Every copywriter knows what it is to struggle with a copy for hours, for days - fixing it, polishing it, rearranging it. We have all been quilty of leaving the headline until the last and the spending half and hour on it - or perhaps only ten minutes.

The best headlines are those that appeal to the reader's self-interest, that is, headlines based on reader benefits. They offer readers something they want - and get from you.

Remember that the headline and the appeals are ONE AND THE SAME. In successful ads, the appeal is almost always expressed in the headline.

Do not try to make your headline so short that it fails to express your idea properly. It's more important to say what you want to say - even if it takes 20 words to do than make it short and fail to express your idea.

Get the big point of your advertisement into your headline. Use your headline as a hook to reach out and catch the special group of people you are trying to interest.

Now I spend hours on headlines - days if necessary. And when I get a good headline, I know that my task is nearly finished.

If you are going to emphasize certain words in the headline, be sure that they are the words that say something.