Guess I’m what you’d call a hard sell!
M.E. Evans

Very insightful post on headlines.

The headline has one purpose, and one purpose only…to “buy reading time” from the reader…enough so that you can enthrall the reader with your copy. After that, the body of your piece should do the rest.

Joe Ratliff
Direct Marketing Specialist
http://www.perfectwebcopy.com

I spent the morning reading on Michel Fortin’s blog when I couldn’t seem to get his latest post - an article on writing headlines and ad copy - out of my head. There was something niggling at my mind that I had to sort through. Then I re…

Tammy

I had this thought looming that maybe a 5-sentence headline isn’t really good for new people in small niche markets.

But I thought lets go the proven of long headlines n benifits n all that.

thanks for pointing out.. it could be a totally different story!

I’ve been reading a lot about copy for the Internet and the one point that most people seem to miss is that one size does not fit all.

To many “gurus” tell you how their method is the one that is going to work for you, based on the fact that it worked for them.

This is one of the better posts I’ve seen that do not make a simplistic claim, but address real world scenarios.

Kudos

Your article really gets to the heart of the matter. I really appreciate you sharing your point of view and tested approachs to headlines.

I have read Brian Keith Voiles has written over 300 headlines before settling on one he likes. That takes diligent effort very few seem willing to put forth.

I will definitely refer back to this article from time to time so it becomes ingrained into my own thought process.

Thanks again.

Perry Droast

Online copywriting is different and one headline area that very seldom gets covered is the prehead (the headline above the headline in a sales letter).

Online this may be even more important than the major headline in serving the function of getting your visitors to continue on and read your copy.

On some sales letters the prehead is the header graphic at the top of the page and plenty of thought (and testing) needs to be given over what wording and what graphics go into that header.

Wonderful post Michel.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

Agree that long headlines tell the person that it’s a salesletter; which can hurt conversions for the “first contact” you’re having with a prospect; as it’s important to establish value and deliver content first; then pitch second.

Thanks for the tip too, re the first 10-20 headlines are easy; it’s the next batch that’s difficult; that’s an excellent point, to integrate into the workflow; I often (when rushed) will stop after the first 15-20 headlines and sort through those, vs keep pushing to create new alternatives, so I’ll continue on when working up new headlines.

As Lincoln said, re “give me a long time to write a short speech/long time to write a short one”, copywriters can be lazy, and it takes more work to “pithify” ones’ headlines, to come up with something clever. (Like Bob Bly gave in a great example for pet cemetaries, “Plot for Spot?” type approach)…

Thanks, Michel!

Ken Calhoun

Have you ever wondered what makes for a great headline? Or have you ever wondered when you should use a long headline vs. when to use a short one? Yesterday, Michel Fortin wrote an in-depth and enlightening article on this…

Regarding the short vs. long headline argument, I think your clarification about determining the audience (new prospects or your “herd”) is brilliant. Thanks for making that distinction.

Yes. Headlines are meant to capture attention of readership. Indeed if you do not have a good one, then readers will just skip the rest of the content. Your example of the long headline sounds logical and did capture my interests to read more. I do agree that long headline has its advantages.

Without 100 to choose from, they’d never know how good their copy would have been.

Thanks for this very educational post.

I just finished writing headline #501 today for an ad I’m working on - and I still haven’t found the headline idea I’m looking for.

Thanks for posting this, it’s one of the best power educations on writing headlines I’ve ever seen.