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Dear Friend, 

One of my favorite things in the world is to come up with a great headline. I put a lot of time and energy into making sure that each headline I write is going to capture the attention of my target audience and is going to tell my complete story in just a few words.

The headline is the most important thing you can write for any advertisement, and a truly good headline can do the job on it’s own. It can get your prospects to make a decision based on the information in the headline only.

A good headline promises a big benefit for the reader. The answer to some question or concern they have or the path to some goal they want to achieve, and by learning to communicate in a compelling way in only a few lines you can increase the response to your ads by up to ten times!

Want to know where you find great headlines?

They’re everywhere. I love to look at magazines that have great introductions to the articles in their issues. One of my favorites is Cosmo magazine. They always have great headlines. I also love the Weekly World News. In fact one of the most successful ads I’ve ever collaborated on came directly from the Weekly World News.

Now when I say directly – I mean it was directly adapted from a headline that was on an article in that magazine. The article was entitled “Why men take so long to commit – and what to do about it.”

Which my friend and I turned into “Why Dayton Homes Take So Long To Sell and What To Do About It.” One of our consulting clients ran the ad in the local homes magazine and got 7 call-in listings.

People read the ad and just called her up to come and list their house.

Adapting headlines like that is a great way to get started when you are writing ads.

Here’s how to steal great headlines.

Go to the grocery store and get a copy of the Weekly World News and Cosmo magazine. Turn to the inside cover of Cosmo and look at the titles of the articles. When I do that with my current issue of Cosmo the first headline that jumps out at me is “10 Reasons why your workout isn’t working.”

This could turn into “10 Reasons Why Your House Isn’t Selling” or “10 Reasons Why You Can’t Find The House You Really Want”. Both of these are good headlines and could be written as ads or run as classifieds in the local newspaper.

One of the best places to test headlines is in the classifieds, and if you’re going to be writing your headlines it’s not a bad idea to pretend you’re writing a classified ad because it forces you to get to the point in only 2 or 3 lines.

Can you imagine a homebuyer looking through the classifieds — scouring the classifieds for just the right house? Then they come across an ad that says. “10 reasons why you can’t find the house you really want. Free recorded message 1-800-888-8888.”
Does that headline arouse your curiosity? If you were looking for a house faithfully every day in the paper looking for just that right house and you found that ad and it was a free recorded message, you’d have to call because it’s speaking directly to you.
Keep in mind that the only purpose of your ad is to generate a call. It’s not supposed to convince people to list their house with you, or get a mortgage with you. It’s just supposed to arouse their curiosity enough that they want to call and listen to your free-recorded message.

Here are some great headline-starters that you can use to create awesome headlines.

How To [Get a big benefit or solve a big problem]

How To Sell Your House In Less Than 90 Days Guaranteed.

How To Get Pre-Approved For A Mortgage Before You Make An Offer On A Home.

How To Avoid The 10 Dumbest Mistakes Smart People Make When They Buy A Home.

[10] ways to [ insert a big benefit ]

10 Ways To Make Sure Your House Sells For Top Dollar.

10 Ways To Save Money When You Get A Mortgage.

10 Ways To Fix Up Your Home For Under $100.

Why [insert a big problem] and what to do about it.

Why Nobody Bought Your House — And What To Do About It.

Why The Bank May Turn You Down For A Mortgage — And What To Do About It.

Why You Can’t Find The House You Really Want – And What To Do About It.

OK. Here’s your homework assignment: go to the grocery store and get a copy of The Weekly World News and Cosmo magazine and scan the contents of the magazines for great headline ideas that you can turn into winning headlines.

Make My Life Better Day: 

Finally! 

Another Make My Life Better Day segment! 

It’s been an unusually busy travel time for me over the last couple of months, so I haven’t been able to focus on making my life better… 

BUT…I have been paying attention to all the things that have been causing FRICTION in my life. 

This past week I was at home after almost 30 days of very little at home time, so I got some time to finally work on putting some things in place to make my life better. 

I think it’s important to point out a couple of things here. 

First, one of the easiest ways to get clues as to what you can do to make your life better is to spend some time paying attention to your regular routines, and notice where things don’t go as perfectly as you’d like. 

Make a mental note, and then, when you have some time, think about what would make that situation PERFECT. 

Not “a little better”. Perfect. 

Perfect means effortless, smooth, without any hitches…or what I call FRICTION. 

Friction is a pretty good word for it. It’s any sticking point or less than ideal result. 

So, here’s a couple of examples for me…and of course they’re travel related…because it seems like that’s where all the friction has been for me lately, but the MODEL is applicable. It’s about how you THINK about less than perfect situations. 

First, a lot of my travel involves quick 3 or 4 day trips to do a Main Event somewhere in the country. 

One source of friction comes from having to pack and get all the stuff I need like cords, and chargers and my wireless hub. 

The next source of friction is the process of waiting for bags after a long cross country flight where I just want to get home to my wonderful feather bed. 

So…I got thinking about how I could remove that friction and what would make a PERFECT trip. 

This month we’re in Tampa…so it’s just a short drive from my house in Winter Haven, and I’ll be home by dinner time Wednesday..but this time, I put a little system in place that’s going to make my NEXT trip to Seattle in about a month the PERFECT trip. 

Here’s what I did. 

I got a separate mid-size suitcase and filled it with all the gear that I need when I’m at The Main Event. 

I went to the Apple store today and got a new Macbook that will be my travel computer. 

I got a case to keep duplicate power cords for my cell phone, my iPod, my wireless hub…a blender, an overnight kit with toothbrush, razors etc…a shoe bag to keep a couple of pairs of dress shoes and belts, some sandals, and casual shoes. 

Now, I’ll never have to pack that stuff again…and it will travel with all the sound equipment and gear from Main Event to Main Event. 

That’s step 1. 

Next, I found a baggage shipping company that will pick up your bags from any hotel and ship them to your house or vice versa….so when I get ready to leave Seattle next month, one bag will go down to the ballroom where it will get shipped along to the next city. 

The second bag…with my clothes, will go down to the bellstand where it will be picked up and sent to my house. 

So, all I have to do is get in the limo…show up at the airport…go straight to the gate…and fly home. 

When I get there, I’ll just walk off the plane…call the Valet at the Hyatt hotel attached to the airport…have them get my car ready, and I’ll be half-way home by the time my bags would have been ready in baggage claim. 

That is the ultimate friction-free travel system. 

So…how can you apply that kind of thinking to a situation in YOUR life? 

I’d like to hear about it. 

Let me know in the message board. 

Calamity Proofing Your Life: 

Ok…now here’s something for the Calamity Proofing file. 

Recently we got back to Florida, and one of our LCD TVs needs a new lamp. 

We have a service program for it, so it’s not going to cost anything, but I had to spend a lot of time looking for the information. 

So, I’m bringing back a concept I used about 10 years ago, and somehow, when we moved it never got continued. 

I call it “The Big Book Of Warranties, Manuals, Instructions and Service Contracts” 

I forget where I got the idea, but how it works is you get a big 3-ring binder and some see through plastic sleeve protector pockets. 

You put each warranty, manual, instruction book and service contract in a separate sleeve…and label what it is. 

So, whenever something goes wrong, or you need to consult the manual, it’s all in ONE convenient place. 

It’ll save you a ton of time and frustration the next time you need them. 

Try it. I’m going to bring it back this week.  

Well that’s it for now…tune in next time and we’ll talk about even more ways to make your life better….and calamity proof!