Is your front page blurb doing its job?

Since the mid-80s every newspaper has regularly carried a blurb, skybox, boost, puff panel, teaser (call it what you will) on its front page. Why? Well, its real, and only, purpose is to sell the paper. But, as one publisher asked me recently, does it work? And if it doesn't could we make better use of the space? Here are my do's and don'ts for the front page blurb, published in this month's InPublishing magazine.