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A Good Title Is A Work of Genius
By Yanik Silver
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That's what Emanuel Haldeman-Julius said about changing the
title of a book to increase sales. And he should know, he's
the guy who single-handedly sold more than 100,000,000
"little blue books" during the first part of the 20th
century (Yes, I said 100 million copies).
His book entitled "The First Hundred Million" gives a rare
glimpse into how to use certain tested title words to
increase your sales. In fact, his book is one of the most
scientific studies of what a title change can do for your
sales.
The most remarkable thing is that Haldeman-Julius simply
advertised his books by title alone. There was no selling
copy, only the title of the book. That's it.
So before you decide on any haphazard title for your next
ebook, manual, ezine article or free report, you might
want to take advice from this savvy marketer.
Haldeman-Julius had a policy in his business - if a title
didn't sell over 10,000 copies a year it was sent to a
place in his office called "The Hospital". Inside the
Hospital he went to work coming up with a new title for
the poorly selling book and re-releasing it. If the revised
title didn't sell, the book went into the 'morgue".
He tells about a book originally being titled "The Art of
Controversy" which never really sold until it was changed
to "How to Argue Logically" and then it leapt up to 30,000
copies. The amazing thing is that nothing else was changed
inside the book, just the title.
And from this "in the trenches" research, Haldeman-Julius
discovered certain title words that could increase the
sales of almost any book when applied. For instance the
words "The Truth About" increased sales for one book
starting its publishing life as "Patent Medicine". This
book by Dr. Arthur Cramp only sold 3,000 copies in 1925
but when the title was changed to "The Truth About Patent
Medicine" it rose up to a respectable 10,000 copies.
Therefore the words "The Truth About" are magical.
Next, he found the words "Life" and "Love" to work well.
Followed by the worn, but still very powerful phrase
"How To". Books with "How To" in the title were almost
always placed at the top of his sales list. Take for
example,
the title "How to Psycho-Analyze Yourself" sold 43,000
copies
while a similar title "Psycho-Analysis Explained" sold 5,000
less copies. And the title "How I Psycho-Analyzed Myself"
managed to attract only 13,500 buyers.
What's more, Haldeman-Julius discovered the public was
(and still is) clamoring for facts. So the words "The
Facts You Should Know" proved a big winner.
So how can you apply this information?
Easy!
The way you should use this wisdom from the ages is by
applying it to titles, ebooks, ezine articles, free reports
and your headlines. For instance, if I was a cosmetic
surgeon I'd give out free ebooks like this: "The Facts
You Should Know About Liposuction" or "The Truth About
Laser Hair Removal" or "How To Erase The Years With Laser
Resurfacing". Each of these could almost be a headline by
themselves. That's what you want to strive for because
that's what people want!
(c)2000 Surefire Marketing, Inc.
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Hot on the heels of Yanik Silver's first Internet project
(
http://www.instantsalesletters.com), he's released the
new "Instant Internet Profits" course. Yanik is now spilling
the beans and revealing his simple blue print that nearly
anyone can follow to achieve online success.
Check it out at ===>
http://www.instantinternetprofits.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Just 29-years old, Yanik Silver is recognized as the leading expert on
creating automatic, moneymaking web sites...and he's only been online full
time since February 2000! He is the author and publisher of several
best-selling marketing books and tools including:
Yanik specializes in creating powerful systems and resources for entrepreneurs to enhance
their businesses. When away from the office Yanik enjoys playing beach volleyball, ice hockey,
skiing and working on his golf game.
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A Good Title Is A Work of Genius - Yanik Silver
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