19 Jun 11 What Are the Different Types of Headlines?

Headline of advertising commercial or a book or marketing collateral is supposed to be the most important and attention grabbing part of the same. A headline is supposed to make the thing stand out from the clutter, draw immediate attention of the viewer. The copywriter can grab attention of the viewer with a wide variety of headlines. There can be several types of headlines as given below.

Questioning

There can be headlines that put forth questions like – ‘Did you know 80% of women love our shampoo?’ or ‘How often do you need to de-tan your skin?’, ‘Are you spending too much in Insurance?’ These questions not only grab attention fast, but also stir interest and provoke thoughts. People soon relate to such questioning headline and move on to the next segment of the advertisement to find out the solution.

Testimonials

There are many advertisements that put forth its customers’ words to sell the products or services. This trick always works, as people consider it as a proof of the brand’s credibility. Not all provide testimonials of real customers, but when used such strategy can be effective. It may go like this ‘This oil has lessened 70% of our health problems’. Put name, location, age of the customer speaking to make it appear more credible. You may take permission of that particular customer.

Straight on face

There are headlines talking straight to the viewer, in a direct tone. These are effective at times. Special offers, heavy discounts, inauguration – such announcement oriented advertisements adopt straight on face tone. Examples, ‘Grab last few days of 50% discount’, ’50 free laptops with Bike purchase’.

News headline

Then there are headlines, which announce some news like ‘Finally, A detergent is here which actually works’. Such announcement of news – like something new has come up always works.

Commanding headline

There are headlines, which ask you to do something. Such headlines are strong and are developed to encourage the action towards some benefit. They mostly start with a verb. Like, ‘Say no to plastic’, ‘stop drinking while driving’, ‘Stop abusing the minor’.

Let me know which one is your favorite.

Tags: Advertisement, Advertisements, Advertising, Bike Purchase, Clutter, Copywriter, Credibility, Detergent, Few Days, Free Laptops, Headlines, Health Problems, Inauguration, Marketing Collateral, News Headline, Proof, Segment, Shampoo, Special Offers, Testimonials

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09 Jan 10 Make Twitter Work For You

Twitter is essentially the biggest thing on the internet right now. The ability for any person to have abstract conversations and musings with one another has really caught fire. But have you thought about the ways that Twitter could help you professionally? Twitter is actually a really good way to do market research, and even promote yourself or your company. Because Twitter is so widely used you can reach, and also receive feedback from a global community, if you know what to do.

So obviously the first step is to create a professional Twitter page. Whether for your business, or personal business ventures, make sure that you update often. The quickest way to be forgotten is to tweet only once every few days. You have to keep your Twitter page active, usually with multiple tweets per day, so that there is always more content for an interested party to keep tabs on.

Use Twitter search to narrow down people, or other businesses that might be interested in finding your Twitter page. Try and contact them, either through mention on your Twitter account or via personal message to let them know about you. This way you can gain more and more followers. Your efforts won’t be very successful if you don’t have very many followers accessing your tweets.

Remember to take care of your followers as you gain them as well. Respond to them, mention them, etc. Make them involved, as they will become interested, and also mention you in their tweets, and that’s free advertising. Keeping your followers interested is key to building the Twitter page, and increasing your effectiveness.

Finally use Twitter’s search function to see how many mentions you are getting on other pages throughout the site. This is a good way to keep up on how successful your efforts have been. Also you’ll be able to keep track of what you should change to accommodate the greater interest. Twitter feedback is valuable, so take full advantage of the ability to see accurate feedback so quickly.

Tags: Business Ventures, Conversations, Feedback, Few Days, Followers, Free Advertising, Global Community, Interested Party, Market Research, Mentions, Musings, Personal Business, Personal Message, Search Function, Tabs, Tweets, Twitter

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20 Dec 09 How To Handle A Self Review

Writing a self review is essentially part of every job. How you handle the writing of your personal performance review, tells a lot about the job you’ve done. Bosses gauge the way that your responses and assessments are written, in addition to what you actually write. Most managers have a great nose for sniffing out lies and embellishments. But mainly this gives them a great idea if you’re both on the same page, and straying too far from the company’s targets could see you replaced.

So it’s important to take time and care when writing your self review. Allow yourself plenty of time to get the work done. That means setting aside time everyday for a few days to work on the self evaluation. This way you aren’t stressed, or rushing at the last minute to complete the project. This also gives you time to go over your responses a few times, and make sure that you’re satisfied with what you’ve written. Don’t turn in a review that you aren’t happy with.

Make sure that you’ve been compiling a list of your accomplishments, as that is a necessity for your self review. Highlighting accomplishments accurate is a great statement in itself. Not only do you have the great examples of your importance, but you also show your attention to detail by having the accurate records. Both are fantastic traits magnified by the self review.

Remember to be honest when assessing the areas where you need improvement. Nobody is infallible, and if you review suggests that you are, it’s a sham. Your manager already knows that skills that you need to work on, and wants to see that you agree. By being honest, and putting your actual weaknesses, you show that you are aware and are working to better yourself. That’s what a boss wants.

Tags: Accurate Records, Attention To Detail, Boss, Embellishments, Few Days, Job, Last Minute, Lot, Performance Review, Personal Performance, Self Evaluation, Sham, Targets

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