Do you think it takes magic to write a great headline? Nothing could be further from the truth. It just takes a touch of talent, mixed with a bit of technique. And great writers are highly sought after and highly paid.

Joe Sugarman is a legend in the world of copywriting. His number one rule is that every single sentence almost forces the reader to read the next sentence. Your headline should promise a benefit to the reader. Your article should support that promise.

You want to tap into your reader’s emotions. Your writing should be passionate and emotional, taking advantage of their wants, needs and desires. You convey the article’s main idea by creating titles that are short and punchy.

They dont have to be creative or funny — the opposite is actually true ” its sometimes better if their not. Good headings are almost never cute or clever. Cute or clever titles rarely pull readers. (One of my most creative was Roasted Penguin Tastes So Good It Would Make Gandhi Slap His Kids! It was cute; it was clever; and it failed miserably.)

Writing headlines is an art  you’ll want to spend a lot of time crafting this component. Not everyone is successful in crafting attractive and eye-catching headlines. This means if you can master the ability, you’ll be light-years ahead of the competition.

Writing headlines is much like writing a song. In a song, the words must be appealing and in harmony with the music. The same is true in copy. A banner must sing. In other words, it should be in harmony with the story and sound satisfying to the reader.

Good headlines should be active. Make them short and say only what they need to say to cover the topic. They should convey the number one benefit to the reader. The copy that follows should be plain and simple paragraphs that support that benefit, as well as giving more.

Their purpose is to entice us to read on, to rouse our curiosity. I once heard a good headline is like a good pickup line. While they never get you the girl, they buy you a few more minutes to plead your case.

Don’t get me wrong. Funny headlines can sometimes work. I’ve used them myself. But they work best offline, like a direct mail piece. Online you want to think about how people use the search engines. I promise you no one is typing in your clever headline, so the chances of it being seen are nil. They’re using keywords… words relevant to what they want. So use the same words to attract them. And you’ll get the added benefit of higher rankings from Google; they’ll see you as more relevant. Good stuff. After all, higher rankings means more traffic… and that’s what you’re trying to get, right?

The internet just continues to get deeper and deeper into the daily lives of people all over the world. With the addition of video to the internet marketing landscape has taken surfing and browsing to a whole new level .

You may be wondering how the new school entrepreneur can take advantage of this new trend? If so, I’ll show you exactly how you can use Web 2.0 to fill your bank account with cash and have plenty fun doing it in just a moment.

Pull up your chair a little closer and listen to this fact that sheds some light on this cutting edge media platform. Research conducted by the Interactive Advertising Forum shows that video viewership on the internet has increased 46% (3rd Quarter 2008) on YouTube, Veoh and other popular video marketing and sharing sites.

The writing is clearly on the wall and it’s time for you to capitalize on this fast growing trend. With millions of new viewers swarming to these Web 2.0 video sites you need to stay ahead of the video marketing curve. Here are some quick tips to get you in shape to cash in:

1. Purchase a video camera, web cam or camera with a video recording feature (nothing expensive) if you don’t already have one. If you do, then you are already set.

2. Start playing around (familiarizing yourself) with the Windows Movie Maker program that you already have on your computer. This is all you need to edit your new videos and it is simple to use (my seven year old can do it).

3. Start your first YouTube account. It’s easy to set up and most importantly it’s free to get started. Go to www.YouTube.com to get started. If you already have an account, create a second one strictly for business use.

4. Use the basic Web 2.0 video marketing success formula to craft your video message:

a. Present a problem your audience may be facing

b. Offer the best solution to the challenge and how your product can be used to eliminate the problem

c. Give your viewers a STRONG call to action. Simply tell them what you want them to do next (i.e. visit you website, call your office, etc.)

It really is this simple to cash in on the Web 2.0 Video Marketing Tsunami that is taking over the internet. All you need to do is be in the right place, at the right time, with the right message. Follow this simple advice and you can make internet history in the is fast paced world of overnight cyber-millionaires.

Starting your own website should be a well thought out endeavor. It doesnt matter if you are blogging for your crowd, or promoting a new product or service. With the many options available these days it is recommended that you give a little thought to the tools available.

There are many ways to create webpages. For example, if you have Microsoft Word, especially the newer versions, you can create and even publish your web pages directly from Word to your hosting site. This is easy in appearance, but you will be lacking in some of the more common features available today.

If you are interested in having maximum control over the appearance and performance of your website then you might consider buying one of the many software packages that are available for writing and managing your website. The possibilities are endless, and these packages offer many powerful features.

There is another direction you can take, and that is choosing a content management system. These systems are integrated web site design and publishing programs that give your website a foundation. Themes and add on features are always available for these systems.

Two well known content management systems are wordpress and joomla. Both of these programs are open source, which means the code is free to see and use, and many people support and build on open source and give these powerful components freely. WordPress is easy to use, as well as joomla, and both offer add on or plugin features.

Joomla is an content management system with many available features. A good start with Joomla is to visit their website. You can see what add on features are available, down load the base software as well as templates and plugins, and read the forums.

WordPress is another popular choice for a content management system. There are three options with WordPress. The first is WordPress hosted at the WordPress site. This option limits the templates and features of your website, but is free hosting. The next level is to install WordPress at your own hosting, which gives you more control over the inner workings of your site.

If you want to have a community type setting you can always consider WordPress MU. This software is a variation of the typical wordpress installation, but lets you run multiple sites with only one install. You can control the features available for each subdomain within the MU community.

It takes time and energy to build a website, and giving a little thought to the underlying system can save you hours of hard work. Once you delve into your chosen content management system you will find many powerful options available for producing a great website.