10 Ways To Get Attention

10 Ways To Get Attention

These attention-getters are useful for creating ad
headlines, article titles, envelope teasers, and, oh yeah,
interest in you and your product. They are not the only ten
ways to get attention, maybe not even the top ten, but they
do work. I didn't make these up. I just collected them, from
years of experience in business.

1. Make A List With A Number In It.

7 Swedish Cookie Recipes. 12 Best Ways To Reduce Weeding
Time. 4 Christmas Stories.

Why does this work? Because it is very Real. It is a Known
Item. It is an Exact Expectation. Many people appreciate
this. They like to know what they're getting.

2. Say Something Controversial.

Internet Marketing Is A Con Game. Men Buy Smarter Than
Women. Not All Nicotine Is Bad.

You can be controversial without being offensive. It can be
a fine line, but very painful to step over, so be careful.

3. Ask A Mystery Question.

How Did This Poor Man Become So Rich? What Is More Important
Than Your Time?

Everyone loves a mystery a as long as it has a solution.
Don't ask the question if you don't have a very believable
answer.

4. Ask A Silly Question.

When Is A Duck Bigger Than Purple? Do You Kerflamp?

There's a difference between a Silly Question and a Stupid
Question. A Silly Question has no real answer. A Stupid
Question (Do You Like Money?) has a stupid answer. If a
Stupid Question gets attention at all, it is not the kind of
attention you want.

5. Give A Multiple Choice Quiz.

Which Medium Gives The Best Return On Investment?
A. Newspaper B. Radio C. TV

The question has to be interesting to your audience for this
to work. A question like, "Which Is The Longest River? A.
Mississippi B. Amazon C. Yellow" will not hold many people's
attention. Some, but not many. Oh, and be sure to tell them
the answer, or send them to a website where they can get the
answer AND THIS FREE GIFTa.

6. Make A Startling Announcement.

Cure Found For Gullibility! Christmas Postponed! Computers
Cause Cancer!

This is an outright bid for attention, like a supermarket
tabloid, but hey, it works. The problem with this technique
is it demands extremely clever writing to hold that
attention after the initial startlement wears off.

7. Play On Emotions.

Crippled Mother Builds Business From Bed. Starving Children
Saved By Internet.

Okay, you might have to reach a little here, first to find a
story, and then to squeeze some emotional juice out of it.
Read a story in the paper about some humanitarian effort,
and the story notes that one worker has a laptop, and you
got it: Starving Children Saved By Internet. Yes, the
internet affects everyone nowadays,aetc.

8. Make A Realistic But Attractive Promise.

You CAN Build A Good-Looking Website. Your Hard Work Will
Pay Off Sooner With Our Help.

This approach is not for your everyday internet guru or scam
artist. Back up your words with details of exactly what you
offer and how the prospect will benefit in a measurable way.
This is the most powerful of all combinations: Truth and
Quality.

9. Press The Help Button.

10% Of All Profits Go To Save Cats. Help Orphans Go To
College. Save The Snails.

It works, and it really is good for everybody to help needy
causes. Just be sure you do, or some authority figure will
begin to haunt your dreams a and then knock on your door.

10. Compliment The Prospect.

You're Looking Good Today. Self-Starters Only Need Apply.
Build On Your Success.

This ad or article will almost write itself, as you
alternate between telling the prospect how clever he has
been and how clever he is to understand the benefits of your
product or service.

What all of these attention-getting suggestions have in
common is that they are different from the thousands of
"Drive 20,000 Visitors To Your Website" headlines. That kind
of headline only works on the gullible masses, so loses a
large part of the potential customer base. Smart,
attention-getting headlines appeal to everyone.


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Don Dewsnap is the author of Principles of Quality
(soon-to-be-published), and epublisher of The Basic Glossary
of Grammar. Please visit http://www.basic-glossaries.com.
Contact him at don@....