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We Live in a Headline World; Will Yours Do its Job?

Written by: Cheryl A. Clausen

Article Overview: You may not think headlines have anything to do with you or your sales success, but you’d be wrong. You’re exposed to headlines everyday whether those headlines are presented in a written format, audio format, or visual format.

We Live in a Headline World; Will Yours Do its Job?

You may not think headlines have anything to do with you or your sales success, but you’d be wrong. You’re exposed to headlines everyday whether those headlines are presented in a written format, audio format, or visual format. You pay attention to a select few and ignore the rest.

Are you getting ignored because you don’t understand how to use a sales headline? Are you getting ignored because your sales headline isn’t doing its job? Do you even know when or how to use a sales headline?

You may have heard of a unique selling proposition, a core marketing message, or even an elevator speech. No matter what you call them, in essence, each is nothing more than a sales headline. The purpose of each is to get the right people paying attention to you.

There are some simple things that work when it comes to getting the right people to pay attention to you. The things that get people to pay attention to you are the things that speak to what the other person wants. That means you need to communicate in a way that gets the interest of the right people, and then spark their curiosity.

Saying the same things as others in your industry makes you boring. So does talking over their head and using your jargon. The instant you’re boring is the exact moment you become invisible.

When someone asks you what you do, when they look at your business card, or if they read an ad you’ve placed these are all opportunities for you to communicate your own sales headline that gets you noticed. Once you’ve got their attention you have the opportunity to build curiosity, and get the other person to take an action. The action you ask them to take should move them one step closer to becoming your new client.

There are three words you should think about when developing your sales headline: self-interest, news, and curiosity. You only have a few seconds to grab their attention and you want to get the most value from those few seconds. So build the self-interest of the prospect, add in any relevant news elements, and get them curious to know more.

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Article Tags: business card, core marketing, curiosity, elevator speech, exact moment, headlines, jargon, job, paying attention, sales success, self interest, unique selling proposition



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