Which Headline Pulled Best?
January 22, 2009 by fladlien
Filed under Uncategorized
I love my clients. Thanks to a recent client of mine (TOM!) I was able to get my hands on some ultra-rare Gary Halbert material.
In one of the manuals was a little quiz called “which headline pulled best?”. I’m a sucker for these things, and I fancy myself to be pretty good at this copywriting stuff. So I took the quiz.
Results? I bombed! I got only 13 out of 20 right. That’s a D on the grading scale.
However, I learned a lot from taking this, once I read the answers and explanations, and found it so instructive I wanted to share it with you.
So here’s what I want you to do. Take the quiz, and post your answers in the bog. Then tomorrow I’ll come back with the results and the explanations for why which ads pulled better.
Here is the quiz:
1. A) Push Button shave cream
B) Moisturized Shave Cream
2. A) How to get rid of an “inferiority complex”
B) The writings in these immortal books are as strong as the mightiest deeds of history
3. A) thousands suffer from sick nerves and don’t know it
B) have you these symptoms of nervous exhaustion?
4. a) Would you buy a $30 shirt on sale for $14.99
B) Half price sale on shirts!
5. A) The name of this jacket is Manana. But at $30 you better buy it today
B) It’s from Mexico. It’s handmade. And it’s only $30.
6. A)Save one gallon of gas in every ten
B) Car owners! Save one gallon of gas in every ten
7. A) Hay fever!
B) Dry up hay fever!
8. A) This is the ad we had to cancel three months ago because we sold them so fast
B) All leather handbags for only $28 (The last time we ran this ad we sold out in 48 hours!)
9. Which ad will be better read?
A) If the headline is above the picture?
B) If the headline is below the picture?
10. A) men’s thick terry robes, $65
B) We first saw these in the Carillon Hotel on the Place de la Concorde in Paris
11. A) Women’s sweater sale at below wholesale price $19.99
B) Would you buy a woman’s $65 sweater for $19.99
12. A) we go to Helsinki and back for our customers
B) “In our 38 years in business, we never sold so much of one item in so short a time – Milton Gordon
13. A)“My insurance company? New England life of course. Why?
B) The far sighted man from new England life can show you how you could get 30 years of life insurance – and then get back all the money you put in.
14.A) If you really want to impress someone with your car, tell him it’s paid for
B) “When we built the Volvo to last 11 years, we didn’t forget you’d be sitting in it for 11 years”
15. A) Here are two easy ways to build your sales of cooling system parts
B) New Gates charge announces tune-ups: $12 flat rte on cooling system
16. A) What is buffered aspirin?
B) how to stop a headache without upsetting your stomach
17. A) I never bought stocks before – how do I go about it?
B) What do I own when I own a share of stock?
18. A) use these eyedrops for bloodshot eyes
B) How to give quick rest to tired eyes
19. Rate these headlines in order of which pulled best (1) and which pulled worst (50 for these advertisements for a trade magazine
[ ] How to talk to a horse
[ ] Free way to start horsing around
[ ] How to adopt a horse
[ ] free gift if you love horses
[ ] Free lessons in horse training
20. A) Now try this vitamin.
B) Now try the vitamin of champions.
Take the quiz and post your answers in a reply to this blog!
Hi,
Thank you! I would now go on this blog every day!
Thank you
Hobosic
1. a
2. a
3. b
4. a
5. a
6. b
7. a
8. a
9. b
10. b
11. b
12. b
13. b
14. b
15. a
16. b
17. b
18. a
19.
How to talk to a horse
How to adopt a horse
free gift if you love horses
Free lessons in horse training
Free way to start horsing around
20. a
1 a
2 a
3 b
4 a
5 b
6 b
7 b
8 b
9 b
10 b
11 a
12 b
13 a
14 b
15 a
16 b
17 b
18 b
19 Free gift if you love horses
Free lessons in horse training
How to talk to a horse
How to adopt a horse
Free way to start horsing around
20 b
… maybe!
1. B
2. B
3. B
4.B
5. A
6.B
7.B
8.A
9.B
10.B
11.B
12.A
13.B
14. A
15. A
16.B
17.B
18. B
19.3,4,5,1,2
20.B
I’m sorry. That didn’t come out very good. Let me try again.
# Deborah Owen Says: Your comment is awaiting moderation.
January 23rd, 2009 at 4:47 am
I can’t wait to see the right answers.
1. A 19. How to talk to a horse
2. A Free lessons in horse training
3. B Free gift if you love horses
4. A How to adopt a horse
5. A
6. B
7. B
8. B
9. A
10. A
11. A
12. B
13. B
14. A
15. A
16. B
17. B
18. B
19. How to talk to a horse
A Free lessons in horse training
Free gift if you love horses
How to adopt a horse
Free way to start horsing around
20. B
I can’t wait to see the right answers.
1. A 11. A 19. How to talk to a horse
2. A 12. B Free lessons in horse training
3. B 13. B Free gift if you love horses
4. A 14. A How to adopt a horse
5. A 15. A Free way to start horsing around
6. B 16. B 20. B
7. B 17. B
8. B 18. B
9. A
10. A Thanks for the invitation, Jason.
1. A
2. B
3. B
4. A
5. B
6. B
7. B
8. B
9. B
10. B
11. B
12. A
13. B
14. A
15. A
16. A
17. B
18. A
19. 3, 2, 5, 4, 1
20. B
Vely intelesting!
I copied the quiz and completed it in Word before scrolling down to view others’ answers. I made my choices quickly and tried to pinpoint a brief why, which I’ll include here just to make the process even more potentially embarrassing.
1. B) – Consistent initial caps (or maybe A because guys don’t care about no stinkin’ moisturizer?… or B because women are often the decision-maker?… darn it all, this is no way to begin: I’ll stick with B!)
2. B) – Curiosity factor (+ an “inferiority complex” is something you assign to someone else, not yourself)
3. A) – Curiosity factor (+ awkward phrasing on B)
4. A) – Curiosity factor
5. A) – Curiosity factor
6. B) – Attention grabber
7. B) – Solution-oriented
8. B) – It produces a lower “BS Meter” reading
9. B) – Better eye flow
10. B) – Curiosity factor
11. B) – (But it needs a question mark!)
12. A) – Curiosity factor
13. A) – Leads you in instead of trying to tell the whole story in the headline.
14. B) – Power of the word “you”
15. A) – B is incoherent.
16. A) – Power of “a question”
17. B) – Power of the word “own”
18. B) – Stimulates/Relieves actual pain
19. [1] How to talk to a horse – [4] Free way to start horsing around – [3] How to adopt a horse – [2] free gift if you love horses – [5] Free lessons in horse training
20. A) – It produces a lower “BS Meter” reading
Listing my reasons also provides a good segue to a book/author recommendation for you, Jason…
http://scienceblogs.com/cortex/2009/01/how_we_decide.php
fyi, fwiw and all that jazz!
Debi
1B
2A
3B
4A
5A
6B
7A
8B
9B
10A
11B
12A
13B
14A
15A
16B
17A
18A
19: 2-4-5-1-3
20B
1.A
2.A
3.B
4.B
5.A
6.B
7.A
8.A
9.A
10.B
11.A
12.B
13.B
14.B
15.A
16.B
17.A
18.A
19. 4.How to talk to a horse
3.Free way to start horsing around
5.How to adopt a horse
1.Free gift if you love horses
2.Free lessons in horse training
20.B
a,a,b,a,b,b,b,b,b,b,b,b,a,a, 4,5,3,1,2, b
Looking forward to the results
1. A
2. A
3. B
4. A
5. B
6. B
7. A
8. B
9. A
10. B
11. B
12. B
13. B
14. B
15. B
16. B
17. B
18. B
19. 1 (Free lessons in horse training)
2 (Free gift if you love horses)
3 (How to talk to a horse)
4 (How to adopt a horse)
5 (Free way to start horsing around)
20. B
1.A
2.A
3.B
4.A
5.A
6.B
7.A
8.B
9.B
10.B
11.B
12.B
13.B
14.B
15.B
16.B
17.A
18.B
19.4,1,5,2,3
20.B
1. A) Push Button shave cream
2. A) How to get rid of an “inferiority complex”
3. B) have you these symptoms of nervous exhaustion?
4. a) Would you buy a $30 shirt on sale for $14.99
5. A) The name of this jacket is Manana. But at $30 you better buy it today
6.B) Car owners! Save one gallon of gas in every ten
7.B) Dry up hay fever!
8. A) This is the ad we had to cancel three months ago because we sold them so fast
9. Which ad will be better read?
A) If the headline is above the picture?
10.B) We first saw these in the Carillon Hotel on the Place de la Concorde in Paris
11.B) Would you buy a woman’s $65 sweater for $19.99
12. B) “In our 38 years in business, we never sold so much of one item in so short a time – Milton Gordon
13.B) The far sighted man from new England life can show you how you could get 30 years of life insurance – and then get back all the money you put in.
14.B) “When we built the Volvo to last 11 years, we didn’t forget you’d be sitting in it for 11 years”
15. A) Here are two easy ways to build your sales of cooling system parts
16.B) how to stop a headache without upsetting your stomach
17.B) What do I own when I own a share of stock?
18. A) use these eyedrops for bloodshot eyes
19. Rate these headlines in order of which pulled best (1) and which pulled worst (50 for these advertisements for a trade magazine
[1 ] How to talk to a horse
[5 ] Free way to start horsing around
[ 2] How to adopt a horse
[4 ] free gift if you love horses
[3 ] Free lessons in horse training
20. B) Now try the vitamin of champions.
1. A) Push Button shave cream
2. A) How to get rid of an “inferiority complex”
3. B) have you these symptoms of nervous exhaustion?
4. a) Would you buy a $30 shirt on sale for $14.99
5. A) The name of this jacket is Manana. But at $30 you better buy it today
6. B) Car owners! Save one gallon of gas in every ten
7. B) Dry up hay fever!
8. A) This is the ad we had to cancel three months ago because we sold them so
fast
9. Which ad will be better read?
A) If the headline is above the picture?
10. B) We first saw these in the Carillon Hotel on the Place de la Concorde in Paris
11. B) Would you buy a woman’s $65 sweater for $19.99
12. A) we go to Helsinki and back for our customers
13. B) The far sighted man from new England life can show you how you could
get 30 years of life insurance – and then get back all the money you put in.
14.A) If you really want to impress someone with your car, tell him it’s paid for
15. A) Here are two easy ways to build your sales of cooling system parts
16. A) What is buffered aspirin?
17. A) I never bought stocks before – how do I go about it?
18. A) use these eyedrops for bloodshot eyes
19. Rate these headlines in order of which pulled best (1) and which pulled worst (50
for these advertisements for a trade magazine
1. How to talk to a horse
2. free gift if you love horses
3. Free lessons in horse training
4. Free way to start horsing around
5. How to adopt a horse
20. B) Now try the vitamin of champions.
1a
2a
3a
4a
5a
6a
7a
8a
9b
10b
11a
12b
13b
14b
15b
16b
17b
18b
19. 10,15,5,40,45.
20b
1. B
2. A
3. B
4. A
5. A
6. B
7. B
8. A
9. B
10. B
11. B
12. B
13. B
14. B
15. A
16. B
17. B
18. B
19. 41523
20. B
Jason – Please don’t let this outcome affect our project – unless its for the good!
1. A
2. A
3. B
4. B
5. A
6. B
7. A
8. A
9. B
10. B
11. A
12. B
13. B
14. A
15. A
16. B
17. A
18. B
19. [1] [5] [3] [2] [4]
20. B
1. A
2 .A
3. B
4. A
5. B
6. B
7. B
8. A
9. B
10.B
11.B
12.B
13.B
14.B
15.B
16.B
17.B
18.B
19.[1]How to talk…[2]Free gift…[3]Free Way to Start…[4]Free lessons…[5]How to adopt…
20.B
1.b 2.a 3.a 4.b 5.b 6.b 7.b 8.b 9.a 10.a 11.a 12.b 13.a 14.b 15.a 16.b
17.b 18.a 19 1,5,2,4,3 20.b
1.A
2.B
3.A
4.A
5.A
6.B
7.B
8.B
9.A
10.B
11.B
12.A
13.B
14.B
15.B
16.B
17.B
18.B
19. 1,5,4,3,2
20.B
Hey Jason,
Cool quiz… Can’t wait to see the answers. Thanks for sharing.
1. B
2. A
3. B
4. B
5. B
6. B
7. A
8. B
9. A
10. A
11. A
12. B
13. A
14. B
15. B
16. B
17. B
18. B
19. 1
5
4
2
3
20. B
1 – A
2 – A
3 – B
4 – A
5 – B
6 – A
7 – B
8 – A
9 – B
10 – B
11 – B
12 – B
13 – B
14 – A
15 – B
16 – B
17 – A
18 – B
19 –
[4] How to talk to a horse
[5] Free way to start horsing around
[2] How to adopt a horse
[3] free gift if you love horses
[1] Free lessons in horse training
20 – B
1.b
2.a
3.a
4.a
5.a
6.b
7.b
8.b
9.a
10.b
11.b
12.a
13.a
14.b
15.b
16.b
17.a
18.b
19.(1)5(2)4(3)2(4)3(5)1
20.b
B,A,A,A,B,A,A,B,B,A,A,A,A,A,A,B,A,B
free gift
free lessons
free horsing
talk 2a horse
adopt a horse
B
A,A,A,A,B,B,B,A,B,B,B,B,B,B,A,B,B,B,12435,B
B, B, B, A, B, B, A, A, A, B, B, B, B, A, A, B, A, B, 12534, B
Great though provoker – thanks for the opportunity.
1A
2A
3A
4A
5B
6B
7B
8B
9A
10B
11B
12A
13B
14A
15B
16B
17B
18B
19 1,4,5,2,3
20B
Hi Jason,
here goes:
1) b
b
2) b
3) a
4) a
5) a
6) a
7) a
9) b
10) b
11) b
12) b
13) b
14) b
15) b
16) b
17) b
18) b
19) 15423
20) b
1A
2B
3A
4B
5A
6B
7A
8B
9A
10B
11A
12B
13B
14B
15A
16B
17B
18B
5,3,1,4,2
20B
1. a
2. a
3. b
4. a
5. a
6. b
7. b
8. b
9. a
10. b
11. b
12. b
13. b
14. a
15. b
16. b
17. a
18. b
19. listed in order of rankings 1,5,4,2,3
10. b
Fun quiz. Looking forward to the results… this was a good tune-up exercise!
Hi Jason,
My answers:
1. A
2. A
3. B
4. A
5. A
6. B
7. A
8. A
9. A
10. B
11. B
12. B
13. B
14. B
15. A
16. B
17. A
18. B
19. 1
5
4
2
3
20. B
1. a
2. a
3. a
4. a
5. b
6. b
7. a
8. b
9. a
10. b
11. a
12. b
13. a
14. b
15. b
16. b
17. b
18. a
19. 35412
20. b
Lambert,
yep that’s fine!
@David — I know what you mean…
But one of the biggest breakthroughs you can have online is to do it to get the experience wtihout stressing out if you get it right or not. Thanks for posting your answers and putting yourself out there!
-Jason Fladlien
1)A
2)A
3)B
4)A
5)A
6)B
7)B
8)B
9)A
10)B
11)B
12)B
13)B
14)B
15)A
16)B
17)B
18)B
19)15432
20)B
I am curious to see the results!
Hi Jason…
This will be interesting. Here are my answers.
a-a-b-b-b-a-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-a-b-b-b-[1-4-5-3-2]-b
Thanks for the info.
Joe Marsh
PS- Thanks again for your help with my product and launch
b,a,a,a,b,b,b,b,a,a,b,a,b,b,a,b,b,b,a-c,b
Hmmm hope I entered those right. It’s a hard way to do it. lol
aabaaabbbbbaabbbbb15050150b
I wish you had the answers up so I could have graded it anonymously.
1. a
2. b
3. b
4. a
5. a
6. b
7. a
8. a
9. b
10. b
11. a
12. b
13. b
14. a
15. a
16. b
17. b
18. a
19. a, d, e, c, b or if you wanted number 1, 4, 5, 3, 2
20. b
1. B
2. A
3. B
4. B
5. B
6. B
7. A
8. A
9. B
10. B
11. B
12. A
13. B
14. B
15. A
16. B
17. B
18. B
19. 5, 3, 4, 2, 1
20. B
this is going to be embarrassing..
1. B) Moisturized Shave Cream
2. A) How to get rid of an “inferiority complex”
3. B) have you these symptoms of nervous exhaustion?
4. B) Half price sale on shirts!
5. A) The name of this jacket is Manana. But at $30 you better buy it today
6. A)Save one gallon of gas in every ten
7. A) Hay fever!
8. B) All leather handbags for only $28 (The last time we ran this ad we sold out in 48 hours!)
9. B) If the headline is below the picture?
10. A) men’s thick terry robes, $65
11. A) Women’s sweater sale at below wholesale price $19.99
12. A) we go to Helsinki and back for our customers
13. A)“My insurance company? New England life of course. Why?
14.A) If you really want to impress someone with your car, tell him it’s paid for
15. B) New Gates charge announces tune-ups: $12 flat rte on cooling system
16. B) how to stop a headache without upsetting your stomach
17. B) What do I own when I own a share of stock?
18. A) use these eyedrops for bloodshot eyes
19. [3] How to talk to a horse
[5] Free way to start horsing around
[4] How to adopt a horse
[2] free gift if you love horses
[1] Free lessons in horse training
20. B) Now try the vitamin of champions.
a a b b a b a a b b
a a b a a b a a 53412 b