Written by Step 2: Build a list of headlines
Headlines should grab attention. If yours don’t then your posts won’t get read no matter what you do to get people to your blog. So build a list of at least 50 attention grabbers that are relevant to your business, service or niche and you will save a ton of valuable time. You can pick four to six key topics that you deal with and then come up with as many sub topics as you can in each of those. A catchy headline can make all the difference in whether or not your visitors stick around so be sure it’s doing the job it’s supposed to.
Here are some ideas of areas that you can build your headline list around:
Statistics
For example you can grab attention with the following:
- 400,000 books in a single year
- 1 billion tweets every day
Thought Provoking Questions
Ask your readers a question that they will find curious or want to know that answer to themselves.
For example:
- Does your marketing stink?
- How do you demand attention?
- When is the last time you had a heart to heart with yourself?
All of these create a curiosity in your reader’s mind that makes them want to read more. Do this and your blog posts will keep eyes on your page.
Tell a story
If you can tell a good story then you can capture the attention of your readers. Not a long story but just long enough to get whatever point across that you want to make. It could be the story of one of your clients and how you helped them. Or it could be just a make believe story that tells the ending that you want and that illustrates how you can help someone or provide a service that they have been in need of. But remember you will still need a compelling title for your story.
Relevant Quotes
Have probably seen quotes used along side chapter heading in books that are relevant to the chapter itself. This is a good method to use and a quote can be used as the headline itself. For example:
In the book “Tactical Entrepreneur” by Brian Hazlegren (one of my authors at Sortis Publishing by the way) the second chapter is titled “Do You Have What It Takes?” he quotes himself by saying the following:
“If a man cannot dream he will soon be asleep to all the important things that life has to offer. If a man cannot pray he will soon only listen to himself. And if he has no charity for others he will soon be the only important thing in his pathetic existence.” – Brian Hazelgren
He then proceeds to write a great chapter all about the courage needed to start a small business. The quote really gets you thinking about what it is that Brian is about to discuss in the chapter. That is powerful and it’s a fantastic way to capture attention and help drive the point home.
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