Sometimes, where appropriate and for extra credibility , put a headline inside quotation marks (ex., “The Most Powerful Word Processor

8.8. How & When Headlines Get Born

Let’s help you understand the thinking behind headline writing. An insight into the psychology of this important subject will substantially strengthen your writing abilities.

Imagine the typical working day of a professional copywriter. There he is in the sun, sitting on the porch…

... overlooking a beautiful, calm, blue lagoon.

Between refreshing cold beers, he applies his gifted talents to the job in hand, and writes a fantastic piece of sales copy in 2 hours. Then he puts away his 50 year old Remington typewriter, sits back and waits for his big fat check.

At least, it’s like that in the movies. If only!

The reality is that writing successful copy is…

... 90% hard work.

And every copywriter knows how it feels to beaver away for hours, even days, translating his ideas into a successful sales message. Writing, re-writing, sharpening and polishing, until the copy has the energy to stand up on its own feet and sell.

And all copywriters have been guilty, at one time or another, of leaving the headline until the last moment. After all, the headline is only a few words! Wrong. The results always suffer.

Yes, you may come up with a good headline. But not your very best! Because after you’ve finished writing your sales message…

... your creative energy is spent. The passion you felt at the start of your project is drained. And your initial enthusiasm has been diluted. So you relax and take your eye off the ball. Uh, oh!

The result is a headline that is only a shadow of the potent sales message you’ve just written.

And yet we already know that 80% of your readers will only read your headline. It’s by far the key element in your sales message. Doesn’t it make more sense to put 80% of your time and effort into creating those few words?

These words will be scanned by 80% of your readers! So...

8.9. Write Your Headline First

I know Ken writes his headlines a bit later in the process, so let me tell you when I write my headlines and why -- from my personal point of view...

I write copy only after an exhaustive examination of the product. I list features, benefits, and the USP. I know who my “ideal” customer is, how to find her and think about hermindset.

From now on, I will never have as much knowledge, excitement and passion about the product as I do right now!

I think of it this way...

When is the best time to tell your friend about a terrific idea you have? Tomorrow? Next week?

It’s right now, of course!

Hey, you can’t keep an idea like that bottled up can you? You want to rush over there and get if off your chest right now! And when you tell him about your brilliant idea, do you simply explain it?

Not on your life… You sell it!

And even if your words are not the most descriptive you’ve ever used, it doesn’t seem to matter. Because your enthusiasm and excitement bubble over into your

“sales pitch.” The fiery passion in your belly infects your friend so much that he nods his head…

... and becomes infected himself.

But how would you sound if you waited until next week and strolled over to tell him the same story, about the same idea? A little less enthusiastic, huh? Rather less passionate? And probably a lot less convincing?

You bet! That’s why I write my headlines first.

It has to hit my reader in the heart or the head. It has to stir an emotion or make a promise. And I have to catch her eye with something she wants.

Not something she needs.

What’s the difference? She needs bread to live. But she may want to eat out every day. She needs a dress for work. But she may want a designer business suit.

So my headline should create excitement and instantly paint a positive picture in her mind. A picture of something she wants. And the best time to inject these feelings into my headline is when I’m feeling this way myself. And when are those feelings most intense? Yup...

Before I write my sales message! But believe it or not, it gets even better!

I have everything fresh in my mind. I have examined all the features, benefits, and product information. So I just wrote the most persuasive headlines possible. Thensomething…

... magical happens! I now find it a hundred times easier to write my sales message!

How? Simple. My headline sets the “theme” for my main copy. The passion of my headline sets the “mood” of my message.

And because everything I want to tell my reader is fresh in my mind, my own mindset is positive. I can’t wait to get my message across to my reader. So my sales message practically writes itself!

That’s the power of the mind, working for me... and for you, I hope! So just swim with the current and turn that power into something magical!

Don’t close your mind to this simple concept. If successful copywriters use it, why keep on trying your old way?

Just do it!.

Well, dear reader, I hope you’ve learned as much about headlines as I have. I have always written my headlines at the end of my first draft (see my comments in next section). But I’m certainly going to give Joe’s approach a shot.

Itmakes sense to write them when you’re fresh and excited. And by writing them first, the opening headline and subheadings can be used to flesh out where you are going with your site and tell your story ahead of time.

Use Joe’s 7 Pro tips for headline writing -- refer to them when you’re stuck for a great headline. I’m sure that one of the seven will spark an idea! And finally...

Never call it quits until you are satisfied that a headline simply could not be better.

Once you’ve done that hard-thinking, creative and exciting part... what’s left is to simply fill in good benefit-focused copy and to tweak any

necessary small refinements in the headlines to ensure a good fit with the copy.

Makes good sense. If it works well, I’ll stick with this new way to write copy. If it’s not what I hope, here’s how I do things now...

The Process

Joe and I see eye-to-eye on most things, but when to write a headline is probably more of a personal preference...

I only do the headlines after I’ve written most of the first draft of the copy,