Of course, I've received many reminders and offers about renewing; magazines try very hard to keep subscribers they've got. So when last issue came with a special promotional wrapper on cover, I wasn't surprised.

But, what made this one interesting was a clever piece of copy that hit an emotional chord: inside back cover of special wrapper were words, "You're about to be dropped from our list of active subscribers. Unless you act now."

Personally, I thought it was an effective piece of copy (even though I still won't renew). It made an emotional case for what is essentially a business-to-business offer.

Many people who write persuasive copy, whether in sales letters or internal memos, say rest of us underestimate power of emotion in getting response we want from our messages.

There's a sort of rule of thumb that goes like this: Consumers buy on emotion and justify on reason. In other words, we, as buyers, think we're being rational in making a decision to purchase, or in choosing among different offers, but in reality we make decision with our hearts and then justify that decision with our reasoning powers.

Everywhere you look online, someone is touting a new, fully tested, impossible-to-fail method of making more money than you've ever dreamed possible.

And if you're type to fall for flash and sizzle of marketing claims, you've tried enough of them to know that it ain't always what it's cracked up to be.

Actually, I get a chuckle out of many of get-rich-quick schemes that flood my email inbox on a daily basis. Even though some of these proposals do seem to have some validity, I know enough about true secrets of prosperity to know when a proposal is a genuine business opportunity, and when it's just a baited lure on end of a fishing line.

I learned this from personal experience.

When I was still in high-school, my dad helped me get into a business that sounded great. In only a matter of months, we would be earning well over $5000 per month, and after a year, we'd be earning over $20,000 per month.

The company we talked to gave us newspaper clippings and industry reports to show demand for what we would be producing. They gave us pages of numbers showing us just how easy our product would multiply and grow in value. They gave us so much information that we just KNEW that we could succeed in business of earthworm farming.

Right now, I'm imagining that most people who read this will be rolling on floor with laughter. I understand completely. Even now, thinking about that time, I can't believe we were so foolish to think that we could make that much money with worms.