Clever Headlines Usually Flop! Are You Being Too Clever For Your Own Good?


Copywriters that try to be clever, humorous, abstract, or use double entendre with their headlines and ads will normally find that they flop and are thus a waste of both time and money. Many of the Super Bowl ads fall in this category. While they are often funny to watch, most people don't remember what company the ad was promoting.

Ted Nicholas tells the story of how a book that he had written was not selling very well. He had titled it, "How Not To Drown In A Sea Of Debt." One day he stopped by a bookstore and looked for the book in the personal finance and self help sections but could not find it. So he went to the information counter and asked if they carried the book. He was told yes they had it in stock, and it was located in the swimming section!

Ted subsequently changed the title to 'How To Get Out Of Debt' and the book sold well from that point on.

If you are trying to promote something, keep your titles clear and simple. Leave clever and humorous to the entertainers.

Headlines that are too abstract are often unclear to the reader and do not clearly identify to the reader why they should be interested in the information contained in the follow on copy.

Make your headlines clear. Identify a benefit to the reader as to why they should read on further into your ad, article, or sales letter. If you do, you will find your desired results will improve.

George Dodge has been working on the Internet since December 1994 and has developed, and served as webmaster for, numerous government and commercial websites for the past ten years. Examples of his commercial sites include Seven Days To Profits that is an information product site revealing several methods for how you can get an online business up and running quickly with minimal resources and http://www.Headline-Creator-Pro.com which is a software site where you can get your copy of the amazing headline generating software tool that enables you to create winning headlines quickly with push button ease. Headline Creator Pro can generate 100 winning headline ideas in just 17 seconds flat!