If you’re like many bloggers, you have (or you’re thinking of developing) products and services to sell to your readers.
Your instinct might be to write the sort of hard sell copy you’ve seen so much of, because you will assume that’s what always works.
But will it? Maybe. Maybe not.
The trouble with hard sell is that it’s overused, it can destroy your credibility, and many bloggers just don’t feel comfortable being so aggressive.
So what do you do?
Brainstorming is one of the most powerful creative techniques ever devised. When used properly, it can produce more and better ideas than any other process. It’s based on the concept that two heads (or three, or four, or more) are better than one.
Many would argue that you can’t create by committee. I agree. Writing and other creative acts are best performed by individuals. Creating by committee, well . . . sucks.
Ever heard of Charley Hill? He seemed like an average, ordinary guy.
He lived in a mid-sized town with his wife, two children, and a dog. He went to church on Sunday, coached Little League, and drove a pickup truck. He was friendly but quiet, the sort of guy you could walk by on the street without noticing.
But appearances can be deceiving. Charley Hill was one of the most successful farm equipment salesmen in the Midwest. People would travel hundreds of miles to see Charley, even when there were plenty of dealers much closer to home.
Some people are writing machines. They get an idea, pound it out in minutes, post it to their blog, and move on to something else. For the rest of the world, writing is often slow, grinding work.
But it doesn’t have to be. Anyone can write faster if they follow a 5-step formula for writing more efficiently. I call it S.P.E.E.D. Writing.
Would you like to be more creative in your copy and blogging? It’s really not as hard or mysterious as you might think.
One roadblock that prevents many people from boosting their creativity is the notion that creativity is linked to intelligence. Another roadblock is the idea that creative people are born that way.
So if you’re not super smart or born with the creative “gift,” the natural reaction is to shrug your shoulders and give up. That’s probably a bad move.
You can write a headline in an infinite number of ways. However, certain types of headlines have proven themselves repeatedly for many years. By following the “formula” of these headlines, you can give yourself an edge when you are serious about persuading someone to read and respond to your copy.
The following 9 headline formulas are some of the easiest to write and the most powerful. When it comes time to write a headline, try one of these first. At the very least, this can give you a creative jumping off point to write a headline that works.
