Tubby Nerd Humiliates Pro Copywriters with 19 minute lesson

As part of the 2007 30 Day Challenge, Ed dale recorded a video which suggests a number of ways of copywriting headlines. We are now on the 2008 30DC, but this information is as relevant as ever. Here are my notes & points from this video:

- headlines are the most important part of marketing (in general)
- after price, headlines are the most important element in you conversion ratio
- so many media outlet formats available means you need a good headline to succeed
- you must become a master headline writer
- no 1 mistake internet marketers make when headlining is trying to please everyone
- ed only wants quality traffic to his site (from PPC ads) so puts the price of the e-book ($27.95) in the ad. The free e-book method, although bringing more people in & collecting more e-mail details, will be people with poor conversion. This costs more in click ads & your list of customers might not have a good conversion rate when marketed with future offers.
- use the advert/headline to filter out the people you don’t want!!
- Gary Halbert’s (the late) newsletters for teaching copywriting are still available [Ed advises reading these]
- how many people are clicking on your twitter posts, blog etc…???
- you should be measuring everything to determine the effect you are having

The 4 Elements of a Good Headline

1. Irony
2. A memorable or compelling mental picture
3. Audience & cost
4. say ‘what it is/what it does’

1. Irony

Some headlines employing Irony would be:

Heaven Street Vs Dead End:
One Legged Golfer
Tubby Nerd….

These headline statements have an ironic truth about them that grabs your attention as you think about the meaning.

2. A memorable or compelling mental picture

eg. One Legged Golfer…..

The headline should create a mental picture that would be easily remembered by the reader. [as advertising is an attempt to impact upon the consciousness of the reader, conveying a good mental picture, though use of a headline, is a very good approach to use].

3. Audience & cost

A headline will covey a meaning to a target audience & give a subconsious indication of the cost & quality, of whats on offer. A good headline gives a feel for the expense of the product

4. say ‘what it is/what it does’

- your headline should say ‘what it is/what it does’ (preferably done in a clever way. This is the way to make great headlines)

—————————————————————————————–

Notes:-

- book by Blake Snyder – save the cat (screen play book suggesting the way you get your story read by the right people is all in the logline (headline)
- combine irony & a memorable mental picture for something really powerful
- lots of subconscious elements conveyed in a headline. Use them!
- The title of the film ‘Legally Blonde’ conveys so much about what the film is about that it is a superb use of copywriting

Action Points (Things you can do to practice Headlining)

- Twitter is a brilliant way to practice your headlines. Practice 3 twitter headlines a day
- start collecting headlines (emails, twitter posts, blog titles, newsletters, (whatever catches you attention)
- write these down in a good old notebook (there are great benefits of tangibly
writing something down, as it allows you to start building up your ‘mental memory banks’ with headline data you can begin to draw on once there)