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%*