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What’s the trick for staying motivated? Well, the better you feel, the better you do. Here are some techniques I use to feel good as much as possible.

Schedule In Gratitude

Gratitude is not something that comes easily for most of us. We take for granted A LOT. That’s why you have to make it a conscious habit to remember to be grateful for things. For months I used to wake up every single morning, and for the first 5 minutes of the day I’d say out loud what I’m grateful for.

You get what you  focus on. If you focus on all you have, you’ll get more of it. Here’s a fun challenge – create a list of 1000 things you’re grateful for. I did. It was amazing how easy it was to come up with over a 1000 things to be grateful for – most of which are taken for granted.

Break Limiting Metaphors

Listen to the metaphors people use. It’s usually a window into the images in their mind. If someone says I’m at the end of my rope, they are creating an image in their mind of that metaphor why they are saying it. Even if just for a split second. But it’s there. I don’t like to have limiting images in my mind at all.

I’m never at the end of my rope. I have a long rope. I never “burn the candle from both ends”. Instead, I “try to touch the sky’s ceiling…”. I’m not “drop dead exhausted”. I just need to “recharge my batteries”.

A casual use of metaphors is dangerous. Learn to identify the ones you use, and if those metaphors aren’t useful, don’t use them anymore.

Fall In Love With Opportunity

I don’t think you should always love what you do. In fact, some times you should hate what you do… but love the opportunities it will open up for you if you do it. Even a ditch digger has something to look forward to. Digging ditches takes care of supporting himself. That gives him the opportunity to use his spare time to cultivate new skills, so he can do more than just dig ditches.

Challenge gives you the opportunity to become more.

Every task you have to do – before doing it, link it to at least one juicy opportunity it will open up for you once you’re done with the task.

Live A More Congruent Lifestyle

I see a lot of people who want to be rich have, within themselves, conflicting views about wealth. That’s like driving a car with one foot on the gas and the other on the brake. There are some issues to deal with when it comes to wealth. What is the difference between wealth and greed? What is the cost you pay to become wealthy?

These are things you have to deal with. And not bringing out all these challenge points, and coming up with congruent conclusions for them, as they relate to your identity, can be your down fall.

What is the mental image you have of yourself? Is it in congruence with the actions you take on a day to day basis? If not, you have to reconcile that, otherwise you’re always going to in conflict as you try to move toward your goals.

In a sales letter, your headline is usually the second most important element, behind your offer. In email marketing and article marketing, you’re headline is everything. 4 out of 5 people will read your article based on the headline alone. Mess it up, and you miss 80% of your audience.

I’m going to share with you some different types of headlines I’ve found that do their job – which is to capture attention, and then get the reader to dive into your message.

Headline 1: The Fed Makes It Official – They Are Monetizing Debt

I call this an “anger headline”. What makes it so effective is it brings up an emotional response in you – that other, more powerful people are taking advantage of your precarious position. You want to read on because you’re pissed. Notice this is a NON-BENEFIT orientated headline.

My research has found that for email marketing and article marketing, non-benefit orientated headlines, in general, out pull your typical “hit them over the head with a million benefits” headlines. I don’t know why, but I’d guess it’s because we’ve grown immune to big benefit headlines.

When I run through  my mental filing cabinet searching for a headline, one drawer I open up is the “anger headlines”. Is there a way I can tap into a subject that causes an emotional rise out of my reader?

Headline 2: Why It’s Okay For Newspapers To Die

I call this a “challenging conventional wisdom” headline. Most people you hear are talking about how the Internet is going to ruin newspapers, and usually the implication is that this is a bad thing. This headline openly challenges that. You just have to read on to see the rationale behind.

Again, notice this is a NON-BENEFIT orientated headline. One time, in a stroke of brilliance, I came up with this headline: “The 80/20 Rule Sucks”. The same technique. Makes you want to read on to see the rationale behind it, doesn’t it? (you can at http://imtimemanagement.com)

Headline 3: What Is The Most Dangerous Country In the World Today?

I call this a “promise of little known information” headline. You want to read on to find out the answer to that question, so you can casually drop it into your “water cooler” talk. Plus, the implication is that it’s not the countries you think it would be (implicitness is a powerful copywriting tool., but requires you walk a fine line).

Do you have some interesting factoid? Maybe you could twist it into a headline for your next article, email or sales letter.

Headline 4: Man Arrested For Trying To Smuggle Woman In Speaker Box

I call this an “incongruent juxtaposition” headline. Two elements that don’t belong together are somehow tied together. These are your “national enquirer” type headlines, and boy do they work. Your brain is developed to notice unique stimuli in your environment around you. It’s a survival mechanism. It’s also a great way to get attention. And if you do so in a way that really makes them curious as to “why the heck..?”, even better.

For example, I one time wrote an ad that started off with “How A Former Monk Went From $0 to $50,000 In 6 Months With Internet Marketing…” (you can read the story at http://internetmillionairerecipe.com)

Anyway, that’s it for today . The real takeaway is how I have these different types of headlines “filed” in my mind. When I write a headline, it always comes from my master list of 10 different types of headlines. (I’ve given you 4 above). I literally just run through this list (I’ve done it so many times, it’s just a part of me now) and I use the technique – or combination of techniques – that best fit the current situation.

I usually write my headlines in one draft, and in 5 minutes or less.

Have you used any of these headline writing techniques in your business? And what do you think of them? Please leave a comment to this blog post.

Here’s some stuff I’ve done over the last 5 days…

I wrote 52 articles for a new membership site I’ll be launching soon
Created 28 videos for that membership site
Did 3 webinars
Wrote a sales letter
Did 4 personal coaching sessions (I’m always baffled more people don’t come to me for coaching…)
And some other stuff I’m forgetting

And of those 5 days, I took Sunday off completely. I only put in 20 minutes that day.

Now here’s what this “all action” attitude has been able to do for me:

Monday I went down and donated $500 dollars to a memorial that my Brother’s school is creating for him. They are going to plant a tree and next to it put a plaque with his name on it. This donation came from all the wonderful people who have participated in my Tribute Series (www.instantcontentcreation.com/Ryantribute)

Then Wednesday, I paid $3,000 for my mom and Ryan’s step dad to get new cabinets and cupboards.

As you read this, I’m now on a plane heading to Texas for the AM 2.0 Internet marketing seminar in Dallas (If you’re going to be there, make sure to say hi to me!). Over a grand for this trip.

The point of this is simple: you can’t do one without the other. You put in time to your business so you can give more of yourself outside of your business.

That’s my big motivator. It’s no secret I get a ton of stuff done (that’s why I created a time management product – http://imtimemanagement.com). And I know all the techniques. All the mental trickery. All the motivation strategies.

That’s all fine and good, but sometimes all you need is a kick in the ass to get going. And today’s blog is that kick in the ass for you.

Here’s my challenge to you. I want you to do MORE today than you were planning on doing. If you were going to write 5 articles today, write 6. If you were going to write a blog post today, write another and auto-schedule it for sometime in the future.

Want to know the best time management secret for getting stuff done? It’s accountability. What’s that “extra” thing you’re going to do today. You should write it down and make the commitment. In fact, do it as a response to this blog.

If I can do all those things I listed above in 5 short days, surely you can do just one more thing today to get closer to whatever your goal is. So post a comment and let me know what it is… and then go and do it.

The “Power of 4″ Guarantee

Almost every sales letter I write mentions my guarantee in at least 4 separate places. Usually, as soon as the offer is mentioned, I tie it to a guarantee. I also create a “guarantee section” with its own subhead and a whole chunk of copy dedicated to it.

I re-iterate the guarantee on the order form, and if I include P.S.’s, I mention the guarantee there as well.

A good rule of thumb to follow is that your sales letter should mention something about your guarantee in at least 4 separate, distinct parts of your copy.

The little-known “Third Headline”

The goal of a headline is to get people to read the opening paragraph. The goal of a subhead is to continue to keep them reading, to provide eye relief, and to “write for the skimmers”.

There is another type of headline though – it’s the first sentence in each of your paragraphs.

Occasionally you want to “sell” your reader on reading the next paragraph. So you want sprinkle in paragraphs the start off like this…

Now get this….
Let’s move a bit closer to the truth…
That’s only half the story though…
Here’s a neat little trick…
What’s next?

And so on. I actually created a swipe file for this because it’s that important. (By the way, you can get it at http://www.twosickbastards.com — it’s the report called “Power Transitions”).

By adding that little extra sentence to the beginning of the paragraph, you’re promising the reader something worthwhile and in their benefit. That’s good for keeping their eyes glued to your ad.

The “Close A Day” Routine

I don’t advocate you study a lot of copywriting. Instead, it’s much better to learn by DOING. One great exercise is to go through your swipe file everyday until you find one or two paragraphs that you consider brilliant copywriting.

Then, type out that paragraph over and over again in a word document. After that good warm up write some of your own copy, either for a letter you’re working on… a new letter… or a tweak to an existing letter.

“Cliff Notes” A Sales Letter

In my Gary Halbert Swipe File package (www.halbertswipefile.com) what I did was took 6 of Halbert’s ad, and stripped them bare.

For example, he might open up with some dramatic proof element, and then transition it to hit the prospects 4 biggest sources of frustration. After that, he’d launch into a list of bullet points, then present the offer, give the guarantee…

And so that’s how I’d cliff-note the ad. I’d literally say…

“Start out with dramatic proof to get their attention. Then transition it to agitate their three biggest problems. Next, get them excited for a solution by offering some incredible benefits…”

The above exercise made me really good at creating “flow” in my letters, to the point I can now organize a sales letter in my head.

Use “Positive Phrasing” As Much As Possible

One line I hate to see in a piece of copy – “Don’t delay, act today!” Why? Because it uses the work DELAY. I don’t want my prospect to even have that work pop into his mind when he’s reading my copy.

The mind typically processes things only in positives. Don’t think of yourself driving in a fancy sports car. I would bet most of you reading this just did. Even though I told you “Don’t”. Your mind just hears “fancy sports car” and it’s off creating pictures.

If you put a line like this in your copy: “This isn’t some crappy , rehashed guru product…” you run the risk of your prospect making a picture in their mind of your product AS a crappy, rehashed guru product.

I make these mistakes myself from time to time… It DOES happen. But as much as possible, when you’re reading through your copy and “smoothing it out” before putting it out in public, try to use positive phrasing such as “you should act now” instead of “don’t delay, act today” and “this product has its own unique twist” instead of “this isn’t some crappy, rehashed guru product”.

What’s your thoughts on these 5 techniques? Do you use them already in your copy? If not, when are you going to start?

Please leave your answer as comment.

-Jason