The Lead: Sinking The Hook Into Your Prospect

You only have an instant to capture your prospect's attention. No matter the medium - a sales letter, print ad, or commercial - she's going to make an almost instantaneous decision about whether you are worth her time or not. So you'd better start off with a bang.

Hopefully, you already have a good headline. The words that come after it are your lead, and it's their job to sink the hook into your prospect and keep her reading or listening until you can convince her that you are the answer to her prayers.

Here you introduce your Big Promise. Not just another benefit, but the Granddaddy of all benefits. The One that will reach down into her heart and stimulate some emotion. The One that taps into her core desires.

But you don't just tell her how your widget will change her life. And you absolutely, positively, never talk about yourself or your company here. Here, you show her what it will be like when she's experiencing that Big Benefit.

Help her to see herself lying on the beach, sipping a Pina Colada because she took your correspondence course. Show her lying in the grass, looking at the clouds with her five-year-old because your widget saved her so much time.

You have to see beyond your actual product or service and get to the big promise you can make to your prospect. And, you have to make sure that promise connects with her core beliefs, feelings, and desires in all their complexities.

By the time she's finished with your lead, you've sunk a big hook into your prospect. Spend the rest of your conversation reeling her in. Show her why your product delivers on that big promise. If you have room (in a longer sales letter, for example) you can pepper in some more benefits, but always come back to the Big One. Let it be like a golden thread woven throughout the conversation.

You catch more flies with honey, or so the old saying goes. And you catch more prospects with a big, vivid promise in your lead.

Lisa Packer, author of "How To Dramatically Increase Your Business... Without A Blockbuster Budget" and "7 Ways To Get A Pay Raise From Your Web Site" is an independent Copywriter and Marketing Consultant. Find out how to get these two reports, plus more helpful articles like the one you just read at http://www.dramatic-copy.com/.

Dramatic Copy: Copywriting That Dramatically Increases Your Business.

More Resources

Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exiting

More Copywriting Information:

Related Articles

Prevent Procrastination With Positive Pressure
My wife and I recently bought a house.It's currently being built and moving day is slated for December.
Your USP is Useless
One of the keys to writing good marketing copy is to differentiate your product or service from the competition with an effective selling point. And it is on precisely this element that many otherwise competent writers flounder and flop - and so does their copy.
Long Copy versus Short Copy
When I show some people my advertisements, I sometimes get the feedback: "I'd never read that. There's too much writing.
10 Keys to Copy That Sells!
Whether you're selling a product or service, the 10 tips below are your keys to writing great copy that communicates and persuades ..
The Write Way To Grow Your Business
Hone your writing skills to project a more professional business image.The sales letter you can't put down?the advertising copy that makes you want the product?the resume that prompts you to call the job candidate this second?All these are examples of exceptional business writing.
10 Things You Should Expect From Your IT Copywriter
Anyone who's ever tried marketing IT products or services knows that it's a specialist field. Your customers in the IT industry have very unique and specific requirements, and that means you do too.
Top 3 Rules for Writing Effective Copy
One thing all successful Internet marketers have in common is that they're good copywriters. If you want to have a profitable online business, you need to know how to write a copy that motivates people to buy your product.
How You Can Become A Freelance Business Plan Writer
As with any business, becoming a freelance business plan writer can be a challenge. The first challenges involve factors such as cash flow, getting clients, and maintaining some sort of order.
Tech-writers: A Necessary Evil
New to tech-writing, or thinking about starting? The key to success is recognising that tech-writers are a necessary evil.Tech-writers are necessary because someone has to write the user doco.
Can Anyone Succeed as a Freelance Copywriter?
This is a question that can be answered in a lot of different ways.But let's start with a perfectly simple and honest answer.
Sales Headline Copywriting - Two Quick Steps to Success
Get a Good Start for Sales SuccessThe headline to a sales letter is like the doorway to a store. The purpose of both is to draw people in.
Killer Business Headline Templates - So How Do You Write Killer Headlines in Minutes? You Cheat!
According to Branding and Advertising legend, David Ogilvy: 5 times as many people read the headline than they do the body copy in a sales message. This means that unless your headline actually helps sell what you've got to offer, you'll have wasted 90% of your time, money and energy.
Memorable Sales Copy -- How to Write it
Want to know the secret of creating MEMORABLE promotional copy? Sales copy that actually stays with your customers long after they've finished reading it?Then master the art of using words to create pictures in your customers' heads.If you can describe your products or services in such a way that it forms images in your customers' heads, well, then you've just created something that will last long after the marketing is over.
Kick-Start Your Juices
Listen, consider this scenario.You have a deadline to honour.
7 Powerful Sales Copy Writing Techniques!
Your sales letter is the most important component in yourweb site or marketing campaign. It will introduces yourproducts or services to your visitors and how people react(buy, bookmark, leave) is 80% entirely depends on yoursales letter.
7 Formulas for Articles That GET READ!
Many of us have been asked to write an article at one time or another. Maybe it's a contribution to the company newsletter.
Dont Forget The Copywriting
Copywriting And Content CreationOne of the most important, but often overlooked aspects of marketing is copywriting. Businesses afford much attention, time and money, on graphics, mail formats and all of the website bells and whistles.
How To Test The Body Of Your Sales Copy For Weaknesses
Your sales copy is the life source of your business. If your sales copy isn't pulling in a decent conservation rate, then your business is suffering.
10 Tips for Tech-Writers
Tech-writing is a tricky business. It's not a very high profile industry, so there's not much support around.
Custom Writing Services: Market Overview
Market identificationCustom writing services market is a sector of the e-commerce industry. Custom writing services are fee-based.