Hiya CopyStar,

I've just gone through a serious health scare.
 
My 98-year-old grandmother, Mama Da was admitted to the hospital with pneumonia.
 
Our local family hustled to create a 24-hour care program. After all, why should a 98-year-old have to stay in the hospital by herself when she has children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and a great-great grandson named Dallas?
 
Since I'm still recovering from shoulder surgery, I got the day shift (thanks for taking night shifts Mom!)
 
However, I had the scariest shift of all: The 9-hour day shift when I watched Mama Da struggle to breathe.  Then I had to listen to the doctor explain the seriousness of her condition.
 
Mama Da told me that day she wasn't afraid to die and she proceeded to tell me everything she wanted done - and not done when her time come.
 
I was alone in the room with her and I was scared. I needed some back-up - some reinforcements - to help me cope with this situation.  So I told her I notified our family and they were trying to get here as soon as possible to see her. But it didn't seem to matter.
 
Then I said, "Mama Da, Moon and Pot are getting on a flight from Maryland as we speak to come to see you." Then a funny thing happened:
 
Her eyes opened up and she said, "really, who else?"
 
So I started going down the list, "Shorty and Sidney are driving through the night... Gigi is cutting her vacation short in Orlando... Daty and VaVa are flying in tomorrow from Philly... Carole, Kuky and Marley are flying in from Miami... Bibi and MaMa will be here on Saturday... Joey and Angela got one day round trip tickets to come and spend a few hours with you ... Ferg and Chrissy are hitting the road at 2am and will be here by noon... and the rest of the family are calling me non-stop to let me know when they're planning to come.
 
As I ran down the list, I started to see a light in Mama Da's eyes I hadn't seen in the past 24 hours. She was getting excited about seeing her family. And when the kids, grands and great-grands came to her hospital room to kiss her and talk to her, I saw her drawing energy from each one of us and feeling better.
 
In fact, she looked and felt so good that many of my family members jokingly said Mama Da was making the whole  pneumonia thing up as a way to create an impromptu family reunion!
 
For the next several days, Mama Da's hospital room was so full of our loud family - the nurses asked us to keep the noise level down because we were having too much fun!
 
During the nights, we had more willing volunteers of aunts and cousins to sleep in the room with her and stand guard.
 
I was so glad for the extra help. But while I was waiting for the reinforcements to come, I re-learned 2 very important lessons:
 
#1: My family has some really crazy names!
 
But most importantly...
 
#2: Specificity really works!
 
When I told Mama Da that family was coming - it didn't register with her. But when I told her exactly WHO was coming... WHEN they were arriving... WHAT they were doing to get to her... and WHERE they were coming from - man, it really boosted her curiosity - and possibly her will to live!
 
That got me thinking about writing copy - and the importance of reinforcing your copy with ultra specifics so you can grab your prospect's attention and keep it!
 
So I want to show you 2 quick and easy ways you can reinforce your copy too:

As I said earlier, specificity sells. So find ways to build credibility in your copy with exact names and numbers. Here's an example:
 
BEFORE: "Numerous scientific research shows this remarkable 'brain food' can help you restore memory loss and sharpen your thinking."
 
"Numerous scientific research" is pretty lame. That's like when I told Mama Da "family was coming" - it just didn't get much of a rise out of her. I needed some specific details to put MEAT on this baby! So here's how I changed it:
 
AFTER: "Scientific research from Stanford University... Vanderbilt University... the Memory Assessment Clinic's facility in Bethesda, Maryland now prove this remarkable "brain food" can help you restore up to 12 years of memory loss and sharpen your thinking."
 
See the difference? Name names and give specifics! These prestigious institutions build credibility in your prospect's mind - and stating the  product can restore up to 12 years of memory loss is powerful!

One of the first "rules" I learned in copywriting was the "7 word headline". It was drilled in my head that powerful headlines should be less than 7 words. That way they would POP on the cover and grab the prospect's attention. Sure, I learned the rule - but most importantly, I learned when to break the rule too!
 
The truth is: it's a stupid rule. The goal of your headline is to stop your reader dead in his tracks. If you can do it with one or two words - GREAT! But I've had many successful promotions that contained 20... 30... or more words in my headlines! For example:
 
BEFORE: "Why Your Vitamins Won't Work"
 
When I was listing all the relatives who were coming to visit Mama Da, I had no idea which ones she really wanted to see. Was it the young grandkids who could bounce on her lap... the teenagers she helped raise... or her own children she spent a lifetime with. So I decided not take a chance - I'd just list them all and see which one piqued her interest!
 
So, "Why Your Vitamins Won't Work" isn't a bad headline - but it's too general. I wanted the prospect to stop and I say, "Hey I'm taking that - so I better read this!" - and the best way to do this is to give 'em a list. So here's how I reinforced the copy - and results went through the roof:
 
AFTER:

Yep! That was the actual headline! Well over the "7 word rule" but who the heck cares - it worked! You can see this actual cover when you click here.
 
So don't be afraid of long headlines. Just make sure every word you use counts!
 
I guess I can give you a few more ways to reinforce your copy...
 
... but I don't' feel like it right now.
 
Like I said, it's been a very stressful time for me and my family. So you'll have to just keep reading CopyStar and I'll deliver some more goodies for you in future issues.
 
Or better yet - click here to check out back issues of CopyStar at: CopyStar Ezine. You'll get lots of great tips from them too! 

Normally, I'd give you an update on my now 5-month old grandson Dallas who's bouncing on any lap that holds him. But instead, I want to share a precious legacy from my grandmother, Ruth "Mama Da" Richard.
 
Mama Da always told us that she doesn't plan to leave us with a dime but we will be rich with her memories.
 
She definitely lived up to that promise. I am so thankful to be blessed to have her in my life for 48 years.
 
We brought Mama Da home from the hospital after a 6-day stay. The pneumonia damaged her heart and lungs - and she already had diminished kidney function. So with the help of hospice, we're just going to keep enjoying her - and listening to her thousands of stories - for as long as she's still with us.
 
Here's a photo my daughter Tiara snapped recently. I call it "5 Generations of Love"...