The challenge is to find one good idea that the reader can grasp immediately, Porter said. And then, stick to it.

“If [your prospect] is aware of your product and realizes it can satisfy his desire, your headline starts with your product. If he is not aware of your product, but only of the desire itself, your headline starts with the desire. If he is not yet aware of what he really seeks, but is concerned only with the general problem, your headline starts wit

I realized readers didn’t want to hear everything I had to say about a topic every time I fired up my computer.

When you’re working with a less aware or skeptical customer, the great power of an indirect lead is it can open — or re-open — the door on that relationship before the customer has the chance to get confused or sock your offer away in a pigeon-hole of “heard that, done that before.”

knowing how aware your prospect is will change the conversation. And, it will especially change those first key moments of the conversation, which in advertising we call the headline and the lead.

“The skill of writing is to create a context in which other people can think.” — Edwin Schlossberg

Promise Leads work best with “mostly aware” prospects who are almost ready to buy.

“What marketers sell is hope.” — Seth Godin

the real question too many marketers never stop to ask is this one: “What does your customer already know?”