Headline Formula Buys 5 houses In 18 Months

[ewenmack]

Back in the late 80's I discovered how ads made money for me.

In fact, writing and running ads in newspapers for fat loss
allowed me to buy 5 houses in 18 months.

Put tenants in them.

Pure direct response with them phoning in and me closing on the phone.

It meant the person had to go to the bank and deposit the money
and get back to me when done.

Or pay by credit card.

I'd get credit card details and get an associate
who was a merchant to process it for me.

Often it would take the next day for him to do it, sometimes even longer.

Geez, I thought I was on to a lazy money machine back then.

Well it was compared to hard manual labor I had done for 17 years prior.

Any-how, I stumbled on a formula to write headlines.

Didn't know it until recently after looking for common traits
to newspaper headlines.

Never seen anyone mention this formula.

It's served me and the newspapers well.

So here's the headline formula and some made up examples
for you to see in action...

A fact + action word or phrase + did what?

--------------------------------------------------
Strange Science Discovers How Men Pick Up Women
Seeking Sex...
--------------------------------------------------


--------------------------------------------
Earthquake Crushes 17 People In Christchurch
Rubble
--------------------------------------------


------------------------------------------
Terrorist Takes 3 American Women Hostage
-------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------
Mutant Tomato Produces Fruit All Year
-------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------
Auckland Man Breaks Neck Watching Boobs On Bikes
--------------------------------------------------

See how after the fact comes a verb?

Discovers
Crushes
Takes
Produces
Breaks

For newer ad writers it takes a while to put them together,
possibly because they can't easily think of an action word.

Or they can't define the thing, the fact in a story.

Those were my findings when I helped a few to re-write a fat ad.

You can make it easy on yourself by asking this question...

did what?

It narrows your focus to a person, group of people, a thing...

then when you think of what it did, an action word leads you into the rest.

Takes a bit of practice and works best when you have someone guiding you.

Instead of taking on a few to re-write a small print ad like I did before,
I thought I'd pass on what I was teaching them here.

I'm not wanting to do it again, because it takes me away from business building.

Best,
Ewen

[max5ty]

Thanks Ewen, that's some helpful advice.

[Warrior Child]

Your post got me. It certainly got my attention just like I was reading a headline in the newspaper. Thank you for sharing this

[ewenmack]

Originally Posted by Warrior Child

Your post got me. It certainly got my attention just like I was reading a headline in the newspaper. Thank you for sharing this

Well spotted.

I wondered if anybody would notice the formula in the headline.

Best,
Ewen

[webstrategistpk]

Your formula is very good and I will certainly apply it in my craigslist ads.

[Lori Kelly]

Thank you for sharing this information. As a Realtor, I often consult with other agents regarding how to write a better ad. This will definitely be a topic of discussion.

Thanks again.