Not really. But I probably got your curiosity and time to at least read this far. My title was misleading, but it will likely work in getting you to read this post, if only to skim through it.

I exaggerated the title to demonstrate a point - there is no more important part of a post, sales letter, call to action or any other form of business and marketing communication than the title. You can have the best written and most compelling offer in your market and fail miserably because you positioned the piece outside of your audience with a poorly worded title.

The title is the hook, tease, and positioning statement for everything that follows. You have a fraction of a send to capture the interest of a reader; they'll never know how great your offer is at the end of a piece if you don't capture their interest up front and corral them into your writing - that's the job of a title.

There are many books written on the effective use of titles - one I like is Dan Kennedy's The Ultimate Sales Letter - and there is no way I'll even attempt to use this post as an exhaustive guide to effective titles. What I want to do is remind you and make you aware of the power of titles and headliines.

Consciously notice what catches your eye. Look for the use of language that compels you to read further. Notice how titles and headlines aren't just used at the beginning of a sales letter or customer communication, but how they're integrated in packaging and at the of pages�...teasing you to open or read on.

In my own writing, I've noticed response rates significantly increase by using questions or thought provoking statement in my titles:

• Would You Agree�....?


• How I�...


• How to�...


• The Biggest Mistake�...


• The Greatest Opportunity�...


• If You Could�...?


• If You Had to�...?

The list goes on�...

What works best for you? Have you noticed certain techniques get a better response than others? Are you positively influenced or turned-off by certain title and headline techniques? Why?

Do you have any headline testing results to share?