Headline

Advertising Headlines That Make You Rich: Create Winning Ads, Web Pages, Sales Letters and More
$47.00


297 Killer Variations on 20 Basic Headlines That Will Make The Author Rich!

Yes, I'm afraid this is a cynical review but what else is there to say?

How about this? There are 133 numbered pages in this book of which 37 pages are completely blank. (There are also several 'chapters' that end with three lines on top of an otherwise blank page, and there are an awful lot of half blank pages, but I didn't count those.)

Why are all these pages blank? So that you can write your notes there, stupid, not because it's an easy way to pad out a book! Duh!

Okay, but there are 297 Killer headlines right? It says so at the top of the table of contents!

Wrong again my friend. There are actually 20 BASIC headlines and each headline is allocated its own 'chapter' of four pages. Two of those pages will be made up of a dozen or so variations on the headline such as, 'Do you make these computer mistakes?' 'Do you Make these Web Marketing Mistakes' 'Do you make these Reading Mistakes' 'Do you make these home Plumbing mistakes' and the other two pages will be completely blank (for those notes, remember).

Clunk.

That was the sound of my head hitting the keyboard.

There's got to be something of value in this book hasn't there?

Correct.

Each so-called 'chapter' has a few lines explaining how the headline works and giving hints on making it work better, and these are definitely worth reading.

Furthermore right at the very end of the book (p87 - p94)you get a 'Bonus 50 MORE killer headlines' (his words) which are well worth having.

And there's a 'chapter' (p113-p115) on 'What do winning headlines look like', another one 'Real world examples:headlines from internet marketing' (p117-p127) and another one on '10 golden rules for writing powerful headlines' (p129 - p132) that have some golden nuggets in them.

Still, this book could have been written in 25 pages and sold for a quarter of the price .... but anyone who's read e-books knows that if you don't have a lot of content you surround it with hype and multiply the price by 10 ...

What else is there? Well, it's fairly formulaic in that it has a whole load of testimonials at the front (copywriters love these) and a Bonus#1 and Bonus#2 chapters (always at the bottom of long sales letters) and right on the front cover in big bold letters 'Bonus 2 Free CDs! $97 Value!'

The CDs didn't fall out when I opened the book, and I found nothing inside the front or back cover explaining where they were, so I looked at the front page again.

Oh dear. In smaller print, 'Details Inside'.

Hmmm, can't find them anywhere. Ah, here they are, hidden on an inside page. They look good - you only have to pay for the postage - and they might be good, but by now my cynicism is setting like concrete and I don't order.

Instead, I read to the back of the book.

'Your Next Step,' it says. 'Author David Garfinkel has created an entire, comprehensive and easy-to-use systme for writing advertising. His System is called 'Copywriting Templates.''

Cool, I think, maybe this guy is genuinely trying to help me. Let's go to the link he's given and see what he's offering.

Oops! He wants my credit card details and (wait for it) $1197

Damn!

I pick myself up and sit in my chair.

Hmmm, let's check out those testimonials once more. They were genuine, weren't they? Not from people he knew looking to help out a mate and gain some exposure at the same time? Perish the thought!

Well, you decide for yourself.

"Should be mandatory reading for business owners!"

"David Garfinkel has done it again! This masterful writer, in this on-the-button book, provides you not only with 297 killer headlines, but helps you earn $297,000 in extra profits and save $297,000 because now you won't have to run ads with less than superb headlines! If there was ever a book that should be mandatory reading for business owners, this is it. I want to give David a high-five for writing it, but I'll give him a high 297 instead!"

Jay Conrad Levinson, Author, Guerrilla Marketing series of books.

So here's my summary - some nuggets of information, cynically packaged. It's sold in a formulaic way and ended up leaving me with a very bad taste in my mouth (it cost me $47). So bad a taste that I've gone out of my way to leave this review on Amazon.com (I'm from the UK). Were the other reviewers even reading the same book?

Is it worth buying?

Yes, but know what to expect.

And if you're using these headlines then use them honestly. There's nothing worse than buyers remorse, which can lead to lousy reviews like this.

The Motley Fool: Today's Headlines
$0.01
I would agree that Motley Fool has a stellar reputation. However, this newsletter is written purposefully as a teaser only. While there is a limited amount of information, and the articles are well written each article ends with a suggestion to add more extensive services for complete information.

I found it frustrating to read dead ended articles leaving me wanting the "true" information.

Headlines and Deadlines - The Hits of A-HA
$10.98
Headlines and Deadlines - The Hits of A-HA being a compilation album by the Norweigan band A-HA and was released 1991. A-HA's music is mix of synth pop, new wave and pop rock. My favorite tracks are "I've been losing you", "Crying in the rain" and "The sun always shines on tv". The booklet has no lyrics which is quite usual for a compilation. For each track we get a date of release but not a list of whom plays what. 4/5.

Economic Policy Beyond the Headlines
$22.00
George P. Shultz is one of the most distinguished government officials in U.S. history, but this book was a bit of a disappointment. It was first published during the 1970s, and much of its material deals with that era. The contents of the 1998 second edition do not appear to have been updated. E.g., the chapter on tax policy does not mention the tax reforms implemented during the 1980s, or the 1990 and 1993 tax increases (ch. 3). The chapter on income security does not include the 1983 Social Security amendments or the welfare reform of the 1990s (ch. 5). There is no mention of NAFTA in the chapter on international trade (ch. 7), and no mention of the National Economic Council in the chapter on the apparatus of economic policy making (ch. 8).

Substantively, there is not much with which to quibble. The federal budget process is too cumbersome for fiscal stabilization policy to be effective (ch. 2). Simplification of the tax code is economically desirable but politically unlikely (ch. 3). Price controls are ineffective as a means of controlling inflation (ch. 4). The "crazy quilt" (p. 88) of existing income security programs would benefit from being replaced by a negative income tax as proposed by Milton Friedman (ch. 5). During the 1970s, the world switched from a fixed to a floating exchange-rate system (ch. 6). Free trade leads to higher standards of living than does protectionism (ch. 7). Organization affects policy decisions, but continual reorganization does not substitute for them (ch. 8). Government intervention, e.g. with energy policy, thwarts the self-correcting mechanisms of free markets (ch. 9). Government's most effective economic policy is to provide a stable framework within which markets can operate (ch. 10).

The authors' main focus is the Keynesian trade-off between inflation and unemployment. Clearly, economic theory and policy have both progressed since the book was first published. New edition or not, its material has simply become out of date. The only apparent addition to the 1998 version of the book is one new chapter, which would have worked better if the authors had published that separately elsewhere.