Classified ads in the local newspapers are a valuable tool for rapidly lifting any home business to success.

Despite all the major changes the Internet has brought to fruition, people still religiously read local newspaper ads and, more importantly, respond to those that are of interest.

As a work at home business starting out in classifieds, a viable idea would be to focus on snagging as many quality leads as you can. The first thing that a new business--be it on or offline--requires is as many leads as possible.

The key to success for your classified ad will, quite obviously, be the headline. Tests have shown that a simple change of the headline without altering the body text can increase the response to an ad by 500% or more.

Although newspaper classifieds do cost money, if at all possible, play a little with the headline if success is not immediate. Be as specific as possible. Sure, you'll lose lots of readers, but those will be readers you weren't targeting in the first place!

An effective means of coming up with your 'award winning' ad is to look at existing advertisements in the newspaper where you want to place your ad, and then compile the wording for yours based on what others have done.

Do several ads and then test at least two or three different ones to see which one will pull the highest response or number of leads for your business.

There really is no secret for success in classifieds other than testing all the time to constantly look for a better classified ad, even after you have begun to enjoy some success.

Walter Pfarr has under his belt over 30 years of media experience, most as a prize winning reporter and columnist. He is presently writing his own Internet ecourse and soon will operate PfarrOut Ezine. Pfarr and his wife, Jo, reside in Ardmore, OK.