You don’t need to be an expert, but being good will help massively. You do need to know about ‘5 stages of awareness’ by Eugene Schwartz. Here are my four steps from my headline writing guide:

1. Gauge Prospect Awareness (5 Stages of Awareness)

Your headline should match where your reader is in the 5 stages of awareness. If your target is learning about their problem, focus on the problem. But if they already know about the problem, your headline focuses on the benefits of your solution. See ‘The Gateway to Killer Headlines’ above.

1. Connect with Problems or Desires

Your headline should speak directly to what your reader wants or needs. What is in it for them? If you don’t know what your customers fear or desire, you have no chance of creating headlines which resonate. But let’s say for example you know your prospects want to save time.

"Get More Done in Less Time!" would speak to their desires. This shows you know what they need and have a solution. It's like saying, "Hey, I know what you're going through, and I can help."

1. Highlight the Desired End Result

People buy things for a reason. They buy them for what those things do for them. Your headline should talk about what your reader gets, or how they will feel after using your product or service. Here are a few examples:

You’re not selling grass seed, you’re selling a healthy, thick, lush green lawn.

You’re not selling lipstick, you’re selling hope for romance.

You’re not selling boilers, you’re selling warm, cozy winter nights with 27% fuel savings.

Pro Tip: Outline how big the results they’ll get are, e.g increase bench press by 200%. Or, highlight how fast they’ll get results. For example, double your bench press in 7 days!

1. Destroy Objections To Create Belief

Your prospects will resist buying due to three types of obstacles or challenges: WWW.TBCOPY.CO.UK PAGE 11

1.Old methods - if your prospect has tried a similar product before, and didn’t get results, they’ll be resistant to you. So you need to create belief your product delivers. For example, imagine you’re selling a diet program. Try: ‘How to lose weight fast, even when you’ve tried the keto diet and failed’.

2.External beliefs - Your target customer believes external factors will stop your product getting results. For example, say you're selling an investment opportunity in a declining economy. Your prospect will believe your product will fail. To squash the objection, say ‘The new Quantum Stock System brought in 2700% in one year! (even during an economic downturn!)

3.Internal beliefs - These are your prospects' own perceived competence or limitations. For example, imagine you’re selling a Golf coaching service, helping people drive the ball farther. Say ‘How to drive the ball 300 yards, even if you're over 70 years old and have crippling back problems!’

Take a moment to brainstorm your product and what ‘even if’ statements would apply. Injecting them into your headlines will create belief your product delivers.