Want a better bottom line? Don’t be boring.

Start with a better headline.

Wes Schaeffer’s Sales Whisperer tip for this happy Friday. Sometimes timing is magical.

Wes’s newsletter hit my inbox this morning, just as I was about to launch into rebuilding my AboutWebsites.ca website. There’s been plenty of brainstorming, consultation, coaching, studying, goal setting and… of course, procrastination.

Doing your own marketing can be a real grind. I coach all my clients on a full arsenal of marketing techniques, almost every day. It’s ironic how my own marketing is just so crappy.

You know what they say about the shoemaker’s kids? They run around barefoot.

Here are the takeaways from The Sales Whisperer…

The #1 rule of marketing is DON’T BE BORING!

The #1 thing we—and our prospects—process is the headline or our opening line on the phone or our greeting at a trade show or networking event or how we approach the prospect when they walk into the store.

You are literally betting your paycheck that how you open is good enough to make the sale. (Remember that “first impression” cliche? It’s real.)

In marketing, the purpose of the headline is to get the prospect

• to NOT delete your email,
• to NOT throw away your letter,
• to NOT turn the page in the magazine or newspaper.

Once you hopped that tall hurdle, the next purpose of your headline is to get them to read the first sentence.

The purpose of the first sentence is to get them to read the second. (See where I’m going here?)

You do all of this by starting with the end in mind.

In sales and marketing the end you have in mind is your CTA – Call To Action.

• It’s the entire reason you are sending out your content. What do you want the reader to do?
• Call the office for a free consultation?
• Call an 800 number to listen to a free message?
• Text in for a digital coupon?
• Opt-in on your website for a free report?
• Share the content on social media?

The CTA needs to be obvious and easy.

But Troy, you say, writing headlines is hard… well, thanks to this tip from Wes, writing headlines USED TO BE HARD.

Here’s an amazing headline writing tool that is free and 1-click simple.

Just enter your keywords, click, and take your pick from and endless supply of amazingly great headlines:

http://www.portent.com/tools/title-maker

Thank-you to Wes Schaeffer at The Sales Whisperer for this effective and time-saving tip. Follow this link to check out Wes’s sales & marketing info.