Some Do Get Away With Telling

The media, politicians, and "famous" people are telling us all what to think. Unfortunately many are listening to these sound-bites, and assuming what they hear is "truth." But they are not listening to me in this unqualified manner. Nor will they listen in this way to you.

You must seek to persuade people of your point. Provide information reader can accept or reject. If collectively you sufficiently support your point, you have at least a shot at being believed.

How This Applies To Selling Anything

The rules of selling are changing rapidly. It's true hard-sell, loaded with hype, con, and even lies, continues to work for some. And even junkiest spam brings profits to a few.

But permission selling is now mode, particularly on Web. A visitor is invited to freely consider a possible solution to a problem or information that may help. Within these notes, there are invitations to explore a product or service that goes specifically to point.

If your visitor accepts a second invitation, then sell. But honestly. Gently. With benefits to potential customer. This is a kinder way of doing business. One with which both seller and customer are comfortable.

Don't Screw It Up

In this way of selling, there is no room at all for telling anybody anything. All is persuasion. We seek to convince our potential customer, one point at a time, that our product or service is exactly what they need. Slip in a "known fact" or "best ever" and you'll blow deal.

If you have power, you may be able to tell people what to do and make it happen. But you are wasting time trying to tell anybody what to believe without backing it up with verifiable information.

STEP #3. Determine most valuable benefit this person will gain from product, service or business opportunity promoted in message under your headline.

STEP #4. Write as many one sentence statements as you can about this benefit. Use one or more of words from following list in each statement. There are many other power words you can use in your headlines. However, many years of trial and error have taught me these 12 are most effective:

You, Free, New, Guaranteed, Fast, Easy, Discover, Proven, How-to, Save, Increase, $7953 (any exact amount of money)

STEP #5. Select most powerful statement on your list. If you have several that seem equally powerful, try combining them into one statement and use that as your headline.

That's it! You've just created a powerful headline to capture your reader's attention and provide a compelling reason to read whatever follows your headline.

Here are some examples of effective headlines I developed using this 5 step procedure.

* Easy Way To Increase Your Sales 60% or More This Month! * Discover How You Can Reduce Arthritis Pain FAST! * You Can Earn 50% More Commissions This Year - Guaranteed! * How To Save $1,329 On Your Next Printing Job! * NEW Free Report: 10 Proven MLM Recruiting Ads YOU Can Use * How To Build Your Small Business FAST - Guaranteed!

Use this simple 5 step procedure next time you want to create a captivating headline. It's easy to follow and you'll create a powerful headline to attract your reader's attention and compel him/her to read your ad or sales letter.