blogging

Headline Tip #12: Retweet to Go Forward

by Wes Hanson on May 1, 2012

Social media is not a monologue you broadcast from on high, or even a dialogue. That’s so old media. Social media is conversational, a multi-logue. As in any social setting, what goes around comes around. Therefore don’t neglect to bring attention to other people’s worthy content on Twitter via retweets. “Retweet” is not an Elmer […]

Headline Tip #8: First Impressions Count

by Wes Hanson on April 18, 2012

Psychologists and emotional intelligence experts warn us to watch the impression we make on people the first time we meet them – these impressions, however fleeting, rarely change. Nor are they wrong. Surprisingly people make accurate snap judgments in a fraction of a second. In a Princeton University study subjects could predict with 70 percent […]

Headline Tip #5: Promise a Benefit or Solution

by Wes Hanson on April 6, 2012

Your reader is cold and calculating, not altruistic. He wants to know, What’s in it for me? So don’t write a headline like “How to Build a Website.” That just sounds like a lot work without reward (and Lord knows it can be). Write instead “How to Make Money Building a Website” or “How a […]

Headline Tip #3: Learn Free From the Masters

by Wes Hanson on April 4, 2012

A lot of trial, error, and money was expended in crafting effective headlines in the past, the key to sales and readership. Learn from the masters, for free. Digg.com – People vote on headlines that attract them. What are they voting for? Magazine covers – These guys have been doing this since the 19th century […]

Headline Tip #2: Swipe From the Masters

by Wes Hanson on April 3, 2012

Writing copy does not mean copying someone else’s writing. But you should study what works so you can head off in the most promising direction. You learn by observing as well as by doing. To be a great (or just better) tennis player, for example, you’d be well advised to study the way Federer constructs […]