Casual Articles - Writing and Speaking

Tips For Reducing Your Personal Debt Payments
1. Make a list of all your debts, write down how much you owe and what interest you are paying. This will include things like student loans, bank overdrafts, credit card loans.2. If you are borrowing money at a high interest rate this is the first loan to try and pay off. If appropriate you could try switching the loan from one place to another. E.g. if you are paying 17% on a credit card. You may be better off to take out a personal loan of 7%.3. Make sure you avoid any unnecessary penalties. If you are struggling with repayments you may be surprised at how accommodating banks might actually

headline "What would you do if you had a burst pipe?" This headline had obviously been thought about before being sent out and was probably considered to be a good one. My Father said "Fix it!" and he threw the letter away. Perhaps a better headline may have been "Here's What To Do if Your Water Pipe Bursts."

However, there are certain types of questions that can be powerful in a headline:

"Who Else Would Like t

Killer Press Kits - Press Kits That Demand Attention
So, you've had your book published or you've gone the self-published route, but what do you do now?You contact a newspaper, radio or television station requesting an interview and they ask you to send them a press kit.First of all, don't panic. A press kit is not some magical entity that only those published by the big houses can have. You can create an affordable and great looking press kit on your own.Here are some things that you can include in your press kit to send to interested reviewers and interviewers.An author's bio detailing all your profession

In a recent consultation a client, who is a business owner, asked questions about writing compelling letters and adverts.
Here are some of the questions he asked about headlines for Sales Letters and the answers I gave…
Question:You advise people to spend the majority of their time creating headlines – in fact you recommend writing 100 before choosing the ones to test.
What are the crucial points to take into account when formulating a headline and why are these key to gaining the highest response from your letter or advert?
Answer:
There are 7 crucial points you should bear in mind when developing your headlines:
1 – Be results focussed. Clearly indicate the benefits the reader can expect to get by taking up this offer. For example increased sales; weight loss; feeling fitter; reduced productivity costs etc.
2 – Be specific, quote actual figures if appropriate, e.g. "How to Increase Your Productivity by 23% within 28 Days"
3 – Use 1 or more proven response words or phrases. Certain words attract people; such as Announcing; Revolutionary; Unique; Valuable; At Last; First Time Ever; Phenomenal, amongst others. Creating headlines using 1 or more of these words makes them compelling and eye-catching.
4 – Don't restrict the length of your headline. It should be as long as it needs to be to get your important sales message across, even if that is 3 or 4 lines. Fi the headline seems excessively long, see if it can be sensibly split into two, with the first leading onto the second.
5 – Avoid asking questions that can be answered “No!” or elicit a glib comment without drawing your reader into the letter.
Let me give you an example:
My Father received a letter from the local water company with the headline "What would you do if you had a burst pipe?" This headline had obviously been thought about before being sent out and was probably considered to be a good one. My Father said "Fix it!" and he threw the letter away. Perhaps a better headline may have been "Here's What To Do if Your Water Pipe Bursts."
However, there are certain types of questions that can be powerful in a headline:
"Who Else Would Like to
Attention Independent Professionals -- Questions Are Magic
Questions are magic. If we as independent professionals put questions to proper use, we will not only discover our own special career path, we will be able to get and achieve anything we want. In this article, I share some ideas about how to use the magic of questions.Don't ever hesitate to ASK. Recently a man who was taking one of my classes shared that he had experienced an incredible hour of face-to-face interaction with Brian Tracy, the well known speaker and author. He was attending a convention where Tracy was the featured speaker. "How much did you have to pay for this?" asked a
e and why are these key to gaining the highest response from your letter or advert?
Answer:
There are 7 crucial points you should bear in mind when developing your headlines:
1 – Be results focussed. Clearly indicate the benefits the reader can expect to get by taking up this offer. For example increased sales; weight loss; feeling fitter; reduced productivity costs etc.
2 – Be specific, quote actual figures if appropriate, e.g. "How to Increase Your Productivity by 23% within 28 Days"
3 – Use 1 or more proven response words or phrases. Certain words attract people; such as Announcing; Revolutionary; Unique; Valuable; At Last; First Time Ever; Phenomenal, amongst others. Creating headlines using 1 or more of these words makes them compelling and eye-catching.
4 – Don't restrict the length of your headline. It should be as long as it needs to be to get your important sales message across, even if that is 3 or 4 lines. Fi the headline seems excessively long, see if it can be sensibly split into two, with the first leading onto the second.
5 – Avoid asking questions that can be answered “No!” or elicit a glib comment without drawing your reader into the letter.
Let me give you an example:
My Father received a letter from the local water company with the headline "What would you do if you had a burst pipe?" This headline had obviously been thought about before being sent out and was probably considered to be a good one. My Father said "Fix it!" and he threw the letter away. Perhaps a better headline may have been "Here's What To Do if Your Water Pipe Bursts."
However, there are certain types of questions that can be powerful in a headline:
"Who Else Would Like t
Home Based Business - Part 1
If you ever wonder how to do business on the net ,along the way you find yourself stuck with no information, no ideas to start with or even what kind of business to go in. Well sit back, relax and I will provide you with some of the free information that I have discovered along with tips to provide you with your unique starting point.First point of this week. #1 Find something You are interested in.Hobby, things that you like can be generated into what ebay sellers do most. Anime, gaming, anything that your brain can think of it, side track and evaluate.For example, gaming leads
igures if appropriate, e.g. "How to Increase Your Productivity by 23% within 28 Days"
3 – Use 1 or more proven response words or phrases. Certain words attract people; such as Announcing; Revolutionary; Unique; Valuable; At Last; First Time Ever; Phenomenal, amongst others. Creating headlines using 1 or more of these words makes them compelling and eye-catching.
4 – Don't restrict the length of your headline. It should be as long as it needs to be to get your important sales message across, even if that is 3 or 4 lines. Fi the headline seems excessively long, see if it can be sensibly split into two, with the first leading onto the second.
5 – Avoid asking questions that can be answered “No!” or elicit a glib comment without drawing your reader into the letter.
Let me give you an example:
My Father received a letter from the local water company with the headline "What would you do if you had a burst pipe?" This headline had obviously been thought about before being sent out and was probably considered to be a good one. My Father said "Fix it!" and he threw the letter away. Perhaps a better headline may have been "Here's What To Do if Your Water Pipe Bursts."
However, there are certain types of questions that can be powerful in a headline:
"Who Else Would Like t
Yes, You Can Start Trading Forex For Free!
Yes, it’s true, you can trade the forex markets for free and using the same state-of-the-art software packages that professional Forex traders, around the world, are currently using to make real-time, live currency trades.And you can also experience the same dynamic market action and go through the same process of making decisions based on breaking news, reacting to charting patterns, and tracking ones performance the same way professional Forex traders do.And all this can be done even if you don't put any real money into your account, you won’t see any difference in how the market behaves a
e. It should be as long as it needs to be to get your important sales message across, even if that is 3 or 4 lines. Fi the headline seems excessively long, see if it can be sensibly split into two, with the first leading onto the second.
5 – Avoid asking questions that can be answered “No!” or elicit a glib comment without drawing your reader into the letter.
Let me give you an example:
My Father received a letter from the local water company with the headline "What would you do if you had a burst pipe?" This headline had obviously been thought about before being sent out and was probably considered to be a good one. My Father said "Fix it!" and he threw the letter away. Perhaps a better headline may have been "Here's What To Do if Your Water Pipe Bursts."
However, there are certain types of questions that can be powerful in a headline:
"Who Else Would Like t
Writing A Winning Restaurant Business Plan
When it comes to writing a quality restaurant business plan it is important to be prepared and to do plenty of research before sitting down to write the business plan.The more information you can gather about the proposed business the better position you will be in when it is time to actually create that restaurant business plan.While there are certain elements, like a balance sheet, income statement and cash flow analysis, that will be part of any business plan, the restaurant industry presents its own unique set of challenges, and that means that the restaurant business plan will likely con
headline "What would you do if you had a burst pipe?" This headline had obviously been thought about before being sent out and was probably considered to be a good one. My Father said "Fix it!" and he threw the letter away. Perhaps a better headline may have been "Here's What To Do if Your Water Pipe Bursts."
However, there are certain types of questions that can be powerful in a headline:
"Who Else Would Like to…" implies someone else has benefited and perhaps the reader could too.
6 – Avoid trying to be clever, cute or obscure – if people have to think about what you mean, you’ve lost them. Don't use clich?s – people often ignore these type of headlines.
7 – Your headline must be relevant to the people you are writing to. And to what is being offered – an inappropriate or curiosity headline that doesn’t relate to the rest of the letter or advert makes your reader feel cheated and they won’t trust the rest of your message – even if they bother to read it!
Question:How do you get started on writing 100 headlines – it seems an insurmountable task?
For people who are new to writing sales letters and adverts it can seem a bit daunting. And as with any big task it is easier when it is broken down. When I'm running my copywriting workshops I get students to take the response words I mentioned in point 3 of the previous question, and another 72 I give them, and write a headline for each response word.
It doesn't matter how crazy each headline seems at this stage, the process gets your brain working and the headlines you do write act as a catalyst to bring out the real winning headlines for you.
After you've done this exercise for a few letters you'll find that you start to write headlines without having to use this technique.
Question:Where else do these techniques apply?
1 - Use headlines you've created, but not used as your main headline, within your sub-headlines – they catch the reader’s eye – especially if he or she is skimming your letter – it can pull them back into reading it. As a minimum they should deliver the main points of your message... a bit like a telegram.
2 – Creating 100 headlines often throws up a good P.S. The P.S. is us

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Casual Articles - Persuading People to Buy - Copywriting Questions Answered for a Business Owner - Part 1

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