In our last installment, we went over giving your customers more. We found out if they want more. Now we're going to talk about “sub-headlines” and how they get people to (drum roll please) BUY!

Your primary goal for a prospect in reading your sales letter is for her to make a purchase. Right? In order for her to whip out the ‘ol credit card and buy, she's going to need to make it through your sales letter.

One of the major problems in sales letters is they get boring along the way. Unless your sales letter is well crafted (most aren't – but yours will be because you're reading this :o) the attention span of the reader tends to drift after about 30-45 seconds.

But wouldn't you like to know how to keep leads interested until they read the sales letter in its entirety? Here's how you can do it…

You just found out one of the tactics that I love to use to refocus the reader's attention to what I am saying. It's known as a “subheadline.”

You see, headlines aren't solely reserved for the beginning of your sales letter. They can be used effectively throughout the sales letter. In fact, I recommend that you use them.

A subheadline does several important things…

• It pulls back the attention of a reader who is about to drift away.
• It introduces a new idea or train of thought.
• It works as a stand alone major benefit of your product.
• It solves more of the reader's problems and answers more of her questions.
• It basically does whatever you want it to do. 😮

I love to use subheadlines about 3 times per sales letter (more or less as needed — just don't go overboard). You want the subheadline to accomplish similar goals as your main headline. A subheadline should be written in such a way that it grabs the attention of “browsers.” Some readers will quickly skim through your sales letter — you want them to stop and take a closer look when they come to your subheadlines.

I like to do a couple of things with subheadlines that effectively re-grabs the attention of reader…

3.7.1 Ask a question. That's what I did in the above example. “But wouldn't you like to know how to keep leads interested until they read the sales letter in its entirety?” A subheadline is a great place to ask the reader a question. Interaction = involvement = interest = I've still got a shot at making the sale. :o) And whatever question you ask, follow up by leading them into the next paragraph…

Here's how you can do it…

Learn more…

Find out all the details…

Let me show you…

You will after reading this…

3.7.2 Make an “If” statement. Another great way to use subheadlines is to make an “if” statement. “If” you're willing to do this, then here is what will happen. It lets the reader know that THEY determine the outcome. They are in charge. Results are based upon their response. Here are a few examples…

If you're willing to invest 5 minutes of your time, then I'll show you exactly how to pull in 500 new subscribers each month…

If you can follow simple instructions, then there is no reason why you can't do this…

If you can write a shopping list, then you can create your own information product to sell online…

Up next, Part 8: But wait! There's more. There is ALWAYS MORE!. Ginsu knives beware!