Monday 25 July 2016

Effective headlines are so important to capture the reader’s attention. Ps. I hate the “Hack”


This is the first post I am writing without any use of the internet. It feels a little awkward since I don’t have something to reference or draw upon. Who knows, this could be a refreshing experience.

Stepping outside of my usual routine of manifesting creativity.

Maybe outside the distraction of the internet can prove further effectiveness. Until I am done I wont know for sure.

I am writing this above the clouds in an altitude of 36,000 feet. Yes, I am on a plane travelling back home from a relaxing/business oriented trip.

Enough about my personal life, let’s get into the topic of “The reasons I hate the hack”. “Follow these 7 steps and it will change your life”. Sound familiar?

This sounds personal, all of my posts are. This may seem like a rant, and in some instances it will be. Not sure if I will keep this sentence in here by the time I am finished with this post.

By the time you have found this post, I am almost positive that you have stumbled across a headline that features a number of ways or steps or books that will change your “life”.

So I ask myself when I read these headlines, are they there to capture attention and stand out from all the noise? Do the authors actually believe that people’s lives will change after reading the content they have to share? Are the readers so naïve to believe that reading the steps will change their lives?

Seek and you shall find.”

Where am I going with this post? To find out what the intentions of the authors are? To find out what make effective headlines? Why the readers find these headlines so captivating?

I think you are looking for an answer here as I am searching to give you one I will tackle what I can with my knowledge, beliefs and experience.

We can start here, what is the one thing that readers enjoy? Hacks. A proven working method that will simplify their lives. That will guide them and avoid any pain along the way. A step by step process that is easily digestible and actionable. The weird thing is that most times no one takes any action.

Yes, there are great novel ways to do new things that you haven’t thought of, and people write about ways that have improved their lives. So if it has worked for them why wouldn’t it work for you?

Because they are “doing”, not “going to do”.

Don’t get me wrong it can work for you. Ask yourself, have you applied the steps or methods in exactly the same circumstance that the author was in? The identical way the author implemented these step, with the same intention, emotion and talent?

I found that the hardest thing is not to give you content and value in my posts, it is actually getting your attention to come read my posts. The actionable content is there.

The only way to get you to pay attention to me rather than the noise is to make a headline that will stand out. That will create stickiness. People like myself spend countless hours on getting it just right.

Okay I don’t spend as much time on the headlines as I should because I know I have value to offer and I focus on that first and foremost, not on how to lure you to come read it.

I have been told countless of times how my headlines are just not good to put t nicely, truthfully they suck. They suck so bad that no one gives my content a chance.

I am writing a follow up post as I am writing this one on how 1, yes, 1 of my posts went viral on
Medium, “How can we avoid the noise?” to show you that headlines do matter.

Let’s give you examples of some really crappy headlines that I have written:



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