Learn How To Get And Keep People's Attention (Without Compromising Your Ethics)

You don't need to be a "master" level copywriter to be great at copywriting.

In fact, knowing too much about copywriting can actually get you stuck. I've seen students get lost for years trying to make their copy perfect.

That's why Headline School is focused on first principles. You're going to get the advanced basics of how copy works, why it works, and the tools to write it for yourself - without getting lost in templates, frameworks, and rules. We focus on the application of your copy skills, so you can get your products noticed and sold.

Here's the secret "experts" don't want you to know:

Good enough copy converts

It doesn't need to be perfect, but it does need to be good enough. When you sign up for Headline School we'll explain the difference between good and bad copy (it's not what you think) and why "good enough" converts just fine. We'll tell you what BIG THINGS actually move the needle versus what details you can move forward without.

I've watched clients, colleagues, and friends make (sincerely) millions of dollars off of good enough copy.

In fact, the best copy I ever saw was written by a man who had never even heard of copywriting. He hung up a GIANT sign on the fence of a piece of property he owned and wrote in huge red letters:

FOR SALE

CALL 645-9867

No logo, which, tbh, I would not recommend - but that's my point. There are best practices and then there is real life. Best practices are supposed to help you get a lay of the land, but when it comes to copy they often get us stuck in perfectionism and overthinking. If this man had been worried about making a "good headline" on this ad for his piece of property, he'd have lost the sale. Instead, he knew what you're going to find out.

Copywriting is about sales. And this man knew if you had the money for this type of property, you weren't interested in a big fancy promise and you certainly weren't interested in reading - you were interested in how to get ahold of the owner so you could buy it!

Now that's good copy.

Did Margo just use a no-headline example to sell Headline School?

YES, I DID. Part of my goal is to break you out of your tendency to obediently follow rules and help you learn to trust yourself again. What makes good copy? SALES and PSYCHOLOGY. I'm going to need you to be creative, to think bigger, and to trust yourself that you know what you're selling and why people want it (or trust yourself to listen to your customers long enough to figure out why).

A lot of what makes copy GREAT is common sense psychology of people. To quote the infamous copywriter, David Ogilvy, "The customer is not a moron. She's your wife."

How would you speak to your wife?

Wait...Who is Margo?

Glad you asked. Hi, hello, I'm Margo. Your trusty narrator, best known for my website That Seems Important, and creator of Headline School.

Headline School is the course I wished existed back when I worked at a depression clinic. Yes, a depression clinic.

In my past life, I was a psychological researcher. 

I didn't know it at the time, but my job was lead gen. I'd never heard of lead gen. So, I did what my boss told me to do: I printed out flyers and posted them around the city (in coffee shops and hospital waiting rooms).

The flyers were terrible. I suspected it, but "serious researchers" don't bother themselves with learning (*scoffs*) marketing. The truth is:

If I knew then what I know now about copywriting, sales, and marketing, we could have helped a LOT more people.

Our flyers had a headline that said: "Are You Feeling Sad, Down, or Blue?"

I don't know about you, but if someone asked me if I was "blue" in the middle of a depressive episode, I'd lie my face off. Blue??? Down?? Are you kidding me? We were patronizing and condescending our prospects and then wondering why they weren't chomping at the bit to sign up to work with us.

To write great copy, you need empathy. You need kindness. And you need to listen.

That's what most courses about copy seem to miss. They make it about manipulation, deception, and emotional exploitation. Which is true, it has the power to do that. But it doesn't have to.

There is POWER in understanding the psychology behind what makes copy work - and it holds the key to helping a lot of people.

Our clinic would have gotten 1000x more inquiries if we had used a headline like:

• Why Do I Feel So Shitty When Nothing Is Wrong?
• How To Know If You Have Depression
• Are You Tired of Being Told to, "Just Push Through?"
• Did You Know Sadness Isn't The Main Symptom of Depression?
• Why Are Top Psychologists Raving About This New Medicine That Treats Depression?

It still makes me furious that we missed this opportunity to connect deeper with our people.

It's part of why I dedicated the next 10 years of my career to understanding how you get people to care - which is what GREAT copy is designed to do.

I learned everything I could about human psychology, motivation, and behavior change. I graduated from Columbia University with a Masters in Psychology in 2011. I spent time in market research conducting ethnographies and in-depth interviews (IDIs) for Fortune 500 companies before I accepted a position as a strategic planner at a top shopper marketing agency where I worked with clients like Starbucks, Georgia Pacific, Evolution Fresh, Seattle's Best, McCormick, and Target.

By the time I left to start my own consulting firm in 2014, I'd worked in all parts of the ad business and continued to refine my craft. I apprenticed for months under a master level copywriter, took every course, and read every book I could get my hands on.

Which is why I'm telling you:

Headlines can teach you everything you need to know about copy.

Headline School isn't *just* about headlines. But when you learn to write a great headline, you've learned everything you need to know about copy.

Once you learn that, you're free to apply it anywhere else. It'll hold true for CTAs, sub-heads, opt-ins, banners, body copy, and subject lines. (We'll talk about the difference between all those things in the course).

Great headlines are a side effect of understanding psychology and understanding sales.

How Headline School Works:

Headline School is a self-paced online course. It's 5-weeks of text and video-based lessons designed to get you feeling like you know what you're doing when it comes to writing copy. 

Here's what you'll learn in headline school:

• How Is Copy Different From Content (And Why It Matters)
• How to Write In a Way That Sounds Like You
• How To Write GREAT Freaking Headlines
• The 4 Fundamental Secrets to GREAT Copy
• How To Be Objective About Your Copy
• How To Find The Right Appeal For Your Headline
• What Great Copy Looks And Sounds Like
• Who You're Allowed To Copy (And Who You're Not)
• Influence, Persuasion, and Other Polite Words For “Manipulate"
• The Core Principles Behind Copy That Converts
• How You Know Your Copy Is Working
• Formatting Secrets That Keep People On The Page
• The Definitive Answer on "How Long Should My Copy Be?"
• ...and more!

Here's a Breakdown Of Your Lessons Each Week:

Week 1:

• Lesson 1: What is Copywriting?
• Lesson 2: Why Writing Copy Feels SO FREAKING WEIRD
• Lesson 3: What Great Copy Looks Like

Week 2:

• Lesson 4: Why Smart People Buy Dumb Sh - Stuff
• Lesson 5: Why We Buy Things We Don’t Need
• Lesson 6: Why Headlines Matter
• Lesson 7: Who Reads Headlines?

Week 3:

• Lesson 8: Finding the Right Appeal For Your Headline
• Lesson 9: Identifying (and Writing to) The Story Your Customers Need To Hear

Week 4:

• Lesson 10: What Do You Do When It's Time To Write
• Lesson 11: How to Know If Your Headline’s Working
• Lesson 12: Tactics For Writing Great Headlines That Convert
• Lesson 13: Persuasion, Influence, and Other Polite Words for Manipulate

Week 5:

• Lesson 14:  Everything You Need to Know About Writing Email Subject Lines That Get Opened
• Lesson 15: How To Sound Like Yourself In Your Copy
• BONUS: Formatting Secrets That Keep People On The Page
• BONUS: The definitive Answer on Length and Frequency
• BONUS: Writing Headlines With Justin Blackman (from Pretty Fly Copy)

By the end of week five, you'll know exactly what you're doing every single time you sit down to write copy.

Ready To Enroll?

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