You've Got 7 Seconds, Now Grab Me! Writing Better Headlines That Get Read and Shared Through Social Media

By: Sandi Krakowski

The attention span of your average visitor is worse than a new customer walking into a mall store. You've got about 7 seconds and then they are gone…. that is if someone doesn't text them, Skype them or call their name before the seconds are gone!

Here, let me give you a real life example… go here to this site right now and type in 7 seconds. Then watch it… watch how long this can be! You might think it's super fast, but in the online 'real estate' world it's quite long. 

Check it out now- set it to run for 7 seconds.

Pretty wild isn't it? 7 seconds can be quite long when you take the time to see it that way.

Your customers and clients enter your website, and it's very similar to entering a new store…. or even a familiar one. They search, feel, react. What will grab me first?

You've got 7 seconds, now GRAB ME before I go somewhere else!

Don't look for hype, but look for something that can be attention getting! Here's the "Big Millionaire Copywriting Tip" of the day- it needs to be attention getting to your client or customer, not to you as the writer. Big mistake some wanna be writers make is trying to come up with something that is 'hypey' or catchy…. and because they have a disdain for such methods they end up sounding foolish. Attention getting is not hypey.

How do we find something that could be catchy to our clients?

If you've read my book, "Read Their Mind: How To Listen To The Marketplace & Build A Huge Business" I taught you first hand in strategic steps how to 'spy' on your customers. In our 12 hour unedited Mp3 of the event that created the book, I shared with you real-life examples that people are making tens of thousands of dollars with as they instantly apply what far too many lazy business owners won't take the time to do.

The words your clients are going to find attention grabbing are the very same words that are in their head…. and are coming out of their mouths. It is the language they are most familiar with and use every single day. Each niche has it…. it's not even personality selective, but rather, niche specific.

Go to Amazon.com and type in the topic you will be writing about. Let's say it's cloth diapers that don't leak or wear out. Come with me, won't you? Let's go check.

Type in "Cloth Diapers That Don't Leak" in the search box now.

Looks to me like BumGenius are the score here! With more than 30 comments and reviews on each item…. let's pay attention! Note- we're not paying attention to everything that comes up, we're gleaning information that is for our benefit from the items that have multiple comments and reviews.

Class… it's time to "Read Their Mind!"

Once we get past the excitement that these come in many colors, we can see that people are very opinionate when it comes to this product! Let's read through the things our 'ideal client' is saying if we are marketing good ole fashioned cloth diapers that don't leak! (Note- this is why I love marketing, it's a scientific process of reading and processing data, it's not psychobabble, it's the study of people and learning how they think! Woohoo! I love it… )

Here are some of the better comments we'll find that can be used for our article on cloth diapers, why they are beneficial, why it's easier than it's ever been to use cloth diapers and how you can make the switch to cloth today:

(BTW, that's a good headline, "Make The Switch Today- Cloth Diapers That Don't Leak")

"My favorite cloth diaper!"

"Great Diaper, No Leaks!"

"Truly Flexible System"

"Best Of Cloth Diapering World"

"I do FLIPs for my flip diaper!"

"It's a hybrid diaper!"

You can quickly see that the content is just staring us in the face…. so which way will we go? Here are just a few samples of what you could choose to use in your own copy with just these few pieces of content:

"Try The Great Diaper With No Leaks, The Best Of Diapers That Makes The Switch Easy!"

or

"Make The Switch To Cloth With The Trusted Genius!"

or

"All Baby Choose The Smart Leakproof Diaper, BumGenius!"

Something any aspiring writer should know is that the best copywriters in the world don't have some kind of 'magic switch' inside their brain that causes them to see headlines in their sleep. No, the best copywriters are ferocious readers….. they grab information, data, words that sell, words that don't sell everywhere they go. They can't help but see everything with words, in words, in sentence form. This is an acquired skill, one that develops with more reading and more writing. One of the key things we'll be teaching in our A Real Change Apprentice Program is how to begin seeing the world in words and how to speak to every ideal client with their specific language. It's quite natural and it takes a lot less work than being slimey or hypey.

A headline has to not only grab me, but the next step will be to direct me. What do I do next?!

If I don't know what to do next, I will predictably do nothing. If I am not sure which way to go along this path that your headline is leading me, I'll most likely go no where… or worse yet, to the next interruption that comes my way.

Ironically, the headline on http://www.bumgenius.com/ could even use some help! They need to "Read Their Mind" and learn to speak their ideal client's voice…. obviously they are successful, but what company couldn't use a profit boost? 

You've got 7 seconds, grab me and then tell me what my next step should be!

In the comment section below, give ME your best headline for your specific niche!

It's gonna be a great 2012 of copywriting, marketing and making more money with our blogs! Are you ready? 🙂 

With love,

Sandi Krakowski