How to Grab Attention And Create Authority Positioning Using a Tear Sheet

Tear sheets are meant to look like a magazine or newspaper article that was written about you and your business and was literally torn out of the publication.They are a unique, fun way to grab attention, create instant credibility and expert branding and increase response to your marketing.

Personally, I’ve used tear sheets in two ways.  The first is as a positioning piece where I was actually interviewed by a writer and featured in a real publication. 

I use this tear sheet in my speaker’s information kit, as a handout wherever I speak and as an insert in any products I sell.  It’s a great tool for my audience and customers to get to know me and what I stand for.

The other way I like use tear sheets, as my friend Bill Glazer likes to say, is part of an “outrageous” marketing strategy.  My own “Tear Sheet CopyTemplate” is an example of this style tear sheet.  It looks like a newspaper article, but once you read it, you realize it’s meant to be a fun, humorous piece about a part of my business (but it still conveys an important message).  I’ve used this template as an insert in a printed newsletter (where my readers have come to expect some “outrageous marketing” and they loved it).

This tear sheet generated so much buzz, I decided to create a CopyTemplate out of it and offer it to other marketers as a way to create a simple newspaper article using their own equipment in just a few minutes.  It’s that easy.

You can check out some of the CopyTemplates that I have created by visiting my CopyDoodles site. As a member of the site, you will receive CopyTemplates, done-for-you marketing pieces that you can easily download and print for your own business without having to do all of the back breaking work!

I generally include a Microsoft Word and Microsoft Publisher version and literally show you how to create a very authentic-looking marketing piece in mere minutes! 

Speaking of tear sheets, as you begin to develop your tear sheet, keep these tips in mind:

1)    Consider having it written by a third-party writer
2)    Consider the context – is it a positioning/credibility piece or something more outrageous?
3)    Keep the design real
4)    Consider using it online, as part of a press-release package, as a handout when you speak and even as part of a product package
5)    Have fun with this!