The Anatomy of a Clickable Headline: How to Write Clickworthy Titles with NEIL VIDYARTHI

Were going to focus on writing great titles (and content) for blogs, Facebook and Twitter But the truth is that these lessons apply to various other types of writing: Resumes, cover letters, professional Even creative work can benefit from the ideas of mystery and precision

The secrets to writing great titles are…

Flannery OConnor devoted Mystery and Manners, to mystery in writing Every good article, novel, screenplay, short story, dinner story must have a mystery/secret We are wired to want to find out the answers to questions So ask the reader questions he/she doesnt know the answer to Once you have their attention, then you can get your message across.

A big question you should ask yourself when you post content is would you tell your friend about this at a dinner party? Most people I talk to say probably not. and then give me a million reasons why they wouldnt. If youre not writing about something you care about, your readers can tell.. And it wont go anywhere. So find something you care about, and if you rack your brain and cant find a single thing in your business that you care to write about to your customers, find someone that is to do your writing And you should think about what youre doing there, anyway

Titles are important Titles are the promise of the content In a fast-paced world, they need to be precise They should prompt difficult questions Content is what drives a title Fulfill your promise Use mystery and personality to entertain Use original statistics and empirical data Most people use social media without adjusting their content strategy The age of just being published is gone. You cant throw average content online Its time to make engaging, relevant promises

Lists & Guides Lists are a promise The best ways to launch a social game The 7 best ways to launch a social game You can open a relationship with the reader After which you can write more artistic forms People criticized lists If the existing guys are making a clamor you know youre on to something... Not always worth pursuing but youre actually making some difference

Guides How To Learn Quora in 5 Easy Steps Everything You Need To Know About Tumblr The Complete Guide to Apples New Social Network iPad for Dummies AllFacebooks Complete Guide To Privacy How To… Solve a Problem Use A Tool/Service Earn Revenue Using A Tool/Service

SocialTimes for example New Social Job Sites Help You Find Employment Vague, All-Encompassing, No Mystery 5 Social Job Sites That Will Get You Hired Direct, Makes a Promise Social And Job Search Finally Have 5 Things In Common Mystery, Promise 5 Secrets That Helped Me Land A Job Online Now weve iterated the title, and the idea Because were making promises

New Post: How A Tweet Turned Into An In Flight Dance Party Consistent This would be the best flight ever! How A Tweet Turned Into An In Flight Dance Party Excitement for target readers Have you ever danced with your plane- mates? These 150 people did, all thanks to 1 tweet. Conversation-piece, mystery Planes + Tweets = Dance Party Worth a click, Mystery

Stimulate Discussion Do your Facebook page posts stimulate discussion? Are they just ads? Methods Ask Questions Everybody has an opinion they want to share. Respond to their questions! Try to avoid Yes or No questions Wrong: Have you ever been addicted to Facebook? Right: Why would anyone be addicted to Facebook?

…Methods Continued Make Bold, Accurate Challenges for Debate Stimulate people to think and put forth a solid argument for one side of a debate Avoid sensationalism, as youll lose your sharper readers Reports from the ground indicate that the Egyptian revolutions could not occur without Twitter. Do you agree? Tools Use Facebook Social Plugin or other similar tools to find out how many times your articles have been shared.

Tools BackType Pro What are my most popular tweets How often are they being clicked? HootSuite Multiple streams of Tweets can tell you whos saying what about your articles and topics Analytics for clickthrough and more. Klout What kind of Twitter user are you? How is it being perceived?

CopyBlogger ProBlogger Slate Cracked Salon Huffington Post New York Times Your local magazine rack

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