A Wonderful Two Years' Trip At Full Pay — But Only Men With Imagination Can Take It!

Last week we talked about the subject line of today’s e-mail, which was a headline written by Bruce Barton, that ran for 7 years straight. The ad was for the Alexander Hamilton Institute, a 2-year correspondence course in business, and the question I asked was, “Why do you think this headline was so effective?”

A few people sent in some provocative answers: Michael Porter, Bill Parlaman and Kumar all had some good things to offer. Let’s talk about a few of them.

1. First, the headline offers something all great headlines must contain: a great promise. Offering some sort of reward is one of the most critical headline components ever. Think about it, you’ve got to capture someone’s attention very rapidly, and what better way to do it than with a wonderful promise, reward or offer.

2. The headline was more believable because of it’s specificity. It didn’t say, “A wonderful trip where you can earn lots of money,” it said, “A wonderful TWO YEAR’S trip at FULL PAY.” Specificity is the best way to make yourself believable, so be specific whenever you can.

3. The headline is cheery. It’s packs a wallop of enthusiasm and it’s going to attract those kinds of men who are simulated by these same kinds of energetic messages. This is another way to disqualify people, by the way — the tone of your message. And this one says, “No duds allowed.”

4. And lastly, it provokes a ton of curiosity. If I had to stack up all the emotional buy-buttons you can possibly push, I’d say curiosity is one of the top two or three you should be pushing in your headlines.

O.K, I’m heading out to the beach this afternoon for a few days with my wife and the kids. This is our last time to enjoy the sun and the beautiful water before school starts. I’ll try and send out a picture or two, but reality is, I’m probably going to be out of touch until Friday.

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

P.S. Make ’em say “Yes!” every time using the RIGHT emotional buy-buttons: http://www.kingofcopy.com/seductive

If you enjoyed this, pass it on to a few of your friends and business associates, and if you have any comments about this message, leave them here on my blog — it’s important you let me know what you’re thinking!:

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