Okay, so you've reached the point where you're actually getting ready to write your article. You've chosen your topic, done your research and decided on what slant you're going to use for this article. The only thing left to do before you actually start writing is to choose a compelling title for your article. Why do use the word compelling? Well, the truth is, it doesn't matter how good your article is. If the title doesn't attract the person's attention, they're not going to read it. It's that simple. So, the $64,000 question is quite simple...how do we come up with a compelling title? For that matter, what IS a compelling title?

Let's start there. A compelling title is one that gets a person to say, "Wow, I have read this thing." Now, that in itself is a very general answer and doesn't give us any real clue as to how one is put together. In order to understand how, you first have to understand something about human nature and psychology. I took a lot of psychology in college (ah, my wasted youth) and let me tell you, pushing people's hot buttons is not a hard thing to do. We are such a predictable lot.

People are all motivated by essentially the same things. We all have a common need to survive. Yes, I know, there are those who take their own lives because they can no longer cope with the world. But I'm referring to your typical person. We also crave certain pleasures, such as good food, sex, entertainment and the general need to feel that our lives mean something. But we are also a very curious bunch.

Think about human nature for a second. If you were walking down the street and saw an elderly couple sitting on a park bench, you wouldn't give them a second look. But if you walked by that same park bench and saw two young folks engaging in activity that is best kept in the bedroom, you'd most certainly look, whether in disgust or excitement. But you'd still look. And if you were walking down the street and saw a 10 car pileup, you'd not only look, but you'd hang around to see how it turned out.

We love this kind of stuff. We live for the sensational things in our lives because the truth is, most of our lives are quite dull. Think about your typical day. It's pretty boring, don't you think? So when something happens to put a kick in it, good or bad, we're at least stimulated. We feel alive.

That's what YOUR article title has to do for the person seeing it.

It has to make them FEEL something...anything.

Great...so how do we come up with a compelling title? Well, there are lots of ways. The way you choose will depend a lot on the article you're writing.

Let's take something simple like an article on honey and how it's healthy for you. Now, if you came up with a title like, "Honey Is Healthy" do you really think that's going to get somebody excited? I doubt it. But what if you came up with something like, "The Real Truth About Honey For Your Heart" or whatever organ it was good for. By using the words The Real Truth you are peeking your reader's curiosity by suggesting that they've been lied to about honey. In reality, the real truth may have been what they've already read, but they don't know that. The suggestion that maybe they've been lied to will get them to read the article.

What about an article about making money online. Imagine something dull like, "How To Make Money Online". If that doesn't put somebody to sleep I don't know what will. But, what if you used a title like, "3 Killer Ways To Make $30,000 Monthly With Zero Expenses." I think you'd have people falling over themselves in an effort to read this article. Naturally, the content of the article better live up to the hype or you're going to have some ticked off readers.

I could give more examples, but I think I've made the point. You want your title to be sensational. It has to scream...READ ME!

Now, there are standard tactics that you can use for article titles that work quite well. Here is a short list.

1. The Bold Claim - This is what we used in the make money example. You make a bold claim that almost forces the person to read the article. Again, make sure you can back it up.

2. Arouse Curiosity - This is what we did with the honey article. We suggested that maybe the reader has been lied to and that by reading the article, they'll find out the truth.

3. The Question - You simply phrase your article title in the form of a question, such as, "Would You Like To Earn $30,000 Monthly? Here Is How". If you're targeting your market correctly, who wouldn't answer yes to the question.

4. The Warning - This is another great way to get your article read. For example, let's say there was a brand new product out on the market that was dangerous. You might come up with something like "Warning! Grumpnix Is Dangerous To Your Cat". If you're targeting cat owners, they're going to read this.

There are other tactics you can use but these are more than enough to get you started.

In our next article in this series, we'll get to the introduction of your article.

See you then.

Sincerely,

Steven Wagenheim