “Country Fresh” can be templated as New discovery __________. I use it to sell air purifiers. “Quickly” is a benefit. “Kills airborne…” Is a benefit. “Makes” implies that you don’t have to do anything, the product does it all. “Country Fresh” paints a desired result. No matter how you interpret “Country Fresh,” it sounds great. Doesn’t it?

These headlines are actual examples of ones I’ve used. They all generated a profit.

Claude Whitacre writes and publishes the Unfair Advantage Retail Newsletter. “Dedicated to Helping You Create Phenonenal Profits in Your Retail Business.” Every monthly issue is stuffed with strategies, techniques, ideas, examples, and marketing test results. “A Seminar in Every Issue.”

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