Copywriting for Beginners Part 2 of 3: Headlines & Openers

The most important skill in copywriting is the ability to grab attention.

You might have the best product or service in the world, and your promotional copy might be amazing, but if no one stops to read your headline, no one will stop to read your copy.

Welcome to The Copywriting Course for Beginners, Part Two of Three: Headlines and Opening Lines.

About Me

I'm your instructor, Alan Sharpe. I got started as a copywriter in 1989. In the years since then, I've worked as a freelancer and as an in-house copywriter at an ad agency.

I have written in all of the channels—offline, online, outdoor, mobile and broadcast. I have written print ads, radio commercials, email newsletters, sales letters, banner ads, product packaging, brochures, factsheets, case studies, slogans and plenty more for Apple, IBM, Bell, Re/Max, Hilton Hotels and hundreds of other clients worldwide.

I got married, bought a house, and raised two kids on my copywriting salary alone.

In case you're wondering, I've been teaching copywriting since 1995.

About the Course

This course teaches you how to do the toughest thing in copywriting—grab and keep attention. I teach you the tips and tricks I've learned in over 30 years of writing headlines and opening lines. At the end of this course, you will know how to write headlines that grab attention. And you'll know how to write opening lines that keep attention.

Course Structure

This course is divided into two sections.

Section one is all about headlines. You'll learn the two things that every headline you write must accomplish. I'll show you an original way to brainstorm headline ideas that are creative and original. You'll learn nine ways to write headlines that stand out and grab attention. We'll cover how to write offline headlines, online headlines, email headlines, and Google text ad headlines.

Section two is all about opening lines.

You'll discover why your opening lines is the most important line in copywriting, after your headline. We'll look at the many creative ways you can start your body copy. And I'll share with you the unique challenge I face in writing opening lines.

Real-World Experience

This course is filled with practical, step-by-step advice, tools, tips and tricks that I've learned over the years as a professional copywriter. I use dozens of examples from the real world of copywriting—both offline and online—to teach you to art of writing effective headlines and opening lines.

Ideal Student

I designed this course for copywriters who want to be original, who want to avoid the many boilerplate, lame and formulaic ways of writing headlines and opening lines. If you need to write compelling headline.

• About this Class
• Your Headline Must do Only Two Things
• How to Brainstorm Headline Ideas
• Headline Writing Tips 1, 2, 3
• Headline Writing Tips 4, 5, 6
• Headline Writing Tips 7, 8, 9
• Boost Email Open Rates with a Colon in Your Subject Line
• Write Good Negative Headlines
• Think Like a Search Engine to Write Better Headlines
• Google Text Ad Headline Writing Do's and Dont's
• How to Write a Google Text Ad Headline
• Keep them Hooked with a Great First Line
• Open with a Provocative Question
• Start with a Story
• Start with a Zinger
• Start with an Arresting Fact
• Start at the Beginning