Psst!

Come closer…

Want to know a great FREE (yeah, I said FREE – the lamest word in marketing) tool for creating headlines?

Read on, eager copy-hunter…

The Cool, FREE Tool You Can Use To Boost Your Headline-Writing Mojo…

 

Headlines are tricky.

You know you gotta come up with the goods – your headline is the gateway to your offer, after all.

And we all know good copy with a great headline means better conversions than great copy with nothing up top… right?

Personally, I used to find the tricky part to writing great headlines was choosing which ones NOT to use.

Not because I considered EVERY headline on my shortlist a killer…

Far from it!

But because…

 

Headlines Are Just Too Important To Screw Up…

 

Even when split-testing.

I’d worry about abandoning the headlines I didn’t use in case they were the ones with the magic inside…

I’d worry even more about submitting the two or three ‘finalists’…

…and in some cases, the client just wanted one solid-gold, ass-kicking header.

Tough decisions.

And at first, I didn’t think I had the stomach for it.

Those weaselly inner doubts crept in:

 

“Have I gone with the right type of header?”

“Maybe I should just keep it simple and lead with the ‘offer’..?”

“If I screw this up, nobody’s gonna read my lovely body copy… and we won’t sell a thing!”

 

That kinda stuff can keep you up at night.

Recently, though, I’ve really enjoyed coming up with headlines for my copy projects.

No more Nytol needed here.

How come?

 

I’ve Found A Fun Way To PRACTICE Writing And Selecting Headlines…

 

(Yes, FUN… the second lamest word in marketing!)

Ok, I know – I mentioned PRACTICE…

The Big P.

But you wanted a tool, right?

A magic button that generates headers like popping corn or something.

Well, let’s be honest – the closest we’re gonna get to ‘automated headlines’ until they put Essence Of Ogilvy into a daily-dose vitamin capsule is gonna be The Big P.

That said, there is a great way you can practice writing headlines…

You can hit it in your lunch hour or on the train…

And yep, it’s free.

You’re probably already using it, too.

What the -?

 

Drum-Roll Please…

 

It’s Twitter, dude.

Huh?

Yep, Twitter’s not just for abusing footballers and reading what colour undies Gaga’s wearing today.

It’s actually a pretty useful resource for budding headline-writers, too.

Here’s how it works:

Assuming you’re following some smart opinion-leaders, industry big-hitters and genius bloggers…

…and not just attention-seeking yap-alls (they have those on Twitter? Who’da thunk?) – your raw materials are right at your fingertips.

When you read a good article you want to share, wait before you hit that wee blue ‘Tweet this’ button…

…THINK…

 

You Have A Great Opportunity Here…

 

Get creative…

You don’t HAVE to use the auto-header that appears in that little box.

Sure, by all means keep the ‘via @whoever’ in there so the author knows you’re sharing their work…

But it’s more fun if you come up with your own headline.

Maybe pick out a buried ‘winner’ from the article itself…

Or how about something that sounds more intriguing to the casual reader…

(And let’s face it… Twitter followers are the very definition of ‘casual readers’ – there’s just so much traffic to get through)

Something short and sweet – 140 characters max is a great boundary – that piques interest and gets clicks to the article.

 

It’s A Short, Snappy Brain Exercise For Whenever You Feel Like Sharing Something With Your Peeps…

 

It loosens up the ol’ grey matter, and it’s definitely made my recent project headline writing easier.

Re-writing Twitter headlines allows you a pretty consequence-free way of experimenting with headline ideas.

Sure, it’s tricky to actually test – it’s tricky to accurately measure the click-thru rate of your tweets to someone else’s content…

(UPDATE – A boffin buddy who uses Hootsuite tells me: yes, you can. I doff my cap to him and say: see you over there for testing!)

But be selfish here.

You’re the one who benefits from the practice…

You’re the one who gets to re-write a few good headlines each day…

And you’re the one whose client work gets better each time you do it.

 

More Conversions – Via Your Finely-Honed Headline Skills…

 

…means more work for you down the line.

Sweet.

So remember:

Practice, practice, practice your headers.

You’ll be surprised how many different ideas you throw into that RT box before you choose one.

The selection process is all part of the game, too.

It’s healthy. Give it a try…

What’s to lose?

PS You can find me mouthing off about copy, conversions, rock & roll and the colour of my undies on Twitter. Come say hi.