This time I want to look at an important topic that you don’t read a lot about and that I call the “neglected little sister, the sub-headline; fortunately, it builds directly upon the Most Powerful Psychological Tool!

Even the term is confusing because it is used for 2 entirely different things in a sales letter.

First, it is used for the secondary headline under the primary headline. You know…

“Buy My Wonderful Product So That YOU Can Become a Trillionaire,
Live Forever and Sleep with Every Beautiful Women on the Planet”

And You Won’t Believe Why I Will Pay You For the Privilege

The second part, “And You Won’t Believe Why I Will Pay You For the Privilege”, is the sub-headline.

The other use is to break up the sales copy into sections to keep it interesting, be informative, and as a “skimmer magnet” — to stop and capture the attention of skim readers.

Both are important but this time I’ll be talking about how your can use sneaky techniques to…

make the sub-headline underneath the headline do its part.

If It’s On a Sales Letter it MUST Have a Purpose

One of the cardinal rules of writing sales copy that has spectacular conversion rates it to put in only things that advance the prospect toward a sale (or list sign up or making a telephone call or whatever).

The primary reasons for the sub-headline are:

• Reinforce the headline
• Expand on the major point/benefit
• Add some new point/benefit
• Explain the “attention getting” headline or to “complete the thought”
• Compel the reader to read the first line of the body copy

While most sub-headlines do all of those, the last one is the most important one.

Remember each section – even every paragraph and sentence — of sales copy is meant to get the person to continue to the next section.

I’ve heard this called “reading gravity” or a “slippery slide”, because if your copy is compelling enough it is like gravity taking them down a slippery slide, they just can’t stop reading.

It’s more than that though, it’s meant to get them to continue but be in a slightly altered mental place. You don’t want them just reading you want them to take action.

With each word, sentence, and paragraph you are slowly getting your prospects to view the world as you want them to; at least in regards to purchasing your product (or whatever your call to action is).

The sub-headline is the same.

The headline caught their attention and broke them out of the trance they had in their head, allowing you to enter into that conversation.

Now the sub-headline needs to get them to the next section slightly more inclined to “buy” than they were before.

Let’s Look at Some Examples

I’m going to take you through an exercise I do periodically to for ideas and my swipe file; I particularly like to do this because I am strictly an Internet Marketer and looking outside of IM helps me get ideas outside from my boundaries.

The point here is not to do that but to look at the actual sub-headlines and “feel” them.

I’ve taken 4 random magazines from the reading pile my wife and I have and selected a number of actual ads to demonstrate the use of a sub-heading in action.

Remember that these all come with pictures that help support the ad (and sometimes clarify the headlines) but it is still important to look at the headlines on their own, particularly the sub-headline.

When you read them you need to put yourself into the mind and shoes of a prospect and be aware of what you feel changes inside you when you read them.

It will probably be a slight change so you have to pay close attention but notice the change and why you change; that change may be you want to read more or not but be aware of it and why,

Let’s look at the ads …

From Time Magazine:

For Ford:
Headline: THE MOST FUEL-EFFICIENT MIDSIZE SEDAN
Sub-headline: THE 2010 FORD FUSION + HYBRID

For ZOSTAVAX:
Headline: IMAGINE THIS BLISTERING RASH ALONG WITH STABBING PAIN AND YOU’LL HAVE AN IDEA OF WHAT IT CAN BE LIKE TO HAVE SHINGLES.
Sub-headline: IF YOU HAD CHICKENPOX AS A CHILD, YOU COULD GET SHINGLES NOW.

For Starbucks: (purchasing bags of coffee)
Headline: CAN’T BEAT HAVING A STARBUCKS THREE MINUTES FROM YOUR OFFICE.
Sub-headline: EXCEPT WHEN YOUR MEETING IS IN TWO.

For Hilton HHonors Program:
Headline: Olympics Glory lasts forever.
Sub-headline: Your chance to witness it only lasts through December 31.

For ADVAIR:
Headline: Asthma has 2 main causes.
Sub-headline: Treating both with ADVAIR helps prevent symptoms.

For SPIRIVA:
Headline: MY GOAL IS TO BREATHE BETTER EVERY DAY.
Sub-headline: Once-daily SPIRIVA helps people with COPD breathe better.

From Smithsonian:

For the United States Mint:
Headline: ROOSEVELT WANTED A COIN THAT REFLECTED THE GLORY OF A NATION.
Sub-headline: WHAT HE GOT WAS A MASTERPIECE.

For Bose:
Headline: New. Quieter than ever before.
Sub-headline: Introducing Bose QuietComfort 15 Accoustic Noise Cancelling headphones,

For Stauer:
Headline: The Curse of the Perfect Gift
Sub-headline: 20 carats of polished natural emeralds linked with 14K gold for under $200!

Headline: How Do You Spell Pearl Necklace?
Sub-headline: F-R-E-E.

For Mucinex:
Headline: Chest congested?
Sub-headline: For long lasting relief, evict mucus.

For Jitterbug:
Headline: It doesn’t play music, take pictures, or surf the Internet.
Sub-headline: Introducing the NEW Jitterbug. It’s the cell phone that offers simplicity for everyone.

For New York Life:
Headline: SMART SAFE GROWTH YEAR AFTER YEAR
Sub-headline: Guaranteed growth, in good times and bad.

From Family Circle:

For Olay Professional Pro-X Intensive Wrinkle Protocol:
Headline: As effective at wrinkle reduction as what THE DOCTOR PRESCRIBES.*
Sub-headline: At half the price.

For Martha Stewart Crafts:
Headline: Tinseltown.
Sub-headline: Martha Stewart tinsel glitters.

For Lee Jeans:
Headline: JEANS THAT INSTANTLY SLIM YOU.
Sub-headline: NEW SLENDER SECRET JEANS. DO YOU HAVE AN INSTANT?

For Symbicort:
Headline: COPD left me short of breath.
Sub-headline: Now I take SYMBICORT.

For Newbridge Silverware:
Headline: GIFTS DIRECT FROM IRELAND
Sub-headline: FOR YOU HOME AND YOUR LOVED ONES

For Lyrica:
Headline: One thing that doesn’t change with the season:
Sub-headline: Diabetic Nerve Pain.

For Genentech:
Headline: Learn to spot a leading cause of blindness before it happens
Sub-headline: You might be in for a real WAKE-UP call.

For VYTORIN:
Headline: There are 2 sources of cholesterol. Food & Family.
Sub-headline: Only VYTORIN treats both.

For Febreze vacuum bags:
Headline: Don’t just vacuum… freshen!
Sub-headline: Fill the room with freshness as you vacuum.

For Swanson Chicken Broth:
Headline: HOLIDAY SUCCESS RESTS ON SWANSON.
Sub-headline: THE ONLY CANNED CHICKEN BROTH WITHOUT ADDED MSG.

From Health:

For Dove with Nutrium Moisture:
Headline: What makes the new Dove different?
Sub-headline: Here’s the story before the clothes.

For L’Oreal Revitalift:
Headline: WANT TO STOP DEEP-SET EYE WRINKLES?
Sub-headline: Start with the first nonstop AM + PM eye repair duo.

For Vaseline Sheer Infusion:
Headline: NEW Vaseline Sheer Infusion
Sub-headline: Superior moisture across all layers of skin

For Kashi:
Headline: Do What Comes Naturally
Sub-headline: EASY TIPS FOR A STRESS FREE SEASON

For Lipitor:
Headline: I never thought it could happen to me.
Sub-headline: A heart attack at 53.

For Kellogg’s Special K Bar:
Headline: Great taste.
Sub-headline: Less waist.

For Toviaz:
Headline: If you can draw a map to every bathroom in town…
Sub-headline: Today is the day to talk to your doctor about overactive bladder and TOVIAZ – a pill that comes with a plan.

For I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter:
Headline: Butter taste.
Sub-headline: Better Health

For Plavix: (heart attack medicine)
Headline: You’ll never forget that day.
Sub-headline: PLAVIX can help you from going through it again.

Well, that was more than I planned on but each illustrates at least one point and some of them probably convert well and some of them seem pretty terrible (but you’ll only know from testing).

If you “felt” and analyzed your reactions you’ll have learned something; I got several interesting ideas just from finding them!

How to Make a Great Sub-headline

The sub-headline needs to be compelling and build curiosity so people will read the first sentence of the sales copy.

For example, I like one I have in my swipe file from Joe Sugarman, it reads:

“A new consumer concept lets you buy stolen merchandise if you’re willing to take a risk.”

That will get most people reading more of the sales copy, that’s for sure!

The key here is to take the headline and add to it – explain, give more info, etc. – in a way that does excite their curiosity.

Let’s look at a quick example of Mike Filsaime trying to do this with his Butterfly Marketing sales page by having this attention grabbing headline/sub-headline:

“Overdose Warning Required”

Consumer Warning: Use Of This Product May Have Such Explosive And Instant Results Of Cash Surging Into Your Merchant Account… The Result Of Which Could Lead To Getting A Phone Call From Your Merchant Account For Unusual Activity!

Now, I don’t know what traffic he’s driving to this page (what exact keywords, etc.) but I think I’d have used the sub-headline as a headline and used some of the copy he has later as a sub-headline. Maybe something like:

Many People Have Had Their Cash-Packed PayPal Accounts Temporarily Frozen for Review After They Discovered and Applied the Little Known “Butterfly” Techniques

Hmm, not bad. Could use some more thought and revision but not bad for a few seconds thought.

You can see how it reinforces the headline by using more “exact” language as well as some powerful motivating words.

Hopefully, making people want to read more about what the “butterfly” techniques are and how they were so successful that people’s accounts were frozen for review.

Of course, Mike can afford to buy the best copywriter’s in the world and test his sales copy a million different ways so that headline is likely better performing for his audience but the point he was trying to do and that I am trying to make is to let the sub-headline be the helpful supporting, behind the scenes person who actually gets things done; in this case make the prospect curious enough to read on.

That curiosity can come from anything but it must be there and usually the “sneakier” the better.

Conclusion

Curiosity, the “most powerful psychological tool” it the key to having a mind-blowing sub-headline.

Sure, most people don’t even think much about it but it is an important part of a sales letter and can give that little extra push to the prospect who was attracted by the headline to get them to read on.

Go through the examples above again and “feel”. Do it with magazines, newspapers, Web sites, etc. that you come across and your sub-headlines and the rest of your sales copy will get much better.

Just remember that the headline gets someone to climb up to the top of the slippery slide to action but the sub-headline is the thing that starts their momentum.

Do you have any example of great sub-headlines?

Do you use them? You should

What types of things pique your curiosity enough to compel you to read on?

Leave a comment and let me know.

Talk soon,

David

The Shameless (Ethical) Marketer
http://www.Twitter.com/DavidHusnian
http://www.8-8-8Sale.com
http://www.MusicForInternetMarketers.com
http://www.SecretsOfGoogleAdWords.com
http://www.MadMondaySale.com
http://www.2ForTuesdaySale.com

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Sub-headlines: The Neglected Little Sister

Great copywriting is like putting together a puzzle where each piece trigger that emotional or leads the reader down a nicely paved path toward your ultimate goal.

We’ve talked about many of the pieces in the past and will talk about many in the future.

So we’re going to look at two more “puzzle pieces” that are actually pretty fun to use (hey, I don’t get out much

The first is one that psychologically prepares the prospect to easily purchase what you want to sell at the price you want them to pay.

It’s “devilishly” subtle and works great when done right.

You see it a lot both on the Internet and off it, but lately Internet Marketers have so abused it that is some niches it doesn’t work as well; it still works but you just have to do it better.

What am I talking about?

Contrast and Compare

Contrast is when you compare one thing to the other to make the perceived differences much greater and make the one you want them to choose look even better than it did.

But you never want to do an apples-to-apples comparison because that brings you down to the lowest common denominator and, to be honest, it may make you look bad; it don’t mean your offer is actually bad but it may appear bad and it isn’t the value of the deal it is the perception of the value of the deal that is important.

Always compare apples-to-oranges.

Selling a $97 dollar e-book, don’t compare it to the $27 e-book (or even the $97 e-book) compare it to the $997 home study course.

Selling a $997 home study course, compare it to the $1,997 (plus expense for travel, food and lodging) 3-day seminar.

Selling a $1,997 3-day seminar, compare it to the $9,997 coaching program.

Heck, if you’re selling that $97 e-book compare it to the home study course, the 3-day seminar and the coaching program.

By the time you get to $97 they’ll be thinking what a great bargain they’re getting.

A great example of this I heard about from Yanik Silver.

Some company was selling a book.

They had a premium version in a special custom case that was signed by the author for over a thousand bucks.

They had something like a “corporate” version that sold for hundreds and they had the one they really wanted to sell – just a regular book – for about $25.

After hearing about the higher priced versions they were thinking how much they saved by buying the cheapest one not “what am I getting for my $25?”

I can hear the thoughts now.

“Do I really need that special case and author’s signature or should I pocket those many hundreds of dollars?”

“Do I need … or should I save that couple of hundred bucks and just get the regular book?”

“Yeah, I’ll do that. Man, I’ll save over $1,000, I’m taking these guys to the cleaners!”

And now you’ve got the sale you wanted to get at the price you wanted to get and, as a bonus, you actually do get some sales for the higher priced versions.

Contrast and compare is also great for doing down sells; you’ve probably seen those.

You go to a sales page and try to go off it and a window pops up and says, “hey I’ll give you the same deal except this one or two things for half the price.”

So now the prospect is not thinking about spending that $47 they’re thinking how they’re getting almost the $97 offer for less than half price.

Can you say buy, buy, buy? Those things convert like crazy.

Whatever apple you are selling you can find one or more oranges to compare it to. You can even compare it to a peach and a pear and a banana!

Conclusion

Contrast and compare, it works, and gives you another piece of the puzzle.

In essence, you find something that is similar enough (both “fruits”) that you can compare favorably to in one or more specific and desirable ways – is less expensive, works faster, gets better results, is more popular, whatever.

Then you present the “orange” and compare and contrast it to your “better apple”.

This has always improved conversions and likely always will.

Next time we’ll look at another of the C’s of great copywriting, one where you drive your prospects wild

How do you use contrast and compare?

Got any great example of using it, either yours or someone else’s?

Leave a comment and let me know.

Talk soon,

David

The Shameless (Ethical) Marketer
http://www.Twitter.com/DavidHusnian
http://www.8-8-8Sale.com
http://www.MusicForInternetMarketers.com
http://www.SecretsOfGoogleAdWords.com
http://www.MadMondaySale.com
http://www.2ForTuesdaySale.com

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Apples-to-Oranges, Using Contrast and Compare to Make More Cash

“It is easier to resist at the beginning than at the end”

Essentially, what this means is that once someone has started down a path it is much easier to continue down the path than to change to a new path.

There have been psychological studies showing this to be true, even if there is no rational reason to continue, even if there are reasons not to continue.

In fact, my mother did just that. She started down a career path that she didn’t like due to circumstances and necessity when she was young and stayed in that career for decades long after the necessity passed; in fact, she is still in that career while admitting she has always hated it.

That’s a large scale example but I used it to show the point Da Vinci was making in a big way.

Fortunately for us, it is true even in small things and can be used to turn your conversions from simmering to boiling.

It’s all about what is called…

Commitment and Consistency

Psychologists have found that we have a desire, bordering on obsession, to be consistent with what we have done in the past; or at least appear to be consistent. Some call it one of the prime motivators of human behavior.

Once a person has made a choice, that is, a commitment, they are hell-bent on being consistent with that choice; this is caused by internal and external pressures and often causes us to act in ways that are harmful (remember my mother).

Now matter how tentative or concerned someone is about making a decision, after that decision is made they become, at least for some period of time, significantly more confident in it.

There are many theories of why this is true and in many aspects of life commitment and consistency is very valuable (don’t you want it from your friends, family co-workers, etc.); in fact, think of what things would be like without, it actually be hard to trust or rely on anyone because you’d never know what they would do or say.

Using Commitment and Consistency

That’s what it is but how can it help you increase your conversions?

It’s really “easy” if you think about it.

Remember that once a decision is made, no matter how small, the next one will be easier to make in a consistent manner and it gets easier and easier.

So, just get a commitment, or series of commitments, and your prospects are more likely to remain consistent with those choices and decisions.

What’s interesting and useful to you is that the commitment can be small and not always even directly related to the ultimate goal.

What you want to do is to turn a lead into a prospect and a prospect into a customer.

So you need to get the lead to make some commitment to you and the path you want them to take; that is, the path to being a customer.

How to Get a Commitment

The first step in the process is finding something where you can get an easy commitment from the person.

I remember reading in Cialdini’s Influence book about how the Communist Chinese successfully did this with Korean War prisoners and it really hit home.

I may not have all the facts right but it went something like this…

The prisoners would be asked to make a very small “commitment”, for example, they’d be asked if America was “perfect”.

Now, most people will say, “no America isn’t perfect.”

They may have difference reasons for thinking why it isn’t perfect and they many people even might think or say “but it better than the alternatives.”

In that one small answer, the commitment was made.

Then they’d be asked for something that wasn’t perfect and so it would go slowly.

Eventually they’d be asked to write a list of the things they’d already said and then the list would be talked about in “discussion groups” and eventually it was broadcast to both prisoners and to soldiers still fighting throughout Korea.

Now the person was a collaborator and many of the prisoners made subtle, subconscious changes into their mindset and do actual acts of collaboration.

The percentage of people who did this was astonishingly high particularly for trained soldiers who were just supposed to stick to name, rank and serial number.

It really shows you the power of commitment and consistency and how you can use it to help you get more sales.

To start you need to get even a trivial commitment or agreement from the lead or prospect to get them to make a decision in your favor and subtly change their self-image in relation to you.

Then get increasingly larger commitments that are internally consistent with their previous decisions until they make the final commitment and purchase.

You can do that same thing on your sales and squeeze pages.

Start, like the Chinese, by asking a series of questions that you know people will answer in the way you want, particularly a positive answer.

Maybe it is a “do you want” type question of some kind “do you want more money”, do you want to lose weight”, etc.

When they answer yes, now you have that seed of a commitment and they have started the habit of answering yes.

Sprinkle these types of questions throughout, making them increasingly specific towards your goal and adding to their commitment (and their desire to be consistent).

What I and others do is to create a plan and included in that plan are questions and statements that lead to a commitment.

Then consistency kicks in as the person become more and more committed.

It’s not hard but does take some practice to get it right.

Try it, you bank account will thank you for it!

Conclusion

Commitment and consistency are innate human behaviors that are consistent through time and culture.

They can be used to drastically increase your conversion rates.

The key is to get a small, essentially trivial, commitment from the person reading your sales copy and slowly build on that by getting further commitments from them that are consistent with the ones already made.

Eventually you lead the person to make the decision you want them to make.

How do you use commitment and consistency?

How does it use you?

Leave a comment and let me know.

Talk soon,

The Shameless (Ethical) Marketer
http://www.Twitter.com/DavidHusnian
http://www.8-8-8Sale.com
http://www.MusicForInternetMarketers.com
http://www.SecretsOfGoogleAdWords.com
http://www.MadMondaySale.com
http://www.2ForTuesdaySale.com

O.Y. Don’t forget to retweet this! Use the button on the page or Tweet this:

Get a Commitment, Get a  Sale – The Power of Commitment and Consistency http://bit.ly/QK00Y (via @DavidHusnian)

O.O.Y. There is a lot more to this commitment and consistency stuff but I am trying to be consistent with my commitment not to write huge blog posts so sign up for my free copywriting course to learn more.

O.O.O.Y. Cialdini’s Influence book has a chapter about commitment and consistency; it’s one of his 6 rules of influence. It’s an interesting book if you want to learn more about how to influence people and how people influence you. Get it at http://StreetGuideToCopywriting.com/Recommends/CialdinisInfluence

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This post from: Street Guide to Copywriting. To read more post like this, head over to Street Guide to Copywriting

Get a Commitment, Get a Sale – The Power of Commitment and Consistency