Jay Abraham

Jay Abraham’s Reports
About Jay Abraham

“America’s Number One Marketing Wizard”
As the founder and CEO of Abraham Group, Inc. in Los Angeles, California, Jay has spent
the last 25 years solving problems and significantly increasing the bottom lines of over
10,000 clients in more than 400 industries worldwide. Jay has seen and dealt with every
type of business you can imagine. And he’s studied and solved every kind of business
question, problem, challenge and opportunity.
Jay’s uncanny ability to increase business income, wealth and success by uncovering
hidden assets, overlooked opportunities and undervalued possibilities has captured the
attention and respect of CEOs, best-selling authors, entrepreneurs and marketing experts.
Jay’s clients range from business royalty to small business owners. But they all have one
thing in common — virtually all have profited greatly from Jay’s expertise. A number of
clients each acknowledge that Jay’s efforts and ideas have lead to a profit increase of
millions of dollars.
Jay has identified the patterns that limit and restrict business growth. He’s one of only a
very few people who realize that most industries only know and use one particular
marketing approach — even though there may be dozens of more effective and profitable
strategies and options available to them.
Jay shows his clients how to take different success concepts from different industries and
adopt them to their specific business. This gives Jay’s clients a powerful advantage over
their competition.
Jay is dedicated to growing businesses and advancing careers exponentially factors. He

believes strongly in ethical business practices. Jay welcomes anyone who wants to build
their own business or career, increase their personal wealth and add to their person
growth.
Disclaimer: These reports are written by Jay Abraham 1

Use This Script To Upsell Your Customers Like Crazy
By Jay Abraham
Say to prospects, "My company will allow me to upgrade you to the superior service or
package of services for only a nominal amount more than the good basic service you
chose originally. Instead of having to pay two times more to move from our basic to our
superior service, I can upgrade you or add it on for a modest amount more." (At this point
you specify what the amount is.)
The trick in the upsell is your script. It acknowledges the prudent decision the customer or
client has made and is about to sign off on. It then alerts them to the fact that since they've
already decided they want that result, they probably would have an even greater
appreciation for the superior result -- which you can give them for only a modest amount
more!
A word of Caution: an "upsell" will backfire on you and breed resentment if your customers
perceive it as only crass bait-and-switch strategy. To avoid that pitfall, halt the upsell
whenever a customer or client shows by words, gesture or expression that they have
serious reservations about upgrading. At that point, you should put them at ease and start
talking again about the high value in their first purchase choice.
In any selling, your first objective should be to remove prospect resistance. There are a
number of massively effective ways to do that. Each of the techniques is ethical, each is
beneficial to customers and clients -- and each is non-manipulative.
Risk Reversal: Here, you (as seller) assume most or all the risk in a transaction and your
customer assumes none of it. The textbook example of risk reversal is the 100%
guarantee of a full refund with no questions asked. It's a wonderful way to sweep away
buyer doubt or hesitation.
I believe strongly in "reversing the risk" and, as some readers know from firsthand

experience, I use the technique at my business-building seminars. If a seminar attendee

doesn't find solid value by the second day of a three-day seminar, I refund their money.
Two Step Selling: Again, the object is to neutralize or remove customer doubt. Two-step
selling does that, because in a Two Step you offer your prospects something of clear
value, free of charge. The free item could be a free information document, a free lesson, a
free trial of something or (if you're a physician) even free flu shots!
Both techniques -- risk reversal and two-step selling -- establish you as a seller who can
be trusted and one who is trying to add genuine value and advantage to a customer's life.

The 100 Greatest Headlines Ever Written
1. THE SECRET OF MAKING PEOPLE LIKE YOU
Almost $500,000 was spent profitably to run keyed ads displaying this headline. It
drew many hundreds of thousands of readers into the body matter of a "people-
mover" advertisement --- one which, by itself, built a big business. Pretty irresistible,
isn't it?
2. A LITTLE MISTAKE THAT COST A FARMER $3,000 A YEAR
A sizeable appropriation was spent successfully in farm magazines on this ad.

Sometimes the negative idea of offsetting, reducing, or eliminating the "risk of loss" is
even more attractive to the reader than the
"prospect of gain."
As the great business executive Chauncey Depew once said, "I would not stay up all of
one night to make $100; but I would stay up all of seven nights to keep from losing it."
As Walter Norvath says in Six Successful Selling Techniques, "People will fight much
harder to avoid losing something they already own than to gain something of greater
value that they do not own." It is also true that they have the feeling that losses and
waste can often be more easily retrieved than new profits can be gained.
What farmer could pass up reading the copy under such a headline --- to find out:
"What was the mistake? Why was it 'little'? Am I making it? If it cost a farmer a loss of
$3,000 a year, maybe it's costing me a lot more? Perhaps the copy will also tell me
about other mistakes I might be making."
2. ADVICE TO WIVES WHOSE HUSBANDS DON'T SAVE MONEY --- BY A WIFE
The headline strength of the word "advice" has often been proven. Most people
want it, regardless of whether or not they follow it. And the particular "ailment"
referred to is common enough to interest a lot of readers. The "it happened to me"
tag line, "by a wife," increases the desire to read the copy. (This ad far outpulled the
advertiser's previous best ad, Get Rid of Money Worries.)

3. THE CHILD WHO WON THE HEARTS OF ALL
This was a key-result ad which proved spectacularly profitable. It appeared in

women's magazines. The emotional-type copy described (and the photograph
portrayed) the kind of little girl any parent would want their daughter to be.
Laughing, rollicking, running forward with arms out-stretched, right out of the ad and
into the arms and heart of the reader.
4. ARE YOU EVER TONGUE-TIED AT A PARTY?
Pinpoints the myriads of self-conscious, inferiority-complexed wallflowers. "That's

me! I want to read this ad; maybe it tells me exactly what to do about it."
As you go along, you will notice how many of these headlines are interrogative
ones. They ask a question to which people want to read the answer. They excite
curiosity and interest in the body matter which follows. They hit home --- cut
through verbose indirectness. The best ones are challenges, which are difficult to
ignore, cannot be dismissed with a quick no or yes and without further reading, are
pertinent and relevant to the reader. Note how many of the ones included here
measure up to these specifications.
6. HOW A NEW DISCOVERY MADE A PLAIN GIRL BEAUTIFUL
Wide appeal; there are more plain girls than beautiful ones --- and just about all of
them want to be better looking.
7. HOW TO WIN FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE
This helped to sell millions of copies of the book of the same title. Strong basic appeal;
we will all want to do it. But without the words "how to" the headline would become
simply a trite wall motto.
8. THE LAST 2 HOURS ARE THE LONGEST --- AND THOSE ARE THE 2 HOURS
YOU SAVE
An airline ad featured a faster jet-powered flight. Headline is a bull's-eye for air-

experienced travelers who know what those last two interminable hours can do to their
nerves and patience. Like many fine headlines, it doubtless came right out of the
personal experience of its writer. This headline (and all the others discussed here)
would have been good even if it had not been supported by any picture at all. But its
effect was heightened by a photo of a wristwatch with the hour marks indicating 1 to 10
bunched together --- and 10, 11, and 12 stretched wide apart.

9. WHO ELSE WANTS A SCREEN STAR FIGURE?
Who doesn't? Except men --- and this successful and much-fun ad is not addressed to
them. "Who else" also has a "get on the bandwagon" connotation: not "Can it be
done?" but "Who else wants to have it?"
10. DO YOU MAKE THESE MISTAKES IN ENGLISH?
A direct challenge. Now read the headline back, eliminating the vital word "these." This
word is the "hook" that almost forces you into the copy. "What are these particular
mistakes? Do I make them?" Also notice (as with many of the other headline reviewed)
that this one promised to provide helpful personal information in its own context, not
merely "advertising talk."
The attraction of the Specific: In this first breather let us stop to impress upon your
mind how significant a part the "specific" plays in so many good headlines. It appears
in many of our first ten. And it will appear in a surprising number of the next ninety. You
will see how magnetically it helps to draw the reader into the body matter of an
advertisement. So notice, as you continue reading, how many of these headlines
contain specific words or phrases that make the ad promise to tell you: How, Here's,
These, Which of these, Who Else, Where, When, What, Why. Also, note frequently
exact amounts are used: number of days, evenings, hours, minutes, dollars, ways,
types of. This "attraction of the specific" is worth your special attention --- not only as
relating to words and phrases, but also concerning headline ideas themselves. For
example, compare the appeal of "We'll Help You Make More Money" with "We'll Help
You Pay the Rent."
11. WHY SOME FOODS "EXPLODE" IN YOUR STOMACH
A provocative "why" headline. Based upon the completely understandable fact that
some food combinations virtually "explode" in the stomach. Broad appeal. (Relevant
picture of chemical retort shaped like a stomach, starting to explode.)
12. HANDS THAT LOOK LOVLIER IN 24 HOURS --- OR YOUR MONEY BACK
Universal appeal to women. Result guaranteed: "Or Your Money Back."
13. YOU CAN LAUGH AT MONEY WORRIES --- IF YOU FOLLOW THIS SIMPLE
PLAN
Something everybody wants to be able to do. A successful keyed ad upon which many
thousands have been spent.

14. WHY SOME PEOPLE ALMOST ALWAYS MAKE MONEY

IN THE STOCK MARKET
A profitable check-results ad selling a book written by a partner in a well-known and

highly regarded brokerage house. Important key words: "some" and "almost" --- which
make the headline credible.
15. WHEN DOCTORS "FEEL ROTTEN" THIS IS WHAT THEY DO
What's the secret of the success of this well-known ad? First: the suggestion of a
paradox. We seldom think of doctors as being in poor health themselves. And when
they are, what they do about it is information "right from the horse's mouth"; carries a
note of authority and greater assurance of "reward for reading the ad." Note the
positive promise of reward in "This Is What They Do."
Also, the use of the unabashed colloquialism "feel rotten" gets attention, sounds
human, natural. Besides, it has surprise value --- since the vocabulary of the
advertising pages has a certain sameness and stilted quality. Many a headline fails to
stop readers because its vocabulary is so hackneyed. No word or phrase in it has any
attention-arresting element of surprise, no words, expressions, or ideas not commonly
used or expected in the headline of an advertisement. This ad pulled only half the
number of responses when a test was made changing "When Doctors Feel Rotten" to
"When Doctors Don't Feel Up To Par." (Other examples of the use of common
colloquialisms and words are given, and commented upon, in many of these good
headlines.)
Since the idea of using headline words not commonly utilized in the lexicon of
advertising is worth such serious consideration, let us cite a few more examples. For a
book on scientific weight control: the one word "Pot-Belly"! (Not very elegant, but it
proved an effective stopper.) For a dictionary: a single word (onion, hog, shad, pelican,
skunk, kangaroo, etc.) as the boldface headline of each in a series of small-space
advertisements. You couldn't miss it on the page and you wanted to know what it was
all about. The copy followed through by illustrating how simple and clear the definitions
were in that particular dictionary. For a book of golf instruction: "Don't Belly-Ache About
Your Golf This Year!"
16. IT SEEMS INCREDIBLE THAT YOU CAN OFFER THESE SIGNED ORIGINAL
ETCHINGS --- FOR ONLY $5 EACH
Anticipates the reader's natural incredulity concerning such an exceptional bargain.

Thus helping to overcome his doubt in advance, by acknowledging the likelihood of it.
17. FIVE FAMILIAR SKIN TROUBLES --- WHICH DO YOU WANT TO OVERCOME?
"Let me keep reading --- to see if I have one of the five." The old "which of these"
selling technique; not "do you want?" but "which do you want?" (Interrogative headline
helps entice readers into the copy. Note how many of these hundred are interrogative

18. WHICH OF THESE $2.50 TO $5 BEST SELLERS DO YOU WANT --- FOR ONLY
$1 EACH?
This keyed ad sold hundreds of thousands of books. Strong comparative-price bargain

appeal.
19. WHO EVER HEARD OF A WOMAN LOSING WEIGHT --- AND ENJOYING 3
DELICIOUS MEALS AT THE SAME TIME?
Another example of a headline which anticipates incredulity in order to help overcome

it.
20. HOW I IMPROVED MY MEMORY IN ONE EVENING
This is the famous "Addsion Sims of Seattle" ad which coined that household phrase.
Could you escape wanting to read it?
21. DISCOVER THE FORTUNE THAT LIES HIDDEN IN YOUR SALARY
One of those good "discover what lies hidden" headlines. (Note others here.) A proven
puller for an advertiser offering sound securities on a "pay out of income" basis.
22. DOCTORS PROVE 2 OUT OF 3 WOMEN CAN HAVE MORE

BEAUTIFUL SKIN IN 14 DAYS
Women want it. "Why two out of three? Am I one of the two? How have doctors proven
it? Quick results are what I want....Only fourteen days!"
How Many Words Should a Headline Contain? ...You have probably often read about
the desirability of having no more than a certain number of words in your headline. Yet,
in this second breather, we want to point out that many of the headlines already quoted
(and others to follow) are, by ordinary standards, quite long. Yet, despite their length,
they were successful. Obviously, it is not wise to make a headline any lengthier than its
primary function actually requires. However, greater-than-usual length need not worry
you...provided the headline's high spots of interest are physically well broken up and
clearly displayed --- and provided the personal advantages promised to the reader are
presented so oppositely that it is almost as though his own name appeared in the
headline. Worth recounting is the story of Max Hart (of Hart, Schaffner and Marx) and
his advertising manager, the late and great George L. Dyer. They were arguing about
long copy. To clinch the argument Mr. Dyer said, "I'll bet you $10 I can write a
newspaper page of solid types and you'd read every word of it." Mr. Hart scoffed at the
idea. "I don't have to write a line of it to prove my point," Mr. Dyer responded. "I'll only
tell you the headline: "This page is all about Max Hart!"

23. HOW I MADE A FORTUNE WITH A "FOOL IDEA"
Paradoxes excite interest. Broad appeal: almost everyone has once had a pet
moneymaking idea that others have thought foolish and impractical. Sympathy for the
underdog: "What's the story of this man who 'turned the tables' on the people who
ridiculed him?"
24. HOW OFTEN DO YOU HEAR YOURSELF SAYING: "NO, I HAVEN'T READ IT:
I'VE BEEN MEANING TO!"
A well-known book club has spent a great deal of money on this ad. Headline aimed
accurately at large market --- people who "mean to" keep up with the new books but
somehow "never get around to it."
25. THOUSANDS HAVE THIS PRICELESS GIFT --- BUT NEVER DISCOVER IT!
"What 'priceless gift'? Why is it 'priceless'? If 'thousands' have it, perhaps I should have
it too." The "undiscovered" angle has great attraction. Legions of people are convinced
that they possess talents and abilities which others have never discovered.
Consequently, their world is unfortunately inclined to underrate or misjudge them.
26. WHOSE FAULT WHEN CHILDREN DISOBEY?
What parent wouldn't be stopped cold by this headline? "I'm the one who's probably to
blame. It's a distressing condition --- and, most important, a reflection upon me. Maybe
this ad tells me what to do about it."
27. HOW A "FOOL STUNT" MADE ME A STAR SALESMAN
What is the 'fool stunt'? Why did people call it that? How did it transform this fellow? I'd
like to be able to 'sell' myself and my ideas --- even though selling may not be my
vocation.") A large expenditure was made profitably on this ad after its resentfulness
had been proven.)
28. HAVE YOU THESE SYMPTOMS OF NERVE EXHAUSTION?
Everyone likes to read about his "symptoms." The appeal is broad; the condition of
"nerve exhaustion" is common.

29. GUARANTEED TO GO THROUGH ICE, MUD OR SNOW ---

OR WE PAY THE TOW!
If you offer a powerful guarantee with your product, play it up strongly and quickly in
the headline. Don't relegate it to minor display. Many products are actually backed up
by dramatic guarantees - but their advertising does not make the most of them.
30. HAVE YOU A "WORRY" STOCK?
"Perhaps this ad will tell me why I need not lose any sleep over it --- or how I can
replace it with one that will zoom."
31. HOW A NEW KIND OF CLAY IMPROVED MY COMPLEXION IN 30 MINUTES
Promises a desirable reward for reading. And the true experience of another person
(with something relevant to our own desires) is always interesting.
32. 161 NEW WAYS TO A MAN'S HEART --- IN THIS FASCINATING BOOK FOR
COOKS
Again, the attraction of the specific --- tied up with a strong basic appeal.
33. PROFITS THAT LIE HIDDEN IN YOUR FARM
Widely run in farm papers, with exceptional results. The hidden-profit ideas and the
suggestion of retrieving a loss.
34. IS THE LIFE OF A CHILD WORTH $1 TO YOU?
Trenchant headline for a brake-relining service. Strong emotional appeal: how the life
of a little child may be snuffed out by an accident due to your ineffective brakes.
35. EVERYWHERE WOMEN ARE RAVING ABOUT THIS AMAZING NEW

SHAMPOO!
The colloquial: "raving about." The "success" word: "everywhere." (The increasing
popularity and sale of a product are adduced as evidence of its merit. "Nothing
succeeds like success"; and people love to climb on a bandwagon.) And the
overworked "amazing" still seems to have some power left.

36. DO YOU DO ANY OF THESE TEN EMBARRASSING THINGS?
Bull's-eye question. All of us are afraid of embarrassing ourselves before others: being
criticized, looked down upon, talked about. "Which 'ten' are they? Do I do any of
them?"
37. SIX TYPES OF INVESTOR --- WHICH GROUP ARE YOU IN?
This ad produced inquiries in large quantities. Investors reviewed the characteristics of

each of the six groups, as described in the ad, then inquired about a program designed
to meet the investment purposes of their particular group.
The Primary Viewpoint --- The "Point of You" ... Breather No. 3 is a short one because
you already know the "lesson" very well. But to stress its importance, let us point this
out to you: 43 of these 100 headlines contain one of these actual words --- "you",
"your", or "yourself." Even when the pronoun is first person singular (for example, "How
I Improved My Memory in One Evening"), the reward promised is so universally
desired that it is, in effect, really saying, "You can do it, too!" Thousands of words have
already been written about the "point of you" --- but let me remind you that, given a
fountain pen, 96 percent of 500 college women wrote their own names; shown a map
of the USA, 447 men out of 500 looked first for the location of their home towns!
Howard Barnes, of the American Newspaper Publishers' Association, really was on
target when he said: "To call up an image of the reader, all you need to do is pin up a
target. Then, starting at the outside, you can label his interests in this order: the world,
the United States, his home state, his home town, and we'll lump together in the black
center his family and himself....me. Myself. I come first. I am the bull's-eye.
38. HOW TO TAKE OUT STAINS...USE (PRODUCT NAME) AND FOLLOW THESE
EASY DIRECTIONS
An example of a good "service" ad --- one which, besides being relevantly tied up with
the product, also contains helpful information usable in itself. (Such ads often have
considerable longevity because they are cut out and used for future reference.)
39. TODAY...ADD $10,000 TO YOUR ESTATE --- FOR THE PRICE OF A NEW HAT
Who wouldn't want to do that? Doubt as to the promise if offset by the fact that the
advertiser is a large and reputable insurance company.

40. DOES YOUR CHILD EVER EMBARRASS YOU?
Direct, challenging, a common circumstance. Brings up a flood or recollections. How

can such unpleasant experiences be avoided in the future? Based upon a strong
selfish appeal. Parents, are first, individuals; second, parents. The kind of reflection
that children cast upon the prestige and self-esteem of their parents is a useful copy
angle to remember.
(This headline is the negative opposite of No. 4, The Child Who Won the Hearts of All.)
41. IS YOUR HOME PICTURE-POOR?
A rifle-shot question hitting thousands of readers. Illustrated by a photo of an otherwise

attractive living room with blank areas on its walls; with X's indicating where pictures
would improve the room's appearance.
42. HOW TO GIVE YOUR CHILDREN EXTRA IRON --- THESE 3 DELICIOUS WAYS
It obeys the wise maxim of newspaper reporters: "Start where the reader is." In other
words, the public already accepts the fact that children's blood should contain plenty of
iron. So the headline goes on from there --- promising "extra" iron and "3 delicious
ways" to get it ("delicious" ways; so not the common parent vs. child battle).
43. TO PEOPLE WHO WANT TO WRITE --- BUT CAN'T GET STARTED
Unerringly selects its audience, which is large --- and stymied.
44. THIS ALMOST-MAGICAL LAMP LIGHTS HIGHWAY TURNS BEFORE YOU

MAKE THEM
The word "almost" lends believability. Headline promises an automatic no-effort

method of relieving an annoying condition or avoiding a dangerous emergency.
45. THE CRIMES WE COMMIT AGAINST OUR STOMACHS
Another "start where the reader is" headline --- because most people already believe
they often give their digestive process some pretty rough treatment. This rapport,
between the theme of the ad and the common belief of its readers, makes the "we" and
"our" practically equal in effectiveness to "you" and "your."

46. THE MAN WITH THE "GRASSHOPPER MIND"
An immediate association with himself leaps to the mind of the reader. He wants to
check at once on the personal parallel. What are the symptoms? Starting things one
never finishes? Jumping from one thing to another.
"How much am I like him? It's not a good trait. What did he do about it?" This is an
example of a negative headline that strikes home more accurately and dramatically
than would a positive one.
47. THEY LAUGHED WHEN I SAT DOWN AT THE PIANO --- BUT WHEN I
STARTED TO PLAY!
Another one that has entered our language. Sympathy with the underdog. Particularly
interesting, structurally, as an example of a headline which "turns the corner" by using
a final tag line to make itself positive instead of negative.
Also worth remembering: the before-and-after angle can be effective in many

headlines.
48. THROW AWAY YOUR OARS!
Short and positive commands often make good stopper headlines. When Ole
Evinrude, the outboard-motor king, ran a small ad with this headline, he took the first
step toward building his one-room machine ship into a big business. (A similar
headline, Throw Away Your Aerial! was also once responsible for building a business
in the radio field.) This type of headline is worth thinking about when the product you
are advertising eliminates the need for some, heretofore, necessary piece of
equipment, some onerous job, or some sizable item of expense.
49. HOW TO DO WONDERS WITH A LITTLE LAND!
A successful headline which pulled 75 percent better than "Two Acres and Security"
and 40 percent better than A Little Land --- a Lot of Living. The reason: "how to" and
"do wonders with."
50. WHO ELSE WANTS LIGHTE CAKE --- IN HALF THE MIXING TIME?
Strong appeal. Another good "who else" headline. (No 9, Who Else Wants A Screen
Star Figure?)

51. LITTLE LEAKS THAT KEEP MEN POOR
A keyed "retrieving a loss" ad whose checked resultfulness justified frequent repetition.
52. PIERCED BY 301 NAILS....RETAINS FULL AIR PRESSURE
Who wouldn't be interested in reading more about a tire like this?
53. NO MORE BACKBREAKING GARDEN CHORES FOR ME --- YET OURS IS

NOW THE SHOW-PLACE OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD!
A good example of a before-and-after headline which makes the turn from negative to
positive. Also worth noting: it has an effective element of excitement in it --- a feature of
many good headlines, communicating the copywriter's enthusiasm to the printed page.
Don't Worry about a "Negative" Approach...This breather No. 4 is about negative

headlines. "Accentuate the positive; eliminate the negative," said a song of some years
ago. For years that has also been the popular refrain on the advice often given to
copywriters. Discussion about negative headlines has sometimes sparked more fire
than enlightenment. Yet our 100 headlines then become positive. So the negative
approach must have some good reason for existence. It has. What is it? One of the
principal objectives of a headline is to strike as directly as possible right at a situation
confronting the reader. Sometimes you can do this with greater accuracy if you use a
negative headline which pinpoints the ailment rather than the alleviation of it. (For
example, Is YOUR Home Picture-Poor? Have YOU a "Worry Stock" --- Little Leaks
That Keep Men Poor.) So when you face that kind of situation don't be afraid to
"accentuate the negative." Let's proceed to another great headline which captured a
place in our everyday language.
54. OFTEN A BRIDESMAID, NEVER A BRIDE
So poignantly true, so pointed --- and so common.
55. HOW MUCH IS "WORKER TENSION" COSTING YOUR COMPANY?
An ad which was successful in business magazines reaching executives. "I want to

know which are the kinds of 'worker tension' specifically. What is 'worker tension'
costing other companies in net profits? How much is it costing us? If it is, what can we
do about it?"
56. TO MEN WHO WANT TO QUIT WORK SOMEDAY
Selects its readers without wasting a word. (And who can say that the Audience isn't
kind of large?)

57. HOW TO PLAN YOUR HOUSE TO SUIT YOURSELF
This pulled almost 20% better than How to Avoid These Mistakes in Planning Your
Home. Apparently, people expect the architect to avoid the mistakes --- but feel that
they themselves know better than anyone else what will best suit their particular needs
and preferences.
58. BUY NO DESK --- UNTIL YOU'VE SEEN THIS SENSATION OF THE BUSINESS
SHOW
Strong "stopper" type of "command" headline, adaptable for many uses. Copy quickly
follows with "until you have checked as to whether it has this feature, and this one, and
this..."
59. CALL BACK THESE GREAT MOMENTS AT THE OPERA
Sometimes it's a good idea to "start where the reader was." This nostalgic headline
was used to sell phonograph records of great operas. The ideas can be used in a
positive way: typing up with a desirable remembrance. Or it can be used negatively:
contrasting a certain new product advantage with an undesirable remembrance.
60. "I LOST MY BULGES...AND SAVED MONEY, TOO"
World "bulges" is a stopper, not commonly used in advertising lexicon. Double-edged

appeal: the promise to end an unwanted condition and to save you money, also.
61. WHY (BRAND NAME) BULBS GIVE MORE LIGHT THIS YEAR
This one illustrates an important point, one which many advertisers hate to swallow. It
is usually not a good idea to tell the name of the company (or the brand name) in the
headline --- or to make it tell too much of the story. When this is done right in the
headline itself, it often gives the whole thing away and does not tempt the reader into
the copy. However, as is this case, when the advertiser is a nationally famous
company (particularly when it is noted for its enterprise, innovations, improvements,
and research), the use of the company, brand name can add news value to the
headline --- and help to substantiate the truth of the claim made in it.
62. RIGHT AND WRONG FARMING METHODS --- AND LITTLE POINTERS THAT
WILL INCREASE YOUR PROFITS
Exceedingly profitable in farm papers. A combination of negative and positive appeals,
worth a lot of "come hither" for farmers.

63. NEW CAKE-IMPROVER GETS YOU COMPLIMENTS GALORE!
There are three things which advertising can tell its readers: (1) what the product is; (2)
what it does; and...this headline utilizes the third (and often overlooked) one: (3) In
terms of the advertisers, it is this: What other people will say of you, think of you, do for
you --- how they will admire you, envy you, imitate you --- because of what my product
can accomplish for you. In terms of the prospective customer it is this: Because of what
your product can do for me, people may think more of me! This third factor (which is an
extension of the No. 2 factor mentioned above) can be made so effective, and is so
often neglected that it rates special attention here as Breather No. 5. The proper use of
it can make advertising copy make more sales.
Therefore, it is worth a prominent niche in your memory. To keep it there, visualize a

somewhat ridiculous picture. (Tying up an absurd pictorial association with a concept
you want to remember is, of course, a well-known aid to memory.) The sketch is of a
boy sitting on the prow of a PT boat. His mother is sitting in the stern. Between the two
the initials "PT" are printed in big letters on the side of this type of small, but very fast,
patrol boat used so extensively in World War II in the South Pacific. This mental picture
will help you remember the initials "BOY PT MOM." And these are the initials of the
phrase, "Because Of You, People Think More Of Me." Headline No. 63 utilizes that
factor. It promises the reader that this new cake improver will win her compliments
from others; that because of you (the advertiser) other people will think more of her
(the reader). You are offering to show her how to make what she might later call her
"reputation cake." Sometimes this element in copy is called the "prestige factor," and is
considered only as an extension of the "what the product does" type of copy. (In
discussing the advertising of ladies' perfumes Hal Stebbins calls it persuasive, so
compelling, that it rates at least a subcategory of its own.
64. IMAGINE ME...HOLDING AN AUDIENCE SPELLBOUND FOR 30 MINUTES
A profitable narrative-ad headline. Broad interest in this kind of ability. Narrator's

surprise and apparent humility lend credence and humanness to the statement.
65. THIS IS MARIE ANTOINETTE --- RIDING TO HER DEATH
An often-repeated ad for a set of books. It pulled eight times as many responses in

1/4-page size as were ever received from a double-spread. This is the only straight
"curiosity" headline included here. Its headline was relevant --- not, as so commonly
used, one of those trick devices to force attention when advertising a product not
closely related to the headline.
66. DID YOU EVER SEE A "TELEGRAM" FROM YOUR HEART?
A real stopper of a headline, with a great deal of lure in the copy. Top picture shows a
cardiogram report printed upon a Western Union telegram form.

67. NOW ANY AUTO REPAIR JOB CAN BE "DUCK SOUP" FOR YOU
What do you know --- the words "duck soup" in an ad? But doesn't it tell the story in a
more unusual way than would "easy," "simple," or some such word --- particularly to
the type of market to which this ad is aimed?
68. NEW SHAMPOO LEAVES YOUR HAIR SMOOTHER --- EASIER TO MANAGE
A result that all women want is clearly and persuasively stated. Word "leaves" makes it
sound effortless.
69. IT'S A SHAME FOR YOU NOT TO MAKE GOOD MONEY --- WHEN THESE MEN
DO IT SO EASILY
The colloquial "it's a shame." Sympathetic understanding of the reader: "You are as
capable as these other men." (Headline, of course, is supported by photos and good
testimonials.)
70. YOU NEVER SAW SUCH LETTERS AS HARRY AND I GOT ABOUT OUR
PEARS
Friendly, human, disarmingly ingenuous, refreshingly non-"advertisy" in language. And,

of course, the reference to "such letters."
71. THOUSANDS NOW PLAY WHO NEVER THOUGHT THEY COULD
A headline perennially profitable for a large music school. Again, the copy is crammed
with testimonials and references substantiating the claim.
72. GREAT NEW DISCOVERY KILLS KITCHEN ODORS QUICK! --- MAKES
INDOOR AIR "COUNTRY-FRESH"
The headline of an ad that launched a big business. Faces a common problem head-
on; offers and easy and pleasant solution.
73. MAKE THIS 1-MINUTE TEST --- OF AN AMAZING NEW KIND OF SHAVING
CREAM
The "make this test" angle has been used in many good headlines. It is widely usable
for others. Its purpose is to induce the reader to participate in a demonstration of the
product's merits. However, if credible and dramatic, the test can represent a
persuasive demonstration whether or not the reader ever actually makes it.

74. ANNOUNCING...THE NEW EDITION OF THE ENCYCLOPEDIA THAT MAKES IT

FUN TO LEARN THINGS
The "announcement" type of headline (when bring out a new product) wins attention
because people are interested in new things.
Neophobia? --- Americans Don't Suffer From This Ailment! ...Breather No. 6 is here to
remind you that in a great many of these headlines you find the word new --- or
connotation of it, such as "new kind of," "new discover," "new way to," etc. Americans
are partial to the new or novel; they do not suffer from neophobia. To them the mere
factor of newness seems to be prima facie evidence of "betterness."
Undeviating affection for the old and tried may be strong in other countries; in ours the
desire to try the new is stronger. The great achievements of our inventors and
enterprising manufacturers have trained us to believe that if it's new, it's likely to be
better. However, the word "new" in a headline should be backed up by copy pointing
out the merits of something really new and advantageous, not some transparently
trivial difference. And now we come to another familiar headline...
75. AGAIN SHE ORDERS... "A CHICKEN SALAD, PLEASE"
You still hear it quoted. It sold hundreds of thousands of copies of an etiquette book
because it capsulated a common and embarrassing situation.
76. FOR THE WOMAN WHO IS OLDER THAN SHE LOOKS
This headline was a stopper to thousands...and more successful than the subtly
different "For the Woman Who Looks Younger Than She Is."
77. WHERE YOU CAN GO IN A GOOD USED CAR
The headline of an excellent advertisement which featured what the product does ---
rather than what it is. It appeared years ago, before practically everyone owned an
automobile. Underneath the headline was a picture of the Indiana Sand Dunes,
followed by good copy about the dunes and pointing out that "A good used car brings
the whole country to you and yours. Why not buy one? You don't need a lot of money."
Finally, after selling the idea, the copy gave some specific details about the cars which
were for sale.
78. CHECK THE KIND OF BODY YOU WANT
Check list displayed at top immediately invites reader's participation in specifying

"which of these" improvements he would like to make in his physique. Keyed ad
repeated frequently by well-known physical culturist.

79. "YOU KILL THAT STORY --- OR I'LL RUN YOU OUT OF THE STATE!"
A true narrative ad run by a nationwide chain of newspapers. Could you flip over the
page without wanting to know what happened?
80. HERE'S A QUICK WAY TO BREAK UP A COLD
In simple everyday words, a direct promise to end an undesirable condition --- quickly.
81. THERE'S ANOTHER WOMAN WAITING FOR EVERY MAN --- AND SHE'S TOO
SMART TO HAVE "MORNING MOUTH"
Had quite an impact on women readers, this toothpaste ad. Obviously, for there surely
is a lot of motivation in its theme: "No woman wants her husband to carry the memory
of her morning breath to work with him. The attractive women he meets during the day
don't have it."
Stale News to the Advertiser May Be Fresh News to the Reader...And now we come to
Breather No. 7. Don't think that because it is our last one it is of least importance. In
fact, its value becomes apparent when you realize how many of these headlines
employ it. "Get news (or new value) into your headline" is probably the best way to
define it. Since you can't pack everything into a headline, stick to your principal appeal
--- but give it news value if you can. And remember that what may be stale news to the
advertiser may be fresh news to the reader. The advertiser is, of course, thoroughly
familiar with his manufacturing methods, the ingredients he uses, the function of his
product. They may have no news value for him. They may even be similar to those of
his competitors. But that is not true of the readers of his advertisements. Something
about the product or the service it renders may be entirely new and sensationally
persuasive to the public. And the advertiser who features it first captures its appeal for
himself, regardless of the "me too" efforts of competitors who may have, heretofore,
failed to capitalize upon it.
82. THIS PEN "BURPS" BEFORE IT DRINKS --- BUT NEVER AFTERWARDS!
Headline expressed in a few words a copy theme credited with pushing one brand of
fountain pen up to a leading position.

83. IF YOU WERE GIVEN $200,000 TO SPEND --- ISN'T THIS THE KIND OF (TYPE
OF PRODUCT, BUT NOT BRAND NAME) YOU WOULD BUILD?
A "self-incriminating" (and widely applicable) way to have the reader help to specify
what he himself would value most in such a product. The copy follows through along
these lines: Surely you would put this feature into it. You would be sure that it brought
you this advantage, and this, and this...Well, we've done it all for you. As you can see,
this product was really created for you!
84. "LAST FRIDAY...WAS I SCARED!---MY BOSS ALMOST FIRED ME!"
A human narrative people wanted to read because it did --- or could --- "happen to
me."
85. 76 REASONS WHY IT WOULD HAVE PAID YOU TO ANSWER OUR AD A FEW
MONTHS AGO
An interesting example of an ad that backtracks --- pointing out in detail what the
reader missed by not buying the product before. A frequently repeated ad used by a
well-known news magazine to pull for subscriptions.
86. SUPPOSE THIS HAPPENED ON YOUR WEDDING DAY!
A profitable narrative-ad headline which makes it pretty hard to flip the page. "What
was this tragic happening? Could it --- or did it --- happen to me?"
87. DON'T LET ATHLETE'S FOOT "LAY YOU UP"
This pulled three times better than Relieve Foot Itch. It gives the disease a relevant
name, points out unwanted effects.
88. ARE THEY BEING PROMOTED RIGHT OVER YOUR HEAD?
Another question aimed at a big target: the legion of frustrated, discouraged people
who feel that their ability and conscientiousness are not being amply rewarded by
recognition and advancement. (Frequently run by an educational institution which
checks the resultfulness of its advertisements.)

89. ARE WE A NATION OF LOWBROWS?
This headline helped to sell inexpensive editions of the classics, by the hundreds of
thousands. It starts where the reader is --- because we, as a nation, are not reputed to
be greatly addicted to the highbrow type of literature.
Yet this successful campaign showed that Americans know very well the difference
between the meritorious and meretricious --- and, if challenged, can prove it with
orders. The "we" angle avoids the accusatory "you."
90. A WONDERFUL TWO YEARS' TRIP AT FULL PAY --- BUT ONLY MEN WITH
IMAGINATION CAN TAKE IT
This ad about a course for businessmen was repeated again and again, for a period of
seven years, in a long list of magazines. It offers a worthwhile reward for reading ---
with an intriguing challenge in its second line.
91. WHAT EVERYBODY OUGHT TO KNOW...ABOUT THIS STOCK AND BOND

BUSINESS
The headline of a full-page newspaper ad crammed solid with small-size type --- and
nary a single picture! It drew 5,000 replies when first published, has since appeared in
more than 150 newspapers. Promised helpful information of interest to a large
audience. A big investment house ran the ad.
92. MONEY-SAVING BARGAINS FROM AMERICA'S DIAMOND DISCOUNT

HOUSE
Of course the "bargain appeal" is a sure-fire --- and this is a good example of
straightforward presentation.
93. FORMER BARBER EARNS $8,000 IN 4 MONTHS AS A REAL ESTATE

SPECIALIST
Featuring an actual testimonial can make a good headline. In this case, the reader's
first reaction is "if a barber can do it maybe I can, too!"
94. FREE BOOK --- TELLS YOU 12 SECRETS OF BETTER LAWN CARE
If you are offering something entirely free (such as a booklet or sample) --- and want
requests for it in quantity --- feature it right in your headline.

95. GREATEST GOLD-MINE OF EASY "THINGS-TO-MAKE" EVER CRAMMED

INTO ONE BIG BOOK
Perhaps you have a new product (or even an old one) and still lack sufficient accurate
data as to which, specifically, are the strongest selling appeals to feature in your
advertising. In that case, it is often good strategy to "merchandise" the multi-purpose
"coverage" of your product as thoroughly as you can. By doing so, you avoid the risk of
laying too much stress upon any specific appeal which may prove weak or ineffectual.
And, by exposing many of your product's uses and advantages you, at least, enable
your reader to know what they are --- so that he can judge for himself the ones which
appeal most to him.
96. $80,000 IN PRIZES! HELP US FIND THE NAME FOR THESE NEW KITCHENS
No review of good headlines could be considered even fairly representative unless it

included an example of one featuring a prize contest. Of course, it first boldly displays
how much money can be won; secondly, what you have to do to win some of it.
97. NOW! OWN FLORIDA LAND THIS EASY WAY...$10 DOWN AND $10 A MONTH
This one also represents a commonly used headline offer --- easy terms --- and
conveys it forcefully and persuasively.
98. TAKE ANY 3 OF THESE KITCHEN APPLICANCES --- FOR ONLY $8.95
(VALUES UP TO $15.45)
The familiar reduced-price offer which we see in so many different and alluring forms.
99. SAVE 20 CENTS ON TWO CANS OF CRANBERRY SAUCE --- LIMITED OFFER
An example of the ever-popular coupon-redemption offer. "Limited offer" to increase

response. (Sometimes an actual expiration date is stated, to spur quicker action.)
100. ONE PLACE SETTING FREE FOR EVERY THREE YOU BUY!
So now we've finished running the hundred --- except for this last type of headline: the
ubiquitous free offer. The rules specify (as exemplified here) that when something must
also be bought, this requirement must be displayed with sufficient prominence. "Free"
is, of course, a hackneyed and moss-covered word, but there doesn't seem to be any
equally strong, or less blatant, substitute for it.

FREE Internet Marketing Consultation Questionnaire
Many of you have asked me to provide some sort of guide, evaluation tool, or consultation
to see if you are optimizing your own Internet marketing strategy
and profits. So to help you personally, I have developed this simple --- but highly effective
questionnaire and a personal consultation option to help you.
If you want to control your industry or industry niche, if you want to make sure your
competitors and future competitors don’t put you out of business, or if you simply want to
make massive profits over the Internet, I highly recommend that you fill out the
consultation questionnaire below.
Please answer the following questions “Yes” or “No” to perform your own “FREE Internet
Marketing Consultation” evaluation.
Goals and General Internet Marketing Strategy Questions
What do you want to accomplish with your online presence?
Note: For the purpose of this consultation, your online presence includes --- but is not
limited to: 1.) Your own website(s), email, email auto responders, Internet PR, etc., 2.)
Interaction with your vendors, customers, and employees using the Internet and email,
and 3.) Joint ventures with other entities using the Internet and email.
1. Do you have a cost cutting or savings goal? (Yes) or (No)
2. Did you know that there are at least 7 ways you can potentially cut costs using the
Internet, email, etc.? If so, do you know what they are and

do you have a specific cost savings goal for each one that is applicable to you and your
business?
3. Do you have a sales increase goal?
4. Did you know that according to some experts, the Internet commerce accounts for 3%
of the gross national product today and is supposed to account for 15% by the end of the
next 5 years? Assuming this projection is true, that would mean an Internet commerce
growth in excess of 30% each year. Do you know what that will mean to your business if
you are planning to grow your Internet business by less than 30% a year?
5. Do you have a lead generation goal?
6. Do you have a customer service improvement goal?
7. Do you know who your clients do business with before, during and after they do
business with you on the Internet?
8. Do you have a goal for joint ventures with people your clients do business with before
they do business with you on the Internet?
9. Do you have a goal for joint ventures with people your clients do business with at the
same time as they do business with you on the Internet?
10. Do you have a goal for joint ventures with people your clients do business with after
they do business with you on the Internet?
11. Do you know what Internet publications, forums, discussion groups, etc. your clients
are participating in --- and specifically what they are saying about you, your competition
and your industry?
12. Have you reviewed your competitors’ websites to determine what they are and are not
doing and what you can do to make your marketing strategy better?
13. Do you have a free PR goal?
14. Do you have an Internet advertising goal?

15. Do you know what your growth limitations are as far as fulfillment, order processing,
number of visitors your website can handle, number of emails your email server and email
box can hold, the maximum amount of dollars your credit card processing company will let
you handle, etc?
Website Optimization Questions
1. Have you had someone from outside your company attempt to use it?
2. Is each page less than 35k so that they load in a hurry?
3. Do you have a headline which tells them the specific benefit that they will be getting
from your product, service or information on the first page and on succeeding pages as
well?
4. Do you have your name, email address, address, phone number, website address, etc.
on each page or listed frequently so they can easily contact you?
5. Do you give them a reason for them to give you their email address and get permission
to contact them later?
6. Do you regularly examine your site’s traffic logs especially to determine the source of
your visitors, which keywords they used (if they came in from a search engine), and what
websites they come from?
7. Do you regularly examine your position on each of the search engines to determine if
you are in the top 10 selections based on the appropriate key word searches? If so, do
you make the required changes to make sure that your website comes up in the top 10 ---
at least for the top search engines?
8. Is your email address you give in your website monitored at least daily and
preferably more often than that so that you can respond as required?
9. Do you concentrate on your customer or prospects specific needs and position

yourself in the appropriate niche(s) so that you can maximize your profits and
minimize your competition?

10. Do you make product or service information available from your website and from auto
responders?
11. Do you regularly collect testimonials and display them on your website to establish
instant creditability with prospects?
“Email Marketing” Optimization Questions
1. Do you capture all your customers, prospects, vendors, affiliates, prospective affiliates,
and joint venture partner’s email addresses in different email databases so that you can
communicate, sell, or prospect with them as groups or individually?
2. Do you maintain all of the same database information for your email database of clients
as you should do with your regular databases including recency, frequency, and specificity
of purchase?
3. Do you communicate, sell or prospect with your respective email databases on a

regular basis?
4. Do you have a signature file that you add to the end of all of your emails? This has your
name, address, and email address and other relevant information so that the addressee
knows who you are, what you do and can contact you?
While these specific questions are not necessarily the most important ones concerning
your specific Internet marketing strategy --- they will give you an idea of the types of
questions you should be asking yourself. (Also, these questions presuppose that you have
a business, know your desired client, know what motivates that desired client, know the
net lifetime value of a client,
know the cost of obtaining a client, etc.)

How Good Headlines Can Build Your Business
By Jay Abraham
The headline is unquestionably the most important element in most advertising.
Likewise-it is also the most singularly important element of any selling message "live or
recorded, in person or by phone, audio or video" your company ever uses.
It is the opening sentence or paragraph you use in any sales letter or written
communication you ever send out to customers, prospects, suppliers, or staff. It's the first
words you or your sales people (including in-store clerks, order department or telephone
marketers) utter, when they engage anyone in a sales presentation or one-on-one
discussion.
Likewise, the "headline," or its "equivalent," are the first phrases you begin your
conversation with when a customer or prospect comes in or calls in. It is also the first
paragraph you state when recording a commercial or when meeting people at your trade
show booth display.
The purpose of a headline is to grab your prospect's ATTENTION. When I say your
prospect, I mean that your headline should zero in on precisely whom you want to reach
your target market. For example, if you want to reach homeowners, put the word
"homeowners" in the headline.
The headline should serve as an ad for your ad. It should tell the reader immediately and
clearly the essence of what you're trying to say in the body copy. The headline should give
the reader a Big Benefit or Big Promise. So, create a headline that tells the right people
precisely the benefit you're offering them.

When you write or decide upon your headline-or it's opening equivalent-you have spent at
least 80 cents out of your dollar. Stated differently, 80% of your outcome-four fifths of your
result... all but 20% of the success of your selling effort is effected positively or negatively
by how and what you communicate in the beginning. A change of headline can make a 20
times improvement in response or acceptance by your customer or prospect of your
proposition. Every headline or opening statement should appeal to the prospect's or
reader's or listener's self-interest. It should promise him or her a desirable, powerful and
appealing benefit.
If possible, try to inject "news" value or "educational" value into the headline also.
How Many Words Should a Headline Contain?
You may have read about the desirability of having no more than a certain number of
words in your headlines. Yet I want to point out here that many of the headlines quoted
here are, by ordinary standards, quite long. Yet, despite their length, they were successful.
Obviously, it is not wise to make a headline any lengthier than its primary function actually
requires. However, you should not worry if your headlines are longer than usual-provided
the headline's high spots of interest are physically well broken up and clearly displayed-
and provided the personal advantages promised to the reader are presented so positively
that it is almost as though his own name appeared in the headline.
Worth recounting is the story of Max Hart (of Hart, Schaffner & Marx) and his advertising
manager, the late George L. Dyer. They were arguing about long copy. To clinch the
argument, Mr. Dyer said, "I'll bet you $10, I can write a newspaper page of solid type and
you'll read every word of it."
Mr. Hart scoffed at the idea. "I don't have to write a line of it to prove my point." Mr. Dyer
responded. "I'll only tell you the headline. That would be...'This page is all about Max
Hart!"'

Power Words Produce-Powerful Results
The two most valuable words you can ever use in the headline are "free" and "new." You
cannot always use "free," but you can always use "new"-If you try hard enough.
Other words that work wonders are: "how to," "now," "announcing," "introducing," "its
here," "just arrived," "an important announcement," "improvement," "amazing,"
"sensation," "remarkable", "revolutionary," "startling," "miracle or miraculous," "magic,"
"offer," "quick," "easy," "simple," "powerful," "wanted," "challenge," "advise to," "the truth
about," "compare," "bargain," "hurry," and... "last chance."
Don't turn up your nose at these clichés they may seem trite and shop-worn-but they work!
Always incorporate your selling promise into your headline. And make that promise as
specific and desirable and advantageous to the prospect as you possibly can. This
requires longer or detailed news, educational and information-worthy statements.
Research shows that most negative headlines don't work-unless you use negativity to
underscore any undesirable results the prospect can expect to eliminate or avoid. (See
the box on page 3.)
People are looking to gain more advantage, result, benefit, pleasure, or value, from their
lives ... from their actions ... from their jobs or their businesses and definitely from their
relationships. And they want to avoid more or continual pain, dissatisfaction, frustration,
mediocrity, and unpleasantness from their lives.
Avoid blind headlines-the kind which mean nothing unless you read or listen to the whole
proposition: because-if you don't gain your prospect's attention and desire immediately
with your headline, that prospect won't listen, read or pay attention to the rest of what you,
your ad, letter, or sales message says.
Attraction of the Specific
Let us stop here to impress upon your mind how significant a part the "specific" plays in so
many good headlines. It appears in many of our initial headlines. You will visualize how
magnetically it helps to draw the reader into the body of an advertisement.
So observe, as you continue your reading, how many of these headlines contain specific
words or phrases that make the ad promise to tell you: How, Which, Which of These,
Who, Who Else, Where, When, What, Why. Also note how frequently exact numbers are
used: number of days, evenings, hours, minutes, dollars, ways, types of something. This

"attraction of the specific" is worth your special attention-not only as relating to words and
phrases, but also concerning headline ideas themselves. For example, compare the
appeal of "We'll Help You Make More Money" with "We'll Help You Pay the Rent"
What Kind of Rewards Do Good Headlines Promise?
The answer is that good headlines explain how the reader, listener or viewer or live sales
prospect can save, gain, or accomplish something beneficial through the use of your
product-how it will increase this: his or her mental, physical, financial, social, emotional or
spiritual stimulation, satisfaction, well-being, or security. In short, good headlines spotlight
the greatest "benefit" you are offering a sales prospect.
Or, if you take a deliberately negative tack, they point out how the reader can avoid
"reduce," or "eliminate" risks, worries, losses, mistakes, embarrassments, drudgery, or
some other undesirable condition for the use of your product or service.
Or how it will decrease this: your prospect or customer's fear of poverty, illness, or
accident, discomfort, boredom, and/or loss of business or social prestige or advantage,
success, prosperity, richness or wealth.
Whatever product or service you may think you are setting, always, when constructing
your headline or opening statement, remember this:
Your customer is not buying a product or a service. They are buying a result or benefit or
advantage or protection or increased pleasure or etc., etc. your product or service or
company can offer or provide them. Always, always focus your headlines on the benefit or
specific result your prospect will be receiving.
More Tips About A "Negative" Approach
This short subject interjection is about negative headlines. "Accentuate the positive;
eliminate the negative," said an old song. For years that has also been the refrain of the
advice often given to copywriters. Discussion about negative headlines has sometimes
sparked more fire than enlightenment.
Yet our 37 headlines include a number which are completely negative and several others
that start with a negative approach and become positive. So the negative approach must
have some good reason for existence. It has. What is it?

One of the primary objectives of a headline is to strike as directly as possible right at a

situation confronting the reader Sometimes you can do this with greater accuracy if you
use a negative headline which pinpoints the reader's ailment, rather than alleviation of it.
(For example, "Is YOUR Home Picture-Poor?"-"Have YOU a 'Worry Stock?"'-"Little Leaks
That Keep Men Poor.")
So when you face that kind of situation, you can "accentuate the negative" Let's move on
to more headlines and guidelines to effective headline writing.
Putting Headlines To Work
You can multiply the effectiveness of any ad you run, letter you send out, sales call your
people make, retail sale your store does, or size of transaction your practice generates
merely by changing and improving the power and effectiveness of your headline.
Here are 33 critical ways to make your headlines or selling proposition great. They're the
result of research into the work of the greatest copy writers of all time.
Notice the highly effective job each of the following great headlines does:
17,000 Blooms from a single plant!
Measures the size of the claim
In two seconds, Bayer Aspirin begins to dissolve in your glass
Measures the speed of the claim
Six times whiter washes
Compares the claim
Melts away ugly fat
Metaphorizes the claim

Tastes like you just picked it
Sensitizes the claim by making the prospect feel, smell, touch, see or hear it
At 60 miles per an hour, the loudest noise in the Rolls-Royce is the electric clock
Demonstrates the claim by showing a prime example
They laughed when I sat down at the piano-but when I started to play...
Dramatizes the claim or its result
How a bald-headed barber saved my hair
States the claim as a paradox
Shrinks hemorrhoids without surgery
Removes limitations from the claim
9 of our 10 decorators use Wundaweave Carpets for long life at low cost
Associates the claim with values or people with whom the prospect wishes to be identified
Relieves congestion in all 7 nasal passages Instantly
Shows how much work, in detail, the claim does
Here's what you do to get rid of pimples fast
Offers information about how to accomplish the claim
Here's what doctors do when they feel rotten
Ties authority to the claim
Before Wheezo hay fever medication made you drowsy-with Wheezo you can have
relief and be alert
Before-and-after the claim

Announcing: Guided missile spark plugs
Stresses the newness of the claim
Ours Alone! Persian Lamb originals $289.75
Stresses the exclusivity of the claim
Does she or doesn't she-only her hair dresser knows for sure
Turns the claim into a challenge for the reader
Would you believe It? I have a cold!
States the claim as a case history question
Pour yourself a new engine
Condenses the claim-interchange your product and the product it replaces
Starting July 5th-the Atlantic Ocean becomes only one-fifth as wide.
Symbolizes the claim-replace the direct statement or measurement of the claim with a
parallel reality
Floats fat right out of your body
Connects the mechanism to the claim in the headline
What everybody ought to know about the stock and bond business
Offers information in the ad itself
Aunt Mary, who never married...
Turns the claim or the need into a case history
When you're weary with daytime fatigue, take Alka Seltzer
Gives name to the problem or need

Don't Invest one cent of your hard-earned money until you check this guide
Warns the reader about possible pitfalls if he doesn't use your product
A man you can lean on! That's Abraham
or: Nobody, but nobody teaches like Abraham
Emphasizes the claim by its phraseology-break it down into two sentences, or repeat all or
part of it
If you can count to eleven, you can increase your speed and skill at numbers
Shows how easy the claim is to accomplish by imposing a universally overcome limitation
The difference In premium gasoline is in the additives
States the difference in the headline
See what happens when you crush our Executive luggage-nothing!
Surprises the reader into realizing that former limitations have now been overcome
If you've already taken your vacation, don't read this. It will break your heart
Addresses the people who can't buy your product, but by limiting its target, it entices all to
Learn the secret.
It took 24 years and genetic engineering to make this product possible
Dramatizes how hard it was to produce the claim
It should be immoral to make money this easily
Accuses the claim of being too good to be true
You are twice as smart as you think
Challenges the prospect's present limiting beliefs

"You" A Vital Word in Power Headlines
The most obvious mistake most people make when writing or creating headlines is they
forget to adopt the "YOU" attitude. To create a powerful headline, your message must
telegraph benefits the prospect himself or herself can expect to receive. Your headline or
message never should talk about "we or "our" product, service, or company. Each and
every possible benefit or result must be written or expressed with the individual reader or
prospect's selfish, direct interests in mind.
Here are some other formulas for formulating writing or creating great headlines or
opening statements.
* Begin your headline with the word, "Announcing".
* Use words that have an announcement quality to them.
* Begin your headline with the word, "New".
* Begin your headline with the word, "Now".
* Begin your headline with the words "at last".
* Put date into your headline; i.e., January 18th.
* Feature the price in your headline.
* Feature the price reduction or a reduced price.
* Feature a special offer.
* Feature easy or more attractive payment terms.
* Feature a free offer.
* Offer information of value.

* Tell a story.
* Begin with the words, "How to".
* Begin with the word "How".
* Begin your headline with the words "Why" or "Which".
* Begin with the words "Who else".
* Advise to offer the reader a test. Use a two-word headline that refers to a need or
situation.
* Warn the reader to delay buying until they compare benefits and performance.
To give you an idea of how important the headline is, and to help you to write good ones,
I'll present some of the best headlines I, as well as other great headline writers, have
written. Now, let's start our tour of the 37 Million-Dollar Headlines and try to discover why
they were so effective.
1. You Don't Know Me, I Realize ... But I Want You To Have This Before It's Too Late
* This headline stresses the need for quick action.
2. To the Men and Women Who Want to Quit Work Someday
* Selects its readers without wasting a word
3. How to Develop a Silver Tongue, a Golden Touch and a Mind Like a Steel Trap
* Highlights the large audience of those looking for improvement
4. New Diet Burns Off More Pat Than If You Ran 98 Miles a Week
* A headline that anticipates incredulity in order to overcome it

5. What's Your Best Chance to Make Money in Real Estate? The Answer Below May
Surprise You
* A stopper ad that will challenge the reader to read
The headlines presented here advertise many different kinds of products and services.
Some are sold in retail stores, some by sales representatives, some by direct mail to the
customer. But regardless of what the product is, or how it is sold, the principles discussed
here apply. We are about to learn by real-life example, instead of through a long and less
exciting discussion of general concepts.
Remember, Rule Number One for high impact headlines is "State the Benefit."
Failure to use a powerful benefit-or result-based headline can cost an advertiser 80% to
90% of the potential effectiveness of that ad because the prospect will pass over it.
Headlines must make a promise of a highly desirable result the person will receive in
exchange for reading the ad or listening to the message. The headline is the ad for the
overall ad. It must incorporate your company's Unique Selling Proposition or USP. If your
USP is 'broad selection," here are some headlines you could use:
6. We Always Have 200 Different Widgets in No Less than 15 Different Sizes and 10
Desirable Colors and With a Selection of 20 Optional Features in Prices Ranging
From $6 to $600.
or..
Times the Selection, 4 Times the Color and Size Choice, 3 Times the Number of
Convenient Locations, 2 Times the Guarantees and Warranties, and Half the Markup of
Any Other Dealer!
If "discount price" is your USP, or corporate advantage, these headlines could skyrocket
your sales:
7. We Sell the Same Brands of Hardware as Company A or Company B at 25% to

50% Less.
8. Top-Quality Widgets Usually Sell for $250 to $1,000. We Sell Them for $95 to $395.
Which Would You Rather Pay?

9. Most Professionals Start Billing You the Moment You Walk in Their Door. That
Can Add Up to Thousands of Dollars. At PDQ Services, Our Fee Is Always a Modest
$99. No Exceptions. No Tricks.
Here are some very useful and effective headlines for a "service-oriented" USP approach:
10. When You Buy a Compact Disc From The Warehouse or Sam Goody, You Own
That Disc, Whether You Like It or Not
When you buy a compact disc from us, you get a 90-day, 100% money-back guarantee,
just in case it's not what the critics made it out to be. And you get bonus credits toward
any other album, cassette or compact disc we sell for every disc you buy and keep.
11. If Your Car Breaks Down, We'll Tow IT-FREE! (Always use that word "free" as
much as you can.)
An added benefit of placing your car's insurance policy with XYZ Agency.
12. Most Locksmiths Work From 9 to 5 But Those Aren't the Hours When You Can't
Get Into Your House or Car.
ABC Locksmith Company will send a locksmith whenever you need one. We have 20
service people on 24-hour call, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year-including holidays.
No extra charge.
How about the "Snob Appeal" USP?
Here's an interesting possibility of a headline that offers snob appeal:
13. Only 1,200 XYZ Deluxe Midas Sedans Are Produced Annually.
Of the 1200 produced 900 stay in Europe where they originate. Of the remaining 300, 50
go to Japan. Of the remaining 250, 100 go to Canada arid Australia. Each year, only 150
come into the United States. Of that 150, only 20 are sent to New York-and WE'VE GOT
15 OF THEM. We'll offer them at very fair prices to our best customers, as long as the
sedans last.

Use your best headline (as determined by testing) in every ad and in every letter to your
prospects, customers and past customers.
You should also use a headline, or "mini-pitch," in every commercial.
What kind of headline works best?
One that promises the reader a large and attractive benefit.
A headline that offers topical "news" is often very successful. If your product or service is
newsworthy, put that special news announcement right at the top of your ad.
If you are promoting a product to one particular group, include a "red flag" in your headline
that will single out these prospects.
And remember this: Specifics out-pull generalities. Personalize a headline by singling out
the city, state or group to which it's directed.
Avoid humor and double meanings in headlines; they waste space and are nonproductive
95% of the time.
The key point is: The simple failure to test headlines against each other could cost you
more than half of your profit potential.
Don't ever run an ad without a headline. And test to see which headline pulls best.
The Primary Viewpoint-The "Point Of You"
This is a short break in the action because it is a lesson that you already know well. But to
stress its importance, let me point this out to you: Over 1/3 of these 37 headlines contain
one of these actual words- "you" "your" or "yourself." Even when the pronoun is first
person singular (for example, "How I improved My Memory in One Evening"), the reward
promised is so universally desired that it is, in effect, really saying, "You can do it too!"

Thousands of words have been written about the "point of you"-but let me remind you that,
given a fountain pen, 96 percent of 500 college women wrote their own names; shown a
map of the USA, 447 men out of 500 looked first for the location of their home towns!
Howard Barnes, of the American Newspaper Publishers' Association, really was on target
when he said: "To call up an image of the reader, all you need to do is pin up a target.
Then, starting at the outside, you can label his interests in this order: the world, the United
States, his home state, his home town, and we'll lump together in the center his family and
himself.. me. Myself I come first. I am the bulls-eye."
Here are several more of the most successful headlines I've used over the past 24 years
of helping companies improve their marketing leverage:
14. Almost Everyone Has a $10,000 Idea. Here's How to Make It Pay.
15. Heart Attacks Can Be Foreseen From Minutes to Months in Advance-And

Prevented.
16. An Easy Way to Change Jobs
17. How to Increase Your Standard of Living Without Changing Jobs
18. Send Me to Any City In the United States. Take Away My Wallet. Give Me $100
for Living Expenses and in 72 Hours I'll Buy an Excellent Piece of Real Estate Using
None of My Own Money.
(The latter headline made a great deal of money and created a media blitz for Robert
Allen, a skilled marketer and author who made the term "No Money Down Real Estate"
famous.)
19. Three Powerful Reasons Why Diamond Prices Are Soaring
20. To a $15,000 Man Who Would Like to Be Making $25,000
21. I'd Like to Give This to My Fellow Man ... While I Am Still Able to Help!

Power Headlines Produce-Powerful Results
You may find it incredible how the use of a headline can alter the results of the entire ad or
letter. I have tracked and compared hundreds of headlines and been amazed at the vast
improvement in results that one headline can produce over another headline. Let me
illustrate this principle here with a few real-life examples:
An insurance company tested these two headlines against each other:
22. What would Become of Your Wife If Something Happened to You? and
Retirement Income Plan
Believe it or not, the second ad pulled 500 percent more response than the first. It's a
simple yet effective headline.
A famous correspondence school tested these two headlines:
23. Announcing a New Course for Men Seeking Independence in the Next Three
Years
(An Up-to-the-Minute Course to Meet Today's Problems)

The first headline (which started with that magic word "Announcing") trounced the second
headline by about 370%.
An insurance company compared these two headlines:
24. Auto Insurance at Lower Rates if You Are a Careful Driver
How to Turn Your Careful Driving Into Money

The first headline was 1,200% better in testing.
I could go on ... and on! In all these cases, you would not have known that the vast
difference in results would occur without testing first. The results are often quite surprising.
Now, let me get back to providing you with more of my 37 Million-Dollar Headlines, and
some explanation of what makes these headlines effective. Now we must pause and
examine one of the techniques of writing a headline. It is called VERBALIZATION. And it
is the art of increasing the impact of a headline by the way in which it is stated.

In the previous sections, we have looked at what we want to say in a headline. And now
we have to determine how to say it.
The most obvious way, of course, is simply to state the claim in its barest form. "Lose
Weight," or "Stop Corns," for example. And if you are the first in your field, there is no
better way.
But where you are competitive, or where the thought is too complicated to be stated
simply and directly, then you must reinforce that claim by binding other images to it with
the words in which you express it. This is verbalization. And it can accomplish several
different purposes:
A. It can strengthen the claim-by enlarging upon it, by measuring it, by making it more
vivid.
B. It can make the claim new and fresh again-by twisting it, changing it, presenting it from
a different angle, turning it into a narration, challenging the reader with an example.
C. It can help the claim pull the prospect into the body of the ad-by promising him
information about it, by questioning him, by partially revealing information.
All of these goals are accomplished by adding variations, enlargements or embellishments

to the main headline claim of the ad. These additional images are bound into the main
claim by the sentence structure of the headline. They alter the main claim, to make it more
effective.
There are, of course, an infinite number of these variations (every good copywriter invents
a few himself. But there are general patterns that most copywriters follow. Here are some
of these guideposts, for your own consideration:
Measure the size of the claim
25. I am 61 Pounds Lighter by Using XYZ Product
State the difference in the headline

26. The Difference in Premium Gasolines is Right In the Additives
Stress the newness of the claim
27. Now! Chrome Plate Without Heat, Electricity, Machinery!
State the claim as a question
28. Who Else Wants a Whiter Wash With No Hard Work?
Turn the claim into a challenge for the reader
29. Which Twin Has the Toni? And Which Has the $15 Permanent?
Challenge the prospect's present limiting beliefs
30. You Are Twice as Smart as You Think
Address your prospect directly
31. To the Man Who Will Settle for Nothing Less Than the Presidency of His Firm
Address the people who can't buy your product:
32. If You've Already Taken Your Vacation, Don't Read This. It'll Break Your Heart
Accuse the claim of being too good
33. Is It Immoral to Make Money This Easily?
Warn the reader about possible pitfalls if he doesn't use the product.

34. Don't invest one cent of your hard-earned money until you read this guide!
State the claim as a case story quotation
35. Would You Believe It-I Have a Cold!
Met aphorize the claim
36. Melts Away Ugly Fat!
Measure the speed of the claim
37. In Two Seconds, Bayer Aspirin Begins Relieving Rain!
Is It New And Improved?
The Headline Should Tell!
This tutorial is meant to remind you that in a great number of effective headlines you will
find the word "new"-or a connotation of it, such as "new kind of," "new discovery," "new
way to," etc. Americans are quite partial to the new or novel; they do not suffer from
newophobia. To the average American, the mere factor of newness seems to be prima
facie evidence of "betterness."
Undeviating affection for the old and tried may be strong in other countries; in ours, the
desire to try the new is stronger. The great achievements of our inventors and enterprising
manufacturers have trained us to believe that if it's new it is likely to be better. However,
the word "new" in a headline should be backed up by copy pointing out the merits of
something really new and advantageous, not some transparently trivial difference.
Testing Leads to Success
Test! Test! Test! You can have far more sales, inquiries and store traffic for the same
money just by cross testing alternative headlines, format and copy:
* By testing different ways to say the same thing
* By trying different copy

* By testing the pull of one magazine against another
* By testing one mailing list against another
* By testing one radio time slot against another
* By testing one offer against an other..
* One price against another
* One guarantee against another
* One sales pitch against another
* One direct-mail package against another
If you use a headline, or offer, or price, or guarantee, or medium, or mailing list or sales
pitch without testing it against another version, you are denying yourself and your
company the potential of increased sales and profits that cost no more than you are
currently spending. Remember, ads or sales letters cost the same to produce, whether
you get a 1% response or a 35% response. Now that is leverage!
It's relatively easy to test and track ad results and to ruthlessly leverage every marketing
dollar.
Failure to test, retest and test again is tantamount to admitting that you aren't the business
person you should be.
One of my first clients, a silver and gold broker, ran a headline to announce a new and
very appealing marketing breakthrough. Unfortunately, he never tested his headline (and,
unluckily, the headline was boring).
When I entered the picture, I first came up with 10 different headlines to test. One of them
out pulled his headline by more than 500%.

Instead of spending $30,000 a month to produce $1 million in sales, that same $30,000
started producing $5 million in sales per month and more!
The simple act of testing one headline against another made an annualized difference of
something like $50 million in gross sales-and at the very least, $2.5 million in additional
profits. Testing your headlines can pay handsome rewards.
So, assuming we see eye to eye on objectives, let's now learn how to test.
How to Test
Let's talk once again about basic aspects of your marketing that you should constantly be
testing.
If you run display ads, first and foremost test your headlines against each other with the
exact same body copy.
Identify the best possible headline and start testing body copy.
Test only one variable at a time. This is the scientific principle of control: It means isolating
the variable, so that you are sure of the source of different results. If you're testing a
guarantee, don't change the headline. If you're comparing one price against another, don't
change any other variable.
Keyed Response-The Key to Testing
If you have two different approaches that you're testing, you must design your test to give
you specific results keyed to each approach. You must know which ad each and every
prospect is responding to.
You can do this in different ways:
* Use a coupon-a differently coded coupon for each version of your ad.

* Tell the prospects to specify a department number when they call or write-(there doesn't
have to be an actual department).
* Ask the prospect to tell you he/she heard it on radio station in order to qualify for a
discount or special offer.
* Include a code on the mailing label returned with the order-the code identifies the source
of the label, or the version of the ad you mailed.
* Use different telephone numbers for respondents each offer is accompanied by a similar,
but distinct phone number.
* Make different package tests and note which bonuses or prices people ask for.
* Have the caller ask for a specific person-(the name can be fictitious).
You must be able to attribute each response to one of the approaches you are testing.
You should also make a point of keeping meticulous track of each response and its
results: simple inquiry, sale, amount of sale, previous customer. Keep track of every piece
of information that you need in your marketing. And be sure to differentiate in your record-
keeping between responses and actual sales. Prospects are fine, but sales are what you
are after.
Then, when you have all the results tabulated by method "K" or method "B" compare the
two approaches and select the better one. Then test again, using your winner in
competition with a new contestant. Always compare the new effort against your proven
winner, and look to beat the current winner.
Direct-Mail Testing
So far, we've talked mostly about display advertising, but if direct mail is your preferred
method, read on.
You probably use direct mail to inspire people to:

* Come immediately into your store,
* OR call your order desk,
* OR send a coupon so that you can call back or send a salesman,
* OR send a check or charge card order.
Using the same principle as in testing display advertising, do an "Nth-name" A/B test. An
"Nth-name" sample is a theoretically perfect cross section of the quality of the list you're
testing.
Before you mail to 100,000 untested people and spend $25,000 or $40,000 in postage
and printing, do a 5,000 "Nth-name" test sample of one version of your mailing piece
against another.
Test the same mailing pieces with two different headlines. Repeat the headline on the
outside of the carrier envelope. Try different body copy with the same headlines. Try
different orders.
Try different physical components, along with the basic sales letter: such as a folded "read
me" note-or an accompanying brochure or a reply device with a postage-paid reply
number-or a coupon, etc.
Test as many things as possible in the smallest possible arena before you risk a big part
of your advertising budget on one expensive marketing approach to a large audience.
Why guess what the market will welcome, or what price they're willing to pay, when the
marketplace is willing and even eager to tell you the answer?
The same fundamental approach applies to TV, radio commercials, field sales, in-store
ads and telephone sales as well. Why, for example, run five 60-second TV commercials
each day saying something only one way, when another presentation of the same
message might pull in many times the customers? If you use TV, wouldn't you want to
know whether showing your product or service in use makes a difference?

Since the cost is the same, whether that 60-second commercial produces 10 customers,
or 110, isn't it worth your while to find out answers to questions like these?
Now, Let's Write a Headline for Your business
It's easy. Get out some paper and a pencil and start by doing the following. First, ask
yourself this question. "What are the key or primary reasons why ("reason why" is a key
recurring theme in everything I'll share with you) your customers acquire, desire or seek
your product or service? In other words, what is the primary benefit or advantage or value
or performance, result or improvement or reduction or avoidance or advantage they end
up receiving or getting when they use your product service or business?
You should have multiple answers to this question. When you get them, rank them by the
most valuable and specific and the most frequently desired.
How many ways can you specifically measure or compare or denominate the effect or
benefit your product or service for a customer? Write as many as you can down on a
sheet of paper.
Now go through each one of the elements I just shared with you and apply it by modifying
it to your situation. For example, pick out a few of the words that work wonders, and try
adding them to the result or benefit or advantage your product or service produces.
Example, how to rid yourself of stress overnight ... announcing a way to get twice the
productivity out of every hour you drive to work. "Amazing discovery, get the job of three
people done for the cost of just one," etc.
Take each one of these "wonder words" and try your hand at writing a powerful headline.
Do the same thing with the tested "key word," making sure you write each statement or
cluster of thoughts down separately.
Don't stop now-the fun has just begun.
An important word about your return on investment.
Great copywriters and legendary sales trainers spend days... sometimes weeks... laboring
over the details of a headline or opening statement for an ad, letter or sales presentation.

Why?
Because, those "pros" know how much of pay-off this process produces.
Don't limit yourself to creating just one single headline.
The great masters I've learned from would write no less than 100 different approaches
before they kicked out the three to five best, most powerful selections they would test out.
You should not settle for anything less.
The more headlines and opening propositions you write, the more this mind-set will
become your own.
If it's a little uncomfortable at first, that's perfectly normal.
Try this simple exercise if you get stuck: Ask yourself to fill in the blank describing the
most powerful result or benefit your product produces. If you were talking to a prospect
about this result you'd be telling them how to what? Once you fill in that blank with the
answer to the result your product or service produces, you've written your first really good
headline-so keep going!
Stale News to the Advertiser May Be Fresh News to the Reader
This is the last tutorial on headlines presented here. Don't think because it is the last one it
is of least importance. In fact, its value becomes apparent when you realize how many of
the most effective headlines employ it. "Get news (or new value) into your headline" is
probably the best way to define it.
Since you can't pack everything into a headline, stick to your principal appeal-but give it
news value if you can. And remember that what may be stale news to the advertiser may
be fresh news to the reader. The advertiser is, of course, thoroughly familiar with his
manufacturing methods, the ingredients he uses, the function of the product.
These topics may have no news value for him. They may even be similar to those of his
competitors. But that is not true of the readers of his advertisements. Something about the
product or the service it renders may be entirely new and sensationally persuasive to the

public. And the advertiser who features it first captures its appeal for himself, regardless of
the "me too" efforts of competitors who may have heretofore failed to capitalize upon it.
Many companies have found an element of their product or manufacturing process, even
if it was commonplace in their industry, and produced huge advertising results by
highlighting the feature or process.
The Power of Emulation
In the beginning, you don't have to recreate the wheel. Merely go through each reference
area, like the headline multipliers, and the formula for creating headlines and modify each
one to your situation.
You're ready to begin development of your first successful headline. Read other
headlines, consider your benefits, uniqueness, and advantage, draft dozens of headline
ideas, formulate and eliminate less valuable ideas and test your best headlines.
After you've written 25 to 50 good headlines or opening statements, organize them the
way you did the results you wrote down in the beginning-picking out the best five that
make the advantage/result apparent to the customer.
I guarantee you this: If you only do this with me and create 50 to 100 trial headlines and
choose the best five-one of those five will out-produce your current headline or sales
opening by 35% to 1,000% or more.
Much luck and headline success!

Developing Win-Win Joint Ventures
By Jay Abraham
I prefer to think of joint ventures in terms of what I call a host-beneficiary relationship. In

essence, you serve as a "host" introducing someone else's complementary and
appropriate products or services to your customers -- preferably under your express
endorsement.
You can do this in many different ways:
First, you could send out a letter offering the product or services to your customer or
clients. Then you could follow that letter with a phone call. If you can't do this because you
don't have the people, time or money, then get the company whose product you're
endorsing to do it for you.
A second possibility: Let representatives from the beneficiary company set up a table,
booth or desk in your office -- or let them make sales rounds with your salespeople.
Or you could put out a promotional announcement or sales letter about the beneficiary's
product or service in packages or statements you send out. Or you could allow the
beneficiary company to share exhibition space with you at trade shows, or in ads.
Here are some examples you'll recognize: Allstate insurance booths at Sears stores.
Offers for electronic goods and watches tucked in with your charge card bill. The FedEx
logo and add-on shipping offer with catalog pages.
I promote my newsletter through endorsements to different people's mailing lists. I can go

on, but I'm sure you get the general idea.

You can set up a host-beneficiary deal in one of two ways -- depending upon which role
you're playing. We assume that you are the one who'd be introducing customers, clients or
patients to someone else's product or service.
But, of course, the exact opposite works just as well. You can get tons of businesses and
professional people to endorse you and your product/service to their clientele. It's easy.
Start by identifying the businesses with products or services most compatible and suitable
to your customers. Next, contact the owner, president or general manager of the targeted
enterprise. Introduce yourself, explain that you've spent X years and Y amount of money
developing goodwill with your customers.
Then explain your assumption that the target company's product would bring great value
to your customers. Ask enough questions to figure out whether or not the product or
service is a "one shot" or has a back-end component. If it's a one shot, offer to split profits
or sales (splitting gross sales is always preferred) with them. If it's got a good back end, try
and get all of the front-end profit and even some of the back end.
Value and respect the real worth of your endorsement to your list. Keep control. Have the
orders and even the money -- if appropriate -- go through you. Also, maintain quality
control on the product, promotion and customers. Stipulate when going in that all resulting
customers are your proprietary property and cannot be resolicited without your written
approval.
Put all of this in writing. Once you've made the deal, don't do things too big. First, test
small to make sure the hosted product sells. If it does, offer it to all your customers. If it
doesn't sell, the problem could be the choice of product / service, or it could also be your
execution on the endorsement. Find a different product or service and try it all over again.
If you don't succeed at first, it's no problem. Keep trying until you hit pay dirt. The first time
you tap into your goodwill with your customers or clients by endorsing something -- sales
should shoot to the moon.
The Flip Side
When trying to become the product or service being endorsed, the opposite applies. Find
a target company that already has your desired customers as its customers. Approach the
company. Tell the owner / president / manager that you believe they have enormous
untapped wealth stored in their goodwill with their customers, and just because they
haven't fully tapped into it doesn't mean they shouldn't.

Then walk them through a deal that lets you keep from 50%-75% of the profits or gross --
depending upon what you're able to negotiate.
Tell the targeted host company that you'll do everything, for them, but that they will retain
100% approval over what you do, how you do it and what you say. In essence, give them
all of the control, none of the risk and up to half the rewards.
Here are a few of the profitable joint ventures that I have engineered over the years:
I got one of the largest financial newsletters in the industry to create a special bonus eight-
page interview with me to promote my Protege-Training Program. It produced two million
dollars in profit.
I got a business-opportunity company to recommend my program to all of their unsold

prospects. That sold $250,000.
I got a famous best-selling author to endorse one of my client's financial services. That
sold $20 million.
I got the largest magazine of its kind to endorse one of my other client's financial
investments.
A karate school owner persuaded a local gym to help him get started by letting him use
their space for a fee. The only problem: the karate school was so successful, and grew so
fast, that it had to move to larger space in a new location!
Please try to approach at least two host-beneficiary prospects as both beneficiary and as
host. Let me hear from you once you set the deals up. We'll share a bunch of actual first-
hand stories in a future article.

A Model Sales Letter For Someone Who's Never Written One Before!
By Jay Abraham
There are a lot of different kinds of letters. A very successful sales letter that I've used in
countless industries is what I call the assumptive letter. The assumptive letter is based
upon an assumption that people reading the letter will think you are personally writing to
them. It will start with an assumptive statement:
"Dear Prospect:"
"I know you've been contemplating (or considering or reviewing or evaluating or thinking
about) buying a (such and such) or replacing (such and such) and moving up to a more
advantageous position in your business or professional life."
"I share the awareness of what a positive impact or what a difference, or how much of an
improvement or savings or enrichment doing that can mean to you. That's why I'm writing
this letter."
"I've made arrangements for you to (and then you fill in either check out, try out, preview,
acquire, purchase, sample, audition, experience, or whatever is appropriate) that in either
your home or office without risk or obligation. Why am I doing this? One simple reason:"
"In my opinion, you can't possibly know the benefits, experience, exhilaration, enrichment,
security, peace of mind, productivity (whatever it is) you can bring to your life through
_______ unless you experience it."
"I don't think you should have to decide anything until you first experience for yourself how
meaningful or beneficial ________ will be. So, I want you to let me take the risk for a
change. That's right!"

"Everybody else says, 'Buy from me. Give us your money,' etc. I'm saying, do the
opposite. Let me allow you to experience, to evaluate, to check out, to preview the product
before you buy!"
Now, the assumptive letter can basically target a group of people who have a
predisposition toward something, in this case your service or product. So, you make sure
you're mailing your letter to lists of people whose recent buying shows a predisposition to
buy something in your general line.
If people bought a book about moneymaking or a book about how to start a business for
themselves, and you rented a list of their names, it would not be hard to say, "I know
you've been thinking about becoming independent, or changing careers."
Or, if you know that someone has been in a given house for a long time, then you know
statistically that he or she is probably about due to have family changes. Their kids are
growing up, moving out. The house can become too hard to manage, too big perhaps.
There's a divorce that's statically probable. You could assumptively say, "I know you've
been thinking about whether to keep your home or put it on the market. I'd like to help you
make the most intelligently based decision for your best interests."
Important Point: A list broker can find lists of predisposed buyers for you, or you can do it
yourself by consulting such resources as The Thomas Register and The Standard Rate
and Data Service Directory.
Another approach I want you to consider is a simple straightforward new-customer letter.
It starts with the question:
"Dear Mr./Mrs. X: Are you getting the _____ you wanted out of _______?"
It could be, "Are you getting the productivity out of your computer network? Are you
getting the fun you want out of your married life? Are you getting the exercise you want
out of your body? Are you getting the purchasing power you want out of your paycheck?"
Do you see what I'm saying? Now let's pick up the script again and move forward.
"If the answer is no, Mr./Mrs. X, I can help you get greater _______. I've done if for other
(people, organizations, companies) in this community. I think I could do it for you, too. At
the very least, I'm offering a way to find out without risking a minute of your time or a
penny of your money."
And then you go into an explanation of who you are, and the fine offer you're making.

Please, please, use these scripts in your business or practice. They will help you score
real business breakthroughs.

Fast Cash Boosters For Any Business
By Jay Abraham
Let's explore some short-course techniques you can employ instantly to jump-start your
business, or at least to get more business flowing into your enterprise.
If you're in the retail trade, get your salespeople on the phone to all of your active
customers or clients, and extend to them a purchase option. Ask the customers to commit
to a minimum amount of product that they are willing to say that they will buy for the rest of
this year.
If they agree, offer them two options. Number one, if they're large enough, they can
prepay the whole year's purchase and receive a substantial discount. Number two, if they
are not willing to prepay, urge them to give you a target figure they think they will hit. You
can give them a discount up front that is only taken away from them if they don't hit the
purchase goal!
In other words, let's say I believe I am going to buy 100 widgets from you, and last year I
may only have bought two. By offering me a volume discount, I will be motivated to lock in
a better price and guarantee you a minimum amount of purchases.
The moral: By making this offering in retailing, you almost always increase the revenue
per customer, the purchase frequency per customer or client, and the profit per customer
and per transaction.
If you're a wholesaler, do something similar. Offer your customers a sales-assistance

program. If they will buy from you, promise them that you will reinvest a portion of their
purchase in cooperative marketing support.
You might give them sales assistance, you may give them sales letters you will pay to

have mailed out. You might give them promotions you will create. You might give them
sale incentives they can pass on to their customers.
The point is this: Asking a wholesaler to buy more of your products just to sit on their
shelves does them no good. So say to a wholesaler, "I will create a strategy that will help
you sell more goods. I will actually provide you with either the programming, the funding,
the letters, the advertising copy, the sales scripts - whatever you need for your
salespeople to do much more and make themselves and you a higher amount of money if
you favor my business with the purchases."
Manufacturers are in position to go to a customer and suggest that if the customer will lock
in an annual minimum-quantity order, the manufacturer will connect to an annual purchase
rate. They can lock in purchases and thus are in a position that, if they buy enough goods,
they'll lower their price and then can pass on some really profound savings to the
customer.
And professional services? There is much you can do to jump-start your business. Most
people don't realize it, but the greatest service any professional or service organization
can render to a customer or client is to schedule annual or semi-annual or, more
preferably, quarterly reviews where you examine the client or patient's present situation.
For example, if you were a financial planner and I was at a point in my life where my family
and my assets were such that I needed to start protecting them in a more earnest way,
you would be in an excellent position to recommend to me that I change my insurance
coverage -- perhaps to umbrella liability.
You would also be in a position to suggest to me the mental strategy I need to adopt. You
would be in a position to advise me on needed changes in my investment portfolio. So, if
you are in services of a professional kind, invite your clients to sign on for a series of
prepaid (or partially prepaid) quarterly revenues.
Let's move onto another interesting facet of selling -- the "upsell"...
A lot of you have written and asked me to help you incorporate "upselling" into your sales
activities. So, let's get right to it. Here is an easy-to-adopt upselling scenario:
You are selling a service. You have persuaded the customer or client to say "yes." The
agreement, the search, the purchase agreement is about to be signed. What do you do?
Well, first of all you recognize that you've already taken the client through the arduous and

delicate process of developing trust in you. They now trust you in an advisory role. You
are -- in their eyes -- an expert.
So you say to them: "Before we formalize the agreement, I'd like to make one more
recommendation, if I may. I recommend you consider not just doing ________, but
_________." (Here you are moving the customer from the existing service they were
originally going to buy to a superior service.)
Then you say, "Here's why I recommend that," and then you go into a simple one- or two-
sentence explanation of the additional value they would gain by upgrading the transaction.
In other words, you talk about the superior results they'll see!

For Business Success, Put Everyone On Your Sales Team!
By Jay Abraham
Everyone sells. You and I "sell" in every aspect of our lives. We "sell" our ideas to others.
We "sell" our love to our mates and children. We "sell" our friendship to our friends. We
"sell" our leadership to our customers, team members and staff. Selling is an all-
encompassing function. It is the single most critical element in your business or
professional practice.
Which raises a good question: How can you cultivate selling skills in employees who don't
normally think of themselves as salespeople? Or those who have a clear responsibility to
sell, but don't come to you with sophisticated experience? People who may not be
outgoing, may be tentative, introverted, hesitant or not inclined to really want to engage
and embrace a customer or prospect and "compel" them to buy from you?
To answer that, let's first talk about my philosophy of selling. It's very simple. There are
two kinds of selling. There is strategic selling, and there is technical selling. Technical
selling is the function of technique. In my mind, it is manipulative.
It's teaching someone to say this because people will do that. It's giving a customer a pat
response designed to compel them to make a decision to buy.
I don't have a problem with compelling someone to buy, if you genuinely believe that the
product or service you are offering will produce a significant and profound benefit, result,
impact or advantage in someone's life or business. I do not believe in sheer manipulation,
however, and many aspects of technical selling are predicated on very manipulative types
of interactions with people.
I prefer what I call "strategic selling." Strategic selling means having an advisory
relationship with your customer, client, patient or prospect. It presupposes that you are

putting the interests and well-being of your customer or client far and away ahead of your
own.
It means never recommending that a customer buy or acquire any products or services
you offer for sale unless -- in your heart of hearts -- you genuinely feel that by acquiring
that product or service, the customer or client will end up with a far greater and better
outcome in this particular situation.
Strategic selling is understanding how to persuade a prospective customer or client to see

and seize an advantage. It is based on an inherent desire to educate your customers. A
"consultative" salesman or saleswoman takes on the role of guiding, of leading, of
comparatively evaluating and helping each customer or client to examine and recognize
advantages and opportunities in their lives.
Which of those two techniques are you using? Technical selling or strategic selling? If you
are relying heavily on a canned sales pitch, start playing the role of an advisor -- and get
everyone on your sales team to do that, too.
I predict that it will produce more sales, more profits and more customer loyalty in the long
run.
To Make Even Your Non-Sellers Sellers, Take Mystery Out of the Process
Everyone in and around your business -- whether they realize it or not -- plays a "selling"
role that can either help or hurt you in very significant ways. Let's consider just one little
case in point:
At the door of a shop, a clean-up man greets an incoming customer by smiling brightly
and saying "Good Morning." Five minutes later, the customer buys something at a counter
inside.
Who made the sale -- the sales clerk, or the sales clerk with an assist from the shop's
clean-up man?
The answer, of course, is that both the clerk and the clean-up man "made" the sale. If the
clean-up man had scowled at the incoming customer instead of smiling, who knows what
the customer's mindset might have been?
The fate of a business isn't just in the Owner's hands, but in the hands of everybody that

owner employs, sells to, buys from, or otherwise comes into contact with. And that's true
of your business as well.
Number one: don't take courtesy and friendliness and a caring attitude toward customers,
clients and patients for granted! Discuss courtesy regularly with your staff, make courtesy
a regular feature in your company newsletter and regularly spotlight "Smile of the Month"
awards for your most courteous people! And, if you are a one-person business, do what I
do, especially on mornings when I get up feeling very good:
I take myself quietly by the ear (only figuratively, of course) and say, "Jay, you owe
everybody you come into contact with today a smile, some words of encouragement and a
helping hand." I know, it may sound contrived and silly. But it works, and I urge you to do
the same!
I also urge you to demystify the whole concept of selling, because I don't think you should
talk about "selling." Instead, make everyone a "business consultant." A service consultant.
A sales consultant. A salesperson should be encouraged to recognize the fact that they
have been given a great opportunity. It's not going out to slam dunk somebody into
financial submission. Quite the opposite. It's the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to share
with men and women all kinds of critically overlooked facts about the products and
services in the business or profession you are involved in that can enrich, enhance,
protect and empower their lives or their enterprises.
You've got a chance to help these people grow and prosper! It's an exciting opportunity.
What I Want You To Do Next
Meet with your team, and start discussing with each of them the fact that they have the
opportunity to share with your customers or clients all kinds of information about what you
sell that can change and enrich their lives.
It's rare in life that we really get the chance to change someone else's life for the better.
Each and every day, each and every hour, and with each and every contact your
salespeople make, they can transfer knowledge and valuable facts that customers, clients
or prospects can use to make well-reasoned, intelligent buying decisions. That's a
tremendous service!

Use These Economic Rewards To Get the Most out of Salespeople
As important as the knowledge of the valuable contribution they make to a customer's life
is, you also need to give salespeople some motivating economic incentives. Let's talk
about the economic incentives right now:
Depending upon the cost structure of the product or service you sell, I always recommend
that salespeople be given some direct, variable compensation for the results they
produce. That can mean a bonus above quota, so much per transaction, or special
compensation for new customers brought into the fold for the first time. It can also mean a
great level of distinction for opening up and developing new territories or new sources of
business.
The trick is to make certain that your sales force knows that they are a critical and highly
respected element in your selling system. And you've got to realize you have a selling
system.
Your business is a system that starts with your suppliers or your vendors, but then moves
to the creation or production or distribution of products or services. But none of that
happens if salespeople don't transfer it from your enterprise over to your clients or your
customers. So you've got to reward them richly.
"Richly reward" means different things to different people in the selling ranks. To some
people, it's a very comfortable salary and a nominal variable compensation. Other people
are bored stiff with fixed income and live to be directly compensated in proportion to the
tangible results they produce. These people want pure commission. They want to go out
every day and outproduce everybody else -- and be paid much more than everybody else.
I've seen selling organizations that do not pay individual commissions. I've seen
organizations where everyone is on a salary, and the salary is different for each
salesperson.
For example, there may be 10 people in an organization. All 10 may be receiving a

different fixed salary. I may be getting $10,000 a month, someone else may be getting
$5,000. No one gets an individual bonus. In this situation, bonus money is paid to the
group as a whole, and then it is shared on a formula equivalent to what your salary is as a
part of the whole. In other words, if it's 10 people, and all 10 are getting a salary of
$50,000 and you get $10,000 of that $50,000, you get one-fifth (or 20%) of the salaries. If
a bonus fund were created, you would obviously be entitled to 20% of the bonus money.
Other "incentives" are more psychological -- like plaques or contests or award dinners. It
can mean getting your own company parking spot. I have seen companies buy very

expensive automobiles -- a Cadillac, BMW or Mercedes -- and allow the top salesperson
of the month to drive the vehicle for a week or a month, free of cost.
I have seen companies announce variable incentives; if somebody's productivity

increased 50% in a given month, their salary was bonused 50% in that month. I've seen
team selling, where everybody equally splits the commissions that were allocated for
selling a given high-ticket product or service. Or, where everybody's productivity gets
thrown into a hopper, and money is divied up pro-rata, as in restaurants.
The server gets the tip, but the server shares in on a pro-rata basis with the busboy, with
the assistant servers, with the food delivery people who may bring certain items out of the
kitchen, and even with the maitre d' -- if there is one.
It's a system that works very well because it compels everyone on the service team to
have a vested interest in ensuring that a diner is well satisfied. That means that even
though my job may normally be to pour water, if I see something else amiss or awry, or if I
am in a position where I can perform some service or bring some item to the customer, I
don't wait because "it's not my job." I don't wait for the server to arrive. I initiate the action
and do it for them.
What You Can Learn From This
Raises, bonuses and commissions should be tailored to fit the business you're in. But
money is only part of the compensation story. To get your people to do outstanding work,
lavish them with praise and recognition, too. Psychic rewards are in many ways even
more important than the monetary kind. (I'll bet you remember the awards and honors
you've won more vividly than the raises you got. Am I right or wrong?)

Grow By Mailing: Part 1
By Jay Abraham
Let me ask you a hypothetical question: How would you like to have 1,000 tireless
salesmen and saleswomen working around the clock for you without pay? How would you
like to have 5,000 or 10,000 a month? How would you like to have 10,000 or more tireless
men or women working around the clock, each and every hour of each and every day
calling on the maximum number of the absolutely most qualified prospects for your
product or service?
What if I told you that you could get those 10,000 or more tireless salesmen or
saleswomen to work for you without pay, without ever going to work for the competition,
without ever asking for any benefits -- and without ever forgetting to make any selling point
or any closing argument?
Well, that ability has always been yours and it's available to you instantly by recognizing
and utilizing the powerful tool that is direct mail.
Any business or professional practice can use sales letters in a multitude of ways.
Sales letters can be used to generate new customers.
A sales letter can be used to develop a stream of prospect(s) you go out and visit,
prospects you send things out to, prospects who come to you, prospects you have
telephone people go visit, prospects you turn over to independent agents and
manufacturers' reps.
Direct mail can also be used to penetrate or access markets or prospects too small or
distant to allow your customary form of selling or marketing to be effective.

You can use direct mail to precede a call or visit a salesman or saleswoman would make.
You can use direct mail to follow up after a call, close many deals, or at least advance
them to the next stage of sales closure. You can use direct mail as a mechanism to add
as many satellite selling offices as you want.
Most conventional salesmen and saleswomen could never get an audience with a
qualified prospect the first time they tried. Certainly, if they did, the odds of them getting
the prospect's undivided attention for 10 to 15 minutes in the privacy of their home on an
evening or weekend is almost incomprehensible. But you can do that as many times a day
as you like if you rent mailing lists of people whose names are at home addresses -- or if
the information that you put into your sales effort is compelling enough that the recipient
wants to take it home to read attentively.
It sometimes costs you $100 or more to make a cold sales call. Many cold calls take
weeks or months to set up. Yet it costs you no more than $1, and often only 35 cents, to
contact your target audience through the mail.
Sales letters often let you make a more compelling argument than you might normally
make on the phone or in person, because you don't have to fight off the resistance of
secretaries to get through to your prospect to make a complete presentation.
With a sales letter, that's never the case. If you get the letter opened -- and you get it on
the desk or in the hands of the intended recipient -- you've got the complete message,
from beginning to end. You've got every question answered, every issued addressed,
every problem solved, every reservation overcome, every application made and every call
to action expressed!
Sales letters are the most powerful prelude to telephone marketing efforts. I have seen
many situations where, by sending a sales letter out ahead of a phone call, the
effectiveness of the call itself was increased by 1,000 percent!
Let me state this a little differently to convey the true potency of direct mail.
How would you like to get 10 times the business that you're getting now for no more
investment? For no more effort or people? You can do that just by predisposing or
preparing your market by getting 10 times the number of people to say, "Yes, I'll take that,"
or "Yes, I'll come in," or "Yes, send it out," or "Yes, come out and make a presentation."
That's what you can do by sending out a sales letter.
Why? Because when people call cold or visit cold, they're introducing an idea for the first
time. It has to settle in. It has to be embraced. There are a lot of negative issues you have

to overcome. When you make that the job of the sales letter, it does all of the dirty work for
you.
Your sales letter prepares the audience. It predisposes. It breaks the ice. It sets the stage.
It's not uncommon for the letter to be a profit center in its own right. But if all it does is
break even and set the stage for your sales people, that would be pretty good in itself.
I've seen companies use modified direct mail to generate hundreds of thousands of
profitable sales through prospect generation. There are lots of companies that have
thought about creating a telephone marketing division, but feared going to market cold.
Cold calling by telephone is not the most powerful or profitable or productive option you
have in your "Parthenon." However, if you use telephone selling behind a sales letter to
prospects who either write in, mail in or call in, the whole dynamic of the situation changes
to your profound advantage.
Direct Mail Will Work For Anybody
People sometimes say, "Jay, I'm not a retailer or a mail-order company -- I don't see how
in the world I could possibly use direct mail."
To which I reply: "Nonsense -- you can use it, and you should use it, because if you don't
think you can use it, then chances are your competitors aren't using it either -- and if you
use it you'll have the field to yourself! It's like being handed the football at the Super Bowl
with no one between you and the goal line!"
Let me give you some examples that will help puncture the myth that says, "I can't use
direct mail."
A packaging company I worked with started sending letters to their old, inactive
customers. They were able to recapture 40 percent of them.
A company that sold annuities door to door built a $60 million-a-year business with a
combination of letters and endorsements from financial newsletters.
An aerospace manufacturing company got a list of every airline and airline manufacturer
worldwide, then mailed out sales letters. Result: 400 new customers.
You should know this: There are mailing-list directories available to you of almost any
target audience you want to reach with sales letters.

If you want to reach manufacturers, you can rent that list. If you want to reach
homeowners, you can rent that list. If you want to reach producers of industrial products --
or consumers of them -- you can rent those lists. If you want to reach subscribers to trade
publications, you can rent that list.
Once you realize that you can rent lists, not just by name, but by title and job specification
(and many times by phone number) direct mail offers you the ultimate of combination
selling points, because you can use it in conjunction with telephone or by live follow-up in
so many, many ways.
I urge you, right now, to jot down at least five different ways your business can try out
direct mail. Let me give you a hint: the first is to use it as a lead generator. You can offer a
book, or a report, or an analysis, or a free trial to generate leads. The second use might
be to invite people to come to a special training program or seminar. Or you might ask
them to call you to set up an appointment.

Grow By Mailing: Part 2
By Jay Abraham
You may not think you know how to write your own powerful sales letter, but I'll show you
that you can!
In Grow By Mailing: Part I, I gave you a short-course formula, but let me elaborate here.
All you do is sit down comfortably with somebody you trust and make the most compelling,
one-on-one case you can for your product or your service. Answer every question that
could be in a prospect's mind. Challenge your friend or associate to ask questions. Talk
about the beneficial results your product or service provides.
Follow that A-I-D-A formula. Getting Attention. Getting Interest. Developing Desire. And
Calling Them to Action.
Talk through every compelling point, reason why and advantage that your product offers.
Answer every question that can be humanly posed, and record it. And when you're done
with that, transcribe it. Transcribe it triple-spaced. Get it on a disk, edit it down, and you
will have written a better sales letter than almost any copywriter you can engage.
However, if you still want to hire a copywriter, there are a number of ways to do it. You can
look in the Yellow Pages under copywriters or advertisers or advertising agency services,
but I would only hire someone who's got a demonstrated history of writing sales letters
and sales packages that pulled strong results.
And the only way you'll know that is to ask them to put you in touch with 10 or more of
their clients. If they can't do that or they won't do that, I wouldn't engage them.
Also, start collecting successful sales letters--and start having your whole staff and your
friends and family collect them for you from their mailboxes. Look at letters coming form

people you know and respect and those that compel you, and those that might be similar
to the approach you'd like to take. Then call up the companies that generated those
letters.
Tell them you're not a competitor, and ask them if they would introduce you to the person -
- the man, the woman or the organization -- that wrote the letters you admire. Also, go to
everybody in your city who basically uses direct mail and ask them to recommend good
copywriters. Run ads in the newspaper for copywriters and tell them they need to have
documentable references, plus samples.
In your ad, say, "You have to send me three things. One: A letter that compels me to
believe you know how to sell by mail. Two: samples of your work. Three: references I can
check before we talk." If they pass that first cut, then you want to have a long discussion --
an interview -- and you want to allocate a large amount of time to the interview because if
they are good, they have learned things you don't know that could help you to massively
grow your own sales and profits.
Ask them probing questions. What is the biggest sales lesson they learned? What's their
formula? What do they think selling is? What are the components that embody their selling
process?
And then you want to pose the problem and say, "I have a challenge. I need to accomplish
this! And then you may want to give them an assignment. You might say, "Well, I can't
engage you yet, but I'll pay you a few hundred dollars for an outline I won't use unless I
use it with you." See what they do before you spend a lot of money and time.
Check those References!
When you get the copywriter's references, you will want to call and talk to the references.
Not just to learn about the applicant, but to pick the references' mind. Because if they are
people who do a lot of direct mail, you might learn a lot about direct mail by asking them a
lot of questions!
The questions I might ask them are: I've never done direct mail; can you tell me what
you've learned that I should know? Can you give me a good success formula? You are a
busy person, I know. I'll gladly pay you for your time, if it's necessary, because I don't want
to make a mistake. I don't want to hire somebody who's not qualified or hire somebody
who is qualified and use them incorrectly. What advice would you give me? What books
would you recommend? Where do you use direct mail best and where do you find it works
least?

If you ask that question of 20 or 30 people through the pyramid you'll create through
interviewing, you'll gain an education the likes of which you cannot believe! And you will
be able to use any person you hire more effectively.
Denny Hatch publishes a directory of copywriting resources. These are men and women
who charge between $5,000 and $50,000, or work on fee plus participation in profit-
sharing and variables for writing. It's a very good directory, although many of the
copywriters in it may be too expensive for your budget, initially. I strongly urge you to start
out by doing what I said. Discover who's writing copy in your industry, in your field, in your
city. Who else uses direct mail? Can they introduce you to their copywriters? (You could
even pay them a finder's fee if they come up with somebody for you.) If somebody's got a
great writing talent, it's worth a priceless amount to tap into.
One publisher I know who did $100 million a year used one copywriter for years to write all
of his sales promotions. He would never reveal who the man was. If you can get
somebody to reveal somebody who could be worth hundreds of thousands of millions or
tens of millions to you, that's priceless information! It's easily worth paying somebody for
their time. It's easily worth paying them a finder's fee.
Copywriting is not a delegatable process. You don't just hire a copywriter, tell him or her
what you want and walk away. You must inspire them. You must connect with them. You
must get them paternally involved. They must be as excited about what you do and who
you do it for and why you benefit people -- or the chain will be broken. The impact will be
lessened. The result will be less than you and that copywriter are capable of achieving
together.
From Theory to Practice
By now -- if you've read this section carefully, and reviewed what I've said elsewhere,
you're ready to put direct mail to work. What should you do?
First, and foremost, identify the most probable audience for the most appealing and
attractive single product or service you offer. When you have identified the audience, go
out and rent 5,000 or 1,000 -- or the smallest, meaningful quantity -- of names from that
list that you can afford and can access.
To find these vital 5,000 or 1,000 names, turn to sources that most probably possess
them. Who would those sources be? There are a number of them. Number one would be
something called the Standard Rate and Data Service Directory. It's also called the SRDS.

The SRDS is huge -- it's about five inches thick and probably weighs all of eight or ten
pounds. It makes the Yellow Pages look like a toddler. It basically contains something like
40,000 separate categorical descriptions of every mailing list you can possibly rent in the
country -- either compiled lists or direct-response lists.
A compiled list is a categorical list of people who have similar things in common. Owners
of certain kinds of automobiles. People who live in certain kinds of affluent areas or are of
certain age groups. People of other types of similarities like political preference or political
affiliation. Or educational affiliation. Or professional distinction.
Direct-response lists, on the other hand, are people or businesses who've actually
responded -- who have either purchased or inquired or attended or participated in some
way in some very specialized product or service or activity that demonstrates that they
have a commitment toward the area of interest (or desire) you're trying to sell into.
Someone who is a "direct-response"-generated name might be a subscriber to a specific

publication. Or an attendee at a specific seminar. Or a purchaser of a specific type of book
or a report or tape set. Or a purchaser of a specific type of product or catalog. Or a
member of a specific type of non-profit organization. And on and on and on.
So I suggest that the very first thing you do is get your hands on an SRDS. Now, they are
not inexpensive. A year's subscription costs $354 so you'd save money going to a well-
stocked business library and using an SRDS from their reference division. You could
spend a leisurely and fascinating Saturday or Sunday or weekday evening pursuing all the
categories that seem best related to the area of business activity or need that your product
or service typically fills. It's an experience of a lifetime to go through these pages and see
the descriptions of all the different companies that have identified all the different people
and organizations by all the different categories and definitions that you can directly profit
from!
Let Your Search Continue
What other sources are there? Well, if you are in an industrial business -- if you are selling
to an industrial market -- you can get companies listed by SIC code by getting the Thomas
Register. You can contact Dun & Bradstreet, which has compiled and amalgamated some
of the most powerfully-defined lists of target audiences ever seen. You can also go to
virtually any trade, consumer or specialized magazine, or any association and get them to
make their membership or subscriber list available to you by all kinds of different
qualifications. Name. Address. Home Address. Title. Size of organization. And so on.
Ask yourself, "Who else, who I am not directly competitive with, has my customers? What

other business or industry would normally be selling to my customers?" When you

understand what those industries are, then go a little bit deeper. Go to the next level of
definition. Define and identify exactly who those people are. By defining and identifying
who they are, you'll know exactly who to write or call and ask for. Then call them and ask if
they would be willing to make their customers or prospects available to you, either for a
fee or for a percentage of the business that results (or the leads that result).
Or offer a trade -- where you'll trade them access to your prospects and your customer
lists. After all, if they're not competitive, and you are complementary, you have everything
to gain by working together.
What other ways can you identify your best possible target audience and acquire the best
possible target audience list?
You can actually go to your own direct competitors and make them and audacious
proposition, where you'll work their inactive customers -- their unconverted leads. Take
their old, tired names, and give them a substantial share of either the "initial" sales
resulting, or the "ongoing" sales resulting.
You can go to competitors who aren't doing well (or who are phasing out of areas you're
trying to be more expansive in) and work out deals where they turn over their business to
you for an equitable ongoing share of the profit.
A lot of people don't make money in certain segments of the business that you might
make all your money in. By making a deal and offering to take over their business and
their customer names and working them and their prospects and customer names
ongoing, you can make them more money and get them out of unprofitable and
inappropriate areas they don't want to commit their efforts to anymore.
There's another area that's a no-brainer: it's called list brokers. In every major market,
there are dozens of list brokers. These men and women and organizations make their
living by knowing where all the lists are, and by acquiring and then renting them to people
like you. For as little as a dime a name, you can have these list brokers identify and
acquire for you priceless lists of target prospects by all kinds of definitions.
And some of these list brokers are so ingenious and so agile-minded and so stealthy and
sleuth-like in their ability to access market segments that none of your competitors would
ever dream of thinking about! (And even if they dreamt of them, they wouldn't have the
slightest idea of knowing how to access them.)
List brokers can be your best business friend. I recommend you contact multiple list

brokers and submit to them your challenge, and watch and see who comes up with the
best or the better ideas.
In the SRDS -- in the first 20 or 30 pages -- there are lists of the prominent and reputable
list brokers around the country and around the world. I suggest you go through them, pick
out five or six, and call them. Pose to them your challenge. Tell them what business you're
in. Tell them how you'd like to reach more qualified prospects. Ask them for their
recommendations. Get an education from each one because each one will have unique
and invaluable experiences, expertise and perspectives that were gleaned from years and
years in the marketplace. Capitalize and leverage this expertise. Most won't charge you
anything. The few that will charge something will charge a few hundred dollars. That's a
nominal price to pay for millions of dollar's worth of ideas and experience and expertise.
So now, once you identify the lists of the most probable people or organizations or
businesses to target, what do you do with them? Well, you've got to decide! Do you mail
them? Do you call them? Do you mail them and call them? Do you mail them an offer for a
purchase? Do you mail them an offer to send for more information? Do you mail them an
offer to send for a free evaluation? Do you invite them to participate in a seminar? Do you
invite them to come to your booth at a trade show? Do you invite them to come to your
office or facility? Do you invite them to spend some time on the phone?
The answer is, yes! You think up what combinations work best for your particular business
or professional situation, and you test. Remember testing, one, two, three? You test the
best embodiments, the best possible, largest, most qualified, most unhedged response --
and that's the one you continue with. So you've got to come up with a letter or a written
communication you can send to these prospects that you identify by lists, right? Right!
Putting Your Piece Together
Next Step: Construct your offer. Depending on the product or service you sell, you should
find the least expensive way to get the maximum number of people to raise their hands
and say, "Yes, I am interested." What this means can differ by line. But (if possible), try to
get them to send for a free sample. Or to visit. Or to call. If that's not practical, then you
emphasize the lowest-priced, easiest-to-understand and most beneficial result your
product or service offers. (That goes in your letter.)
Next: sit down and create two different envelopes. One with nothing on it. One with lots of
teaser copy: bullets - short examples of results your product or service will produce.
Sit down and write the sales letter, faithfully embodying the elements I've pointed out here
and in other materials I've sent you. Understand always: A sales letter is nothing more
than a conversation between two friends. One person gaining knowledge from another --

transferring understanding and information. Once you're finished with your sales letter and
you've embodied the "AIDA" formula, put together a brochure about your product or
services, stressing the features that best meet customer needs.
Remember, though, that features are nothing more than bridges to summarizing the best
possible spectrum of results a customer or prospect could expect from whatever steps
you're asking them to take. If you're asking them to buy -- from a purchase. If you're
asking them to come in -- from the visit. If you're asking them to come to a free seminar --
from the commitment. If you're asking them to talk by phone -- from what they can expect
to occur.
On the back of your brochure, place a summary and a composite of statements from other
people who've already done what you're now asking this new respondent to do.
Then put together a simple but declarative response device. Either a card they send back
or an order form they can return. And put together a means for them to return it. Either a
self-addressed envelope, a self-addressed post card or an envelope they put the
response mechanism in or their money or their check or their charge card information in.
Always focus on specificity -- demonstrating performance attributes and credibility at the

highest level.
For example, does your response device, or order card, summarize your offer in a specific
way for the customer? "Yes, I do want to learn how to cut 10 strokes off my golf game."
Or, "Yes, I am a hard-nosed, bottom-line manufacturer who wants to learn how to cut 10
percent out of my waste." Or, "Yes, I do care about getting more performance and loyalty
out of my staff. Send me your free report." Or "Sign me up for your free analysis."
Whatever the offer is, take the risk out of it for the customer or client. "I understand I get
this report without risk." Or "I understand that even though it normally costs a $1,000 for
the analysis, I will get it free." Or, "I understand that even though I am sending you my
check, neither you nor I will consider the purchase binding for 35 days until after I've had
it, tested it, put it to work and either proved or disproved it."
All those items have to be there, along with name, address, city/state, daytime phone
number and ordering provisions. If it's ordered by check, make sure there's a box for
"check." If it's charge-card information that I'm sending, make provisions for charge card
information; what the card number is, expiration date and a signature.
All those elements have to be there. A device to cradle and contain and hold that
response has to be included, too. A response envelope -- or if you don't have critical

information and charge card information, or other confidential information isn't being
sought, it could be just a response postcard.
Or it might be a little postcard that is put into a "favor of your reply" envelope. But it needs
all those components. All of those must appear. All of those should be contained if you
want the maximum profitable outcome from your mailing.
And then--try it out!
You may not have your test fully in the mail within 30 days, but you will be in a great
position to start the process of selling by mail in your business or professional practice.

How To Create A Unique Selling Proposition
By Jay Abraham
Even while you creatively imitate others, remember that it's also important to be different.
Distinguish your business or practice from all the rest. Make your enterprise special in the
eyes of your customer or client. That is the goal I want you to pursue.
How do you get your business differentiated? By creating a Unique Selling Proposition - or
USP.
A USP is that distinct and appealing idea that sets you and your business, or practice,
favorably apart from every other generic competitor. The long-term marketing and
operational successes I help you achieve will, ultimately, be helped or hurt by the USP
you decide upon.
The possibilities for building a USP are unlimited. It's best, however, to adopt a USP that
dynamically addresses an obvious void in the marketplace that you can honestly fill.
Beware: It's actually counter-productive to adopt a USP if you cannot fulfill the promise.
Most business owners don't have a USP, only a "me too," rudderless, nondescript,
unappealing business that feeds solely upon the sheer momentum of the marketplace.
There's nothing unique; there's nothing distinct. They promise no great value, benefit, or
service -- just "buy from us" for no justifiable, rational reason.
It's no surprise then that most businesses, lacking a USP, merely get by. Their failure rate
is high, their owners are apathetic, and they get only a small share of the potential
business. But other than a possible convenient location, why should they get much
patronage if they fail to offer any appealing promise, unique feature or special service?
Would you want to patronize a firm that's just "there," with no unique benefit, no incredible

prices or selection, no especially comforting counsel, service or guarantee? Or would you

prefer a firm that offers you the broadest selection in the country? Or one with every item
marked up less than half the margin other competitors charge? Or one that sells the "Rolls
Royce" of the industry's products?
Can you see what an appealing difference the USP makes in establishing a company's
perceived image or posture to the customer? It's ludicrous to operate any business without
carefully crafting a clear, strong, appealing USP into the very fabric of the daily existence
of that business.
The point is to focus on the one niche, need or gap that is most sorely lacking, provided
you can keep the promise you make.
You can even create hybrid USPs -- combinations that integrate one marketing gap with
another. Before you decide on a USP, though, be sure you can always deliver that USP
through your whole organization. You and your staff must consistently maintain high levels
of quality or service.
If you decide your USP is that your company offers the broadest selection of products or
services "instantly available" or "always in stock," but in reality you only stock six out of 25
items and only a few of each item, then you're falling down on the essence of your USP
promise, and your marketing will probably fail. It is critical to always fulfill the "big promise"
of your USP.
If you don't honestly believe you can deliver on your USP, pick another one to build your
business on. Just be sure it's unique and that you can fulfill it.
Remember, the USP is the nucleus around which you will build your success, fame, and
wealth, so you better be able to state it. If you can't state it, your prospects won't see it.
Whenever a customers needs the type of product or service you sell, your USP should
bring your company immediately to mind.
Clearly conveying the USP through both your marketing and your business performance
will make your business great and success inevitable. But you must reduce your USP to
its sinewy bare essence.
Try it. With paper and pen, prepare a one-paragraph statement of your new USP. At first,
you will have trouble expressing it tightly and specifically. It may take two or three
paragraphs or more. That's okay. Ruthlessly edit away the generalities, and tenaciously
focus on the crispest, clearest, most specific promise you could possibly hold out. Then,
rework it and hack away the excess verbiage or hazy statements until you have a clearly
defined, clearly apparent Unique Selling Proposition a customer can immediately seize

upon. And then, integrate your USP into every marketing aspect of your business, such as
display advertising, direct mail and field selling.
Let's say you run display-type ads, and your USP is that you have better selection and
follow-up service than any other competitor. There are several ways to integrate these
qualities into your ads. For example: State the selection USP in the ad headline:
"We Always Have 168 different Widgets in No Less than 12 Different Sizes and 10
Desirable Colors, in price ranges from $6 to $600."
Or, if good service at an affordable price is your USP, use this as a model:
"ABC Tree Trimmers will trim and maintain your trees and shrubs six times a year, once
every two months, and all it costs you is $16 a month, billed quarterly."
By now you should have the general idea that you should carefully integrate your newly
adopted USP into the headline and body copy of every ad you run. And in every direct-
mail piece you send out.
But integrating your USP into just your ads and mailing pieces isn't enough. You must
integrate its positioning statement into every form of your marketing. When your
salespeople call on prospects, everything they say should clearly reinforce your USP.
They should explain the USP to the customer in a clear, concise statement. For example:
"Hello, Mr. Prospect. I know your time is short, so I'll get right to the point. Your company
manufactures widgets. You buy steel and copper from a competitor. You're currently
paying $100 a ton for steel and $75 a ton for copper, of which you waste roughly 25%. My
firm will sell you a higher grade steel and a higher alloy copper for $95 and $69 a ton,
respectively, freight prepaid, which saves you an extra $3 a ton. Plus, we'll guarantee our
metal will produce a waste factor of 15% or less, and we'll replace any wasted coverage,
free. One last point, Mr. Prospect. It could be important. We'll furnish you with 50, 20
gauge titanium rivets and cap assemblies free with every 10 tons of steel you order this
month. May I have your order?"
Throughout the sales pitch, your sales reps should refer to the USP benefits or
advantages, showing the prospect why it's vastly superior to take advantage of your USP
rather than your competitor's USP, if he or she even has one.
Don't try and merely have your salespeople "wing it." Insist that they do their homework.
Make them sit down (figuratively speaking) and express the essence of your USP. Be sure
they can clearly and powerfully express your USP in 60 seconds (the oral equivalent of a

written paragraph), and then compellingly state how it benefits the prospect. Furnish your
prospects with plenty of examples of how you honestly deliver your USP.
When an old, tired company or profession adopts a powerful, new, and appealing USP, it
gives new life, new excitement, new interest and new appeal to the marketing plan. You're
suddenly different, instead of just being another interloper preying on customers you've
trapped into hearing your sales pitch! Now you're on the customer's side.
However, remember this axiom: You will not appeal to everybody. In fact, certain USPs
are designed to appeal to only one segment of a vast market. There is a vast gulf between
the upscale clients and the bargain seekers, and you probably can't reach them both.
Which do you want to stake out as your market niche?
Don't forget my earlier advice. Don't adopt a USP that you can't deliver, or further
marketing is useless. Also, analyze the market potential of various USP positions in terms
of volume, profits and repeat business.
For example, the highest marketing niche may be in the exclusive, expensive USP, but
the biggest money may be made in the discount-volume USP. There's a place for both,
but if you try to ride two horses, you'll probably bite the dust. Remember too, that your
USP is giving advice, assistance and superior service; it can't stop with mere sales
rhetoric. It must become total company conduct. If someone calls in with a question, the
people answering the call must extend themselves. The same goes for every person who
interacts with that customer, from the cashier and the delivery person to the service or
repair people. You and your employees must live, breathe, and act your USP at all times.
Sit down and write a synopsis of your USP for your staff, how you're trying to carry it out,
and how everyone can project that USP to the world. Make their cooperation a condition
of employment. The entire company must adhere to the USP.
Talk to your staff, write scripts, hold contests, and reward people who distinguish
themselves in promoting your USP. Set an example so that your staff can see the USP in
action.
How can you ensure that you are in the hearts and minds of your customers after the
sale? Here are a few good approaches:
Immediately following a sale, write, call or visit your customers. During this follow-up effort,
see that the customers feel important and special, and that their initial purchases are
"resold." Repeat your USP and remind the customers how it helped them make their
purchasing decision. Reassure customers about their wise decisions, and show how the
same USP that served them this time will be there to serve them in the future.

And again, state your USP, telling customers why you've adopted it, and why it's such an
advantage to them. People rarely understand the benefits you provide them, unless you
carefully educate them to appreciate your efforts on their behalf.
A post-purchase follow-up incorporating the essence of your USP is vital, regardless of

how frequently you "back-end" or resell to that customer. You enhance the customer's
loyalty and value to your business by following up after the sale. At the very least, a follow-
up call, letter, or sales appeal drastically reduces or eliminates cancellations, returns,
refunds, complaints, adjustments and disputes, and reassures customers of the prudence
of their recent purchase.
Good marketing requires that you give customers rational reasons for their emotional
buying decision. There is a formula for success, and the USP, my dear friends, is truly an
integral part of that formula.
Depending on the business, I usually advise my clients to offer frequent special

promotions to their customers by mail, telephone or in person. Everyone wants to feel
appreciated and personally acknowledged. By offering your customers genuine, specially
priced deals or first choice, you endear yourself to them. At the same time, you enhance
your customers' perception of your Unique Selling Proposition.
If your USP is service, your preferred promotions will be service-based rather than price-
based. Give them extended service -- for instance, a special offer of your basic service, or
one year of free consulting or assistance not normally given.
Also, don't underestimate the profit potential inherent in special offers. Acquiring first-time
customers usually costs a small fortune. Space ads have to reach tens of thousands of
readers to produce a few hundred customers, so it may cost you $10 or more to acquire a
customer. The same goes for TV, radio, or direct mail. Field salespeople may have to call
on 15 to 30 prospects before they make one sale, so the cost of acquiring a new customer
may be "hundreds" of dollars.
But once you satisfactorily deliver your product or service and have a core customer base,
you can continuously rework and resell at a very modest cost per sale. When you have a
list of customers who have already shown their willingness to spend money on your
products or services, it costs very little to go to them with additional special offers.
If you have 10,000 customers, it will probably cost $3,000 to mail them a letter. (At best,
that same $3,000 for display advertising would probably generate only 100 new customers
at a cost of $30 per customer.) Calling all 10,000 prospects on the phone would take five
telephone sales people about a month. If they were on salary, that might cost you about
$10,000 (for that month) or only about $1.00 a contact.

If broad choice is your USP, have a customer-service representative contact your

customers to see if everything is satisfactory. If everything is not, offer to replace, repair or
correct the product or service. Your customer-service people should know just as much
about available choices and options as your salespeople. Give them reasonable authority
to replace, repair or reinstall if there is any dissatisfaction. Make them aware that their jobs
depend on ensuring that the promise behind your USP is fulfilled. They should provide
evidence to any customer with a problem, complaint or question that the USP is real and
that the entire company is enthusiastically committed to doing whatever it takes to
promptly fulfill the USP promise.
Anyone in your employ who does not, cannot, or will not promote your USP should be
immediately replaced with someone who can and will. Your real wealth comes from repeat
or residual business which will only happen if every aspect of your business is a
continuous extension of your USP.
You can send a personal thank-you note, letter, or a computer-typed letter to customers.
You can send a gift or a gift certificate. You can send items to correspond with holidays: A
box of candy on Valentine's Day; a poinsettia, a turkey or ham at Christmas; a birthday
card -- the possibilities are many. If you add up the customer's value in future business or
repeat sales, you can probably justify a sizable investment in his or her goodwill. Everyone
likes to be acknowledged and feel they are special.
You should even integrate your USP into every contact with dissatisfied customers!
Whenever someone asks for a refund, replacement, or adjustment, instead of resenting

the fact that you have to give back money, use that opportunity to reconvey the essence
of your USP -- either in person or by letter. If you have an exchange department, instruct
that staff to courteously and sincerely reiterate your firm's USP, and assure the
dissatisfied customer of the firm's commitment to offer more service, greater selection,
better guarantees or whatever. Then, if you issue credit or a check, include a prepared
letter expressing your deep commitment to your USP, and apologizing for any
inconvenience, disappointment or dissatisfaction. With every refund, send a letter
expressing disappointment that you did not fulfill the customers expectations, and strongly
restate your firm's USP and your commitment to it.
Then ask the dissatisfied customer to please give you another chance to make good! And
make it worth their while by giving them a discount certificate, a special bonus, offering
three widgets for the price of two, or some other preferential treatment that shows
unhappy customers you want their business back, that you appreciate them, and that you
will make good.
Above everything else, never, ever lose track of the fact that USP is all about the customer
or the client. It is not about me, you, the company or the profession. Don't make the

mistake of aggrandizing your business. Instead, help your customer or client do some
aggrandizing.

How To Tell If Your Price Is Right
By Jay Abraham
Are you offering people a price-shopped product or service, or one that is results-
shopped? The distinction is critical. "Price-Shopped" items are essentially commodities --
"things" (milk, for example). People buy "things" wherever they find the lowest price.
Period.
But a "results-shopped" item is totally different. If your customers / clients / patients are
looking for a particular result -- a certain sense of fulfillment or inner satisfaction -- then
you as a seller have much more flexibility, and a better chance to make a nice profit when
setting your prices.
My recommendation is to always try to move your business toward the "results-shopped"

business category and away from the "price-shopped" crowd.
What To Do To Grow
Let's say that you are at least temporarily trapped in the "commodity" pricing web. What
can you do to win at that sticky game? Here's the answer.
If you must price low, price even lower than your competition, but make your price
contingent upon the customer buying some other product or service -- or some
combination of services or products -- that have high profit margins.
That's what my friend Drew Kaplan did a few years ago. Drew ran an incredible ad for his
direct-mail electronics company that asked, "Can You Be Bribed?"

In the ad, Drew offered a digital watch that was selling everywhere in the country for $30
for only $5.98. But, to get the watch at $5.98, you had to buy a dozen blank cassette tapes
for $29 that he made about $16 on. Drew's cost on the watch was around $7.25, so he
lost just more than a dollar there. But since everybody purchased at least one set of tapes
and many actually bought multiples -- his cumulative profit was huge!
You can do the same thing that Drew did, and do it in a way that makes your customers or
clients celebrate the great buying opportunity you're giving them. But don't feel compelled
to price all of your products or services low. Lowball only those items that are most price-
sensitive.
Here's a case in point: I talked a chain of gasoline (petrol) stations in Australia into
dropping their price a penny below the competition. Their volume massively increased.
But, that wasn't the real beauty of the story: The "beauty" was that they had minimarts in
their stations and, with extra traffic attracted by the gasoline markdown, their clerks were
able to sell many more products. Bingo: Profits increased by $900,000 in six months.
It was wonderful. As people came inside to pay for gas in the morning, they would pick up
coffee, milk, and other items that the clerks called their attention to, including hot ham and
egg sandwiches. Gasoline and milk are price sensitive, but a ham and egg sandwich isn't
price-sensitive when your stomach is growling!
With pricing, the thing to fix clearly in mind is that you might have to be a "commodity" in
the first part of a transaction, but you rarely need to be a commodity beyond that point.
If something is heavily price-shopped, offer a bigger package. Refuse to compete on a

commodity basis. If everyone is selling a gallon of something for $1.80, don't sell single
gallons alone. Pack five gallons together at an incredible price -- a price where you can
get a purchasing advantage in quantity, and one you can use to make a good profit while
offering your customers superb value.
And promise me you'll always test your prices, because you might discover that you're
underpricing out of sheer, unreasoning intimidation.
There's a great story that makes that point in a book called Influence, by Robert Caildini.
Caildini wrote about a retailer who sold turquoise jewelry in a gift shop in Santa Fe, NM.
The jewelry didn't sell well. So, the owner decided to cut prices and blow the jewelry out.
Before going on vacation, she left a note telling her clerk to cut the price of everything by
half while she was away. But the clerk misread the note. He thought the store owner
meant that prices should be doubled! So he marked prices up, not down. When the owner

returned from her trip, she was amazed to find that every piece of jewelry in the store had
been sold.
Why? Because the prices she had used before the change weren't in synch with the
jewelry's perceived value.
See the moral? Test. Test. Test. Every concept, technique and strategy I ever suggest to
you will be one that you can test. My hope with prices is that you will test yours so that you
can position yourself to price right. The market will always tell you whether or not you
made the correct choice.
I have seen higher prices outpull lower ones by as much as 400 percent, but I have also
seen lower ones outpull higher ones by a similar margin. Without testing, you're guessing.
Be willing to stretch and expand a deal, too, even if you have to bid competitively. I have
gotten a surprisingly large number of my clients to come back with a bid that included
things preceding, following or simply complementing the main activity they were bidding
on.
Example: If they're bidding on a job that calls for painting a building, then make it a
package bid -- one that also includes stripping, caulking, waterproofing and whatever. If
the combined price is much lower than the separate bids their prospective customers have
gotten, my clients often land both the job and a handsome profit.
Unless you're willing to price in an innovative proactive and inventive way, you'll always be
at risk of selling products at less than you pay for them. You'll also be at risk of failing in
business.
Most business people fight price wars just to generate customer traffic. But unless you
have a well-strategized plan of action behind what you're doing, you can't possibly profit
from a price war. In fact, in most price wars, nobody wins.
Instead of rushing into a price war, I urge you to "position" your customers or clients to
make repeated purchases from you. Do that when they make their first discounted
purchase, but make sure that the additional things they buy from you aren't all being sold
at a loss, or at only a meager profit. More likely than not, you don't have to discount that
deeply or broadly.

Don't Psych Your Own Prices Down
They may be tough, but most customers, clients and patients won't deny you the
opportunity to make a profit. More often than not, we psych ourselves down the price
scale.
Wouldn't it be sad if you found out next month or next year that you had been denying
yourself 50% more profit on half or three-quarters of the services you sold just because
you were afraid to ask customers to pay what the items were worth to them?
If I'm wrong, you will know it in a week or two from the results of a test ad or sales
experiment. But what if I'm right? Please don't take any chances. You've got too much to
lose--or gain!
You may not have your test fully in the mail within 30 days, but you will be in a great
position to start the process of selling by mail in your business or professional practice.

Let People Buy By Time Periods
By Jay Abraham
Why hold your customers to one-at-a-time purchases, if they would be better served,
relieved and benefited by being able to buy a time-structured package? Like the lawn-care
business that sells you a season of full lawn maintenance, instead of just a one-shot
summer mowing job. Season-long service is what many homeowners really want, after all:
the "end result" of enjoying a sensational lawn without having to worry about seeding and
weeding and mowing and clipping, is not achieved with a single visit.
Almost any service and most products can be offered for a time period. You can sell
tickets by the day or performance, or by the season.
Optometrists can provide exams alone or exams with an annual supply of contact lenses
and solutions or eyeglasses.
If you sell any product of services that can be offered on what I refer to as a T.F.N.-basis
(Til Further Notice), you can use your add-on or up-selling technique to run one-time
purchases into ongoing, perpetual weekly, daily, monthly or quarterly "locked-in" sales.
I got a tree trimmer to turn most of his one-shot customers into regular quarterly service
clients by using that add-on method. I did the same with a pest-control company and a
health club.
A cosmetics company built a $100-million business by persuading 60% of all the women
buying its products to up-sell or add-on and convert that one-shot over to a regular,
ongoing automatic monthly shipment.
How many ways can you turn your one-shot sales into ongoing purchases using volume

options including this ongoing service technique? Talk about multiplying results? If you
normally get one purchase from a customer and he or she rarely comes back - and
through this volume option you get 30-80% (that's that target range of people you could
expect to convert over to TFN) - you can literally triple to quintuple our business overnight.
Quite literally, instantly.
By the way, the TFN add-on technique can work for many, if not all business or
professions - if applied inventively.
Getting Down to Your Business
Do me a favor. Take out that pencil and paper again with the names of your three best-
selling products or services. Write down next to each product or service the amount that
your good customer buys from you, on average, each transaction.
Just ask yourself, "What quantity or frequency choice would give these wonderful people
the greatest end result and the greatest incentive to buy more?"
Let me again help you with a few specific activities.
Consider offering three times the average volume being purchased now for 2-1/2 times
the price. That's right. If you are selling a pound of something, put three pounds together.
If you are selling flashlights, package three together. Remember, your customers' desired
end result is not being left in the dark without a light. Three flashlights might achieve that
desire better than one? If you are selling an annual exam or service, package it with three
quarterly checkups. If you sell a service in monthly or yearly increments, offer three-month
and three-year options. I know you get the point. And by the way, three times the volume
for 2-1/2 times the price isn't the only combination to try. For example, I bought my last
book of 12 oil changes for the price of seven. This simple action took from a single
purchase situation to an annual supply situation. Wherever possible, let customers buy
time periods worth of product versus a specific quantity. That brings me to point #2.
Package your product or service for a period of time; try a year's worth first. Any service
can be turned into a yearly contract, from HVAC maintenance to initial legal consultations.
Almost any consumable can be provided in a year's supply delivered every week, month,
or two months. You can buy your vitamins, coffee or wine that way. Many gifts can be
turned into a "gift-of-the-month" club experience.
And finally, offer your product or service Til Further Notice with periodic billings. It's not
just insurance, fuel oil and newspapers that can be sold that way. Remember, people
don't want valuable services or products to stop.

Now, do me still another favor. Write down the names of your ten best customers and next
time they call or come in, offer them your favorite volume option. In fact, try out your offer
on a second group of customers who aren't on your "best" list - and compare the results,
list against list. And, then, Tell Me how the offer and cross-testing worked out. I'd like to
know!

Jay Abraham

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Jay Abraham’s Reports

About Jay Abraham

Jay is dedicated to growing businesses and advancing careers exponentially factors. He

Disclaimer: These reports are written by Jay Abraham 1

Use This Script To Upsell Your Customers Like Crazy

Disclaimer: These reports are written by Jay Abraham 2

experience, I use the technique at my business-building seminars. If a seminar attendee

Disclaimer: These reports are written by Jay Abraham 3

The 100 Greatest Headlines Ever Written

1. THE SECRET OF MAKING PEOPLE LIKE YOU

2. A LITTLE MISTAKE THAT COST A FARMER $3,000 A YEAR

A sizeable appropriation was spent successfully in farm magazines on this ad.

2. ADVICE TO WIVES WHOSE HUSBANDS DON'T SAVE MONEY --- BY A WIFE

Disclaimer: These reports are written by Jay Abraham 4

3. THE CHILD WHO WON THE HEARTS OF ALL

This was a key-result ad which proved spectacularly profitable. It appeared in

4. ARE YOU EVER TONGUE-TIED AT A PARTY?

Pinpoints the myriads of self-conscious, inferiority-complexed wallflowers. "That's

6. HOW A NEW DISCOVERY MADE A PLAIN GIRL BEAUTIFUL

7. HOW TO WIN FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE

An airline ad featured a faster jet-powered flight. Headline is a bull's-eye for air-

Disclaimer: These reports are written by Jay Abraham 5

9. WHO ELSE WANTS A SCREEN STAR FIGURE?

10. DO YOU MAKE THESE MISTAKES IN ENGLISH?

11. WHY SOME FOODS "EXPLODE" IN YOUR STOMACH

Universal appeal to women. Result guaranteed: "Or Your Money Back."

Disclaimer: These reports are written by Jay Abraham 6

14. WHY SOME PEOPLE ALMOST ALWAYS MAKE MONEY

A profitable check-results ad selling a book written by a partner in a well-known and

15. WHEN DOCTORS "FEEL ROTTEN" THIS IS WHAT THEY DO

Anticipates the reader's natural incredulity concerning such an exceptional bargain.

Disclaimer: These reports are written by Jay Abraham 7

This keyed ad sold hundreds of thousands of books. Strong comparative-price bargain

Another example of a headline which anticipates incredulity in order to help overcome

20. HOW I IMPROVED MY MEMORY IN ONE EVENING

21. DISCOVER THE FORTUNE THAT LIES HIDDEN IN YOUR SALARY

22. DOCTORS PROVE 2 OUT OF 3 WOMEN CAN HAVE MORE

Disclaimer: These reports are written by Jay Abraham 8

23. HOW I MADE A FORTUNE WITH A "FOOL IDEA"

26. WHOSE FAULT WHEN CHILDREN DISOBEY?

27. HOW A "FOOL STUNT" MADE ME A STAR SALESMAN

28. HAVE YOU THESE SYMPTOMS OF NERVE EXHAUSTION?

Disclaimer: These reports are written by Jay Abraham 9

29. GUARANTEED TO GO THROUGH ICE, MUD OR SNOW ---

30. HAVE YOU A "WORRY" STOCK?

31. HOW A NEW KIND OF CLAY IMPROVED MY COMPLEXION IN 30 MINUTES

33. PROFITS THAT LIE HIDDEN IN YOUR FARM

34. IS THE LIFE OF A CHILD WORTH $1 TO YOU?

35. EVERYWHERE WOMEN ARE RAVING ABOUT THIS AMAZING NEW

Disclaimer: These reports are written by Jay Abraham 10

36. DO YOU DO ANY OF THESE TEN EMBARRASSING THINGS?

This ad produced inquiries in large quantities. Investors reviewed the characteristics of

Disclaimer: These reports are written by Jay Abraham 11

40. DOES YOUR CHILD EVER EMBARRASS YOU?

Direct, challenging, a common circumstance. Brings up a flood or recollections. How

41. IS YOUR HOME PICTURE-POOR?

A rifle-shot question hitting thousands of readers. Illustrated by a photo of an otherwise

Unerringly selects its audience, which is large --- and stymied.

44. THIS ALMOST-MAGICAL LAMP LIGHTS HIGHWAY TURNS BEFORE YOU

The word "almost" lends believability. Headline promises an automatic no-effort