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Here are some headlines to help you build your Swipe File. Your headline is the "A" of AIDA (attract, interest, desire, action). If you're creating a poster, your headline may be all the copy there is, aside from the business name and contact number.

Therefore, your headline is the most important part of your copy. I often don't settle on a headline until I've written the copy, and I always aim to write at lead 40 headlines before I settle on my two favorites that I'll send the client --- it's better give your clients a choice in draft copy.

Read magazine covers for headline ideas. The covers sell the magazine, so the headlines are often clever, and you can copy the cleverest into your Swipe File.

If you're thinking: isn't this plagiarism? No, it's not, because you won't use the exact wording. You'll vary it. The idea may be similar, and there's no copyright on ideas.

Should you use Title Case in your headlines, or not? That depends on the design. I usually leave it up to the designer to decide. In the examples below, I've used both Sentence Case and Title Case, but you can certainly use plain Sentence Case only in all your headline copy if you wish.

Note: if you're writing long copy, a brochure or booklet for example, settle on a headline style and then stick with it.

=> What's a Swipe File?

It's a collection of copy examples. I keep mine in a three-ring binder. In addition to the examples, I make notes about copy I like or dislike, and put the sheets into the file.

I include copy I've clipped from newspapers and magazines, and printed out from Web sites. I paste the clips onto a sheet of paper first to make them easier to handle.

Think of your Swipe File as a brain-primer. I also use my Swipe File to build my enthusiasm before a marketing session, to remind myself why I love writing copy.

Use these headlines to prime your idea pump:

Superb Quality. Great Price.

New For You, A ________

This Is The One!

Prepare for a surprise!

The solution to your ______

For your home (children, garden, kitchen, bedroom etc) ___________

How To Improve Your ___________

Your Personal Invitation To _______

Your chance to try _________

Win A _________

=> Question Headlines

Asking a question taps into our need to feel important, and our curiosity, so it's a powerful way to gain attention for a product.

Where would you like to go?

What if _________?

Are we right? Can _________?

Have you tried _________?

How much can you save with ________?

Can this be genuine?

Is This You?

Whenever you find a headline you like, make a quick note of it, and put it in your Swipe File.

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There's a condition that holds a lot of people back from progressing towards their goals. I've been guilty of suffering from this condition on some occasions, and maybe you have too.

It's been called 'analysis paralysis', and is a form of perfectionism. Here's how it looks: you have an idea. It could be a project that would generate extra income if you pulled it off. It makes sense. It sounds feasible. Heck, it even sounds easy and straightforward.

But days pass, weeks pass, months pass and you still haven't taken the first step towards making that project a reality. Rather, you're still thinking about how you're going to solve every problem before you get started. You're analyzing the idea to death, literally.

You want it to be perfect before you launch.

As a result, you never launch. All you have is an idea. Possibly a very good one at that.

While you're dilly-dallying, someone else comes along with the same idea, launches the project with faults here and there and starts making a lot of money with it (as a result of the benefit it's bringing to lots of people). You then feel like kicking yourself, thinking 'if only I'd acted when I had the idea, I would be the one enjoying all this success...'

~*~SIDEBAR~*~ If this has ever happened to you, you may be interested to know how come someone else got the same idea and ran with it. You see, thoughts and ideas are all around us. They are living vibrant things, each seeking a vessel of expression. When a thought finds its way into your consciousness, you have the power and right to decide what to do with it. This has many consequences and implications, but for the context of this article we'll stick to one.

If the idea in question is, for example, an idea for a book that you could write, and you sit on the idea, analyzing it from every possible angle, that thought is not going to stay waiting for you to wake up and put it into expression. It will, having left its seed in your consciousness, leave and seek a more willing and proactive vessel. It continues travelling through the 'ether' in this way until it lands in the consciousness of someone who starts writing that book the day the idea arrives in his mind.

~*~END OF SIDEBAR~*~

Of course it's not perfect when you get started, but get started all the same. In doing so, you send out a message to God that you beleive this project will end the way it was intended when the idea was planted in your mind. This act of faith gets rewarded, as long as you persist in acting on the idea.

What idea(s) are you sitting on? Are you concerned about what others may think of your idea? Are you worried that you might look clumsy or silly? Are you scared that you might fail?

What others think is not a valid reason not to take action now. Your looking clumsy or silly is not a valid reason not to take action now. Fear of failure is not a valid reason not to take action. Truth be told, you've got no valid reason not to act on your idea right now.

Can you imagine if a baby, once he got the idea that he ought to start walking, got so bothered by the fact that he hadn't perfected the skill yet that he refused to take the first step?

That sounds ludicrous doesn't it?

Yet that's what many of us do sometimes.

My challenge to you today is what Nike exhorts you to do: 'Just do it!' Take one little baby step towards it. Focus on that one step for now. You can think about the next baby step once it's time to take it.

The way I see it is this: if you're going to 'fail' at the project, get that part of the process over and done with in a hurry, so that you can get onto the next part.

Be like the baby learning to walk. Know that no matter what project you undertake, you'll make mistakes along the way. Each mistake is a learning process, not a failure to discourage you. Expect and embrace these experiences when they happen. Learn from them and move on.

Don't let that idea be taken from you and given to someone else who's proactive with their life.

Be bold. Take action today.

Dr Kem Thompson is a Personal Growth Trainer and Consultant who can help you you achieve breakthroughs in your finances, health and relationships. Get FREE gifts when you sign up for FREE ezines: 'Days of Success' - http://www.successeminars.com 'Weekly Success Tips For Women' - http://www.success-seminars.org