Fire Starters Want to capture readers' attention? Simple: Host a sales explosion.

A few years ago, as a prank, a national humor magazine sent asmall "rebate check" under a fictitious business name toa famous multimillionaire. The amount of the check was somethinglike $1.06. The idea was to see if this extremely wealthyindividual (whose name you'd recognize in an instant) wouldactually cash such a puny check. And, sure enough, he did!

What that said to me is that no matter what one's station inlife, the lust for a discount--any discount--is so indelibly etchedon our psyche that it is never completely erased. Is it any wonderthat we've made the terms "sale" and its benefit,"save," the most ubiquitous in all of marketing andadvertising?

These terms, in their various forms, have had a long, successfulrun--a testament to their near-hypnotic power to motivate buyers.Psychologists could have a field day dissecting that sense ofsatisfaction we all feel when we think we've paid even a dimeless than the going price for anything. Of course, over the years,merchants have developed embellishments on the original theme toboost interest. Generally, despite how much money they have, peoplestill crane their heads at a one-cent sale. My wife has a weaknessfor spring sales. Then there's the white sale, the anniversarysale, the Labor Day sale, the Washington's Birthday sale . . .and, of course, who can resist camping out overnight to be first inline for the 7-hour sale?