The same applies with a radio commercial. It also needs a headline to attract listener's attention so they "prick up their ears" and listen further.

The headline therefore becomes ad for ad. It must be strong enough to "flag attention" and stop reader, listener, or viewer "in their tracks." The job of headline is to entice them to read on or pay further attention to message that follows.

Let's face it; we all have a natural resistance to advertising. These days we are bombarded with thousands upon thousands of commercial messages. Unless headline is of particular interest, or in some way says "I'm talking to you!", we will tend to ignore it.

If you're like most advertisers, you will open a newspaper or magazine and go immediately to your own advertisement. It stands out because you are looking for it.

This was his way of telling me that he had come to wits end trying to get this particular ad to his level of perfection. Actually, he would tell you that it was my level of perfection that was not met. :o)

What does one do when they reach a point of knowing that something is just not quite right with an ad?

I know I spent time researching and going through all steps necessary to write a successful ad. But something is just not quite right.

Ad writing is a very sensitive operation.

Amazingly, sometimes addition of one word can totally change effectiveness of an ad. In same light, removing a single word can sometimes be just as effective.

I am going to give you a couple of examples.

A while back I ran an advertisement for Solo Ads in Money For Hire.

The first time I ran ad with this headline.

Solo Ad to 3000 Opt-In Subscribers