The secret to writing headlines most copywriters don’t tell you

What’s the one thing most people struggle with first when writing their sales copy?

It’s the words sat at the top of the page.

The ones that should absolutely must draw an audience in, appeal to the primal of all emotions, and encourage them to read on like their life depends on it.

That’s what we call the hook. Or the headline.

It’s the one line that makes you want to take your actual head and hit it against an actual wall.

But you and I? Are not going to allow any blood from your head onto any wall today. Let’s give the poor wall a break, shall we?

A talented photographer I know recently got in touch because she was endangering a wall near her.

Here’s what she wrote:

“Raz, I’ve been in love with you since the day we exchanged our first Tweet. Can we run away to the Mediterranean and start making babies together?”

Kidding !

Here’s what she really wrote:

“Can you help me? I’m being too literal and can’t think of a headline for a free sales video I’m doing for my photography for florists course.

The literal benefit is ‘how to use images efficiently and effectively to get more of your ideal clients via social media’.

I’ve come up with: ‘6 things you can do today to [???] on social media’. Help !”

How could I resist such a request? OK, she didn’t promise Mediterranean delights, but she did want me to edit her existing copy. Game on.

Long story efficiently short, here are the ideas I came up with:

6 proven ideas for smart selling on social media that you can use today
The only guide you’ll need to sell on social media using photos
How to get clients on social media using the power of your photos alone

Here response?

“Omg all 3 are perfect. Thank you xxx”

Awesome.

(Click here to see which headline she went with, and how she wrote the rest of the sales page)

Now, I know that sometimes you imagine me sitting in a leather wing-back chair, gazing at the sky with a glass of red in hand, and magically pluck headline ideas out of thin air.

You’re partially right. Partially.

But that’s not exactly how my headline-writing method works.

Here’s what I do:

1. I Google the term (in this case make money online with photos) and see what headline results come up
2. I take existing headline-generating tools and search for the same term
3. Then, I tweak the headline ideas I’ve seen until one sounds irresistible (

And as my gift to you? Here are the sites I use most often to generate headlines for me:

Website one
Website two
Website three

How freakin’ useful are they?

 

 

Question for you: What do you struggle with most when it comes to writing sales messages or other parts of your website?