Crafting Compelling and Order-Pulling Headline for Your Sales Letter

Your sales letter copywriting project rise or fall with the headline (otherwise called title in case of article writing). Most copywriters believe that 85% of your brainstorming, time and effort should be spent on trying to weave compelling headlines. This applies to your banner advertising, pay per click ads, book or article title as well as email byline. It is the headline that will pull or push someone away from your advertising marketing promotion. If your headline is not enticing, people will not click on it.

In the art of copywriting, learning to write a compelling title is more of an art than a science. The more you write, the better you get at it. Majority of the time, your inner inspiration is jump started by watching and learning from other winning sales letter piece or learning from other copywriters.

For instance, the legendary copywriter, Robert Collier took a book that sold a couple of hundred copies and converted it to a best-seller (sold 200,000 copies) within one year just by changing the title and nothing else.

Apart from learning from other copywriters, use SEO principles and common sense copywriting rules in crafting your sales copy. The first thing to do as a copywriter is to incorporate one or two of your targeted keywords in your headlines. Eliminate stop (words like: and, for, about, with, a, and in) as much as possible. Search Engines do not index these words.

Therefore, make your sales copy headline as short as possible. Make the title sweet, attractive and to the point. This is where common sense, knowledge of English and your word vocabulary come in. If you are not sure, brainstorm, test, tweak and track as much as possible. I sometimes write several titles (which I call working titels) and let market forces and click through rate determine which is better by the feedback I receive.

In copywriting, there are words that are already proven winners. Incorporate these root words in your sales copywriting instead of trying to reinvent the wheel. You can adopt and adapt; originality not withstanding. Not just what you say but how you say it is the key to crafting fresh-sounding headlines. Words or key phrases like ‘how to' or 'learn how to,’ ‘secret,’ ‘seven,’ ‘success,’ and other tried and tested phrases that make promises and have been sales letter winners over the years. This is where your knowledge of copywriting history comes in as well as knowledge of human psychology especially emotion of greed, need and fear. Humans also like the easy and lazy way. So break down information in chunks with the use of numbers. Example: “Master the Seven Golden Keys of Success.” Here I have incorporated both Seven and Success. The brain learns information in chunks or quanta. Complexity overwhelm the brain while simplicity is the pinnacle of copywriting mastery. In copywriting, the simpler the better and less is more. And those who know it better says it simpler.

You can also use a shocking statistics or an intriguing question to arouse human curiosity—a powerful bedfellow to emotional copywriting. For example the title: “Is Money God? If not Let’s Quit Worshipping It.” This is a good title that will make people read your book or draw prospects to your offer because money is a problem to many people. It is always good to tie your sales letter title to a prevailing problem or market buzz. This will answer or offer a solution to a nagging question in the mind of your target audience.

In a nutshell, there are different ways to craft a winning headline and thus a winning sales letter in your copywriting project. And no two copywriters are alike. Crafting title is like writing your signature. Go with the imprint of your human spirit where creativity and wit and wisdom reside. Make promises, use catchy phrases, and appeal to human psychology. Humans are by nature selfish and egocentric. Learn from human behavior and feed human need or creed in your sales letter copywriting promotions. Because of this understanding, I had to change the title of my book on Biblical Meditation to Success Secrets of Christian Meditation. This was after I went back and did keyword research. Christian Meditation is more popular in search queries and the two magic words “Success and Secrets” make the book title more attractive because everybody wants success and would like to unlock its hidden secret--at least in peoples mind.

Copywriting, SEO press release example

The days of copywriting outsourcing and over-rated copywriters are numbered with the new release of web copywriting course.

Why outsource your next copywriting project to over-priced copywriting gurus when you can do it yourself? You are the only person that knows your product inside out. Are you not the producer? Yes, you know your product more than anyone else! And should be the one to write your own direct marketing advertising sales letter. All you need to do is master the basics of good copywriting techniques (the elements and principles), add your own unique selling proposition or your story angle to your copywriting orchestra.

Mr. Bob Serling has written a step-by-simple-step copywriting course that walks netpreneurs and internet marketers through all the process required to write a winning advertising sales copy. Mr. Bob Seling is not an ivory tower copywriter. He is also a well-known business owner and a marketer.

His power copywriting course is ground-breaking because it teaches both the 'how' and 'why' of persuasive, compelling advertising copy with an emotional tinge. The sales letter copywritng examples are well-chosen, analysed and dissected. No copywriting stone is left unturned. This unique copywriting tutorial x-rays the tactics, tricks, techniques and the copywriting thought pattern behind human nature and sales psychology. This sales letter course teaches you how to write a million dollar advertising sales copy that converts prospects into paying customers.

"As a business owner, when you acquire the skill to write your own sales letter, it is like you acquiring the copywriting skill to write your own pay check on demand. Learning to write your own copywriting sales letter is the greatest communication and profitable skill you can learn as a business own regardless of your chosen business model," says Uzo Onukwugha, the copywriter and business strategist at weblinkcopywriting.com

Reflections on web copywriting--exploring the mind of your prospect with sales letter.

Just thinking about copywriting mindset of prospects. "Reflecting on the thought pattern behind the sales letter pattern." What is the buying psychology and thinking behind the mind of a prospect when the copywriter presents his offer through an advertising sales copy?

What make people buy is a pre-existing need. All things being equal, people buy when the need arises. Your copywriting project must address the need or greed of your prospects. Human want is insatiable. This is first and foremost the reason people will even look at your headline, title or byline. Remember that inherent desire may be a need, greed or fear. Fear acts quicker than greed. People are more willing to fix a problem than to prevent it. In your sales letter, supersize the problem first so that people see the need clearly. Then comes the features addressed as benefits or solution to the prospect's need or problems. Let your sales letter reflect the emotional state of being without your poducts before introducing the solution. Regardless of your copywriting skill, you cannot change people's ingrained desire or manipulate them by forcing crap on them. your sales letter copywriting becomes a breeze if you know prior desire of people and present it to them. Emotion is the catalyst to winning copywriting that sales products like crazy. People are unconsciously driven by emotions and don't even know it because of the hypnosis of social conditioning. This the same reason why people want to buy but at the same time they hate to be sold. Therefore, your sales letter copywriting will hit a brick wall if you don't discern what people are already buying and giving it to them.

In a nutshell, man is by nature need-driven, reward-oriented (selfish) and risk-evasive. Subconscious buying decisions are made due to emotional conflicts of pleasure-pain principle. People decide emotionally and justify logically with reason(s). That's why emotional copywriting is the natural approach to writing a compellig, persuasive advertising sales copy that converts prospects into buying customers. However, address both emotion (self-interest) and reason in your sales letter copywriting.
In any copywriting project, another emotion that must be addressed with your sales letter call to action is human laziness. Your sales letter should address human tendency to procrastinate and put matters off to a later date. Force a decision by addressing this natural human psyche in your sales letter with scarcity, exclusivity and setting deadlines in your sales letter call to immediate action.
Your copywriting and direct response advertising marketing campaigns should address all other concerns or anticipated questions in the mind of your prospect.

Copyywriting Tactics: Alternative to the AIDA Rule, Adding Copy to your Writing

Copywriting rules are meant to be broken. You can write your sales letter with basic writing skills you already have. All you need to do is pep your sales copy by adding common sense writing tips mixed with human psychology and your good go to. That's why I call this copywriting article "adding sales copy to your writing" equals "copywriting."

When reading a sales letter, the usual question at the back of a reader's mind is: what, why, who, where, when, and how? Your sales copy should answer all of these question if you don't want to go by the AIDA rule of copywriting.

So What?: This is the first question in the mind of a prospect while reading an advertising copy. We are an instant generation and people can't wait. You have 3 seconds to clear your reader's mind about what is it that you are offering. Confused mind never buys and if your offer is not clear in your sales letter (especially figured from your headline), your prospect will move on. People are looking for quick solution to their problems and asking, "what is in it for me." What is so special about your product or services. what are the benefits. Is it worth my time? Your headline should be able to capture attention and let the next question keep it as interest.

Why?: Why should the prospect take you on your offers. And buy from you instead of your competition. Your copywriting should be clear on this. This is where you bring your human interest story relating to the product or service you are offering. Story telling sells. Telling relevant stories in your sales letter is a hypnotic way of keeping interest and by-passing buying resistance of the conscious mind. However, your story must be true, unique, emotional, persuasive and compelling. Selling is easy when you can capture the ingrained self-interest, inherent desire and aspirations of the buyer. The next step is who are you to tell me this story.

Who?: Talks about why you are qualified to offer the service or products. I call this the producer stage. This is how you brand yourself as the expert and separate the wheat from the chaff. Is it your unique knowledge, success, heartache, experience or skill that makes you qualified or be in a position to render help? People buy into you (the producer) before they buy into your products. So don't waste your sorrows or success. People want to connect to you or learn from your mistakes. Don't disappoint them. This takes us to the next logical question.

Where?: In other words, where can I obtain this irresitible offer or product? Is it availaible in your website? Or, do I order it from another source or a fulfillment house? Is it still in the pre-launch phase or being repackaged by another publisher?
If so, how do I obtain the product or register for the service?

How?: This is the 5th addition to the AIDA rule of copywriting. This is where you close the sale and this stage should be clarified when you call for action. Be bold, be creative and remove all restrictions and risk on the part of the buyer. It at this stage that you explain the deadline to counter human procrastination or indecision. Is it a physical product that should be shipped (by how much, what means and how long)? Is it a downloadable digital product that is offered immediately after payment? Should the customer click another link to obtain it from a sister website or Amazon?

Going through these five cardinal questions, you can devise your own copywriting style which is unique and customized. This is how to break copywriting rules of your advertising marketing promotions.

The Open Secret of Copywriting—It’s Not What you Think.

“I prefer to teach with images, parables and metaphors that plant in the mind the seeds of shot making.” –Harvey Penisk

"Human interest stories by-pass the resistance of the rational mind and goes straight to heart where unconscious decisions are made. Telling stories is a hypnotic copywriting secret of all time. It can shatter buying resistance and persuade the prospect to take you and your offer seriously. People remember stories long after they have forgotten facts and figures."
--Uzo Onukwugha

Do you know the greatest advertising man in history?
In fact history is “His story.” The story is about a young man who grew up in the city of Nazareth in the Region of Galilee. At the time, this young boy followed the family tradition and learned the trade of his step father. He became a carpenter and practiced this skill until he was 30.

At 30, he decided to change careers. He left the carpenter’s workshop and became an itinerant teacher. He used the power of His words to sell his message of the kingdom. He called his stories parables. He told stories and followers flocked to him because he was firm and persuasive and his stories made sense and gave people faith and hope.

The locals that he called became his followers. They founded the most popular religion in history named after the Master himself. Jesus Christ was the man and the religion is Christianity.

The Master himself is a master story teller. And all great copywriters are great at story telling. Examples include Robert Collier, Ted Nicholas, Joe Sugarman, Joe Vitale, and Yanik Silver. Just to give you a short list.

Why is story telling the most powerful copywriting secret in history of direct advertising and marketing?

The psychology of stories is bedded in human nature. Stories go beyond the natural to penetrate the human spirit where unconscious buying decisions are made. Humans love to hear human interest stories that relate to their problems, dreams, yearnings and aspirations. When you make the connection, you make the sale.

People love stories. Tabloid journalism sells like crazy. Kids love bed time stories. Africans tell their children moonlight stories. Story telling is the earliest form of oral tradition.

Effective communication involves painting clear vivid pictures with words in the mind of your target audience. Stories illustrate principles, demonstrate facts, and illustrate examples without being technical. Stories are remembered long after facts and figures are forgotten. There is an old copywriting maxim that says stories sell; facts tell. I prefer to sell than to tell.

Great stories work wonders because it is entertaining, it engages the mind, captures attention and perplexes the heart all at the same time. It creates curiosity and the phenomenon of anticipation. Stories let you see and feel the seller’s benefits as reality.

Another thing about stories is that they often contain personal examples, testimonies, metaphors, similes, allegories, anecdodes, and illustrations. All figures of speech and examples paint pictures in the imagination of the buyer. A picture may be more than a thousand words but also powerful descriptions create indelible pictures. This mental movies captivates and persuades the human spirit where buying decisions are made. When you connect with the heart, the destiny of the sale is guaranteed.

Remember though that your story must be true, appropriate, and compelling. Honesty is still the best business policy that must be incorporated in your copywriting otherwise you lose credibility.

Master story tellers are great natural sellers and natural copywriters even if they don’t know it. Just add the rules of good copywriting to the mix and you are ready to go.

Most leading motivational speakers like Jim Rohn, Zig Ziglar and Bryan Tracy were all good salesmen that had their own story line before they become successful.

Jim Rohn is America’s foremost business philosopher. Jim is Tony Robbin's mentor. Jim’s story was a farm boy from rural Idaho. He dropped out of school and took a minimum wage job as a factory worker until Jim met a man named Mr. Schaeffer. Mr. Schaeffer asked Jim why he was not rich and Jim complained about how little he was paid.

It was then that Mr. Schaeffer that the company was paying Jim how much he was worth at that time. Mr. Schaeffer explained to Jim that there are other people who worth more and are receiving much higher pay from the same company. Mr. Schaeffer advised Jim to go to work on himself just like he works on his job.

“Success is not what you chase; it is what you attract by the person you become,” said Mr. Schaeffer. “It is not the storm because the storm comes to everybody; it is the set of the sail of your thinking.” In other words, Jim work on yourself, become an attractive person and you’ll have all the success you are looking for.

Jim has told this story repeatedly wherever he goes and in any info-product that comes out of Jim Rohn international. The philosophy behind this story empowered Jim’s life. And with this mindset, Jim has sold millions of products which made him a multi-millionaire while he was in his early thirties.

There are countless other successful copywriters and marketers that have used the story of their live to sell a lot of products. Joe Vitale’s story was spirituality and hypnosis. Yanik Silver’s turning point was attending Dan Kennedy’s copywriting seminar with his life savings. Tony Robbins turning point came with encounter with NLP (neuro-linguistic programming). Ted Nicholas life changed when he discovered the power of words. The examples are endless.

So what is your life story? Every life is a story. You may have multiple stories about your life’s journey. Go to your memory bank and pull out one if you don’t have a journal (story of your life’s journey). Choose a specific encounter for a specific product. The story behind your product may be your unique selling proposition. Choose an appropriate story in your life but don’t lie. It is not what you say; but how you say it will give it a twist and carve out your groove.

Good story does not negate good copywriting elements and principles. You still have to work on Compelling headline, good organization, coherence, layout and formatting chunks of information, use of bullets, visual appeal and call to action and deadlines.

Secret Psychology of Copywriting: Sales Letter Writing Simplified

Does writing sales letter have a secret? Afterall sales copy must be designed to sale and no more, no less.

This discourse is about the secret psychology of sales copywriting. In fact, it is not really a secret--or maybe an open secret. First, you must understand the psychology of human thinking. Sales and marketing is woven in human behavior. You must understand that belief powers behavior and behavior turns browsers to buyers.

But before I release the open secret, let's go back to basics: the AIDA rules:

Attention: you must grab the reader's attention through persuasive, compelling headlines with benefits that pull the reader's self-awareness just as bees are drawn to nectar. There are several ways to craft a headline which is beyond the scope of this discourse. The key to grabbing attention is intention--the reader's ingrain desire based on programming. Whatever gets your attention engages your heart. After you use the headline as a bait, you must hold this attention by sustaining the buyer's self-interest. You switch with your story (unique selling proposition) under the radar to keep the prospect's interest.

Interest: This is the reader's deep seated desire to solve a problem, seek pleasure or avoid effort. Human behavior is influenced by unresolved internal conflicts. We call this the pleasure-pain principle. This is the main reason people buy things even when they hate to be sold. Here-in lies the real secret of sales copywriting. The key is to sell people things by telling stories. It is one of the most powerful hypnotic ways of by-passing human resistance. However, you must tell a compelling and persuasive human interest story that your prospect would be interested in. Mis-handle this step and your sales copy will fail to deliver the goods and convert your prospects to paying customers. There is an old copywriting rule that says "stories sell while facts (and figure) tell." Remember that your story (your emotional hook or twist) must be empathic and relevant to your subjects self-interest. Humans by nature are selfish and ego-centric. "What is there for me" is a well known slogan in marketing promotions. You must sell what people are already desiring. Human behavior is such that nobody wants something until someone else wants it.

Desire: Desire is the invisible energy that powers human decisions. It is an extension of the buyer's interest. If you don't desire something, no amount of persuasive sales copy will make you change your mind unless you lecture your prospect on the need (could be hidden need). Maybe she is not aware of the need at that point in time. This is where your sales letter may need to expand more on the benefits and lecture the prospect on what they will miss without your goods or services. The emotion of fear acts quicker than greed. Providing benefits or offers the prospects cannot resist is where greed comes in. This ties in with how people make decisions which is based on psychological programming--usually unconcious. People decide emotionally and justify that decision with logic. After helping your prospect make up their minds, it is time to call for action.

Action: The initial steps (interest, attention and desire) are all geared towards taking action--the beginning of closing the sales process. You should not be afraid of asking for action and challenging the prospect to take you on your offers. Most shy salesmen who don't understand this critical stage all have skinny kids. Your salesman in print (sales letter) is not different. The principle and process of copywriting is the same, regardless of the method. To further sweeten the proverbial pot and to make it easy for the prospect, remove all psychological barriers. Human nature is reward-oriented and risk-evasive. So assume the risk and give money-back guarantees. The longer the period, the lesser the returns. Again due to psychology of human guilt and procratination. Therefore, in your call for action, also include a deadline. You must force a decision after you've made everything clear and simple. Yes, because a confused mind never buys.

In your sales copy expedition, use the simple rules of copywriting and then break it by introducing your own story based on your own uniqueness. The key is to brand and don't blend. Be yourself! Be creative. No two copywriters are alike. Some copywriters like Joe Vitale emphasise benefits more than the problem. Others like Dan Kennedy focus and super-size the Pain before presenting the solution.

In a nutshell, sales copywriting is this: find what the prospects want, make them the offer, remove the barriers and give them a deadline.