Notice I said "not need it". That's not the same as saying that you don't want it, or that you're not interested in it. But once someone sees that you are salivating over what they have to offer, whether it's a used car, a date, or sex... they automatically want to pull back.

And even if they do choose to give it to you, they will probably hold out for a better offer. Remember, there is a distinction between someone wanting to give you something, and someone giving you something just because you want it, and they are trying to oblige you.

Third principal of getting callbacks: Use action commands.
Have you ever seen one of those late night infomercials? Even if you haven't seen one, I'm sure you've seen those TV commercials where they try to get you to buy some sort of video tape, or CD collection. Have you ever noticed how many times they tell you to ORDER NOW?

Well there's a reason for that. I hate to say it, but people DO need to be given some kind of direction, or their mind will often wander away from whatever it is you want them to do. I use this principal when I write any kind of internet personal ad for someone.

At the end of the ad, I always tell the woman who's reading the ad what to do, and when to do it. For example, I may say something like:

"I read every single email that I get, and I am looking forward to hearing from you. If you find yourself being curious to know more about me, then take a minute and email me right now, while I'm sitting right here in front of you :)"

So how does this apply to leaving messages on an answering machine? It's simple, the last thing you should say on your message is some variation of "Call me". You want the last thought in her mind to be "Call him".

So let's put it all together, and come up with an example that would make a girl want to call you back right away.

"Hi Beth, this is Steve... the exotic underwear model you met the other night at Joe's Coffee Shop. *laugh* Anyway, I was thinking about you today, and I realized that you might actually be a pretty interesting person to get to know. Oh, and you know that hat you were wearing, well I thought of a funny nickname for you, and I can't wait to tell you what it is. *laughing while saying that* I'm busy tomorrow and Wednesday, but I have some funny stuff to tell you, so call me today."

You don't have to copy that word for word, but you get the idea. The message is funny, energetic, it's totally different than ANYTHING else on her answering machine, and it leaves no question in her mind what I want her to do.