While perusing the BusinessWeek bestseller list, it occurred to me that you don't make bestseller with a title like Basic Finance: Working Your Tush Off, Saving, Investing Conservatively but Not Too Conservatively, and Waiting a Very Long Time in Order to Have a Comfortable Retirement.
No. To make the bestseller list, you gotta have a hook. Look at those titles:
THE WORLD IS FLAT Oooh, intriguing…
FREAKONOMICS Wow! Wild, man!
THE LITTLE RED BOOK OF SELLING Whoa, I'll bet that red book is full of secrets.
SECRETS OF THE MILLIONAIRE MIND That one's definitely got some secrets!
WAITING FOR YOUR CAT TO BARK? Hmmm, cats don't bark. I'm curious….
THE LITTLE RED BOOK OF SALES ANSWERS Another red book!
THE FRED FACTOR Secrets of a mailman. Sort of a Tuesdays with Morrie thing going on here?
RULE # 1 If I only knew that rule my life would be totally different! Totally!
THE automatic millionaire Poof! I'm a millionaire! I'll definitely pay $12.95 for that kind of return.
THE INTELLIGENT INVESTOR, REVISED EDITION Well, there's always one exception to the rule. Anyway, this book's an old classic, so it gets to keep its boring name.
SOOOOO…
What's my personal finance hook going to be? Do I promise instant riches? Base my finance laws around the excellent work habits of the guy who cleans my gutters, or perhaps the random utterings of Marcia Brady? Give it an interesting color or number hook (The Big Green Book of Greenbacks? Two Steps to Two-Stepping All the Way to the Bank?)? Add a little mystery? Like…Zen Personal Finance? (Hey… not bad.)
I'm pretty sure there are some more hooks out there, and I intend on coming up with the one that will let me blow this rathole for a primetime interview with Katie Couric or whoever took her place.
Got suggestions? Leave a comment. I'm tired of talking to myself here.
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I think the best hook for a finance book is to “Keep promises to Yourself” Too often we keep promises to everyone else much to our own demise. This applies to the area of personal finance as well.