How many times have you started reading something – like an email, a web page, or even the first paragraph of a book – only to quickly become bored or distracted and move on to something else?
Well, your clients and potential clients are no different than you. If the first words in your copy – whether it be a sales page, web page or email – don’t have the power to grab your clients where it counts, they’ll be gone, gone, gone.
So, how can we be sure the first words of your copy have the pluck, pop and intrigue to immediately hook your potential clients’ attention and lure them into the heart and soul of your message?
How can we save your copy from being ignored or dumped into the cyber trash?
Here’s one way. A little technique I call the “Reese’s Pieces Technique.”
Get the lowdown in the short video above!
The video is pretty cool and quick.
But if you’re not into video, you can read the transcript below.
Have you seen the movie E.T.?
I hope you’ve seen it because it’s pretty great.
Well, there’s this scene at the beginning of that movie where E.T. (who is an extra-terrestrial) is hiding. In a garage. The garage behind Elliot’s house. Elliot is an adorable 10-year old boy (played by Henry Thomas) who, having discovered that something strange is knocking around in his garage, tries to lure E.T. out.
With Reese’s Pieces.
Elliot puts one Reese’s Piece down in the garage, and then follows with another and then another, creating a trail from the garage to the house. Sure enough, E.T. comes out and takes the first piece of candy and finds it so irresistible that he waddles over to get the second piece and then the third, until finally, E.T. ends up face to face with Elliot. That’s when they both scream and the whole story really begins.
When you use the Reese’s Pieces technique I’m going to share with you, you’re going to do the same thing. With your copy.
And hopefully without screaming.
You’re going to lay down one concise, irresistible, little phrase at the top. One that will make your potential clients hungry for the second phrase. That second phrase will be so yummy that your client will lunge after third and so on and so forth, until they are gorging on the guts of your message.
Let me give you an example.
Let’s say you’re writing an email. You want to be sure you hook your reader right at the start, so you write: “Uh-oh, you did it again, didn’t you?”
Immediately, your reader’s going to perk up, become curious and think, “I did what again? What are you talking about?” Intrigued, she has to keep reading. For your second “Reese’s piece” you write something like, “You promised you wouldn’t do it. But once again, you did.”
Your reader still isn’t sure what you’re talking about so she has to keep reading. She wants to keep reading. She has to know the whole story!
So, your third little Reese’s Piece has a little bit more bite to it. You write, “But it was a Saturday night. You were on your own with nothing to do. And you couldn’t resist.”
Uh oh! What couldn’t your reader resist! She has to know!
So, you give her the whole enchilada.
“So you went online. You re-subscribed to that online dating service. You updated your profile and spent two, maybe three hours searching, searching, searching. Trying to find one person you’d consider dating. Or, at least, meeting. Or emailing.”
At this point, your reader has an inkling about where this all may be heading. But she doesn’t have the whole story. And she’s not really sure what you’re going to end up saying about online dating. Or being single. Or being desperately bored and lonely on a Saturday night.
Either way, you’ve hooked her interest. And now she has to keep reading to find out.
Do you see how this works? You use one little, simple phrase. Then another. Then another that reveals a bit more. From there, you lead your reader into the meat of your message.
In the example used above, the message could have been about how online dating sites are alluring when you’re feeling alone and blue, but they often end up being disappointing. But there’s an alternative! An online site that doesn’t match you up with a bunch of losers but instead delivers your soul mate to your door!
Let me point out a few important elements in the example I used that will help you create your own Reese’s Pieces opener.
Notice that in the very first phrase, which was, “Uh-oh, you did it again, didn’t you?” there are two words that tend to get people intrigued: “you” and “it.” By using “you,” your reader knows you are speaking directly to her. Her mind immediately rushes to, “Huh?? What did I do again?”
By using the word “it” instead of revealing what “it” is, your reader has to keep reading to figure it out.
But… you could easily start with something enthralling that doesn’t have either of those words in it. For instance… “You never thought this day would come.” Or “You never thought this day would ever come when you first brought your baby home from the hospital.”
Do you see how these opening sentences evoke curiosity? You want to find to keep reading to find out what the heck the writer is talking about.
The Reese’s Pieces technique works really well in emails. It also works well with some web pages. Like your work-with-me page. It can work on a sales page but you need to have a bit more finesse and be hyper-aware of who you’re talking to, what’s of interest to them, and be careful not to tease them too long before you get to the heart of your message.
So, there you go! My Reese’s Pieces technique.
It’s just one of a thousand different ways to use your first words to hook your reader and entice them to read the rest of your copy.
Next week, I’m going to share another tried-and-true way to get your readers’ attention right from the get-go. Until then, if you’re writing a lead or hook that’s just not hooky enough, hit me up and schedule a Quick Copyrighting Makeover or a 15-minute Confident Copy Clarity session. Together, we’ll create those first words and phrases to immediate engage your readers’ attention and interest so they can’t resist the rest of your message.
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If you have questions or comments about the video, please leave them below! I’d love to hear from you.