Title Template
I subscribe to an e-course called Blog Mastermind and it aims to help bloggers structure great blogs, with great content and increasing traffic. In week 10 of this course we study all about article titles and the impact that they can have on getting people to read further. The king of the blog copywriters is Brian Clark, who runs CopyBlogger, one of the A-list blogs. In a free e-book all about copywriting he gives a list of 17 tried and true headlines. I’m not sure that they fit the style of my blog so I thought I would look for the underlying benefit suggested by each headline so that I can understand how to create my own.

The following list details the headline followed by the underlying benefit (extinction of the least fit refers to a theory about survival instincts as a major human motivation):

Who Else Wants [blank]? Fulfillment of a beneficial desire for little effort
The Secret of [blank]? Insider knowledge to gain a competitive advantage
Here is a Method That is Helping [blank] to [blank]. Social proof, hence low risk and avoiding extinction as the least fit
Little Known Ways to [blank]. Insider knowledge to gain a competitive advantage
Get rid of [problem] Once and For All. Remove an unwanted reality and a source of negative emotion
Here’s a Quick Way to [solve a problem]. Remove an unwanted reality and a source of negative emotion quickly
Now You Can Have [something desirable][great circumstance]. Offer a wanted desire with additional extras
[Do something] like [excellent, top example]. Gain a competitive advantage
Have a [or] Build a [something] You Can Be Proud Of. Fulfill a desire to a very high standard
What Everybody Ought to Know About [blank]. Extinction of the least fit, fear of loss
Give Me [short time period] and I’ll Give You [blank]. A desired result in a short time
If You Don’t [blank] Now, You’ll Hate Yourself Later. Extinction of the least fit, fear of loss
The Lazy [blank’s] Way to [blank]. Fulfillment of a beneficial desire for little effort
Do You Recognize the [number] Early Warning Signals of [blank]? Extinction of the least fit, fear of loss
See How Easily You Can [blank]. Fulfill a desire easily
You Don’t Have to Be [blank] to be [desired result]. Fulfill a desire despite a perceived disadvantage
Do You Make These Mistakes? Extinction of the least fit, fear of loss

The Common Factors
On balance, all of these copywriting techniques derive from four basic psychological motivations:
7 are about fulfilling desires
3 are about competitive advantage
5 are about avoiding ending up the least fit and focus on a fear of loss
2 are about removing an unwanted reality

Thus we can create more compelling headline titles by applying anyone of the four motivators listed in the summary:

• How to fulfill desires i.e. how to make the personally impossible into the personally possible
• How to stop fulfilling unwanted realities (the opposite case)
• How to avoid ending up extinct as the least fit
• How to ensure a position far from the boundary of the least fit (the opposite case)

Extra spice can be added to headlines by offering things quickly, easily, with low risk, low effort, with permanence or with certainty.

Interestingly, these psychological motivators tie in completely with the theories expressed in ‘How To Operate Your Brain Perfectly’ in the following ways:

• Our emotions are generated by whether we fulfill our desires, or not, in the very moment of considering them.
  • An article that suggests that it will fulfill a desire thus has a very strong appeal.
  • An article that suggests that it will remove an unwanted result also has a very strong appeal.
• Our nervous system functions almost entirely as a survival mechanism and anything that threatens our survival tends to override all other considerations during the period of threat.
  • An article that suggests that we face a threat thus has a very strong appeal.
  • An article that suggest deliverance from threats also has a very strong appeal.

So, I’ll be stepping up my article headlines to make them more stimulating and all for the best possible causes - to help you fulfill your desires, to help you feel better, to help you act better and to remove you from threats to your survival!

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