Article Surfing Archive

Following are 22 rules you can use to write headlines that will reach out and force the prospect to read your advertisement:

1. Your headline must offer something that your target market wants very badly.

2. Your headline must include something of self-interest to the reader.

3. If your product is new or improved, say so in the headline.

4. Do not just invoke curiosity in your headline, you must also include something of interest to the reader.

5. Avoid negativity in your headline. Always turn the negative into a positive statement.

6. Your headline should suggest a quick and easy way to achieve the benefit(s) stated.

7. Your headline should be believable.

8. Determine what would make you buy your product, and then try to incorporate that idea into your headline.

9. Avoid making your headline so short that you don't get the main point across.

10. Avoid clever headlines that make the reader think *how clever.* Cleverness rarely gets people to read your ad or spend money.

11. Avoid headlines that sound dead, or like they should be at the bottom of a statue like *To Serve Humanity Better...*

12. Suggest in your headline that your copy contains useful and valuable information.

13. Use your headline to reach out and grab the reader's attention.

14. Avoid curiosity headlines unless you also include interesting statements.

15. Avoid hard-to-grasp headlines that require the reader to think about what you are saying.

16. NEVER run an ad without a headline! You must give people a reason to read your ad.

17. NEVER run just one headline. Always test several different ones and then run with the one that pulls the best!

18. NEVER trust your own reaction to your headlines. Instead, get the reaction of someone else.

19. If you emphasize a word in your headline, make sure that word means something and is important.

20. Remember that large-type words act as a stopper. They get people to stop and pay attention, so choose the best words that will get the most attention.

21. Don't let an artist or layout person decide which headline words to emphasize. An artist thinks in terms of color contrasts and tones, not in terms of making money! Take a look at other successful headlines and incorporate some of their ideas into your own ads.

22. Avoid writing an ad that attracts the wrong people. Make sure your headline attracts the people that are most interested in what you have to offer.

If you will follow these 22 guidelines for writing your headline copy, you will be more likely to have a successful headline and a successful ad! Take some time right now and look back over these guidelines. Then, try to write your own headlines. When you have a few that you think are wonderful, run them by a friend. If that friend asks to see the rest of your copy, you know you have written a true killer headline!