What will go a long way in making your headlines tight is asking yourself some strong questions, and they are:

Will this headline drive my prospects to buy now or never?

The most important thing you must achieve in your headline copy – is to give your prospect every possible reason to want your product now!. You could say things like – ‘while stocks last’ or ‘offer ends today’ etc.

Read lots of direct-mail campaigns that come through your door, and especially those that drove you to buy straight away – study their headline copy. You’ll be amazed how simple they are, but discover very quickly how hard they are to emulate.

Is my product valuable to the prospect?

Assuming that you already know, hand on heart that your product or service is something the public really wants or needs, then expressing this in your headline copy should be a piece of cake.

Does my header make the product stand out from the rest?

This is where your headline should outline the uniqueness of the product or service; miss this bit and your headline will fail.

Is my headline specific and clear enough or is it trying to say too much?

Being ambiguous is not an option or cramming too much information is not good either. It’s vital to be clear, concise and specific throughout your copy but especially in your headline. It’s here that the prospect gets their first taste of your offer. So hit’em with it!

My headline has a job to do – is it doing it?

If you put the four key techniques into place, as I suggest you do, then your headline will be pulling double duty. First grabbing their attention, secondly selecting them.

As your headline copy will be saying something meaningful to one person but at the same time, having the opposite effect on someone else. Thus selecting those eager to buy prospects you really want.

It’s interesting to note; prospects read headers five times as much as they read the whole copy, which means for every dollar the advertiser spends, 80 cents of his advertising dollar is spent on the header.

According to world famous copywriter David Ogilvy, the headline is the most important part of an advertisement.

So based on that logic and compelling evidence, it would stand to reason that you spend 80% of your time crafting that perfect header. It would be time well spent.

That’s just how important the headline is.

Now forced to use their brains rather than their budgets, one source being tapped into for inspiration is social marketing, a ‘let’s get in touch with our consumers’ campaign.

Marketers are now using ‘consumer communities’ to help guide new product development and design. And while 23% of marketers involve consumers before an idea exists, 41% report plans to involve consumers earlier in the innovation process.

But while marketers think consumers want to be involved in the innovative process and for companies to come-up-with-new-ideas-in-a-hurry; consumers actually crave comfort and community in this time of crisis — not further change.

As a people, we are not known for our deep love of change. In fact we avoid it at all costs. But in this world of constant change, we have to push ourselves through with great dollops of courage in our hearts and a whisker of hope in our minds.

But how can we as marketers, armed with ideas and smaller budgets keep moving ourselves and our consumers forward. Constantly striving to be innovative while not alienating our consumers in the process?

By showing up.

By simply showing up more in our blogs, websites, products and add campaigns, will help our businesses come alive. Make our companies more human, more real.

You never know what resonates with consumers but guaranteed, you will when you show up.

This is where a company’s ‘personality’ has the chance to come alive.

How many companies do you know show up, have a personality that resonates through everything they do? Not many.

People do business with people, not companies. That’s why Apple does so well.

How about you?

Young or old, rich or poor, everyone loves a good before and after story. And the great thing is, you can use this important fact in your marketing efforts to boost sales cycles to warp speed.

Everyone loves a before and after story, they effortlessly smash through the endless clutter of marketing materials that constantly bombard prospects’ attention every day.

Because before and after stories are not perceived as sales pitches but a way to feed the mind important and interesting information.

How can you cut through the clutter with a before and after story?

By producing case studies.

If you have never considered producing a case study and would rather stick to producing testimonials, brochures and the standard website text, then let me give you a list of reasons why case studies are so powerful, even more powerful than the materials I mentioned put together.

You see, case studies can…

• boost marketing efforts
• help sales teams close bigger deals
• provide a compelling testimonial
• add value to any website
• increase credibility
• provide buyers with real-word perspective
• enjoy high readership

I couldn’t stop at seven reasons, there are more…

• People remember stories
• Third party endorsement tool
• Work better than a brochure or website

Plus, many trade journals would give their hind teeth to get their mitts on any ‘eye candy’ material such as case studies, plus it’s a fantastic publicity tool for those sharp companies who go down the case study route.

Case studies can be recycled too. Into…

• Press releases
• articles for newsletters; and
• put in a direct-mail pack in place of a brochure.

So, before you overlook the humble case study to produce yet another brochure or testimonial, consider producing a case study instead.

You’ll be glad you did.

Recently I read an article in Fortune magazine. It featured Mega Star Rapper 50 Cents. I was intrigued to find his business model was a simple one and an ideal blue print all corporate companies around the world, would do well to emulate.

His ideas were powerful and coincidently similar to what I touch upon in my impact report: The Looming Human Capital Crisis: How E-Learning, Professional Development and Recruitment can Weather the Impending Storm.

50 Cent’s mantra is this… if you want to survive in the marketplace, you need to throw out the old business model, listen to your clients, and think beyond the first sale.

Throw out the old business model

We’re living in a unique time in business history that’s changing faster than ever before — and with the baby boom crisis looming ever closer -– companies now more than ever, need to toughen up while still finding a more ‘feminine’ side.

And like 50 Cents, be willing to take risks, create their own circumstances and adapt to the ever shifting marketplace tide.

And yet, far too many companies still rely on the stodgy ’70s and 80s’ business model that just doesn’t fit in today’s fast pace, touchy feely environment.

An environment where prospects have more power to control the marketplace than at any other time in history and want to engage in a dialogue with their service providers.

Coupled with that, companies will soon be losing their most important asset — intellectual real estate -– the many years of loyalty and service given by their many baby boomers and to make matters worse, replacing them will be a fierce struggle.

It’s so important, now more than ever that companies throw out the old business model and adapt to the new marketplace trends. Otherwise they won’t survive the harsh marketplace winter that’s upon us.

And while there is nothing they can do to stop baby boomers leaving the marketplace or the fact that clients desire dialogue, there are two further principles they can put in place to help them stand on rock instead of sand.

They can…

Stop Living in Fear – listen to your clients

Companies are still deathly afraid of their clients and are not willing to throw down their corporate mask and engage in a meaningful dialogue with them.

Fear of change compels them to stick with the old fashioned business model; stubbornly clinging to their own ideas on what they think the public and their clients want.

Then foolishly hoping their marketing campaigns will manipulate or shift their prospect’s mind long enough, to get them to buy something they never desired in the first place!

Companies who do that, do themselves and their prospect’s a serious disservice; treating them like children and as reward, can only watch in horror as their profits continue to plummet.

But the truth is, their prospect’s are not stupid, they’re very bright and very sharp. They know what they want and they won’t stop until they get it. No longer will they purchase a product or service companies try to thrust on them.

Those days are over.

Millionaire Rapper 50 Cents is very successful for another reason, he…

… thinks beyond that first sale

He constantly thinks beyond the deal and onto ‘ownership’; how he can own the material, the company or get equity.

While CMOs are not in a business ownership position there is nothing stopping them thinking ‘big picture’; like 50 Cents, beyond that first sale.

They would do well to think about how they could win customer loyalty, long term contracts or even business partnerships, because in that way they would build financial stability and security for their company.

In this day and age of recession, downsizing and the talent crunch, sharp CMOs would do well to put 50 Cent’s three simple business principles in place.

By throwing out the old business model, listening to their clients and prospects, and thinking beyond the first sale, sharp CMOs would be in a better position to survive and thrive in this harsh marketplace winter.