The Forgotten Headline
by Rick Segel, CSP

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It is time for someone to defend that headline and place it in the hall of fame of one of the greatest headlines ever written. Not because it appears in every low life publication selling anything from home study courses to no money down, no credit real estate schemes. But because it is the basis for every successful advertising or promotional plan ever written. It is the mother of all advertising copy.

To defend it sounds a bit bizarre. But by defending, I hope it will help you the next time you sit down to write a program description, a newsletter, or any other form of written material that is designed to entice people to take some form of action. Once I uncovered this secret, it simplified my life, because it gave me a formula for writing powerful copy.

First, why shouldn `t this title work? Simply stated, because it goes against every traditional value we have been brought up to believe. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn`t. We have been taught that we have to work for what we get. Keep your nose to the grindstone. The greatest secret to success is hard work. We have heard all these clichés from parents, friends, advisors, and usually anyone we trust. Yet it still intrigues us. We ask, "I wonder if get rich quick really works?"

We say to ourselves that there must be an easier way. How do the insiders do it? There must be a better way. Some people have all the luck. They must know something we don `t know. That `s why the single best selling word is "secrets `. You put Get Rich Quick with Secrets and you can sell just about anything!

But why and how does this effect me? I `m in the association management business, or I plan meetings, or I run a non-profit agency. I believe we all want something and we all want it now. If we wait more than a few seconds on our computer, we want to throw it in the trash. The whole world is into instant gratification. Credit card debt is running rampart. Personal bankruptcies are at an all time high because we can `t wait. We want it all and we want it now. We want the gain without the pain. Therefore get rich quick can be translated to just get it quickly, whatever it might be!

One of my pet peeves with sales trainers is the fact they teach us to uncover our needs. Once we know what someone needs, it is easier to sell them. Maybe so, but people buy what they want. Someone might need practical, economical transportation to and from work, but they buy a shiny red sportscar. People need to go on a diet, but they want the french fries. They might need to go to church on Sunday morning, but they want to stay in bed. It goes back to when we were kids. Our parents told us we needed to study, but we wanted to go out to play.

We all really want to get rich quick, but reason tells us it probably won `t happen. However, there are variables in that statement that allow us to rationalize this objective. What I mean by that is that we don `t have to get "rich". Maybe "well off", "comfortable", or maybe "just a little extra money". It doesn `t have to be quick. It can take a little time. I `m patient. Even if it takes a longer time, the reward could be worth it. If the "rich" is strong enough, the "quick" can take a little longer. Or the opposite could work, where the "quick" is instant, but the "rich" is not as great

Even if your organization is a non-profit or an organization with a higher goal than just money, you want more of what you want as well. If you work for a charity such as the heart or cancer foundation, you want to stamp out that disease as quickly as you can. You want more research, more education, more support groups, etc. etc. The time frames are obvious--as soon as humanly possible.

My point is simply this. Before you plan your next event or write any promotional piece, use the get rich quick formula. First, brainstorm what the recipient of the promotional piece really wants. What are their emotional triggers that will create action? If you are planning an association meeting, there are different wants for different participants, ranging from camaraderie, giving back, recognition, to education. Even if you don `t use the formula in the creation of the copy, then use it as the acid test before you approve any copy.

I do a program called Ways to WOW Your Customers and Keep Them Coming Back. It has a can `t miss title. It outdraws any other workshop I might be up against if I am a concurrent session. The title was designed using that formula. Everyone wants ways to WOW their customers and the time frame is a very justifiable time frame. Another example is demonstrated by the success of the series of Books for Dummies. All the series publisher is really saying and doing with the title is using the benefits associated with the products, such as the Internet, Windows 95, or even Office 97. They could have said that we will reveal the riches of the Internet, windows, or office, but they didn `t have to. The "riches" do not have to be money. It might be the timesaving or the riches of education. The next part of the title, "for Dummies"-that is the quick. What dummies means is that you will be able to go at your pace. No one looks at themselves as dummies, and therefore everyone assumes the learning will be quick.

Get Rich Quick is the basis for all great titles. We have just euphemistically changed it to match our level of sophistication! It works-try it. It will save you time in the design process and insure success. Actually, all it will do is help you get what you want quickly!

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