A while back I spent some time reverse engineering his entire sales process and analyzing his sales letters to show you precisely what clever and sneaky copywriting devices he was using to compel people to buy.

Well, it seems like he’s changed his squeeze page. It’s now a video, along with a clever headline which I wanted to talk about. The new headline is…

This headline does something quite clever, because when the average guy thinks about “learning how to meet and attract beautiful women”, one of the thoughts that might pop into his head might be, “I need to be tall, rich or handsome to do that!”

So the headline immediately tackles that objection head on: “… even if you aren’t tall, rich or handsome”.

This is a great technique to use whenever you’re making a bold or remarkable claim, especially in a headline. First, think about the claim you’re making… then think of the objections people might raise to that claim… and then, reverse those objections immediately.

Let’s come up with another example. You have an information product that teaches people to speak fluent French. A major objection to this might be that a potential customer doesn’t have the time to learn. So you could tackle this objection immediately in the headline by saying something like,

“Learn How To Speak French Fluently… In Just 5 Minutes A Day”

Of course, you’ll want to make sure the product or service you’re offering can do what is promised. Just remember, your potential customers will always be raising objections to what you say, so the quicker you can address them, the greater your chances they will read on.

So can you address at least one major objection in the headline? You don’t have to be tall, rich or handsome to use this technique!

1. Are You Making These 6 Fatal Mistakes In Your Sales Copy?
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   This headline compels the reader to find out what those “fatal mistakes” are, before they can even decide whether or not they are making them.
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2. How To Avoid The Fatal Copywriting Mistake Made By Every New Copywriter
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   Both what “the fatal copywriting mistake” is and how to avoid it can only be discovered by reading beyond the headline.
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3. You’re About To Discover A Simple Three-Step Technique For Writing Sales Copy That Will Cut Your Writing Time By As Much As 50%…
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   This headline presupposes that they will keep reading, because they are “about to” discover something. The compelling reason in this instance is to get the “three-step technique”, with the benefit that it will cut the length of time they spend writing copy by “as much as 50%”.
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4. “You’ll Never Make Any Real Money Online,” She Said. That Night, I Dumped Her… Wrote My Promotional Letter… And Raked In $3,697 In 12 Hours. Let Me Show You Exactly What I Did…
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   This one creates drama, conflict and intrigue. It provides several compelling reasons for reading on – perhaps to get the “juicy details” about the story, but more importantly, to find out how the $3,697 was generated so quickly. By asking for permission (“let me show you”), the reader is silently granting the writer permission to tell them more when they inevitably read beyond the headline.

Make sure your headlines provide a compelling reason for people to read on.

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Digg users have voted for these stories, and it’s likely the headline must have played at least some part in getting the story to the top – it’s what would have provoked many Digg users to read and vote up the story in the first place.

For instance, consider just a few headlines that grabbed my attention…

1. 7 Man-Made Substances That Laugh In The Face Of Physics [654 Diggs] – A headline in the popular numerical format (“7 tips…”, “10 ways to…”) but with an extraordinary claim… that the substances “laugh in the face of physics”.
2. The Weirdest Object In The Solar System? [447 Diggs] – By framing the headline as a question, this one invites the reader to find out for themselves (by clicking) whether they think the objects are the weirdest in the solar system or not.
3. What The World Didn’t See In Tehran [467 Diggs] – This one takes a topical subject (in this case, the 2009 election in Iran), and hints at an exclusive for the reader, in terms of what everybody else didn’t see.
4. FTC Plans To Monitor Blogs For Paid Reviews [286 Diggs] – This one is a classic informative news-style headline, which will draw in those who may be affected, namely bloggers.

So as well as keeping up-to-date with the world, use Digg.com as your very own source of inspiration for great headlines.