Which Of These 2 Headlines Grabs You...?

Here's an interesting question about headlines from leading internet marketer Dr Mani Sivasubramanian...

He asks "Which of these 2 headlines grabs you?"

"It's All A Lie" or

"We Are Being Lied To"

My simple answer is I think you could create a FAR more powerful headline if you were more specific.

eg. SEO Lies!
Google Adword Lies
Copywriting Lies!
Dirty Rotten Internet Marketing Liars!

Also you MAY increase credibility by asking a question...
"Are We Being Lied To...?"
"Is It All A Lie...?"
"Are These SEO Lies...?"

This is more low key and believable and it also draws your reader into your copy in the same way that...
"Are You Making These Mistakes In English...?"

proved to be many times more effective as a headline than
"The Most Common Mistakes In English"

You could be on the right track with the short interruption type prehead.

These short preheads may get a slightly higher response...
Long Headlines vs Short Headlines

Also online the first 3 or 4 words are absolutely crucial in your headline...
4 Eyeball sucking headline secrets

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavangh

Free Audio "13 Secrets
Of Online Copy"
Email:
Name:

More FREE High Value Online Copywriting Secrets Than Any Other Site On Earth. Andrew Cavanagh's Online Copywriting Blog

Products From Andrew Cavanagh:

Offers Unleashed: How Many Of These 17
Profit Multiplying Offers Is Your Website Missing?

Make $1,500 Today: This 48 Page Report Reveals
The Simple Step By Step System For Selling Your Online
Marketing Skills To Businesses Right In Your City

$500 In 24 Hours Without A Website: From Offline Store Front
To Online Gold. Charge Local Businesses To Explode Their Sales From Walk Past Traffic And Turn That Traffic Into Long Term Online Income (Perfect For Copywriters)

Online Gold For The Offline Business: The Definitive
eBook On How To Use Online Marketing To Power Up
The Profits In Any Brick And Mortar Business


Make My Website Sell: FREE 11 Minute Video
Insider Secrets Of Web Design That Sells

$7 Secrets: How I Made Over $3,000 In Just 7 Days
By Selling A 30 Page Report For $7

Make Money Copywriting: 34 Insider Secrets To Making Money
As A Copywriter And How To Land Your First Copywriting Client

Sales Letter Format

When you're writing a sales letter it helps enormously to have a blueprint to follow.

Here is a simple, proven online sales letter format you can use...

1. Prehead (more in long headlines vs. short headlines)
2. Headline (Usually red 20 point Tahoma or something similar)(more in 4 eyeball sucking headline secrets and headline secrets)
3. Subheadline
4. Photo ("action" photos will usually get a higher response and captions will a call to action can dramatically increase response)
5. Opening line with large dropcap (more on opening lines in sales copy)
6. Story or very compelling opening paragraphs (more in secrets to using stories in sales copy)

These first 6 components to a sales letter are vital. Split testing changes to these will usually bring you the greatest response.

7. Introduce the credibility of your speaker (this could be anywhere in the copy but it is vital).
8. Establish your prospect's desperate need for your product (also could be anywhere)
9. Introduce your product as a solution
10.Bullets (write your bullets first)
11.Testimonials to support bullets (testimonials in sales copy: placing them for maximum sales)

12.Bonuses (or they could be later in the copy)
13.Establish value by comparing your product's price to other higher priced options
14.Compelling guarantee
15.Call to action (more on call to action in copywriting)
16. P.S. with another compelling reason to act now.
17. P.P.S. you can use for additional testimonials.

Also read...
How to write great sales copy fast
Copywriting driving you crazy?

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

Free Audio "13 Secrets
Of Online Copy"
Email:
Name:

More FREE High Value Online Copywriting Secrets Than Any Other Site On Earth. Andrew Cavanagh's Online Copywriting Blog

Products From Andrew Cavanagh:

Offers Unleashed: How Many Of These 17
Profit Multiplying Offers Is Your Website Missing?

Make $1,500 Today: This 48 Page Report Reveals
The Simple Step By Step System For Selling Your Online
Marketing Skills To Businesses Right In Your City

$500 In 24 Hours Without A Website: From Offline Store Front
To Online Gold. Charge Local Businesses To Explode Their Sales From Walk Past Traffic And Turn That Traffic Into Long Term Online Income (Perfect For Copywriters)

Online Gold For The Offline Business: The Definitive
eBook On How To Use Online Marketing To Power Up
The Profits In Any Brick And Mortar Business


Make My Website Sell: FREE 11 Minute Video
Insider Secrets Of Web Design That Sells

$7 Secrets: How I Made Over $3,000 In Just 7 Days
By Selling A 30 Page Report For $7

Make Money Copywriting: 34 Insider Secrets To Making Money
As A Copywriter And How To Land Your First Copywriting Client

Copywriting Fundamentals

What are the key copywriting fundamentals if you want to create sales copy that sells?

1. Sales skill.

Many aspiring online copywriters just don't have any 1-on-1 sales experience and it shows in their copy.

Understanding what it takes to sell a product or service to someone...what the process is like...how selling is a progression...these are all HUGE keys to writing powerful, effective sales copy.

Sales copy is salesmanship in print.

So if you want to master copywriting you must master copywriting fundamental number one...selling.

I would recommend that you get some one on one selling experience and that you repeatedly read the great book How To Win Friends And Influence People....
The One Book You Must Read To Be A Great Copywriter


2. Marketing skill

If you're a smart marketer you'll make your clients many times the income just by seeing opportunities and openings that they've missed.

And when your clients make more money they'll happily hire you over and over and happily pay you more.

Also getting good paying copywriting clients for yourself is heavily dependent on your marketing ability.

I strongly recommend you study the work of Jay Abraham. Here is a $295 Jay Abraham report you can download completely FREE to get you started...
Jay Abraham pdf FREE


3. Writing skill.

It might sound a bit out of fashion to suggest you need to be a good writer to be a good copywriter but of all the weaknesses I see in online sales copy this is the most obvious.

You need to hone your writing skill and if you don't have any writing talent then find another profession!

Use specific language...read popular authors...listen to great speakers...watch popular movies.

Study what the writers are doing in these different media.

Study cliches and opening lines in novels and most of all study successful sales copy.

See how the great writers are using language as a tool to persuade, learn from it and improve on it.

Then you'll gain mastery of the copywriting fundamentals.

Also read...
Making Money As A New Copywriter
3 Powerful Secrets Of Online Copy FREE Report
How To Write Great Sales Copy FAST
Opening Lines In Sales Copy
Secrets To Story Telling That Multiplies Your Sales

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

Free Audio "13 Secrets
Of Online Copy"
Email:
Name:

More FREE High Value Online Copywriting Secrets Than Any Other Site On Earth. Andrew Cavanagh's Online Copywriting Blog

Products From Andrew Cavanagh:

Offers Unleashed: How Many Of These 17
Profit Multiplying Offers Is Your Website Missing?

Make $1,500 Today: This 48 Page Report Reveals
The Simple Step By Step System For Selling Your Online
Marketing Skills To Businesses Right In Your City

$500 In 24 Hours Without A Website: From Offline Store Front
To Online Gold. Charge Local Businesses To Explode Their Sales From Walk Past Traffic And Turn That Traffic Into Long Term Online Income (Perfect For Copywriters)

Online Gold For The Offline Business: The Definitive
eBook On How To Use Online Marketing To Power Up
The Profits In Any Brick And Mortar Business


Make My Website Sell: FREE 11 Minute Video
Insider Secrets Of Web Design That Sells

$7 Secrets: How I Made Over $3,000 In Just 7 Days
By Selling A 30 Page Report For $7

Make Money Copywriting: 34 Insider Secrets To Making Money
As A Copywriter And How To Land Your First Copywriting Client

Lazy Mans Way To Riches

The Lazy Mans Way To Riches was a book written by Joe Karbo in the seventies that made him millions of dollars...mainly through sales from magazine and newspaper ads.

In the book Joe teaches many grass roots direct mail selling techniques.

One notable fan of The Lazy Man's Way To Riches is Jay Abraham...one of the world's leading marketing consultants.

As a copywriter you can learn more by studying Joe Karbo's classic million dollar ad...

"The Lazy Man's Way To Riches"

'Most People Are Too Busy Earning A Living To Make Any Money'

"I used to work hard. The 16-hour days. The 7-day weeks."

"But I didn't start making big money until I did less-a lot less."


This is a fantastic opening that runs contrary to what you hear about "working hard to make money" and the intrigue draws you in.

You can see the whole ad on this page at Michael Senoff's site...
www.hardtofindads.com


You may have to sign up for free membership to see the ad.

Here is a picture of the opening of the ad...


Notice how Joe disarms you with this ad.

He tells you he's going to ask you to pay 10 dollars for something that cost him "no more than 50 cents".

Then he sells his 31 day free trial...he won't even cash your check till 31 days AFTER you receive the book.

And he guarantees that the book is worth at least 100 times what you pay for it or your uncashed check or money order will be sent back to you by return mail.

And that's just the opening of this amazing sales copy!



These days it is nearly impossible to make money from one step marketing this way...usually you have to go through a process where you send a free report, break even or lose money on the front end then make money from the back end sales to the list you create.

But Joe Karbo's Lazy Man's Way To Riches ad is still well worth studying.

For years Joe tried unsuccessfully to beat this original ad that took him just a couple of hours to write.

This is a proven ad.

For more swipes of the most successful ads in history see...
Eugene Schwartz pdf
Gary Halbert Dollar Bill Letter
Famous Dollar Bill Sales Letter

Lazy Man's Way To Riches
Claude Hopkins Schlitz Beer Ad
Headline Swipe File

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

Free Audio "13 Secrets
Of Online Copy"
Email:
Name:

More FREE High Value Online Copywriting Secrets Than Any Other Site On Earth. Andrew Cavanagh's Online Copywriting Blog

Products From Andrew Cavanagh:

Offers Unleashed: How Many Of These 17
Profit Multiplying Offers Is Your Website Missing?

Make $1,500 Today: This 48 Page Report Reveals
The Simple Step By Step System For Selling Your Online
Marketing Skills To Businesses Right In Your City

$500 In 24 Hours Without A Website: From Offline Store Front
To Online Gold. Charge Local Businesses To Explode Their Sales From Walk Past Traffic And Turn That Traffic Into Long Term Online Income (Perfect For Copywriters)

Online Gold For The Offline Business: The Definitive
eBook On How To Use Online Marketing To Power Up
The Profits In Any Brick And Mortar Business


Make My Website Sell: FREE 11 Minute Video
Insider Secrets Of Web Design That Sells

$7 Secrets: How I Made Over $3,000 In Just 7 Days
By Selling A 30 Page Report For $7

Make Money Copywriting: 34 Insider Secrets To Making Money
As A Copywriter And How To Land Your First Copywriting Client

Free Minisite Template

If you're looking for free minisite templates you can go to this page you can download a free template you can use for sales pages and web pages...
Gift Website Templates

They're nothing fancy but they come with headers and footers you can edit fairly easily using Gimp (a free image editing software) or photoshop (you can download a completely free working 30 day trial of Photoshop software online).

A couple of things you should keep in mind if you're creating a minisite...

1. For your sales pages often headers decrease sales response so you should test a plain sales page without a header.

2. For optin pages you may kill your search engine listings if you don't have links to real content somewhere on the page.

3. If you want good search engine rankings blogs are probably the fastest and easiest way to get listed with Google, Yahoo and MSN.

You can get plenty of very professional looking blog templates completely free at...
http://themes.wordpress.net/

Keep in mind that with a bit of template editing you can make a blog look just like a standard minisite packed with free resources.

If you're looking for guidelines to write a sales letter fast read...
Sales Letter Format
Copywriting Driving You Crazy?
How To Write Great Sales Copy FAST

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

Free Audio "13 Secrets
Of Online Copy"
Email:
Name:

More FREE High Value Online Copywriting Secrets Than Any Other Site On Earth. Andrew Cavanagh's Online Copywriting Blog

Products From Andrew Cavanagh:

Offers Unleashed: How Many Of These 17
Profit Multiplying Offers Is Your Website Missing?

Make $1,500 Today: This 48 Page Report Reveals
The Simple Step By Step System For Selling Your Online
Marketing Skills To Businesses Right In Your City

$500 In 24 Hours Without A Website: From Offline Store Front
To Online Gold. Charge Local Businesses To Explode Their Sales From Walk Past Traffic And Turn That Traffic Into Long Term Online Income (Perfect For Copywriters)

Online Gold For The Offline Business: The Definitive
eBook On How To Use Online Marketing To Power Up
The Profits In Any Brick And Mortar Business


Make My Website Sell: FREE 11 Minute Video
Insider Secrets Of Web Design That Sells

$7 Secrets: How I Made Over $3,000 In Just 7 Days
By Selling A 30 Page Report For $7

Make Money Copywriting: 34 Insider Secrets To Making Money
As A Copywriter And How To Land Your First Copywriting Client

Headline Secrets

The author of this headline asked..."Is it too strong?"...

"How To Build Your Own Profitable Kick Ass Opt-In Email Lists - Just Like The Ones The 'Gurus' Are Always Bragging About - Crammed Full Of Loyal Subscribers Waving Fists Full Of Money At You In Only 30 Days Or Less"

Here is my reply...

The headline is terrible for many reasons...

1. "How to build your own highly profitable Kick ass optin email lists"

Just about every word and phrase here has been done to death by every internet marketing hack site.

Also it's just not specific enough to be believable or suggest you'll give any REAL information on building an opt in list.


2. "Just like the ones the gurus are always bragging about"

Which gurus?

This line suggests your prospect knows something...but God knows what.

Another hack line that means nothing.


3. "Crammed full of loyal subscribers waving fists of money at you"

Again...no suggestion that this is a real result someone's achieved in the real world.

Non specific and meaning nothing.

How much money, how many subscribers?

What does loyal mean?

Where's your proof or suggestion of proof?


4. "In only 30 days or less"

Nice that you tagged this on at the end.

This is the closest you get to something specific but it just doesn't flow with the headline and since there was no specific promise in the headline it means nothing.

Also how you're supposed to have "loyal" subscribers inside 30 days I'm not really sure.


If you tell me...

"How A Denver Housewife Captured 1,341 New Email Subscribers in 29 Days...And How You Can Use The Same Proven Step-By-Step System..."

Then I might read the next line.

Also read...
4 Eyeball Sucking Headline Secrets

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

Free Audio "13 Secrets
Of Online Copy"
Email:
Name:

More FREE High Value Online Copywriting Secrets Than Any Other Site On Earth. Andrew Cavanagh's Online Copywriting Blog

Products From Andrew Cavanagh:

Offers Unleashed: How Many Of These 17
Profit Multiplying Offers Is Your Website Missing?

Make $1,500 Today: This 48 Page Report Reveals
The Simple Step By Step System For Selling Your Online
Marketing Skills To Businesses Right In Your City

$500 In 24 Hours Without A Website: From Offline Store Front
To Online Gold. Charge Local Businesses To Explode Their Sales From Walk Past Traffic And Turn That Traffic Into Long Term Online Income (Perfect For Copywriters)

Online Gold For The Offline Business: The Definitive
eBook On How To Use Online Marketing To Power Up
The Profits In Any Brick And Mortar Business


Make My Website Sell: FREE 11 Minute Video
Insider Secrets Of Web Design That Sells

$7 Secrets: How I Made Over $3,000 In Just 7 Days
By Selling A 30 Page Report For $7

Make Money Copywriting: 34 Insider Secrets To Making Money
As A Copywriter And How To Land Your First Copywriting Client