If you’re an Internet Entrepreneur, you no doubt spend some time in airports traveling around the world. Next time you’re waiting for your flight, stroll over to the Magazine stands and look at the covers of every magazine there.
What you are looking for is which headlines draw you in. Which headlines make people want to reach over and pick up the magazine? Here’s a sample of the ones I saw a few minutes ago at JFK:
Amazing Rescues
Be the Woman You Want to Be
Inside Hollywood’s Hottest Parties
A Rapist Saved My Life
The Hotlist: Everything You’ll Want in 2007
Woman on top: Do men really like it?
Your No Fail Diet and Gym Plan
How to Play with Consistency (Golf)
20 Greatest Meltdowns in Sports
50 Ways to Change your Life
Want more Energy?
63 Posh Presents
12 Unique Trips You Won’t Forget
The focus of these headlines is to either help “You” or to draw you in with a sensational or supremely interesting title. Much like on the web, if you don’t grab your readers interest and attention in the in the first 70 characters, they won’t even read the rest of what you write.
So the next time you’re at an airport, go to the magazine stand and look at all the cover. Don’t just glance at them, but study them and figure out who is writing great headlines and what you can do to do the same.
Do that and you’ll get more readers.
2 Responses to “Want more Readers? Go to the Airport.”
Very true - proven by the fact that there is a striking resemblance between many of those titles and the kind of thing you see on the front page of digg every day…
Sensationalism - a great way to attract people!
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Very true, very true. How does this sound for a headline to drive people to camo clothing site: New Clothing Line Helps People Kill Better.