Sounds crazy, right?
Starting a business isn’t meant to be about having fun.
It’s meant to be about hard work, late nights and freaking out over your bank balance. Maybe throw in an ulcer or two along the way.
Traditionally, that’s what starting a business has been all about.
I’ve been there myself as part of a few different start-ups over the years. It’s always been about the big dream. And that dream has usually revolved around a huge pot of money.
I know, today’s headline is a bit of a brain-twister.
Here’s what I mean…
There are places online where we write headlines, and are fully aware that we’re writing headlines.
Examples include the headline you might write for a website’s homepage. Or at the top of a blog post. Or on a review page. Or on a sales page or landing page.
These are the places we expect to find headlines.
But how about an email subject line? Is that a headline?
A few months back I wrote about how telling stories can influence people’s feelings.
In fact, writers of all stripes have been using stories to tap into people’s emotions for centuries.
Well… it turns out that as well as evoking strong emotions, stories are also a powerful tool to help us remember things.
A few days ago I was listening to the Tim Ferriss Show podcast. His guest was Stephen Dubner, one of the authors of Freakonomics.
In response to a question about the power of stories, Stephen came up with some interesting numbers.
If you’re not totally into writing great headlines, you should be.
When you’re writing online, headlines are everywhere.
Actually, anything you write that’s 15 words or less should be treated like a headline.
Headlines for blog posts, articles, reviews, buyers’ guides and even homepages.
For email subject lines. Same for e-newsletters. Headings within those emails and e-newsletters.
Tweets. Titles for Facebook updates. Bios for Instagram.
Whenever you’re short-form writing online, you’ll do well to think “headline”.
If, like me, you write a blog, you’ve probably promised yourself you’ll post at least once a week.
Or maybe twice a week. Daily even.
There are plenty of good reasons for posting to your blog, whether you run a business or work as a freelancer.
Writing a blog makes sure your voice is heard. Writing posts regularly helps get your message out there, and keeps your name on people’s lips. (Google likes to see you posting regularly too.)
Is it always easy to come up with new post ideas? No, it isn’t.
In my case, sometimes l’ll have a lineup of ideas for posts, all clamoring for attention. But other times the well runs a little dry, and I have to cast around for inspiration.
I’m guessing it’s not so very different for you.
With some product and service categories, we automatically expect marketers to inspire us.
For example, if we are being sold a weight-loss program, we expect to hear inspirational stories about those who have come before us.
We expect to see before and after photos, and to hear about how people’s lives are improved as they shed those extra pounds.
Weight-loss and wellness coaches help us succeed by inspiring us with positive messages and stories.
It’s what we expect.
But we can also create inspirational content for slightly less obvious categories.