How You Can Legally “Steal” The Most Effective Headlines of All Time

In a previous post, I talked about an effective structure for your web copy, emails, and sales letters. Now, we’re going to start digging deeper into each part – starting with headlines.

Did this blog post title grab your attention? I hope so. What caught your attention?

The word “How”? The word “You”? The word “Steal”? The superlatives (“Most Effective…All Time”)?

The reasons I believe this post title works well as a headline are:

- It tells you I’m going to show you a method or process – “How”
- It involves you personally – “You”
- It sounds kind of controversial or sneaky – “Legally ‘Steal’”
- It tells you what’s about to come is the best you’ll find anywhere, which may or may not be true, but it sure makes you want to read on, doesn’t it?

Personally, I like “How You Can…” headlines. They get right to the point, in my opinion. On the other hand, there are plenty of very effective headlines that are not “How You Can…” headlines. How many?

Well, Jay Abraham has identified 100 he claims are the “Greatest Headlines Ever Written,” and if anyone would know, it’s Jay Abraham. I’m not going to list all 100 here, but I will share a few of my favorites and why they were so effective (with some of Jay’s and some of my own opinions sprinkled in).

1. “A Little Mistake That Cost A Farmer $3000 A Year”

Obviously, this was targeted toward farmers. If you were a farmer, do you think you might want to know how another farmer lost $3000 a year. I know I would! Fear of loss is often stronger than desire for gain. You could also use something like, “How You Can Stop Losing $1000’s Ever Year On Unneeded Insurance,” or something like that. Just another idea.

2. “How I Improved My Memory In One Evening”

Well, this is similar to my favorite “How You Can…” headline. It really sets up the story and the sale, don’t you think?

3. “Today…Add $10,000 To Your Estate — For The Price Of A Hat”

Now tell me you don’t want to find out more about that. Very specific – when, how much. Appeals to greed, a basic human emotion.

4. “To Men Who Want To Quit Work Someday”

Let’s see…if you’re targeting men, I’m thinking that would have quite a few of them saying, “Yeah, that’s me, what do you want to tell me?” And that’s exactly the reaction you want.

5. “Here’s a Quick Way To Break Up A Cold”

Direct, right to the point. Why would I NOT read this copy, especially if I have a cold? And those are exactly the people you want reading it.

6. “Thousands Now Play Who Never Thought They Could.”

Has an element of social proof in it – don’t you you think you could be one of those 1000’s? Sure you could! The copy had a bunch of testimonials, and this headline worked very well for a music school.

That’s a VERY brief sample of the top 100.

Here are some key points:

- The word, “you” is VERY powerful. Use it.
- Use questions to get the reader creating his/her own conversation.
- Use specifics – who, how, when, where, why, how many, how long – use numbers and very specific language.
- Don’t worry about long headlines – be efficient, but don’t worry too much about length.
- News about your product or service may be old and boring to you, but totally new to your readers. Don’t overlook unique features or benefits that you think everyone already knows about.

Here’s another nice formula I like:

“How You Can [desired result] In Just [short amount of time], Without [inconvenience of other products or pain], Starting in the Next 11 Minutes!”

This type of headline structure hits on results, specifics, and pain simultaneously and has worked well for me in the past.

Gosh, I could go on all day analyzing headlines, but this should be enough to give your copywriting a little jump start, if it needs it – or hopefully more food for thought.

If you want to check out all 100 of the “100 Greatest Headlines Ever Written,” be sure to visit Jay Abraham’s page here: http://www.abraham.com/articles/100_Greatest_Headlines_Ever_Written.html

I hope you’ll start creatively adapting these headlines to your own projects right away – AND measuring the results before you jump to any conclusions!

Do you have a favorite headline or technique? Leave a comment after this post and please share!

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