Guarantees, added incentives and, definite deadlines give an added sense of urgency and importance to your headline. A guarantee offers immediate backup for any claim stated previously. You still need to prove it, but the fact that the promise is ‘ guaranteed ’ adds power and significance to the message of the headline.

Picture your prospect reading your headline. You offer benefit 1, benefit 2, and benefit 3. Benefit #1 seemed impressive… benefit #2 astonishing. But Benefit #3 has never been offered before by anyone, as far as the prospect is concerned. It seems too good to be true… almost unbelievable. But then you follow this triple benefit headline with the statement “Guaranteed 100% Or It Doesn’t Cost You A Dime !"

The guarantee by itself adds credibility to each of the benefits. The perception is that since it’s guaranteed fully -- it must be true. Now, I’m not suggesting that you misrepresent your benefits. Not by a long shot. In fact, I implore you to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. But at the same time… it’s your duty to make your offering as interesting and desirable as humanly possible. A guarantee helps you accomplish this by making your statement less of a stretch in the prospect’s mind.

Added incentives compel readers because of the value they offer. When you can pack an appealing freebie into your headline, you attract more eyeballs. Free offers of specific importance tends to interest large numbers of people. The more lop-sided the value (in favor of the prospect) -- the more appealing it becomes.

Definitive deadlines add a precise timeline to the offer by introducing an element of urgency. It’s a hot potato in your prospect’s hands – something he must deal with immediately, rather than cast it aside for a later time. Adding a specific expiry date in your headline and combining it with a strong offer gets people interested and activated. They know the material is time-sensitive, so they check it out right away.

c'mon people in this forum
liften up your voice, so i can know you are there.
comment on my post

I agree and disagree. Sure you want the reader to feel the urgency. You want them to get something of "value" for free. You also want them reassured they have a full gurantee. BUT, you offer them too many or too big of freebies, they begin to doubt what they are getting is even worth the intitial effort. I just don't see the best response by making it too good to believe. A simple "I have the answer to your problem" with a solid guarantee is hard to beat headline.

The main thing in any letter is the offer.

If you feel the need to make the guarantee that much stronger or the added bonuses more substantial in order to get the sale, then your offer just isn't good enough.

Your offer needs to be able to stand on its own regardless of what else is there.

If you have to put on all the extras then your sales copy, and specifically the offer, needs more work.

That's my personal opinion.

Great post thanks very helpful - Ill tell you before I read your post i was looking at this forum and there are like 690, or 1,000 views and NO REPLIES to so many posts???

Its like why are you in this forum just to take take take??

I put up a postcard and asked for help and Ill bet I get ZERO replies. Its a bummer.

Hey guys,

I'm new here.
Btw, I happen to be a lawyer, too.
Hopefully I can contribute here!

I'll have to disagree with the idea of adding a guarantee as part of a killer headline. Headlines should be based on pure "end benefits" of your product or service. A "guarantee" is just a promise that if the product doesn't deliver, it can be returned. A guarantee in itself does not make the customers life better or truly benefit them in any way. At best, it makes your customer more confident in your offer. But, I don't see them having any place in a top notch headline.

Plus, talking about price or money paid at the beggining of a sales letter is somewhat of a turnoff for a prospect. If you look at the sales letters of good copywriters, price or guarantees are the last things mentioned. Their goal is to get the excited about the product, and then add the feeling of security with the promise of "risk reversal."