These 4 Headline Generators Can Help You Consistently Deliver Value

3 min reading time

This is ridiculous. I’ve already changed the headline for this post four times.

Number One

First it was, “Feeling loved and secure on Thanksgiving.” I would start by telling you a story about my mom who’s in town and tie it in somehow with feeling secure and then talk about website security and how difficult it was to get the green “Secure” word to the left of the https://imacorinc.com site we launched last week.

I was going to show this picture of “the evil eye” because that’s how it felt as Shelby and I tried to find the source of the “mixed content” issue. I also located a photo of a cat with evil-looking eyes.

But I never felt good about this angle. “Loved and secured for Thanksgiving” was too much of a stretch and too hokey. I wouldn’t open an email with that headline.

Numbers Two and Three

I wrote “Do it even when you’re not in the mood,” but “it” was too weak and I didn’t want anyone to think I was using a double entendre.

So I changed it to, “Not in the mood? Do it anyway.”

Then I scrapped them both.

Number Four

This one was called, “What to do when you have writer’s block.”

I started by writing, “I’m just going to start writing. You see, I have writer’s block right now. It’s Tuesday night. I’m feeling cranky. My son just roped me into a conversation challenging his computer privileges and bed time.”

But I’m not in the flow tonight and couldn’t think how this would tie in to anything.

Behold, the Headline Generator

As I failed a fourth time, I realized there must be some kind of headline generator out there. So I googled “headline generator” and up came “Kickass Headline Generator for Increasing Conversions – Sumo.”

It’s free. I gave it a try and got an idea for today’s post and these headline suggestions.

So, in spite of myself, I found a useful headline tool you can use and wrote a reasonable email for today’s Journey.

What Jay Baer taught me

Jay sends one of the few newsletters I consistently receive in my inbox and read. (I cut my inbox noise in half with that free unroll.me app I told you about in Journey #5.)

Jay said creating content is easier when you have some programs in place.

For example, The Journey series is a weekly program where you can expect an email from me each Wednesday morning.

His suggestion is really what inspired The Journey in the first place. Without this program – this promise from me to you that I’d write each week, even though some weeks would be worse than others – I probably would be sitting in the next room, watching a movie with Beth.

But I didn’t need to look much further than the Medical Devices Group announcements I’ve written almost every Tuesday for six years now.

There definitely are weeks I have no interest in writing it. But I’ve managed my readers expectations and, in so doing, managed my own in a way.

Implication for your business: A steady routine makes content generation easier for you. And while you’re there, writing, please use some personality. Your audience will thank you for it.

Fast Round

I’m attending this free webinar next week: What Your Customers REALLY Want Out of Your CX and How to Deliver It Now. It features Jay Baer and teases, “By 2020, a majority of purchase decisions will be based not on price, or availability, but on customer experience.”