Is That My Butt?

Is That My Butt? By Jeff Neil Is that my butt? Now that's an interesting question. But to be perfectly honest I'm not concerned with my butt. Not your butt. Not any one's butt. But... It sure got your attention. Just like it got mine. And that is the purpose of a killer headline. Let's start this story from the beginning: Here I am sitting at the doctors office. I'm waiting for my wife to get done with her check up. And "no", we are not expecting a baby, thank you. Anyway... Here I sit. Notebook in hand. I brought it to write some content for a new website. So I'm looking around just waiting (hoping?) for the creative juices to start flowing. You know how it is waiting at the doctors office. I started staring at all those magazines. You know... All those women magazines. No Hot Rod or anything interesting like that. And then I saw it. "Is That My Butt?". Right on the front cover of Seventeen, April, 2002 Edition. Normally that's not the type of reading I'm into. But I couldn't resist. I just had to find out what the heck that question was all about. So yup, I walked clear across the waiting room just to see that magazine. The story was about jeans. No, I did not read it. But the headline worked. And it worked well! And that's what you need to do with your headlines. Grab their attention. And to be really effective you should be a little creative. You've got a lot of competition out there so sometimes being completely of the wall is required. As long as you can make it fit. Some of the best headlines I've ever seen are at the supermarket check out. The tabloids. Headlines like Three Headed Martian Calls 97 Year old Grandmother from Outer Space. Yeah, it's silly. But people look. And then they see other headlines like 33 Year old Kansas School Teacher Reveals Life after 17 Divorces. That's a little more believable. And people want to know. So they buy. Here's four things you can put in your headlines to make them pull. Benefit How to make money. Most of want to know how to make more. Don't you? If someone knows more about a subject than we do, we want to know. Nosey creatures, aren't we? Occupation What's the job of the person with all this knowledge? Is it an expert of some kind sharing their valuable secrets? Or some average Joe that stumbles on a unique idea. Geography Where do they live or where did this happen? Odd numbers Odd numbers make your headline more specific and believable. This type of headline works because people want to know about people. And they (we) want to know what other people know that can improve our lives. Shall we try one? Benefit: How to be debt free. Occupation: Financial Consultant Geography: Florida Odd Numbers: 27, 5 27 year Financial Consultant from Florida Reveals How to Become Debt Free in 5 years or Less... That's something that people want to know. And that's a headline that gets attention, gets read, and makes sales. Have you heard of the pizza delivery guy and the truck driver selling their secrets to their success? Take a look at their headlines again. You'll see this formula. It's not the only way. But it's a good way. After all, *Is That My Butt? 37 Year Old Maine Cop Tells How the Answer Can Increase Your Profit By 277%*