How to Get First Copy Client – Copywriters Talk About This…

How To Get Your
First Paying
Copywriting Client
13 Real World Case Studies From Real Copywriters
© Copyright 2007 Andrew Cavanagh all rights reserved
Reproduction of any kind without the copyright holder’s permission
is strictly prohibited
How do you get your very first paying clients?
How do you get over that “hump” that most starting copywriters face.
These are real case studies of real copywriters you can learn from.
It’s important to note that it’s generally NOT recommended to write copy for a percentage of
profits alone (if you want to get paid).
And many of the strategies here are are based around getting you started. They shouldn’t
necessarily be considered long term money-making strategies.
© 2007 Andrew Cavanagh reproduction prohibited http://www.copywriting1.com
# 1 Bob Bly – Mailing Niched Advertising Agencies And More
Bob Bly was working as an advertising manager in an industrial company when he decided
to become a freelance copywriter.
He went to a directory of advertising agencies called the Red Book…
http://www.redbooks.com/Nonsub/index.asp
Bob sent a one page sales letter to 500 creative directors at 500 different advertising
agencies who were all listed as having industrial accounts.
The letter is reprinted in full in Bob’s book, Secrets of a Freelance Writer, but the headline
was, how an engineer and an ad manager can help you write better ads and brochures.
And the letter basically said I’m a freelance copywriter, specializing in industrial advertising
and I will write your ads or brochures or whatever else you need and if you’d like to get a
copywriting information kit, more information about my services and some samples of my
work — and again, this is before the Web, so you couldn’t send them to a website — just mail
back the enclosed reply card and I’ll send it to you. That was the offer.
So I mailed out 500 letters and within four or five weeks, I had 35 people respond, which
was a 7% response and I was on my way.
I had 35 people who were interested in learning to some degree about my copywriting
services and I began to respond to those as best I could in my limited time because I was
already employed. And they began to become clients.
My strategy, which was probably a huge mistake in retrospect, I charged a very low fee. My
logic was I’m a beginner, so I will charge low fees to get the business.
I was not as sophisticated as many people who would say if you charge a low fee, people
perceive you as a low value. I thought what’s going to work – a low price – so I charged very
little money.
It’s not that I wasn’t confident. I knew how to write industrial copy. I was confident I could
do the work.
In the early days, for better or worse and it’s probably stupid on my part, I never made a
cold call.
What I did in the beginning is I did two things, only two things and that’s what worked for
me. I sent out sales letters.
These were one-page sales letters with a reply card in a #10 envelop and I would get lists of
advertising managers and I would mail them this letter.
© 2007 Andrew Cavanagh reproduction prohibited http://www.copywriting1.com
And the first time I did it, I mentioned I got a 7% response. Then I rewrote it a bit and got it
up to 10%. So, if I had a list…and lists were easy to get and they still are…any time I
needed business, I could send out just 100 letters and have ten good leads.
I sent to people I did not know with direct mail and the second thing I did is I wrote articles
for trade publications.
At the time the leading trade publication for industrial marketing was actually called,
Industrial Marketing, and then they became Business Marketing a year after. And I tried to
get in there to write articles and finally I did.
I must have had a dozen articles published in there over a two to three year period. That
combined with the direct mail is mainly how I generated business.
My articles were all on copywriting or some aspect of industrial marketing with a tagline at
the end.
This is before the Internet. You couldn’t put your website address, you couldn’t put your
email address, but you could put your tagline and say Bob Bly is a freelance copywriter in —
Dumont, New Jersey.
I can’t remember if they let me put the phone number in or not.
But see that was a bug-a-boo back then. You would write these articles and you’d want to
promote yourself and you’d put the phone number in and the editor wouldn’t include it
because he thought it smacked of self-promotion.
But in the Internet, they encourage you to put your email address and your website address.
So, now articles are more effective than they were back then and you can get more business
from them. But they were still very effective back then.
Choosing Profitable Niches…
Here’s what I would do if I were starting today.
Number one, decide what your market is and what your specialty is. As a rule of thumb,
you’re better when you’re starting off a specialist than to be a generalist.
There are all kinds of specialties, so if you edited the newsletter for the Cerebral Palsy
Foundation or the Red Cross, maybe you should start with fund raising, non-profit and make
that your specialty.
The first thing I would do is decide what niche do I want to work in and what type of
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services do I want to provide.
Direct marketing is a good niche. Online marketing is a good niche…to write online
copywriting.
Within those fields, information publishing is a good niche.
The highest paid niche is probably writing promotions, direct mail and online for consumer
newsletters. That is basically travel, health, and investment newsletters. Those guys pay
more than just about anyone.
Another good niche is writing for healthcare, particularly alternative medicine, nutritional
supplements. Pharmaceutical and medical advertising is a very lucrative niche. That’s
another good area.
Speech writing, another non-direct marketing area, in which I’ve done very little work, is a
very well paying niche.
Direct marketing of information products, in general, not just newsletters, which is almost a
separate niche, but audiotapes, audio learning systems, seminars, conferences, that’s a good
niche.
High-tech direct marketing, particularly software, is a very good niche; writing about
software, IT products and systems, that’s a good niche. And business-to-business is a good
niche today.
Pick a niche, which means what type of service or product that you are covering, what
industry, and also what are you writing for them. If you pick computers, are you only
writing data sheets or are you writing websites. What are you going to write for these
clients?
The second thing I would do is I would go find and identify good lists of prospects in those
areas. Maybe there’s a trade association that has a local chapter where you live that you
should go to and network at and become a member of. Maybe there’s a newsletter or a
magazine subscription list you should be renting.
Identify how you’re going to reach these people. If you determine that my market is
marketing directors of pharmaceutical companies, to reach them you need a list and there
are lists. So, you’ve got to identify and find and get your hands on the list.
The third thing I would do is I would contact them and guess what, direct mail is still very,
very effective. There are other methods that people advocate today. You will hear some
people say oh it doesn’t work, but it does work.
If I were starting out today, that would still be the first thing I’d do. I’ve composed a really
good lead generating sales letter to generate inquiries from my copywriting services and
© 2007 Andrew Cavanagh reproduction prohibited http://www.copywriting1.com
then mail 100, 200, 300, 400, 500 to a list of prospects in my market and then wait four or
five weeks and see.
I do other things during those four or five weeks, but see what happens. If that letter works
and you can get a 1%, 2, 3,4 5% response, you’re going to be able to fill the pipeline with
leads and if they’re good leads that percentage of them is going to reliably convert to
business and you’ll be set.
If you can generate a steady flow of sales leads — I call it a lead generating machine — and
you can create a sales letter that every time you mail 100, you get 3 good leads or 5 or 2,
you’re really not going to ever have to worry about having business as long as there are
sufficient lists and your market is broad enough.
If you tell me I want to specialize in writing copy for people that are readers of Asian cats,
then you have a problem because I don’t know that those people hire copywriters and it’s a
pretty small list if there is one.
But if your market is newsletter publishers, it’s easy for me to help you find a big directory
of lots of newsletter publishers.
© 2007 Andrew Cavanagh reproduction prohibited http://www.copywriting1.com
# 2 Clayton Makepeace – Set Up And Follow Up With Phone Calls
Clayton Makepeace is one of the world’s highest paid copywriters making over $2 million
dollars a year.
His technique for getting clients was similar to Bob Bly’s with a few subtle but important
differences.
Clayton would mail to the marketing directors of 100 direct response companies every
week.
He would send a package with appropriate copywriting samples and a sales letter selling his
services.
He sent the package by federal express to each marketing director and he would call the day
he sent them to let the marketing directors know to expect something he was sending them.
Then he’d call the day after the package was scheduled to arrive and ask the marketing
director if he/she had received it.
Using this telephone follow up can multiply your response and gives you a chance to build
relationships with the marketing directors who hire copywriters.
Clayton Makepeace talks about how to write up a spec assignment to get work here…
http://www.makepeacetotalpackage.com/ezines/library/ezine46.html
More Clayton Makepeace secrets…
http://www.makepeacetotalpackage.com/ezines
© 2007 Andrew Cavanagh reproduction prohibited http://www.copywriting1.com
# 3 Parris Lampropoulos – Direct Response Seminars
Parris went to a direct response conference in Las Vegas boasting some of the greats of
copywriting as speakers including Gary Halbert, Ted Nicholas and Dan Kennedy.
He wrote a sales letter for his own services while he was at the conference with the title
“How To Hire A World Class Copywriter for Pocket Change”.
In this sales letter he explained how he’d been busy writing copy for himself and how you
should hire him now because pretty soon he’ll be too expensive for you to hire.
He made up a few hundred copies of this sales letter and gave them out to anyone who’d
take them.
He had four clients hire him right there at the seminar.
© 2007 Andrew Cavanagh reproduction prohibited http://www.copywriting1.com
# 4 Arthur Johnson – Word Of Mouth
Remember to think of all your friends, family, past workmates and who they might know
when you’re looking for copywriting work.
Million dollar copywriter Arthur Johnson ran into an old high school friend in a bar.
She knew he always wanted to be a writer, explained that the place she worked – Franklin
Mint – was looking for writers and asked him for a resume.
Arthur was hired as a copywriter by the Franklin Mint.
© 2007 Andrew Cavanagh reproduction prohibited http://www.copywriting1.com
# 5 Anonymous Copywriter – Online Articles And Your Own Website
1. How did you get your first copywriting client?
Writing articles online. I didn’t find him, he found me.
We spoke by phone, I asked a bunch of questions about his target market, what he wanted to
accomplish, etc (if you need help with this read Spin Selling and Spin Selling Field Book
plus get Ari Galper’s selling program–you need both, not just one or the other).
Here is an audio and transcripts of an interview with Ari Galper…
http://www.hardtofindseminars.com/Transcripts/HMAT_Cold_Calling_Secrets.pdf

2. What was the job?
Web Copy
3. How much did you get paid?
Too little. I under valued myself in the beginning.
4. What did you learn from it?
To charge more and to use the phone to close prospects.
This first paid project confirmed for me not to expect a web page to do the closing. Prior to
my first project all my interactions were via email.
I cry just thinking about the hundreds of thousands of potential dollars that were lost
because I didn’t pick up the phone to follow up with inquiries. In the beginning I was scared
to death to talk to anyone by phone. I had doubts about what to say and how to handle the
initial interaction.
I eventually learned you MUST pick up the phone and talk to the person you expect to get
$$ from. Email discussions and web copy alone usually won’t do the trick in shaking _your_
$$$ out of their pockets.
It also drove home the importance of systematizing the selling process. I’ve since broken the
SPIN selling process down into individual tabs in Microsoft One Note. I also have a tab for
common concerns and a tab for initiating any follow up calls.
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Every inquirer goes through the same basic process of telling me their needs and concerns
and objectives from beginning to end. No direct, high pressure selling takes place. I talk the
least, they talk the most. No other way works for me.
Oh, if they won’t openly participate in the conversation I thank them for calling and tell
them, ‘it sounds like we’re not a match. Maybe we can do something on a future project’…
and then bid them farewell.
I also learned the importance of using your copy to weed out clients who don’t value what
you do from the onset. Don’t wait until you get them on the phone to tell them what you are
NOT looking for in a client. Put your requirements in your sales copy.
Don’t waste time with people who withhold information. I have a list of questions I ask my
prospects to submit at the bottom of my website.
I’ve found that folks who fill out the form with only their contact info but do not share
information about their marketing objectives are not sincere. If pulling information out of
them by phone or online is as tough as pulling a bone from a crazed pit bull’s mouth then
they are time wasters or low quality clients.
I don’t get why anyone would inquire and then say stuff like, ‘just tell me what you charge
and I’ll let you know if I’m interested in working with you or not…’.
Don’t waste your time. Kick them to the curb.
I wrote several problem solving, how-to articles. Then I submitted the articles to many
article submission/distribution sites.
The client read one of the articles, visited my website and completed my online
questionnaire.
After reviewing his response I noticed a comment that indicated there may be a conflict of
interest. So I sent him an email thanking him for contacting me and then did a take away
saying if he fell into one of the specific groups that I refuse to work with, I wouldn’t be able
to help him.
He emailed saying he wasn’t within that group. I then setup a time to talk with him by
phone.
During the call I asked several questions about what he wanted to accomplish, how he found
me, who’s his target market and how has he verified there are enough of buyers who are
already hot for what he was promoting, etc.
Many of the interview questions came from a report I bought years ago called, “How To
Think Like A Marketing Genius” written by Harry Pickens (very hard to find). A few
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questions came from Weiss’ Million Dollar Consulting, Tepper’s Become A Top Consultant,
and Lewin’s The Overnight Consultant.
There may be other sources but I can’t recall them.
As far as payment goes, mentioning my fee came naturally as part of the conversation.
* By the way, I sent this direct because I want to avoid alerting potential clients that I use
take aways.
Please don’t mention that in connection with my name. It could make people
cynical/skeptical.
© 2007 Andrew Cavanagh reproduction prohibited http://www.copywriting1.com
# 6 John Ritz – Create A Free Mailing List Of Prospects
If you want to get paid what you’re worth, you absolutely MUST get good at selling on the
phone (and in person for networking).
My first paying copywriting gig was a display ad for an ad agency. I did direct mail
campaign and offered a free report to both prequalify them and to get leads.
I actually went to ReferenceUSA.com and compiled my own mailing list for free (it’s free to
use Reference USA with a valid library card, assuming your library purchased access to
their database…mine did).
I forget who I targeted, but ad agencies were just a small slice. I went after direct mail
companies and niche-focused firms. Just to clarify, I don’t go after ad agencies anymore.
There is usually too much education involved to sell them on direct response, and they pay
peanuts (generally…there are exceptions to both, but it’s like trying to find that needle in the
haystack).
You can sift through them and have the ones who “get it” contact you (i.e. that’s what I tried
to do with my pre-qualify free report) to increase the odds of finding those needles.
So while I don’t target them today, it’s still a good option if you’re starting out and trying to
build a track record.
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# 7 Matt Tremblay – Warrior Forum Post
I made a simple, honest post on The Warrior Forum. I explained that I’m fairly new, but
have skill, and am willing to work for a percentage of your profits.
I was amazed at the response I got…
Obviously, the trend I need to move in is towards free based copywriting plus the
percentage/royalty.
If you have absolutely no samples, consider doing a little market research and writing copy
for a potentially lucrative online niche. Even if you don’t end up following through with
product development you will have something to show people, and you can always come
back to it later.
The results still aren’t in on that one yet (I made the post about a week ago). The way I see
it, if people are willing to agree to it, it’s a better situation for a new copywriter like myself,
as opposed to doing the work for free. Not only that but the better job I do the more money I
make, so it seems to be a good motivator.
One other tip (somewhat unrelated)…
I just started doing critiques for people on a free basis as a kind of a pre-sell/lead
generation/credibility builder. If you have a copy of Adobe Acrobat you can “print from
web to PDF” (i.e. convert their web page to pdf format), markup the prospects copy with
highlights, cross outs and sticky post it notes.
© 2007 Andrew Cavanagh reproduction prohibited http://www.copywriting1.com
# 8 David Frey – A Marketing Newsletter
1. How did you get your first copywriting client?
I started a marketing newsletter. The newsletter established my credibility and ability to
write copy. A lot of people on my list had copywriting needs. I simply made an offer at the
end of the newsletter.
2. How did you get you first client to agree to pay you for copy?
I didn’t really have to “get” my client to pay for my copy. I told them my rate and they paid
it. A lot of people wanted me to do “percentage of the action” deals and I turned every one
of them down.
3. What was the job?
A “get out of debt” company. They mailed the letter to millions of people a month.
4. How much did you get paid?
$6,000 for a two page letter.
5. What did you learn from it?
Uh, not much. I did a 50/50 deal. You pay 50% up front and 50% when I’m done. They paid
when I was done.
The newsletter was the key!
David Frey
http://www.marketingbestpractices.com/22secrets.htm
In this full audio David Frey reveals a fantastic way to market your services to clients who
might be difficult to get access to…

Free Report: How to get big companies to call buy and beg for your products and services…
http://www.marketingbestpractices.com/temp/SpecialReport-PenetratingB-toBAccounts.pdf
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# 9 Michael Silk – Getting Clients By Sending Emails
1. How did you get your first copywriting client?
This was about 4 years back when I was eager to get some real copywriting projects under
my belt:
I would do an online search for names of Internet marketers’ etc., I had read about (in a book
/manual etc.) or heard interviewed (on audio tape etc.,).
Andrew’s note – once you have a website name you can search for that domain name at
www.godaddy.com
Your search result will tell you that the domain name is already taken but in most cases you
can get the contact details of the domain name owner by clicking on the “(click here for
info)” link.
The contact details are usually under Administrative Contact:
Then I would send them a friendly and sincere e-mail letting them know how I really liked
the information they had shared (in book / audio tape) – giving specific examples of what I
found valuable. Also I would let them know that I was a direct response copywriter and
politely let them know that I could increase their website response just by making a few
simple changes.
Sometimes I wouldn’t get a reply. Sometimes I would. And sometimes I would be asked
what those changes were. This gave me permission to demonstrate (and prove) that I could
be of value to them as a copywriter/direct response marketing strategist.
2. What was your first copywriting job?
The first person to give me a shot – (or challenged me!) – to prove that I could improve the
responsiveness of their website was Jason Oman (co-author “Conversations With
Millionaires”).
I pretty much re-wrote Jason’s website copy and through phone conversations advised him
on how to reduce his (at the time) rather high refund rate.The changes I made (and advised
on etc.) almost tripled his response and cut his refunds in half.
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3. How much did you get paid?
From memory, I didn’t get paid for this job. But, because Jason Oman had a subscriber /
customer base; some of whom he consulted with on Internet marketing – he set me up with
my first paying client. It was to write website copy to sell something like a $950 treadmill. I
think I got paid something like $1,500 for my first fee paying project.
4. What did you learn from it?
Well, I think it demonstrates that anyone could have approached potential clients as I did. It
didn’t cost me anything in money. Just a little ingenuity and time. It grew my confidence in
my abilities and I got some real world copywriting projects under my belt.
I think it’s important to realise that I didn’t blatantly try and “pitch” anybody. I simply struck
up an email “conversation” by complimenting the person on the information they had
shared. Then I politely let them know that I’m a copywriter and I’d like to have a go at
increasing their website profits.
I was leading with value. Getting paid was secondary to proving my worth. Kind of give to
get. Sometimes I would even create a headline they were welcome to test – without being
asked to.
Like I said, a lot of people will never get back to you. Some will but are not interested in
letting you go to work on their conversion ratio. But a few will to make it worth your while.
Hope that helps!
Michael Silk.
http://www.michaelsilk.com
© 2007 Andrew Cavanagh reproduction prohibited http://www.copywriting1.com
# 10 Dan Lok – Get Paid If You Create Profits
Canadian copywriter Dan Lok started out with no money and very little command of the
English language (English was his second language).
Dan gave his first copywriting prospects an offer most found it hard to refuse – they would
only have to pay him if his copy produced profits for them.
To capture his first clients he asked for a set fee if he made profits for his clients.
Then he moved to a fee and a pecentage if his clients made profits.
Then Dan moved to charging up front copywriting fees then upfront copywriting fees plus a
percentage of turnover.
# 11 Kent Komae – Apply For Jobs In The Direct Response Industry
Kent Komae is one of the most in demand copywriters in the health supplement industry.
Kent left college with a BA in English and went to work as an English teacher.
He broke into the direct response industry by taking a summer job as a proofreader/editor in
a direct response agency in Southern California.
After the summer he was offered a job as a copy editor and from there moved on to writing
sales copy himself.
Once you’re inside a direct response business it can make it much easier for you to make
contact with the people who’ll hire you as a copywriter.
# 12 Gary Benevencia – Apply For Copywriting Jobs
One of the greatest copywriting legends Gary Benevencia got his start writing copy for the
Prentice Hall publishing company in their direct response department.
He started writing sales letters to for Prentice Hall books.
© 2007 Andrew Cavanagh reproduction prohibited http://www.copywriting1.com
# 13 Jesse Forrest – Give Your First Clients Free Copy
Jesse Forrest is a young Australian copywriter who has written copy for marketing heavy
hitters like Alex Mandossian and Jay Abraham.
If you have no copywriting portfolio you can offer to do copywriting completely free for a
couple of clients to get testimonials and some copy samples you can use.
Jesse wrote a couple of online sales letters that made significant sales.
In hindsight Jesse says he should have asked for a percentage of profits or turnover.
www.jesseforrest.com
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END OF IT… now Jay Abraham about headlines…

How Good Headlines
Can Build Your Business

By Jay Abraham

The headline is unquestionably the most important element in most advertising.

Likewise-it is also the most singularly important element of any selling message “live or recorded, in person or by phone, audio or video” your company ever uses.

It is the opening sentence or paragraph you use in any sales letter or written communication you ever send out to customers, prospects, suppliers, or staff. It’s the first words you or your sales people (including in-store clerks, order department or telephone marketers) utter, when they engage anyone in a sales presentation or one-on-one discussion.

Likewise, the “headline,” or its “equivalent,” are the first phrases you begin your conversation with when a customer or prospect comes in or calls in. It is also the first paragraph you state when recording a commercial or when meeting people at your trade show booth display.

The purpose of a headline is to grab your prospect’s ATTENTION. When I say your prospect, I mean that your headline should zero in on precisely whom you want to reach your target market. For example, if you want to reach homeowners, put the word “homeowners” in the headline.

The headline should serve as an ad for your ad. It should tell the reader immediately and clearly the essence of what you’re trying to say in the body copy. The headline should give the reader a Big Benefit or Big Promise. So, create a headline that tells the right people precisely the benefit you’re offering them.

When you write or decide upon your headline-or it’s opening equivalent-you have spent at least 80 cents out of your dollar. Stated differently, 80% of your outcome-four fifths of your result… all but 20% of the success of your selling effort is effected positively or negatively by how and what you communicate in the beginning. A change of headline can make a 20 times improvement in response or acceptance by your customer or prospect of your proposition. Every headline or opening statement should appeal to the prospect’s or reader’s or listener’s self-interest. It should promise him or her a desirable, powerful and appealing benefit. If possible, try to inject “news” value or “educational” value into the headline also.

How Many Words Should a Headline Contain?

You may have read about the desirability of having no more than a certain number of words in your headlines. Yet I want to point out here that many of the headlines quoted here are, by ordinary standards, quite long. Yet, despite their length, they were successful.

Obviously, it is not wise to make a headline any lengthier than its primary function actually requires. However, you should not worry if your headlines are longer than usual-provided the headline’s high spots of interest are physically well broken up and clearly displayed-and provided the personal advantages promised to the reader are presented so positively that it is almost as though his own name appeared in the headline.

Worth recounting is the story of Max Hart (of Hart, Schaffner & Marx) and his advertising manager, the late George L. Dyer. They were arguing about long copy. To clinch the argument, Mr. Dyer said, “I’ll bet you $10, I can write a newspaper page of solid type and you’ll read every word of it.”

Mr. Hart scoffed at the idea. “I don’t have to write a line of it to prove my point.” Mr. Dyer responded. “I’ll only tell you the headline. That would be…’This page is all about Max Hart!”‘

Power Words Produce-Powerful Results
The two most valuable words you can ever use in the headline are “free” and “new.” You cannot always use “free,” but you can always use “new”-If you try hard enough.

Other words that work wonders are: “how to,” “now,” “announcing,” “introducing,” “its here,” “just arrived,” “an important announcement,” “improvement,” “amazing,” “sensation,” “remarkable”, “revolutionary,” “startling,” “miracle or miraculous,” “magic,” “offer,” “quick,” “easy,” “simple,” “powerful,” “wanted,” “challenge,” “advise to,” “the truth about,” “compare,” “bargain,” “hurry,” and… “last chance.”

Don’t turn up your nose at these clichés they may seem trite and shop-worn-but they work!

Always incorporate your selling promise into your headline. And make that promise as specific and desirable and advantageous to the prospect as you possibly can. This requires longer or detailed news, educational and information-worthy statements. Research shows that most negative headlines don’t work-unless you use negativity to underscore any undesirable results the prospect can expect to eliminate or avoid. (See the box on page 3.)

People are looking to gain more advantage, result, benefit, pleasure, or value, from their lives … from their actions … from their jobs or their businesses and definitely from their relationships. And they want to avoid more or continual pain, dissatisfaction, frustration, mediocrity, and unpleasantness from their lives.

Avoid blind headlines-the kind which mean nothing unless you read or listen to the whole proposition: because-if you don’t gain your prospect’s attention and desire immediately with your headline, that prospect won’t listen, read or pay attention to the rest of what you, your ad, letter, or sales message says.

Attraction of the Specific
Let us stop here to impress upon your mind how significant a part the “specific” plays in so many good headlines. It appears in many of our initial headlines. You will visualize how magnetically it helps to draw the reader into the body of an advertisement.

So observe, as you continue your reading, how many of these headlines contain specific words or phrases that make the ad promise to tell you: How, Which, Which of These, Who, Who Else, Where, When, What, Why. Also note how frequently exact numbers are used: number of days, evenings, hours, minutes, dollars, ways, types of something. This “attraction of the specific” is worth your special attention-not only as relating to words and phrases, but also concerning headline ideas themselves. For example, compare the appeal of “We’ll Help You Make More Money” with “We’ll Help You Pay the Rent”

What Kind of Rewards Do Good Headlines Promise?

The answer is that good headlines explain how the reader, listener or viewer or live sales prospect can save, gain, or accomplish something beneficial through the use of your product-how it will increase this: his or her mental, physical, financial, social, emotional or spiritual stimulation, satisfaction, well-being, or security. In short, good headlines spotlight the greatest “benefit” you are offering a sales prospect.

Or, if you take a deliberately negative tack, they point out how the reader can avoid “reduce,” or “eliminate” risks, worries, losses, mistakes, embarrassments, drudgery, or some other undesirable condition for the use of your product or service.

Or how it will decrease this: your prospect or customer’s fear of poverty, illness, or accident, discomfort, boredom, and/or loss of business or social prestige or advantage, success, prosperity, richness or wealth.

Whatever product or service you may think you are setting, always, when constructing your headline or opening statement, remember this:

Your customer is not buying a product or a service. They are buying a result or benefit or advantage or protection or increased pleasure or etc., etc. your product or service or company can offer or provide them. Always, always focus your headlines on the benefit or specific result your prospect will be receiving.

More Tips About A “Negative” Approach
This short subject interjection is about negative headlines. “Accentuate the positive; eliminate the negative,” said an old song. For years that has also been the refrain of the advice often given to copywriters. Discussion about negative headlines has sometimes sparked more fire than enlightenment.

Yet our 37 headlines include a number which are completely negative and several others that start with a negative approach and become positive. So the negative approach must have some good reason for existence. It has. What is it?

One of the primary objectives of a headline is to strike as directly as possible right at a situation confronting the reader Sometimes you can do this with greater accuracy if you use a negative headline which pinpoints the reader’s ailment, rather than alleviation of it. (For example, “Is YOUR Home Picture-Poor?”-“Have YOU a ‘Worry Stock?”‘-“Little Leaks That Keep Men Poor.”)

So when you face that kind of situation, you can “accentuate the negative” Let’s move on to more headlines and guidelines to effective headline writing.

Putting Headlines To Work
You can multiply the effectiveness of any ad you run, letter you send out, sales call your people make, retail sale your store does, or size of transaction your practice generates merely by changing and improving the power and effectiveness of your headline.

Here are 33 critical ways to make your headlines or selling proposition great. They’re the result of research into the work of the greatest copy writers of all time.

Notice the highly effective job each of the following great headlines does:

17,000 Blooms from a single plant!
Measures the size of the claim

In two seconds, Bayer Aspirin begins to dissolve in your glass
Measures the speed of the claim

Six times whiter washes
Compares the claim

Melts away ugly fat
Metaphorizes the claim

Tastes like you just picked it
Sensitizes the claim by making the prospect feel, smell, touch, see or hear it

At 60 miles per an hour, the loudest noise in the Rolls-Royce is the electric clock
Demonstrates the claim by showing a prime example

They laughed when I sat down at the piano-but when I started to play…
Dramatizes the claim or its result

How a bald-headed barber saved my hair
States the claim as a paradox

Shrinks hemorrhoids without surgery
Removes limitations from the claim

9 of our 10 decorators use Wundaweave Carpets for long life at low cost Associates
the claim with values or people with whom the prospect wishes to be identified

Relieves congestion in all 7 nasal passages Instantly
Shows how much work, in detail, the claim does

Here’s what you do to get rid of pimples fast
Offers information about how to accomplish the claim

Here’s what doctors do when they feel rotten
Ties authority to the claim

Before Wheezo hay fever medication made you drowsy-with Wheezo you can have relief and be alert
Before-and-after the claim

Announcing: Guided missile spark plugs
Stresses the newness of the claim

Ours Alone! Persian Lamb originals $289.75
Stresses the exclusivity of the claim

Does she or doesn’t she-only her hair dresser knows for sure
Turns the claim into a challenge for the reader

Would you believe It? I have a cold!
States the claim as a case history question

Pour yourself a new engine
Condenses the claim-interchange your product and the product it replaces

Starting July 5th-the Atlantic Ocean becomes only one-fifth as wide.
Symbolizes the claim-replace the direct statement or measurement of the claim with a parallel reality

Floats fat right out of your body
Connects the mechanism to the claim in the headline

What everybody ought to know about the stock and bond business
Offers information in the ad itself

Aunt Mary, who never married…
Turns the claim or the need into a case history

When you’re weary with daytime fatigue, take Alka Seltzer
Gives name to the problem or need

Don’t Invest one cent of your hard-earned money until you check this guide
Warns the reader about possible pitfalls if he doesn’t use your product

A man you can lean on! That’s Abraham
or: Nobody, but nobody teaches like Abraham
Emphasizes the claim by its phraseology-break it down into two sentences, or repeat all or part of it

If you can count to eleven, you can increase your speed and skill at numbers
Shows how easy the claim is to accomplish by imposing a universally overcome limitation

The difference In premium gasoline is in the additives
States the difference in the headline

See what happens when you crush our Executive luggage-nothing!
Surprises the reader into realizing that former limitations have now been overcome

If you’ve already taken your vacation, don’t read this. It will break your heart
Addresses the people who can’t buy your product, but by limiting its target, it entices all to Learn the secret.

It took 24 years and genetic engineering to make this product possible
Dramatizes how hard it was to produce the claim

It should be immoral to make money this easily
Accuses the claim of being too good to be true

You are twice as smart as you think
Challenges the prospect’s present limiting beliefs

“You” A Vital Word in Power Headlines
The most obvious mistake most people make when writing or creating headlines is they forget to adopt the “YOU” attitude. To create a powerful headline, your message must telegraph benefits the prospect himself or herself can expect to receive. Your headline or message never should talk about “we or “our” product, service, or company. Each and every possible benefit or result must be written or expressed with the individual reader or prospect’s selfish, direct interests in mind.

Here are some other formulas for formulating writing or creating great headlines or opening statements.

* Begin your headline with the word, “Announcing”.

* Use words that have an announcement quality to them.

* Begin your headline with the word, “New”.

* Begin your headline with the word, “Now”.

* Begin your headline with the words “at last”.

* Put date into your headline; i.e., January 18th.

* Feature the price in your headline.

* Feature the price reduction or a reduced price.

* Feature a special offer.

* Feature easy or more attractive payment terms.

* Feature a free offer.

* Offer information of value.

* Tell a story.

* Begin with the words, “How to”.

* Begin with the word “How”.

* Begin your headline with the words “Why” or “Which”.

* Begin with the words “Who else”.

* Advise to offer the reader a test. Use a two-word headline that refers to a need or situation.

* Warn the reader to delay buying until they compare benefits and performance.

To give you an idea of how important the headline is, and to help you to write good ones, I’ll present some of the best headlines I, as well as other great headline writers, have written. Now, let’s start our tour of the 37 Million-Dollar Headlines and try to discover why they were so effective.

1. You Don’t Know Me, I Realize … But I Want You To Have This Before It’s Too Late
* This headline stresses the need for quick action.

2. To the Men and Women Who Want to Quit Work Someday
* Selects its readers without wasting a word

3. How to Develop a Silver Tongue, a Golden Touch and a Mind Like a Steel Trap
* Highlights the large audience of those looking for improvement

4. New Diet Burns Off More Pat Than If You Ran 98 Miles a Week
* A headline that anticipates incredulity in order to overcome it

5. What’s Your Best Chance to Make Money in Real Estate? The Answer Below May Surprise You
* A stopper ad that will challenge the reader to read

The headlines presented here advertise many different kinds of products and services. Some are sold in retail stores, some by sales representatives, some by direct mail to the customer. But regardless of what the product is, or how it is sold, the principles discussed here apply. We are about to learn by real-life example, instead of through a long and less exciting discussion of general concepts.

Remember, Rule Number One for high impact headlines is “State the Benefit.”

Failure to use a powerful benefit-or result-based headline can cost an advertiser 80% to 90% of the potential effectiveness of that ad because the prospect will pass over it. Headlines must make a promise of a highly desirable result the person will receive in exchange for reading the ad or listening to the message. The headline is the ad for the overall ad. It must incorporate your company’s Unique Selling Proposition or USP. If your USP is ‘broad selection,” here are some headlines you could use:

6. We Always Have 200 Different Widgets in No Less than 15 Different Sizes and 10 Desirable Colors and With a Selection of 20 Optional Features in Prices Ranging From $6 to $600.

or..

Times the Selection, 4 Times the Color and Size Choice, 3 Times the Number of Convenient Locations, 2 Times the Guarantees and Warranties, and Half the Markup of Any Other Dealer!

If “discount price” is your USP, or corporate advantage, these headlines could skyrocket your sales:

7. We Sell the Same Brands of Hardware as Company A or Company B at 25% to 50% Less.

8. Top-Quality Widgets Usually Sell for $250 to $1,000. We Sell Them for $95 to $395. Which Would You Rather Pay?

9. Most Professionals Start Billing You the Moment You Walk in Their Door. That Can Add Up to Thousands of Dollars. At PDQ Services, Our Fee Is Always a Modest $99. No Exceptions. No Tricks.

Here are some very useful and effective headlines for a “service-oriented” USP approach:

10. When You Buy a Compact Disc From The Warehouse or Sam Goody, You Own That Disc, Whether You Like It or Not

When you buy a compact disc from us, you get a 90-day, 100% money-back guarantee, just in case it’s not what the critics made it out to be. And you get bonus credits toward any other album, cassette or compact disc we sell for every disc you buy and keep.

11. If Your Car Breaks Down, We’ll Tow IT-FREE! (Always use that word “free” as much as you can.)

An added benefit of placing your car’s insurance policy with XYZ Agency.

12. Most Locksmiths Work From 9 to 5 But Those Aren’t the Hours When You Can’t Get Into Your House or Car.

ABC Locksmith Company will send a locksmith whenever you need one. We have 20 service people on 24-hour call, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year-including holidays. No extra charge.

How about the “Snob Appeal” USP?

Here’s an interesting possibility of a headline that offers snob appeal:

13. Only 1,200 XYZ Deluxe Midas Sedans Are Produced Annually.

stay in Europe where they originate. Of the remaining 300, 50 go to Japan. Of the remaining 250, 100 go to Canada arid Australia. Each year, only 150 come into the United States. Of that 150, only 20 are sent to New York-and WE’VE GOT 15 OF THEM. We’ll offer them at very fair prices to our best customers, as long as the sedans last.

Use your best headline (as determined by testing) in every ad and in every letter to your prospects, customers and past customers.

You should also use a headline, or “mini-pitch,” in every commercial.

What kind of headline works best?

One that promises the reader a large and attractive benefit.

A headline that offers topical “news” is often very successful. If your product or service is newsworthy, put that special news announcement right at the top of your ad.

If you are promoting a product to one particular group, include a “red flag” in your headline that will single out these prospects.

And remember this: Specifics out-pull generalities. Personalize a headline by singling out the city, state or group to which it’s directed.

Avoid humor and double meanings in headlines; they waste space and are nonproductive 95% of the time.

The key point is: The simple failure to test headlines against each other could cost you more than half of your profit potential.

Don’t ever run an ad without a headline. And test to see which headline pulls best.

The Primary Viewpoint-The “Point Of You”

This is a short break in the action because it is a lesson that you already know well. But to stress its importance, let me point this out to you: Over 1/3 of these 37 headlines contain one of these actual words- “you” “your” or “yourself.” Even when the pronoun is first person singular (for example, “How I improved My Memory in One Evening”), the reward promised is so universally desired that it is, in effect, really saying, “You can do it too!”

Thousands of words have been written about the “point of you”-but let me remind you that, given a fountain pen, 96 percent of 500 college women wrote their own names; shown a map of the USA, 447 men out of 500 looked first for the location of their home towns! Howard Barnes, of the American Newspaper Publishers’ Association, really was on target when he said: “To call up an image of the reader, all you need to do is pin up a target. Then, starting at the outside, you can label his interests in this order: the world, the United States, his home state, his home town, and we’ll lump together in the center his family and himself.. me. Myself I come first. I am the bulls-eye.”

Here are several more of the most successful headlines I’ve used over the past 24 years of helping companies improve their marketing leverage:

14. Almost Everyone Has a $10,000 Idea. Here’s How to Make It Pay.

15. Heart Attacks Can Be Foreseen From Minutes to Months in Advance-And Prevented.

16. An Easy Way to Change Jobs

17. How to Increase Your Standard of Living Without Changing Jobs

18. Send Me to Any City In the United States. Take Away My Wallet. Give Me $100 for Living Expenses. And in 72 Hours I’ll Buy an Excellent Piece of Real Estate Using None of My Own Money.

(The latter headline made a great deal of money and created a media blitz for Robert Allen, a skilled marketer and author who made the term “No Money Down Real Estate” famous.)

19. Three Powerful Reasons Why Diamond Prices Are Soaring

20. To a $15,000 Man Who Would Like to Be Making $25,000

21. I’d Like to Give This to My Fellow Man … While I Am Still Able to Help!

Power Headlines Produce-Powerful Results

You may find it incredible how the use of a headline can alter the results of the entire ad or letter. I have tracked and compared hundreds of headlines and been amazed at the vast improvement in results that one headline can produce over another headline. Let me illustrate this principle here with a few real-life examples:

An insurance company tested these two headlines against each other:

22. What would Become of Your Wife If Something Happened to You? and Retirement Income Plan

Believe it or not, the second ad pulled 500 percent more response than the first. It’s a simple yet effective headline.

A famous correspondence school tested these two headlines:

23. Announcing a New Course for Men Seeking Independence in the Next Three Years

(An Up-to-the-Minute Course to Meet Today’s Problems)
The first headline (which started with that magic word “Announcing”) trounced the second headline by about 370%.

An insurance company compared these two headlines:

24. Auto Insurance at Lower Rates if You Are a Careful Driver

How to Turn Your Careful Driving Into Money
The first headline was 1,200% better in testing.

I could go on … and on! In all these cases, you would not have known that the vast difference in results would occur without testing first. The results are often quite surprising.

Now, let me get back to providing you with more of my 37 Million-Dollar Headlines, and some explanation of what makes these headlines effective. Now we must pause and examine one of the techniques of writing a headline. It is called VERBALIZATION. And it is the art of increasing the impact of a headline by the way in which it is stated.

In the previous sections, we have looked at what we want to say in a headline. And now we have to determine how to say it.

The most obvious way, of course, is simply to state the claim in its barest form. “Lose Weight,” or “Stop Corns,” for example. And if you are the first in your field, there is no better way.

But where you are competitive, or where the thought is too complicated to be stated simply and directly, then you must reinforce that claim by binding other images to it with the words in which you express it. This is verbalization. And it can accomplish several different purposes:

A. It can strengthen the claim-by enlarging upon it, by measuring it, by making it more vivid.

B. It can make the claim new and fresh again-by twisting it, changing it, presenting it from a different angle, turning it into a narration, challenging the reader with an example.

C. It can help the claim pull the prospect into the body of the ad-by promising him information about it, by questioning him, by partially revealing information.

All of these goals are accomplished by adding variations, enlargements or embellishments to the main headline claim of the ad. These additional images are bound into the main claim by the sentence structure of the headline. They alter the main claim, to make it more effective.
There are, of course, an infinite number of these variations (every good copywriter invents a few himself. But there are general patterns that most copywriters follow. Here are some of these guideposts, for your own consideration:

Measure the size of the claim
25. I am 61 Pounds Lighter by Using XYZ Product

State the difference in the headline
26. The Difference in Premium Gasolines is Right In the Additives

Stress the newness of the claim
27. Now! Chrome Plate Without Heat, Electricity, Machinery!

State the claim as a question
28. Who Else Wants a Whiter Wash With No Hard Work?

Turn the claim into a challenge for the reader
29. Which Twin Has the Toni? And Which Has the $15 Permanent?

Challenge the prospect’s present limiting beliefs
30. You Are Twice as Smart as You Think

Address your prospect directly
31. To the Man Who Will Settle for Nothing Less Than the Presidency of His Firm

Address the people who can’t buy your product:
32. If You’ve Already Taken Your Vacation, Don’t Read This. It’ll Break Your Heart

Accuse the claim of being too good
33. Is It Immoral to Make Money This Easily?

Warn the reader about possible pitfalls if he doesn’t use the product.
34. Don’t invest one cent of your hard-earned money until you read this guide!

State the claim as a case story quotation
35. Would You Believe It-I Have a Cold!

Metaphorize the claim
36. Melts Away Ugly Fat!

Measure the speed of the claim
37. In Two Seconds, Bayer Aspirin Begins Relieving Rain!

Is It New And Improved?
The Headline Should Tell!

This tutorial is meant to remind you that in a great number of effective headlines you will find the word “new”-or a connotation of it, such as “new kind of,” “new discovery,” “new way to,” etc. Americans are quite partial to the new or novel; they do not suffer from neophobia. To the average American, the mere factor of newness seems to be prima facie evidence of “betterness.”

Undeviating affection for the old and tried may be strong in other countries; in ours, the desire to try the new is stronger. The great achievements of our inventors and enterprising manufacturers have trained us to believe that if it’s new it is likely to be better. However, the word “new” in a headline should be backed up by copy pointing out the merits of something really new and advantageous, not some transparently trivial difference.

Testing Leads to Success
Test! Test! Test! You can have far more sales, inquiries and store traffic for the same money just by cross testing alternative headlines, format and copy:

* By testing different ways to say the same thing

* By trying different copy

* By testing the pull of one magazine against another

* By testing one mailing list against another

* By testing one radio time slot against another

* By testing one offer against an other..

* One price against another

* One guarantee against another

* One sales pitch against another

* One direct-mail package against another

If you use a headline, or offer, or price, or guarantee, or medium, or mailing list or sales pitch without testing it against another version, you are denying yourself and your company the potential of increased sales and profits that cost no more than you are currently spending. Remember, ads or sales letters cost the same to produce, whether you get a 1% response or a 35% response. Now that is leverage!

It’s relatively easy to test and track ad results and to ruthlessly leverage every marketing dollar.

Failure to test, retest and test again is tantamount to admitting that you aren’t the business person you should be.

One of my first clients, a silver and gold broker, ran a headline to announce a new and very appealing marketing breakthrough. Unfortunately, he never tested his headline (and, unluckily, the headline was boring).

When I entered the picture, I first came up with 10 different headlines to test. One of them out pulled his headline by more than 500%.

Instead of spending $30,000 a month to produce $1 million in sales, that same $30,000 started producing $5 million in sales per month and more!

The simple act of testing one headline against another made an annualized difference of something like $50 million in gross sales-and at the very least, $2.5 million in additional profits. Testing your headlines can pay handsome rewards.

So, assuming we see eye to eye on objectives, let’s now learn how to test.

How to Test
Let’s talk once again about basic aspects of your marketing that you should constantly be testing.

If you run display ads, first and foremost test your headlines against each other with the exact same body copy.

Identify the best possible headline and start testing body copy.

Test only one variable at a time. This is the scientific principle of control: It means isolating the variable, so that you are sure of the source of different results. If you’re testing a guarantee, don’t change the headline. If you’re comparing one price against another, don’t change any other variable.

Keyed Response-The Key to Testing
If you have two different approaches that you’re testing, you must design your test to give you specific results keyed to each approach. You must know which ad each and every prospect is responding to.

You can do this in different ways:

* Use a coupon-a differently coded coupon for each version of your ad.

* Tell the prospects to specify a department number when they call or write-(there doesn’t have to be an actual department).

* Ask the prospect to tell you he/she heard it on radio station in order to qualify for a discount or special offer.

* Include a code on the mailing label returned with the order-the code identifies the source of the label, or the version of the ad you mailed.

* Use different telephone numbers for respondents each offer is accompanied by a similar, but distinct phone number.

* Make different package tests and note which bonuses or prices people ask for.

* Have the caller ask for a specific person-(the name can be fictitious).

You must be able to attribute each response to one of the approaches you are testing.

You should also make a point of keeping meticulous track of each response and its results: simple inquiry, sale, amount of sale, previous customer. Keep track of every piece of information that you need in your marketing. And be sure to differentiate in your record-keeping between responses and actual sales. Prospects are fine, but sales are what you are after.

Then, when you have all the results tabulated by method “K” or method “B” compare the two approaches and select the better one. Then test again, using your winner in competition with a new contestant. Always compare the new effort against your proven winner, and look to beat the current winner.

Direct-Mail Testing
So far, we’ve talked mostly about display advertising, but if direct mail is your preferred method, read on.

You probably use direct mail to inspire people to:

* Come immediately into your store,

* OR call your order desk,

* OR send a coupon so that you can call back or send a salesman,

* OR send a check or charge card order.

Using the same principle as in testing display advertising, do an “Nth-name” A/B test. An “Nth-name” sample is a theoretically perfect cross section of the quality of the list you’re testing.

Before you mail to 100,000 untested people and spend $25,000 or $40,000 in postage and printing, do a 5,000 “Nth-name” test sample of one version of your mailing piece against another.

Test the same mailing pieces with two different headlines. Repeat the headline on the outside of the carrier envelope. Try different body copy with the same headlines. Try different orders.

Try different physical components, along with the basic sales letter: such as a folded “read me” note-or an accompanying brochure or a reply device with a postage-paid reply number-or a coupon, etc.

Test as many things as possible in the smallest possible arena before you risk a big part of your advertising budget on one expensive marketing approach to a large audience.

Why guess what the market will welcome, or what price they’re willing to pay, when the marketplace is willing and even eager to tell you the answer?

The same fundamental approach applies to TV, radio commercials, field sales, in-store ads and telephone sales as well. Why, for example, run five 60-second TV commercials each day saying something only one way, when another presentation of the same message might pull in many times the customers? If you use TV, wouldn’t you want to know whether showing your product or service in use makes a difference?

Since the cost is the same, whether that 60-second commercial produces 10 customers, or 110, isn’t it worth your while to find out answers to questions like these?

Now, Let’s Write a Headline for Your Business
It’s easy. Get out some paper and a pencil and start by doing the following. First, ask yourself this question. “What are the key or primary reasons why (“reason why” is a key recurring theme in everything I’ll share with you) your customers acquire, desire or seek your product or service? In other words, what is the primary benefit or advantage or value or performance, result or improvement or reduction or avoidance or advantage they end up receiving or getting when they use your product service or business?

You should have multiple answers to this question. When you get them, rank them by the most valuable and specific and the most frequently desired.

How many ways can you specifically measure or compare or denominate the effect or benefit your product or service for a customer? Write as many as you can down on a sheet of paper.

Now go through each one of the elements I just shared with you and apply it by modifying it to your situation. For example, pick out a few of the words that work wonders, and try adding them to the result or benefit or advantage your product or service produces. Example, how to rid yourself of stress overnight … announcing a way to get twice the productivity out of every hour you drive to work. “Amazing discovery, get the job of three people done for the cost of just one,” etc.

Take each one of these “wonder words” and try your hand at writing a powerful headline.

Do the same thing with the tested “key word,” making sure you write each statement or cluster of thoughts down separately.

Don’t stop now-the fun has just begun.

An important word about your return on investment.

Great copywriters and legendary sales trainers spend days… sometimes weeks… laboring over the details of a headline or opening statement for an ad, letter or sales presentation.

Why?

Because, those “pros” know how much of pay-off this process produces.

Don’t limit yourself to creating just one single headline.

The great masters I’ve learned from would write no less than 100 different approaches before they kicked out the three to five best, most powerful selections they would test out.

You should not settle for anything less.

The more headlines and opening propositions you write, the more this mind-set will become your own.

If it’s a little uncomfortable at first, that’s perfectly normal.

Try this simple exercise if you get stuck: Ask yourself to fill in the blank describing the most powerful result or benefit your product produces. If you were talking to a prospect about this result you’d be telling them how to what? Once you fill in that blank with the answer to the result your product or service produces, you’ve written your first really good headline-so keep going!

Stale News to the Advertiser May Be Fresh News to the Reader
This is the last tutorial on headlines presented here. Don’t think because it is the last one it is of least importance. In fact, its value becomes apparent when you realize how many of the most effective headlines employ it. “Get news (or new value) into your headline” is probably the best way to define it.

Since you can’t pack everything into a headline, stick to your principal appeal-but give it news value if you can. And remember that what may be stale news to the advertiser may be fresh news to the reader. The advertiser is, of course, thoroughly familiar with his manufacturing methods, the ingredients he uses, the function of the product.

These topics may have no news value for him. They may even be similar to those of his competitors. But that is not true of the readers of his advertisements. Something about the product or the service it renders may be entirely new and sensationally persuasive to the public. And the advertiser who features it first captures its appeal for himself, regardless of the “me too” efforts of competitors who may have heretofore failed to capitalize upon it.

Many companies have found an element of their product or manufacturing process, even if it was commonplace in their industry, and produced huge advertising results by highlighting the feature or process.

The Power of Emulation
In the beginning, you don’t have to recreate the wheel. Merely go through each reference area, like the headline multipliers, and the formula for creating headlines and modify each one to your situation.

You’re ready to begin development of your first successful headline. Read other headlines, consider your benefits, uniqueness, and advantage, draft dozens of headline ideas, formulate and eliminate less valuable ideas and test your best headlines.

After you’ve written 25 to 50 good headlines or opening statements, organize them the way you did the results you wrote down in the beginning-picking out the best five that make the advantage/result apparent to the customer.

I guarantee you this: If you only do this with me and create 50 to 100 trial headlines and choose the best five-one of those five will out-produce your current headline or sales opening by 35% to 1,000% or more.

Much luck and headline success!

Abraham Publishing • 27520 Hawthorne Blvd. Suite 263
Rolling Hills Estates, CA 90274 • 310-265-1840
Website: www.abraham.com