Things that are hard: opening literally any package of scissors, planks, death, restraining yourself around a person who’s sniffling (my biggest pet peeve), realizing you are too fat to go indoor skydiving (legit just happened to me), and scrubbing the water rings off of your glass cooktop stove.
Things that are harder: Writing your homepage headline when you have zero clarity about your brand promise, your brand positioning, and your value proposition. ?
Ugh, did you just groan?? Was that a loud and visceral GROAN I heard? I know.
AND… it’s 10X harder when you have to summarize it all into one succinct little headline that’s supposed to encapsulate ALL OF YOUR GLORY in just a few little words. Am I right?
Figuring out your messaging is the worst, unless you are someone like me who gets off on figuring out people’s messages. ?♀️ But, when you have a framework to walk through it, it can be fun! And so, so exhilarating when things finally click into place & you nail your idea and (finally) find the right words—you suddenly have 1,000,000X more confidence in yourself & your biz, and guess what?
So do other people.
Having powerful, snappy language that resonates can make or break your entire business.
Soooooo, here are the three of the biggest mistakes I see SUPERB people make when trying to write their homepage headline (that difficult bastard!).
- Not having clarity around their big brand promise. (It’s a BEAR.)
Do you have a big brand promise? Have you figured out your brand positioning and your value proposition? And are you including it in your headline? Unless you happen to be a copywriter, you probably haven’t even thought about this—and 99.9% of the time, THIS IS THE BIGGEST KILLER OF ALL HEADLINES (and hearts). Not knowing what you’re trying to say is the fastest way to rambly, jargon-y, goopy messaging doom. And without a promise, your headline’s always going to fall flat.
It’s the difference between:
Leverage the science of body language. ←”Leverage?” (Jargon.) To do what? Why do I care? Tuning out
Skyrocket your personal charisma using the science of body language. ←Ohhh, now there’s a sweet promise you’re making me! Yes, I want to skyrocket my personal charisma! Show me how… (The format used here is simply “what they want” plus “your solution”—except most people just lead with their solution. See the difference?)
Of course, another body language expert might focus on using body language to be a better speaker, or be a better manager, or to have a more successful dating life. While body language can help with all of that, you shouldn’t promise all of that in your message. You need a distinct promise that separates you from the pack. - Trying hard to convince a person on their INDUSTRY—yoga, keto, tarot, travel, whole living—instead of trying to convince them to try THEIR SERVICE or THEIR PRODUCT.
Let's try to imagine a world where we didn't need to “convince” anyone that they should try tarot, for example. Let's assume that they are on your website because they're interested in tarot already. Now, the job of your copy needs to be to convince them to choose YOU. As the famous line goes, don't try to sell nuts to dolphins. Relevant. I think a lot of us spend a lot of time trying to sell the industry, instead of their actual solution. But most people on your website are already industry-aware….now they're trying to decide if they should take the leap with you…or not. ❤️ - “No shit” syndrome—AKA stating the obvious.
A lot of first-stab headlines promise things that are already expected. Writing that converts, amazing photos, big transformations. But, of COURSE if I’m hiring a professional copywriter, I expect the copy to convert. If I’m hiring a professional photographer, I expect the photos to be amazing. If I’m hiring a professional coach, I expect a big transformation. Therefore, none of these promises actually do anything to differentiate you from your competitors: because they aren’t promises, they’re expectations. (And it’s exactly what everyone else is saying.)
The Magic Message Bootcamp will walk you through a process for figuring out ALL of this—and so much more.
Your brand promise & your headline is just the beginning: from there, we learn how to write your subheadline, four different types of crossheads, your email newsletter & opt-in, and then how to take your main messaging and weave it through all of your other pages of copy: your sales pages, your about page, your professional bios, and more. ❤️ The end goal: make you REPRESENT something. Make your message feel 100% cohesive. Make you known for something. And make it abundantly clear what you’re better at than anyone else in the world.
Inside the bootcamp you’ll find me, Ash, with my ridiculously loud, fun-loving voice, where you’ll essentially “look over my shoulder” as we go through the framework step-by-step together on the screen, do some strategic writing exercises, draft your initial copy, learn how to edit your copy, add in a few tricks of the trade, and then examine a TON of before/after examples that’ll give you all the clarity in the world.
It’s the bee’s knees for figuring out your messaging & your copy.
And today’s the last day to join. ?
Get a fresh new message for 2022 >
See you there!
Ash
P.S. I really was over the weight limit for my height for indoor skydiving, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Must have been all the sitting I did while recording The Magic Message Bootcamp. ?