One of the most important aspects of web site copywriting is learning to write good headlines. But what, exactly, is a good headline?

A good headline grabs the reader's attention and actually draws him or her into reading the article below it. In today's world, the headline is more important than ever before. With so many people living very busy lives, many people don't take much time to read more than the headline.

Are you leveraging your resources for maximum efficiency and profits?

If not, or if you're not sure what leveraging means or why you would want to leverage your assets, then keep reading.

What do I mean by leverage? Well, in financial terms, to leverage a resource means to multiply the productivity of the resource. That is, to get that particular resource to yield a greater return without additional input of effort.

It is a well established fact that reselling to your existing customers is the best way to maximize your profits. In this article, I shall elaborate on the finer points of this technique.

Most businesses are out to generate new leads. Their primary aim is to attract as many customers to their business as possible. As a result, all of their advertising and promotion efforts are modeled to generate a greater number of prospects.

Often the most powerful headlines are those that include some specific benefit within them while simultaneously peaking the interest of the reader as to what may be inside the article.

Let's look at the following as an example...

"5 Secrets to Doubling Your List In 90 Days"

This headline includes both a benefit statement and specificity.

One of the primary obstacles that you must over come is the buyer's sense that they are taking a risk when buying from you. The more they feel that they are taking a risk, the greater will be their reluctance to make the purchase.

To overcome this objection, you must reserve the sense of risk. You must take on the risk yourself.

Has it ever occurred to you how most businesses transfer the inherent risks of running such a business to the customer?

Well, the following is a classic example of how this is done these days:

A few days ago, I went into a store to buy a birthday present for a friend.

Determining a customer's lifetime value can harvest big dividends as you increase your business. However, if you are like almost small business owners, you in all probability have never computed the lifetime value of your customers and are thus giving up maximum income potential.

Do you acknowledge what the lifetime value of your customers is?

Do you acknowledge why discovering your customer's lifetime value is important? If you don't understand the answers to these two questions, read on.

If you were a contestant on Jeopardy and the answer was "Postcards," what would the question be?

How about:

"What is one of the most incredibly effective, yet under-utilized methods for driving qualified buyers to your business or website?"

Many businesses think postcards are a little old-fashioned for this era of Internet Marketing, but nothing could be further from the truth.

Avoid the temptation to be clever or funny at all costs if you are providing your own online copywriting. The temptation is a huge one sometimes, but you will be better off if you fight it.

Why? No one wants to do business with a jokester.

It is more important to be honest and earnest with your potential customers and clients. They want to know what's in it for them - not how well you can rhyme words for a clever headline or that you have a witty style of writing.

The goal of persuasive copywriting is to entice people into trying, buying or supporting whatever it is that you're selling - whether it's a service, product or idea.

Sounds pretty simple. After all, "please" should help you out significantly, right? Well, that might work as you try to get your grandmother to buy a PTA membership or raffle ticket, but it's not a very powerful tool in copywriting.

Want to increase your online sales? Make sure your offer is one they can't pass up!

Any offer you make through your Internet copywriting needs to be worth the readers' time. Time is valuable and there is no bigger waste of time - for you as the creator or for your reader - than a worthless offer.

A number of years ago, a newspaper advertising sales rep went to her boss, disgusted that her client would not buy the ad schedule she pitched.