Blogging by Numbers: How to Create Headlines That Get Retweeted 229 Comments

Written by Tim Ferriss Topics: Marketing, Writing and Blogging

There is an art and science to getting blog posts to travel like wildfire.

This post will look at both, based on number crunching with 281 posts, 39,000+ comments, and almost 2,000,000 click-throughs via my Twitter profile and Facebook fan page in the last six months.

Here’s what I’ve found to work well…

The Art

In this context, more than anything else, the “art” is coming up with good headlines.

I presented the above slide to a Fortune 100 company that wanted to encourage employees to blog. The problem? Their employees (mostly high-end engineers), as brilliant as they were, had no idea what to write about. My suggestion was (and always is): focus on an obsession that makes you a bit weird. Then tie it to something that interests more people.

Just invite a few friends to dinner, look at the graphic, and follow the instructions. It’s fun.

Into trapeze or German techno? Our starting headlines might be “How to Perform 5 Tricks on the Flying Trapeze” or “German Techno 101.” That’s just a starting point. Then we expand to what your wider circle of friends or co-workers might be interested in. For example:

“How German Techno Can Make You a Better Agile Programmer”
“5 Principles of Flying Trapeze for Better Hiring Decisions”

See how that works? This recipe works, and it’s a plug-and-play format for getting started, and getting traffic.

Once you’ve had a bit of practice, it’s oftentimes easier — and more scalable — to imitate what works elsewhere.

The Science

The “science” is borrowing headlines or testing them. Determining pass-along-value by the numbers.

How do you know if you have a good headline?

There are several simple ways. One indication: a tweet gets retweeted hundreds of times in less time than it would take to read what you linked to. People retweet without reading where the link leads?!? All the time. Plan accordingly.

My last five posts have been retweeted 931, 508, 343, 683, and 813 times, for an average of 655.6 times.

For clicks, the pay-off can be handsome. In my case, these retweets can often drive 10,000+ unique visitors to a post. Here are a few popular blog post titles, tracked using SU.PR from StumbleUpon:

Click here for large, more readable size.

How do you learn what works? Headlines are as old as writing itself.

There are many sources, but rankings and data sets (often prolific bloggers) are what you want. The simple version is: study Digg (look at “7 Days” or longer) and Seth Godin (look at the most retweeted).

Seth is a brilliant copywriter and outstanding headline craftsman. I notice one of his repeating headline patterns appeared to be “The Difference Between [A] and [B]“, which I tested successfully with “The Difference: Living Well vs. Doing Well.”

What the hell does my post title mean, exactly?

Precisely.

Never tell the whole story in the headline if you want optimal click-through. “Home Prices Drop 47%, Largest Single-Quarter Drop in 50 Years” isn’t nearly as good as “Largest Drop in Home Prices Since 1960: The Reasons, Numbers, and What You Can Do.” There’s another element in the latter that makes it superior: it’s prescriptive instead of merely descriptive. People don’t want more information about their problems; they want solutions to their problems.

Piquing curiosity can be done with questions instead of statements, and my question-based post titles are some of the best performing (such as “Why Are You Single? Perhaps It’s The Choice Effect“), unless used more than 20% of the time, at which point, it appears that readers suffer “question burnout” and click-through plummets. This is a common problem with (over)use of lists (“17 Things You Can Do For…” etc.).

Would “Why Are You Single?” have worked well by itself? I don’t think so. But what the hell is “The Choice Effect”? Once again, this is exactly the point. I want that question to bother you enough that you click on the link and, most important, read the piece.

Which of these two posts from Seth’s blog do you think did best, as measured by retweets?

How long before you run out of talking points?
How big is your red zone?

Which has a WTF?

The red zone, of course, which got 685 retweets vs. 392 retweets for talking points. WTF FTW! (Yes, I just judo chopped your brain with a palindrome)

But, is the headline the only factor contributing to retweets? Of course not. I’ve purposefully written bare bones posts on other experimental blogs of mine, but crafted headlines by the numbers, to prove (to my satisfaction, at least) that headlines rule in online word-of-mouth.

You can test it yourself: split test on Twitter. But… um, you can’t split test on Twitter, as much as it’d be cool to send version A to half of your followers and version B to the rest.

Or can you? Kind of — you can test headlines with time-zone cohorts who are unlikely to overlap. Huh? In simple terms, this means that I like to publish blog posts at around, say, 2am PST and tweet out the working title at the same time. I did this with “The Rebirth of Seth Godin and Death of Traditional Publishing: How Authors Really Make Money” to hit the US-based night owls.

I then like to tweet out a new version B at around 8am PST the following morning (not yet changing the blog post title itself, and I never change the permalink once published), when the night owls will be mostly asleep. I schedule this tweet in advance using SU.PR, as I’m also a night owl. Last, I compare results and stick with the winner.

This is how “The Rebirth of Seth Godin and Death of Traditional Publishing: How Authors Really Make Money” was switched around and became “How Authors Really Make Money: The Rebirth of Seth Godin and Death of Traditional Publishing.” You’ll notice the latter version is in the “most popular” screen shot above for the last 30 days.

It’s an imperfect process, but I’ve found the results replicable.

The exact timing of publication is less important than ensuring that most A cohorts are sleeping when you test the B version, or vice-versa. In my case, non-US/Canadian readers (Brits in particular) can throw the numbers a little, but more than 60% of my readers are from the US and disproportionately located on the east or west coast, based on Facebook Insights.

The Hail Mary Solution

Last but not least, you can always do a Hail Mary blog title. What, pray tell, is that? It’s a title that pays homage to Twitter and becomes recursive.

A good example would be “How to Create Headlines That Get Retweeted.”

###

Odds and Ends:

1) Is this helpful? Please let me know in the comments what you’d like to read more of.
2) Here’s a sneak peek of a goodie from the “Becoming Superhuman” book: Athletic Greens, which I’ve been using for the last year. I have no financial interest in the company or product.

Posted on August 30th, 2010

Related & Recommended Posts

229 Comments

Hector Adrian — August 30th, 2010, 1:01 am

LMAO @ WTF FTW!

Amazing post, Tim.
Reply
Chuck Rylant — August 30th, 2010, 1:04 am

Tim this is an excellent post. I will have to read many times to get the fine details.

I’m curious how you track Facebook click throughs. Is that through Su.pr?

If you have time to respond, I’ve also always wondered why you don’t have an opt in form and an email auto responder pitching your book or other stuff, which seems to be standard on the web?

Thanks for the great info

Chuck
Reply
Shunit — August 30th, 2010, 1:07 am

Ferriss
You are one of a kind!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! you rock my world!!!!!!!!!
Thank you so much!!!!
Reply
Guillermo — August 30th, 2010, 1:07 am

Thanks for the tips Tim!
Specially the one about no giving to much information. I have the tendency to write too much in the headline.
Thanks again!
Reply
Daniel — August 30th, 2010, 1:12 am

That just judo’ed my mind out.

Could do one “How to Get 500 Blog Comments in 60 Minutes” post right after the blog entry of your next book launch (with a contest to boot—best comment win a copy and a bundle).
Reply
Anthony — August 30th, 2010, 1:13 am

I like this article for its succinctness and pragmatism. There’s no fluff, which I dislike. Kudos, Tim.
Reply
Tayo Gbenro — August 30th, 2010, 1:19 am

Tim,

You’ve impacted many lives than you realize, and am one of them. Your cracking skills never seem to amaze me, and that’s one skill am learning earnestly.

Drop me a mail if you’d like on how I can better master this skill. Am currently transiting from the cube to freedom and I guess I’ll need push the envelope very hard.

You rock!

With love from Africa
Reply
Benny the Irish polyglot — August 30th, 2010, 1:21 am

Great to see you actively blogging again Tim! I love your obsession with crunching numbers down into something useful and then the generosity of sharing it with everyone
Cheers!
Reply
Stanley Lee — August 30th, 2010, 1:23 am

Really love the insight and sharing of experience in this post. However, some of the differences could be very small though, as over time, content does become the ultimate SEO factor rather than how catchy the headline is. Although I must admit the catchy-ness of the headline dictates whether or not you will get the visits and ultimately the RTs.
Reply
- Tim Ferriss — August 30th, 2010, 1:44 am
  
  Agreed that good content is the ultimate SEO. This post is just focused on the headline factor of getting people to the content.
  
  Awesome name, btw. Stan Lee. Great history to that one.
  
  Tim
  Reply
Anish@Fundamental — August 30th, 2010, 1:24 am

Good stuff, useful post. I run a quiz blog as a hobby and the headlines tip is worth acting on.
Reply
James — August 30th, 2010, 1:36 am

Tim, what a post!

I’m just getting into the social media to drive traffic game. A huge social media following is powerful stuff.

I’m going to look around your blog for other helpful posts.

Got anything on ‘how to get a ton of twitter followers and facebook fans?’

Keep it up
James

Ps, sorry for throwing your analytics off, I’m a Brit!
Reply
Meena — August 30th, 2010, 1:56 am

Excellent post! Great analysis.
These days am so wary of titles that say “7 things you should know…” or “20 things you must have…”. Perhaps am getting jaded but headlines that are provocative or compel action seem to be what i click on.

Meena
Reply
Jess — August 30th, 2010, 1:59 am

If the content is visual it helps to let the person know, with a (pic) (graphic) (infographic) (vid). People are primed to click on such easily consumed content. I’ve used this to rack up 1k-5k RT’s on content before.
Reply
Stanley Lee — August 30th, 2010, 2:05 am

@Tim: Thanks for the complement. Are you one of those people who confuse me with the author of Spiderman? (He is killing my SEO btw)
Reply
Angela Archer — August 30th, 2010, 2:13 am

Really helpful stuff, I needed a formula or something more concrete, since no one (editors, friends, readers, ) seemed to like my long, cheesy, or strange headlines. Writing headlines really was a major weakness until now (I hope). Thanks again!
Reply
Vic Dorfman — August 30th, 2010, 2:17 am

Thanks for constantly reminding me to look at things scientifically Tim!

I get so lost in introspectionLand sometimes that I forget there’s a world out there that sees things differently than I might imagine.

Robert Cialdini talked about this kind of thing as it pertains to the social realm in his book Influence, that we rely on what we *think* we know about behavior to calibrate our own actions when we might be having the opposite of the intended effect.

I sat down with a blood pressure meter the other day and determined that one of my “chill-out” methods (visualizing myself at the beach and synchronizing my breathing with the incoming and outgoing waves) turned out to raise my systolic BP by an average of 10 points!

Ish!

Yogic literature warns against manipulating your body via the mind for the same reasons: you often get unpredictable results.

So it is with blogging.

Best,
Vic Dorfman
Reply
Suraj — August 30th, 2010, 2:29 am

Brilliant article, really agree that headlines are more important than the article itself sometimes. This sort of ‘buzz marketing’ is really gathering speed now and more people are starting to use this for their blogs.
Reply
Michal Ksiadzyna — August 30th, 2010, 2:31 am

Tim – You continue to add tremendous value to my knowledge and life. If having 1000 true followers is enough, you gained one in me

Alexa http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/fourhourworkweek.com gives information, that you get 2 times more traffic from Facebook (I know you prefer Twitter). Does the same rules apply to that platform or are there any differences?
Reply
- Kendrick Parks — August 15th, 2012, 4:44 pm
  
  Hi Michal,
  
  I own a gourmet food truck and I have noticed that even though we have a lot more twitter followers then FB followers we get a lot more responses and greater conversion from FB. I get my results from using google analytics and have done an Alexa.com search on my website as well. So I definitely recommend using FB to increase your conversion, but don’t forget the power of twitter as well.
  Reply
Mathias — August 30th, 2010, 2:39 am

I have one thing I do when selling. Kind of a natural attraction maker and makes sales simpler. Here goes:

1. You see someone having trouble with their car (example).
2. You approach that someone and say to them “I know what the problem is with your car”.
3. That someone curiously asks: what is the problem?
4. You offer to help him in return for a sum of money.
5. That someone wonders how much it would cost him? You ask him in return “what do you want to pay?”.

You:

a) offer a solution
b) you let the buyer sell himself on the offer and frankly sells you on the price so you can avoid it.

I do this and it works charmingly well and makes sales enjoyable for both parties.

And if the buyer mentions a price that is benief the price you expected, then you always have the choice to say no to helping out. So no need to make a loss.

I think creating a good headline is, essentially, all about selling so I just wanted to post this as an add-on.

So why not write “I know why your car does “this and this”"? That would obviously be a “Hmm, ok, why?” attractor? No?
Reply
Jonny — August 30th, 2010, 2:54 am

5 Time management tricks I learned from years of hating Tim Ferriss – penelopetrunk.com

I found someone who doesn’t seem to like you very much lol.

Ahh well, can’t please everyone.
Reply
Elle — August 30th, 2010, 4:18 am

Thanks Tim for the resource; I’m going to use your suggestion for a couple weeks and see how they work. I’ll leave my stats here in the comments.
Reply
Allen — August 30th, 2010, 4:24 am

Another way to split test headlines is to test across different sites. So tweeting one headline while posting another to facebook will give you some fairly accurate data if you have a good baseline for what percentage of traffic each network will normally send. Don’t forget the good old fashioned adsense/pay per click test.

A while back I wrote a post about how population increases will most likely outpace any effort to recycle or conserve resources. “Save a tree buy a condom” outperformed “Effects of population density on natural resources” by a few thousand percent.

On the subject of greens, I’ve found getting some freeze dried greens with some fish oil (both in pill form) has helped me a lot. Here’s an awesome video that explains how acid balance in your diet affects calcium absorption, inflamation, and weight gain. Of course that’s not interesting enough, so it’s titled “How diet soda causes weight gain” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpoAtwVyzZI
Reply
Edith — August 30th, 2010, 5:05 am

I clicked through to the Athletic Greens site, and it turns out that stuff costs $149 for a one-month supply. That stuff had better be life changing!
Reply
- Tim Ferriss — August 30th, 2010, 12:43 pm
  
  Hey Edith,
  
  I believe it’s $87 for a one-month, but — yes — it isn’t the cheapest stuff out there.
  
  Best,
  
  Tim
  Reply
Rob — August 30th, 2010, 5:21 am

From this post I guess analysis is one of the things you struggled to cut from your information diet I feel I do it too much, but I guess it’s OK if you put it into practise.

I seem to be alright with titles (How-to’s etc), and know if I write a bad one, it won’t get retweeted, there will be little traffic from Google and less comments on the whole, it’s not just for SEO that a lot of people assume.

One thing I never do is put in a buzz word (e.g. ‘red zone, the choice effect’ you have here). I’ll try that in the future though, I can see why it works. It’s simple really.

Newspapers seem to manipulate statistics to get sales or highlight them out of context – do you think this is worth doing on a blog? It reduces credibility in my eyes, but many people fool for it.
Reply
Lena — August 30th, 2010, 5:26 am

Tim, Just saw that your new blog was up via facebook, popped some popcorn, and enjoyed reading about how you hooked me and gads (can gads refer to thousands?) of others into waiting with baited breath for your next blog. Thanks for writing things worth reading and doing and for publishing it at times so those of us not in the U.S. get to read it first!
Reply
Bret Phillips — August 30th, 2010, 5:53 am

For whatever reason, I always click the clicks that say anything about “how to create headlines”…every time.

This post stands out however with your first graphic. That idea definitely gets my brain juices flowing and inspires me to try some stuff.

Thanks Tim!
Reply
Rob — August 30th, 2010, 6:33 am

Great article and articulate breakdown. It seriously makes me happy that you still take the time to do these types of breakdowns and analytical thinking instead of just live off the hype. Thanks, now to apply to my lifestyle business.
Reply
Olasz — August 30th, 2010, 6:47 am

U r one of my 5 choices for BlogDay2010, and it was damn hard to choose 5 only
Reply
Kirstine Vergara — August 30th, 2010, 6:53 am

Excellent post. Headline is an an opportunity to challenge the reader and offer a feature or benefit story. While a headline should be generally short, some readers prefer that they capture the story with just the headline. I personally prefer headlines that already tell a story. But of course, content is still important especially for SEO purpose and additional details. ..[per comment rules].. Thanks!
Reply
Josh Grenon — August 30th, 2010, 7:11 am

Awesome post, Tim! I think this post will motivate me to start blogging again. Thanks!
Reply
Sandy — August 30th, 2010, 7:45 am

Hi, Tim – the way you think intrigues me, and the fact that you can explain the process is even better. You asked what else would be helpful, and having just finished your book for the 4th time – I have some product ideas for one of the few growing market segments in the US right now. Simple things, but NO experience finding manufacturers.

1) Can you go into more detail as to what this process looks like? My ideas are ones that are already in production in different sizes or forms, just need some tweaking to work for my client base, but no American companies that I’ve talked with are interested… also, how should I present myself to them?

2) How do you find companies that are fair to their employees and to the planet? I don’t mind outsourcing if I can be assured that they aren’t monsters )

Thanks for all your info!!
Reply
- Tim Ferriss — August 30th, 2010, 12:39 pm
  
  Hi Sandy,
  
  For #1, check out http://www.alibaba.com. For #2, that’s a great deal harder. Most of big boys do site visits, but even that’s no guarantee. In my experience, most manufacturing conditions are harsh overseas, but the workers choose to be there and wouldn’t want to be elsewhere. It’s important to realize that the best option for others may appear to be a less-than-ideal (or even awful) option to us, but most of us don’t live in rural China, for example.
  
  Best of luck!
  
  Tim
  Reply
Margaret Agard — August 30th, 2010, 7:46 am

Hi Tim:
Here’s what I’d like to know, to have you write about. When you first wrote 4 Hour Work week you focused on top bloggers and radio as the marketing part of making your book a bestseller. What would you do now to make a book a bestseller?
Reply
Jeff E — August 30th, 2010, 7:51 am

Quick question about AthleticGreens that I can’t seem to find an answer to on their website or anywhere else: How do you take it?
Reply
Rich P — August 30th, 2010, 8:07 am

Tim, super helpful post. This is an area where you have a ton of experience and expertise and I love hearing all about your specific methodology, tips, tricks and war stories. So anything else specific on how to get noticed and read online for the long term is great.
Reply
Josh Bulloc — August 30th, 2010, 8:18 am

Tim,

This was helpful, I am finally getting to the point where I need to pimp my blog more to get more readers.

Josh Bulloc
Kansas City, MO
Reply
Chris Reimer — August 30th, 2010, 8:25 am

OMFG “WTF FTW” is a palindrome!!!!!
Reply
Kelly Hanson — August 30th, 2010, 8:34 am

Definitely enjoying the distinctions you focus on. Just bought your audiobook, can’t wait to dive in!
When is it appropriate to ask for help from a-list bloggers like yourself? I have a unique service which could help a lot of people and will need help getting the word out.
Reply
jaqusto — August 30th, 2010, 8:42 am

Hi Tim-

Thanks for another great post.

My question has to do with the recommendation of Athletic Greens and it’s effectiveness on people who exercise while taking it v.those who just take the supplement with no exercise.

(The quotes on their page are mostly from people who exercise vigorously.)

And if you or the company had this information you could tweet the following in the spirit of your blog post;

A/B Testing: Maximize Results from Tweeting to Supplements

Cheers!

jaq
Reply
- Tim Ferriss — August 30th, 2010, 12:37 pm
  
  Hi Jaqusto,
  
  Haha… nice tweet title. I use it as general cover-all insurance, especially when sick or not getting much sleep. It seems to keep the immune system strong, which is good for sports, muscle gain, etc., but it’s also beneficial for everyday function. Just my 2 cents and experience.
  
  Tim
  Reply
Gal — August 30th, 2010, 9:02 am

Tim, on a slightly related topic, do you ever do AB testing on your site to see if different configurations work better for drawing readers in? If so, can you share what software you use for that?
Reply
Marshall Middle — August 30th, 2010, 9:08 am

Keep producing great stuff and they will keep coming back. Excellent work again Tim. Recently read Rolf Potts book Vagabonding on your recommendation, thanks again.
Reply
Norman — August 30th, 2010, 9:40 am

I have to praise you for writing this *TYPE* of post.

What percentage of your readers are ever going to be angel investors? 1%? Maybe? Likely less. What percentage of your readers need valuable, real world, everyday, get-your-online-business-going advice? Over 80%? Likely more.

Your blog comments are full of unanswered questions about the nuts and bolts of internet business. They tend to be the kinds of issues that are nebulous and not established yet because of the ever changing environment.

I’m not suggesting that you need to be the “make money online” guy, but the “global phenom under 10K” post/vid is chock full of rapid fire, under explained, confusing info that most of your readers will never comprehend.

When you do a laser focus item like this and define it so well you make the lives of the every day entrepreneur so much easier.

Mostly: THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!! For everything.

N.
Reply
Casey — August 30th, 2010, 9:42 am

More great knowledge shared. Thanks TIm. Working on a bunch of posts for when our updated site launches and writing the headlines is probably my favorite part.
Reply
Paul Danon — August 30th, 2010, 9:43 am

101 isn’t understandable in all English-speaking countries. It has no special meaning in British English.
Reply
Bradley Gauthier — August 30th, 2010, 9:50 am

Excellent post Tim!

This is my biggest problem. I seem to either give too much info away in the title or have an ambiguous headline. In either case, I think the content of my articles are good, so lets hope your advice helps!

Thanks again!
Reply
David Siteman Garland — August 30th, 2010, 9:53 am

Tim – Great points as usual. And that is the key I think many SEO folks miss. It isn’t a one or other situation (meaning writing compelling headlines for “humans” or headlines that are “search friendly”).

A good headline will accomplish both.

But, I know personally, I’d rather come up with one that is compelling as opposed to getting a bunch of keywords in it.

Very few people complain of too much traffic
Reply
Prithvi — August 30th, 2010, 9:54 am

Very helpful. Thanks for this.

Hail Mary headlines are often overused but the content is usually not up to the mark, hail mary headlines would click if the author is trusted and/or the technique is really something that works.
Reply
Sjors Provoost — August 30th, 2010, 10:06 am

Split testing on Twitter; I love the idea….

I suppose you missed a chance early in your career: you could have used the possibility that people spell Fer(r)is(s) differently and created a different twitter account for each spelling. Probably would not have lasted very long though… and it might not split (non)native speakers equally.
Reply
Laura Knepper — August 30th, 2010, 10:21 am

Now that I blog for my company, analysis of numbers is quintessential to what and how I write. I agree, headlines are a slam dunk–today’s readers make little time to read a whole article. I wanted to point out a few tools I have used in order to dive into the numbers even further, for all you bloggers out there:
1. Google Webmaster Tools (FREE!)
2. Google Analytics (FREE!)
3. Facebook Ads (pay per click)

Because most of us don’t have the friends/followers that Tim does right now, a big part of blogging is making sure people find your blog posts via searches–so make sure all your key words, categories, and headlines are optimized for people to find you in their search. The tools above can help you with this too.
Reply
CaptiousNut — August 30th, 2010, 10:40 am

I still don’t know anyone who Tweets….sorry.
Reply
Freddie Smith — August 30th, 2010, 10:53 am

Tim this is an excellent post. I’m sure I’m not alone when I say that these types of posts are very helpful and extremely insightful so thank you. Will your new book be out before the end of the year?

Freddie
Reply
Mike Roberts — August 30th, 2010, 11:26 am

In the past, I had largely neglected headlines and focused solely on my content… and it started getting really lonely at my blog.

I’ve come around to realize the importance of actually taking the time to craft headlines that are interesting enough for people to take the time to read and hopefully enjoy the content.

I was somehow always worried about my blog sounding “gimmicky” if I wrote catchy or unique sounding headlines. Now I just think it’s a smart thing to do. I’m usually the last guy on the bus

~MIke
Reply
Brian S — August 30th, 2010, 11:28 am

Hey Tim,

Excellently researched and presented topic, as usual.

As for content, I always find the most interesting stuff to be lifestyle-related, but just because that is the personality type that I am. In reality, this type of content is most directly applicable to 4HWW, but, while immensely informative, I also find this type of content to be more standard fare for the tech-savvy communities and sites on the internet, although you tend to bring more to the table than most.

Crazy Tim Ferriss-isms like “how I saved my soul through mounted archery in Istanbul: A retrospective” – i.e., lifestyle antics, tips, and lessons learned – have always been what most piqued my interest. I also enjoy the practical, everyday tips that you drive home in the majority of your presentations – stoicism, perspective, practicality, etc. In my mind, these two topics are more or less the same in their own way.

All readers will of course be different – your mileage may vary.

Cheers,
-Brian
Reply
Sonny J. Rock — August 30th, 2010, 11:54 am

Hey Tim, & Readers of Tim’s Blog,

I’m hooked on your book and blog. One Question :

What the heck kind of business do I start? Where do I find the “idea” I am to market,tweet, Facebook, and need a VA for?

I’m ready for success and to work hard/less, but am pretty clueless as to what to promote and help others with and in process, get successful with.

Yours truly,

Sonny
Reply
Rob Murgatroyd — August 30th, 2010, 12:07 pm

Hey Tim,

So many people put countless hours into their blog posts and spend only a few minutes on their headlines. Sadly, I was one of them- until now. Great post!

Rob
Reply
Marcel — August 30th, 2010, 12:10 pm

Honestly, i think you can do lot better Tim.Thats means its too short, why dont you do a series out of the Blogging Tipps, that could increase tension and waiting for the new post about “X”. But nice as a try with the twitter=retweeted thing
Reply
Andy — August 30th, 2010, 12:35 pm

Thought of you the other night.

That’s not as creepy as it sounds.

I came across this article (http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/07/ff_stress_cure/) about stress in Wired magazine and thought of your distinction between stress and eustress. Check out the article for how that plays out in British Civil Servants.
Reply
Kai Stephan — August 30th, 2010, 12:48 pm

These are great tips Tim. I wanted to get your opinion on these inquisitive types of title heads for a technical blog post. In a technical blog post, the subject itself can often lead to people asking WTF, so another level of lingual compexity may be overkill.

For example, I’m working on a post on how to correctly calculate the levelized price of energy for a renewable energy project. To the general public, this is already confusing, so it a simple title head might be best. On the other hand, I will weed out audiences who I’m not targeting, thus automatically soliciting a more consice group of appropriate readers.

If the title is too abstract, then I might re-attract the general public because they are confused whether they themselves are interested or not.

So the question is, for a technical post, would it still be wise to employ the headlining strategies you outlined? Another option would be to use the simple, straighforward title on the blog, then re-post it with a less revealing headline on the technical forums.

Please let me know what you think!
Regards,
Kai Stephan
Reply
Kristin Stegeman — August 30th, 2010, 1:16 pm

Hey Tim…Thanks for the pointers..will have to give it a try…let me know if you want to create an experiment on this with my new blog!

Cowabunga!

Kristin
Reply
Bob — August 30th, 2010, 1:23 pm

Hey Tim,

This is a really constructive post. What I didn’t like about it is that, having read it today, I’ve been sent here yet again – this time the link you supplied via twitter read ‘(…) examples” and I thought that – indeed – it’s pointing to a continuation of the subject. But it was a second link pointing to the same text.
I know you’ve explained what you are doing in the post, but this is slightly unfair.
Love your work – and just expressing my opinion:)
Reply
chel hamilton — August 30th, 2010, 1:26 pm

LOL! Thank you for the Hail Mary whammy hit at the end. So nice to know I fall for your tricks every time!
Reply
Jen Gresham — August 30th, 2010, 1:26 pm

I love the trends in blog post themes. It reminds me of the mysterious ways baby names become popular–you just never know what topic is going to pop up everywhere.

Copyblogger has a headline post up, Leo Babauta just offerred a master class on the topic, and now you too! Not that I’m complaining, they have all been useful and offered different takes on the subject (I really appreciate your data driven style).

In any event, I’ll have you know I tweeted and posted your Headline post on my Facebook page not because the headline was interesting (it was), but because the content was exactly what I’ve been looking for. I mean, really, that question has plagued me for some time, and I feel like you put the issue to rest, depending on what one is trying to achieve.

Headlines get me to read, content gets me to share. Some share without reading, but what’s the point in that? Drives up meaningless numbers, imo.

Thanks, Tim.
Reply
David Hennessey — August 30th, 2010, 1:46 pm

Hi Tim,
I like your suggestion about not giving everything away in the title and offering a curiosity in the title like ‘the choice effect’.

However, let me share a note. With all my sharing of ideas on personal development to my surprise in the last six months the posting I have had the most visits to on my personal development blog was a review with the title “ten children’s stainless steel water bottles review”. I wrote it to help out parents I know who want their children to drink more water for their health. The title seems to be exactly what people are searching right now. My review has been on the first page of google for a week.

Sometimes it is all about if a topic is hot or not but I did not think water bottles were hot.

No worries, the results have been very cool in a positive sense!

Life is full of surprises,
David
Reply
Mac — August 30th, 2010, 1:48 pm

I didn’t find this too helpful; I get really excited about your posts on fast language learning and general learning hacks.

Still no news on your new book? Isn’t it scheduled to release this month? I’m getting way to excited: I’m cutting fat at the moment and I’d like to put your expert advice (as detailed in your upcoming book) for gaining muscle mass into practise ASAP to reach my goals by December.

Also, I’d like to get your book as soon as its released – will there be a worldwide release at launch? I’m in the UK and it usually takes a few more weeks/months for books to come out after their launch in the US.
Reply
Yanik Silver — August 30th, 2010, 1:54 pm

Tim,
Great stuff. Just like you, I’ve been a student of direct response for a long time so it makes a lot of sense for people to collect blog post titles just like I used to collect headlines in my ‘swipe’ file for inspiration and to be reworked. Anytime you click on a blog post that you find compelling (you’ll find plenty of examples in Tim’s archive) create a fill-in-the-blank template out of it.

“7 Mistakes that are killing your reputation” =
“# Mistakes that are killing your _______”

Just create a doc on your computer where you store them and take a look before your write your blog post. I always found great inspiration in John Caples “Tested Advertising Methods” for some headline words that work. Another lesson is don’t just go with your first blog post title. I will sometimes write 50-75 headlines so it’s not a bad idea to write out at least 10-20 blog title ideas.

-Yanik
Reply
- Tim Ferriss — August 30th, 2010, 11:54 pm
  
  Good call, Yanik. The “swipe” file is a brilliant idea that I used to use often with print magazines. I’d tear out any ads that got me to pause or act and put them in a binder. Caples is also a great read. “Ogilvy on Advertising” is another classic I’m sure you’ve read.
  
  Thanks for the comment!
  
  Tim
  Reply
Vinay — August 30th, 2010, 1:57 pm

great post Tim. Always helpful!
Reply
Jeff Nabers — August 30th, 2010, 2:07 pm

Tim,

I esquivou your judo brain chop.

– Jeff

P.S. Your perspective on harsh overseas working conditions (in your comment above) really resonates with me. What a great thing seeing both sides of the coin is.
Reply
August Lennix — August 30th, 2010, 2:18 pm

Thanks for the info Tim..
Reply
Josh Crocker — August 30th, 2010, 2:48 pm

Hey Tim,

LOL – “judo chopped your brain with a palindrome” caused twice the pain because I read it more than once!

Quick question concerning SU.PR, and I might be an idiot on this one:

If you never change the permalink once posted, how do you know which time (A or B) gets more click throughs? Doesn’t su.pr use the same permalink and show all clicks to THAT link, regardless of time? Or am I missing something.

Athletic greens looks like a great deal! Can’t wait for your new book to come out man, I’m still preaching 4HWW like it’s my job!

Cheers,

Josh
Reply
- Tim Ferriss — August 30th, 2010, 11:52 pm
  
  Hi Josh,
  
  Very good question. If I split test, I’ll often do round be on Ping.fm to create a separate URL. For SU.PR, if you want a very rough estimate, you can also look at the clicks for the first 2-3 hours only for each “push”, even if using the same URL, but you should delete the first occurrence. It’s rough, though, and separate URLs are better.
  
  Tim
  Reply
Christian — August 30th, 2010, 2:56 pm

Great stuff!

I’m interested in reading more on what have you tried vs what has worked to get more traffic.

You opened my eyes to the A vs B type of testing – I wouldn’t have thought to try that.

Rock on!
Christian
Reply
Jeff Maystruck — August 30th, 2010, 3:20 pm

I like the analysis of Seth’s work, gives the impression that you appreciate what he does. I think it really hits home when authors comment on other author’s methodologies. You’ve always seemed to be the one who was just a bit smarter than even the best of them and this post does not cease to amaze. Thanks! Keep up the crazy work you do!

Cheers,

Jeph
Reply
Erik — August 30th, 2010, 3:26 pm

Good post however when I have only 30 followers, it doesn’t make a hell of a difference what I write.
Reply
- Tim Ferriss — August 30th, 2010, 11:47 pm
  
  That’s what writing guest posts on higher-traffic blogs is for
  Reply
Andrew Stafford — August 30th, 2010, 3:32 pm

Tim,

Could you spend a few minutes explaining the importance of the visual components of your blog? When or why to use an image or a video? I really enjoyed this post.

All the best, Andrew
Reply
Joe Redmond — August 30th, 2010, 5:18 pm

I like the idea of proposing a question in the subject line. I’m still new to email marketing, but this is good stuff for my carpet cleaning biz.
Reply
Monica — August 30th, 2010, 6:15 pm

Do you speak portuguese?
Reply
- Tim Ferriss — August 30th, 2010, 11:46 pm
  
  Fala um pouquinho do portunhol! Or something like that It’s pretty rough around the edges.
  
  Um abraco,
  
  Tim
  Reply
Travis and Robin — August 30th, 2010, 6:33 pm

Tim, once again you’ve reminded me about one of my biggest challenges…testing…

You are the master of testing, reporting, and testing again. I have a huge tendency to go with my gut (which has proven a decent tactic), but I can only imagine how much more successful everything would be if I was more methodical in my testing.

Thanks again, you really have no idea how much you have improved our lives!

Travis and Robin
Reply
Lenny — August 30th, 2010, 7:01 pm

Hey Tim,

I’d be curious how the athletic green stuff compares to Mark Sisson’s damage control Master formula and if you have already tried both.

cheers
Reply
Paul G. — August 30th, 2010, 8:11 pm

Dude, your blog is just brilliant and it makes up 1 of my 6 browser speedials. I laughed out loud several times throughout this – it all makes perfect sense and we know it deep down inside, but sometimes we just need someone articulate enough to say it all.

Thank you as always for being someone consistently fun to learn from!
Paul.
Reply
AlexG — August 30th, 2010, 9:09 pm

Thanks Tim.

I’ve been optimizing my headline titles for a while. This works not only for blogs but you can also test youbute headlines as well. It is really an art in itself.

Another tip for headline ideas is when standing in line at a grocery store, just read the headlines on the magazines. None of the magazines I have any interest in, but the headlines make me curious to pick up the magazine.

Last, another thing you mentioned is “People don’t want more information, they want solutions to their problem.” is a very important pieces of advice.
Reply
Charlie — August 30th, 2010, 9:38 pm

Awesome post as always, Tim. As other commenters have already offered, it’s great to see you break down the numbers and offer a logical conclusion.
Reply
Chris Miller — August 30th, 2010, 10:00 pm

Tim great post. I do a lot with video and on youtube. I was tracking some results tonight on youtube and found that one of our video titles that has , “HOW TO INVENT A PRODUCT IN IT, is getting much more clicks, and also is at the top of the youtube search function. I had not read this post yet but now it makes sense!!!! I found that titling in youtube makes a world of difference so this post is awesome.

I think this post is very relevant to all your readers who might be trying to make a name for themselves by vlogging and creating their own space on youtube. I think with the way video is headed more and more people will be creating their own TV shows, and video blogs.

All that to say that your wisdom applies to the youtube world as well!

Going to India in October to film a documentary. Have you been there? Anything you recommend that I have to see or try?

Cheers,

Chris Miller
Reply
Dan Jaffe — August 30th, 2010, 11:03 pm

Tim,

What did your A-B testing suggest about time spent on the article? Did the highest click through rate hold up with the highest retention?

I am always coaching my clients and my writers to invest more thought into crafting their titles, and I will reference your post in my next client newsletter.

Thanks for making me think.

Dan
Reply
- Tim Ferriss — August 30th, 2010, 11:43 pm
  
  Hi Dan,
  
  That’s a great question, and one I haven’t looked too critically at. I’ve done a few prelim runs, but it’s worth a closer test. Good call.
  
  Tim
  Reply
Mason McClellan, LAc — August 30th, 2010, 11:12 pm

I think this will make for a good FB ad experiment for our clinic.
Reply
Domenico — August 30th, 2010, 11:53 pm

while I was reading the post I felt back in time, at school, sitting at my desk, listening to my teachers talking about grammar and logical analysis… their words were (and actually are) full of wisdom.
Reply
Anon — August 31st, 2010, 4:00 am

dude, what a post everything that one should know about maintaining suspense of article.

good technique
Reply
Cesar Hernandez — August 31st, 2010, 6:17 am

Tim,

Awesome post brother. Keep on pumping out the wisdom. When is the fitness book coming out?

Talk soon.

Cesar
Reply
- Tim Ferriss — August 31st, 2010, 4:06 pm
  
  Hi Cesar,
  
  Much more coming on the new book next month
  
  So excited…
  
  Tim
  Reply
Kevin — August 31st, 2010, 6:30 am

Tim,

Keep up the good work. Your past two posts especially have been fantastic.
Reply
Adam Beckett — August 31st, 2010, 6:42 am

Tim, you’ve saved me some analysis of Seth’s Modus operandi, thanks.

Wonder why us Brits throw the numbers – are we just weird??

Adam
Reply
Dustin Sanchez — August 31st, 2010, 7:01 am

Thanks Tim. I’m going to save this post and reread it every time I blog. My titles have been less than optimal lately. I really appreciate all the free info u give & your book changed my life.
Reply
Brandon Carter — August 31st, 2010, 7:49 am

Thanks Tim! All of your post about twitter have been great. After reading your other twitter post I have seen an increase traffic, Retweets, and follower (just hit 20K!!!). I cant wait to see how much the advice from this post improves everything! Thanks again!

P.S.
“Please let me know in the comments what you’d like to read more of.”
Time management!!!! I read your book over and over again but I am still have a hard time getting things done in my business and personal life. any tips that may have been in you book would be great!
Reply
joeldg — August 31st, 2010, 8:10 am

Sweet stuff Tim.
Just wanted to drop a note and say, ‘thanks’.. You reopened my eyes with your book. I ran/cofounded a couple of dotcoms a while back that blew out of the water and have been just floundering around for a few years at random jobs and well, now I am back on track.
Thanks again for the inspiration.
Cheers
-joel
Reply
Ruslan Balkin — August 31st, 2010, 9:44 am

Thanks for a helpful post.
I realize I can’t understand some things that may be specific to your culture, like previously mentioned “101″ thing, but for sure I’ll try to use it with my russian blogs.
Thanks & GL
Reply
Mike — August 31st, 2010, 11:04 am

Actually really good stuff. I’ve got a tiny blog that has 2 followers! You have no idea how excited I was to get them. I’ll have to take some of your tips into consideration.
Reply
Joe Sorge — August 31st, 2010, 12:55 pm

Great stuff Tim, always have enjoyed your writing style.

When it comes to split testing, here’s something that I find to take it a step further. You may already be aware of Sally Hogshead and her book “Fascinate”

http://www.slideshare.net/sallyhogshead/chris-4177119
Reply
Teresa — August 31st, 2010, 12:55 pm

Thanks for the great tips! I’m a freelance writer myself, but still learning how to use Twitter and blogging effectively.

Cheers!
Reply
Jim Mathis — August 31st, 2010, 1:24 pm

Very well put, Tim!

I have been waiting for someone else to put something out like this. I wrote a little bit about it on my blog last month with the post: “Why Don’t People Care About Your Content?.”

People are attracted by provacative titles that tease or ask a question that they are compelled to answer. I send out a monthly e-zine on reinventing yourself. This next month’s title (instead of “September Newsletter”) will be “Your Customers Are Over You.” Doing this has tripled my readership – and response. The article “Is There a Dinosaur in Your Room” got me three clients the day it went out.

I now have reinvented the titles of almost every email I send out, too.

Ask yourself BEFORE you hit “Send,” Will anyone other than me give a rip about this title and the content? Doing that would clean up most blogs, Face Book pages and tweets.

Way to go, Tim!
Reply
Charles Bohannan — August 31st, 2010, 2:34 pm

For all the Copyblogger posts I’ve digested on headline writing over the years…this one is the one I’ve been waiting for. Your powerful, methodical approach truly resonates, Tim: thanks!

Headlines do rule — there’s no way around this, people.
Reply
Steve Zussino — August 31st, 2010, 2:38 pm

A/B Testing is a great idea when it comes to testing ideas.

I am planning on doing this more on my websites.

Thanks, Tim
Reply
James Beswick — August 31st, 2010, 2:51 pm

Great advice – many people put a great deal of working into the content and then neglect the headline (same with email campaigns). A good headline is the teaser into the content and can significantly boost traffic and retweets.
Reply
Nick — August 31st, 2010, 3:08 pm

Awesome blog, Tim.

Once a marketer, always a marketer eh?

Can’t help but notice that even with all your content about fitness, exercise, lifestyle design, etc, eventually your direct response background surfaces once again. I’m into direct response marketing on FB myself…sometimes it’s hard to stop split testing everything out there, and I mean offline just as well as online.

People should realize that even with half decent copywriting skills and a willingness to perform rigorous data testing, they are going to give themselves a tremendous edge in any industry that involves humans. Or more specifically, selling to humans.

I recommend this Gary Halbert headline quiz:

http://streetguidetocopywriting.com/blog/headlines/grades-are-in-did-you-pass

(not my link or anything, just something I found useful)
Reply
Lupercalia — August 31st, 2010, 5:54 pm

The WTF headline concept brings to mind a dinner party conversation I had with an Oscar nominated movie director (so a guy worth listening to) whom I told I was reading THE FOURTH PROTOCOL by Frederick Forsyth (an old book–and movie–unfamiliar to him). This director said, “THE FOURTH PROTOCOL; that’s a really intriguing title. I don’t know even what it means! But I love that title.”
Reply
doug hay — August 31st, 2010, 8:25 pm

Great post. Something we can study and apply. With stats like that who can argue that the formula doens’t work. I also like to utilize my major keyword in the title as close as possible to the beginning. Now that is an art!
Reply
ShaolinTiger — August 31st, 2010, 9:21 pm

Hey Tim, time to switch to the offical Twitter badge/counter instead of sticking with Tweetmeme?
Reply
Jason — August 31st, 2010, 11:14 pm

Tim,

Looking forward to your new book. I blew out my knee and will need surgery to replace one or more ligaments. As an active crossfitter and bjj competitor I was wondering if the book will cover surgical and non-surgical recovery or possibly your take on the best way for athletes to navigate the medical system?

Thanks for sharing your knowledge again,
Jason
Reply
Jimmy — September 1st, 2010, 4:54 am

Great post!
Reply
Olly Hermon-Taylor — September 1st, 2010, 5:34 am

Thanks Tim,

Traffic driving titles is definitely something I need to work a lot harder on.

I would love to know how you research content for your blog posts, particularly:

1. How do you find such great and varied content that resonates with so many?
2. How do you research specific facts and theories, then retain and summarise all of the information?

All the best,
Olly

Ps. How is the 500 lb deadlift coming along?
Reply
Sam Stone — September 1st, 2010, 5:43 am

Awesome post Tim, I just wanted to keep reading more, your blog is def one of the best places on the web. Thanks mate

Sam
Reply
Greg Burkett — September 1st, 2010, 6:59 am

Amazing article — This is the brilliant type of insight that seems so obvious to you only after you’ve heard someone else articulate it. I’ve been blogging for awhile now… and have struggled with headline writing from day one.

This will help – a lot. Thanks Tim, and if you ever need a guest poster, let me know!
Reply
aebell — September 1st, 2010, 9:50 am

This was an interesting read, and it got me thinking about whether the rules apply for corporate intranet headlines. I’m tempted to say they would partly apply. But I’m not sure employees would click a headline with a WTF factor, b/c they may tend to assume the post isn’t meaningful to their jobs. I think you may have to be a little bit more specific in some instances.

In the organization I currently work for, the rule that applies is: if you add an exclamation mark, your headline/story is automatically interesting. That’s just one of the myths I have to overcome with time.
Reply
[Personal Name] — September 1st, 2010, 10:50 am

I don’t know what this post was about. But I shared it on Twitter.

“”People Retweet without reading where the link leads?!? All the time.” http://tinyurl.com/23uhkrj“
Reply
Steve Kowch — September 1st, 2010, 11:29 am

Tim … I read your blog about how to tweet and write things on Facebook. Instead of telling the story today I did it in headlines:

What is The Suburban in Mtl saying about me? Go to page 4 … to find out! Go to … to see why!

So much better. Even I would click on the links to see what it’s about.

Thanks for the tip from a struggling author!
Reply
Diane Rosolen — September 1st, 2010, 11:48 am

How cool is this post ? way cool…thanks so much for this valuable nugget!

Diane~
Reply
Simon — September 1st, 2010, 12:38 pm

Great post tim
Reply
Dave — September 1st, 2010, 12:44 pm

Hey Tim,

I want to take a hiking trip to Sao Miguel for 1 week but my friends can’t find the time or money to come with me.

If you are willing to meet someone new and want to see a beautiful place that you have yet to visit (hopefully) then send me an email.

I am an honest person and I won’t ask you for any favors.

I am one of your 3000+ facebook buddies: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=838695501

Thanks for considering it.
Reply
Jesse Montalto — September 1st, 2010, 1:01 pm

In order to get people to read your blog posts, you just need to come up with a title that people care about and are searching for. For example… how to get more blog posts! or something crazy like “Attract 10,000 New Followers On Twitter in 48 hours”. That is what people will want to read because it spikes curiosity.

If I make a blog post and called it “Attract 10 new Twitter Followers in 2 months”, nobody would read it. Even better, “Gain 20lbs of Lean Muscle in 4 Years”.
Reply
A.H.A. — September 1st, 2010, 2:27 pm

Tim, I know this is a bit late, but happy birthday!

Here is our present to you (issue #5, the one with the Indiana Jones meets 4HWW style cover)… hope you like it: http://interestingtimesmagazine.com/download.html

It might be out in print later this year if all goes well
Reply
Ben — September 1st, 2010, 2:45 pm

Loved the first book

I do NOT understand this “For clicks, the pay-off can be handsome. In my case, these retweets can often drive 10,000+ unique visitors to a post. ”

How are retweets paying for you & Seth other than book sales?

Thanks (hopefully you read this and take the minute to respond)(fingers crossed)
Reply
- Tim Ferriss — September 1st, 2010, 7:17 pm
  
  Hi Ben,
  
  I just meant “pay off” in the broader sense of traffic ROI for tweet time. That can convert to income/experiences via:
  
  - Advertising
  - More converts to book sales
  - Speaking
  - Just more cool readers, which is ultimately what I most enjoy
  
  Hope that helps!
  
  Tim
  Reply
Gladis — September 1st, 2010, 4:42 pm

I will try this one..thanks Tim.
Reply
Nicolas Luna Hisano — September 1st, 2010, 7:31 pm

HOLA!!!!!!!!!! TIM ¿como estas?

thanks for the tips !!!!! (gracias por los consejos!!!!!)
do you drink ice green tea? (tomas siempre te verde helado?)
is Athletic Greens better than brainquicken for you? (es mejor Athletic Greens que brainquicken para vos?) because i live in bs as and i want to use brainquicken or now athletic green.(porque quiero probar uno de los dos….y respeto bastante tu opinion)
do you know something about maca and gingko biloba? (sabes algo sobre la maca y gingko biloba?)
i want to read ¨ Becoming Superhuman” now!!!!
i love 4 hour week , i love the blog and iwant to read more about :
px method , learning method , Becoming Superhuman, and i dont know how to write this: i heard about a method that use the japanese Abacus .do you konw something about this?
thanks a lot!!!!!!!!!! Muchas gracias!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Reply
David Simpson — September 2nd, 2010, 4:44 am

Tim,

Thanks for another great post. Actually, I have been following your blog since 2007. So, a lot of your advice has been sinking in gradually and manifesting itself throughout my life. For example, I just got back from Thailand yesterday. I was there studying a one month CELTA certificate in Teaching English as Second Language. Fantastically productive experience…

Thanks for your achievable words…

David,
Reply
- Tim Ferriss — September 6th, 2010, 12:15 am
  
  Nice work! God, I love Thailand… Ah, the nostalgia
  Reply
Julius — September 2nd, 2010, 9:52 am

Ha. I’ve got interested and clicked two example headlines while reading this text.
Reply
ShrMaj — September 2nd, 2010, 10:54 am

I’m inspired by you! I hadn’t heard about you until a few weeks ago. One boring thunderstormy afternoon, I came across your TED talk and thought you made sense and looked good too. So, I googled you. A few days later I was at the library looking for your book. Sorry, I didn’t buy it. Maybe next time.

I’m 50 pages through and your book has already rekindled my ‘I-am-made-to-do-something-different’ spirit, which I thought had permanently gone to bed when the world said to me “your thoughts and ideas are just illusions of grandeur”. I’m going to plough though the book, make some changes in my life and follow you on the internet to get some great ideas. Thanks and keep up the good work!
Reply
David — September 2nd, 2010, 11:34 am

1) Yes it was insightful. Copywriting is a skill that takes time. Most are boring and generic and they do not even realize they are. Which would you rather read:

it’s my blogs birthday or
6 bits of wisdom from 6 months blogging

Google “its by blogs birthday” to see just how many people wrote that… as with anything no one starts out amazing.

2) Looking forward to the new book! The 4 hour was transformational for me.
Reply
Niels — September 2nd, 2010, 3:38 pm

Hello Tim,

I read a lot of personal development books, and I mean a LOT! This all to find out who I really am, and what I want to do with this one life I have.

Outcome of all this information I digested: a little bit of frustration, and a lot more questions and to do’s, before I could finally ” enjoy” life.

After reading your book, I must admit at first I was not really digging it. I thought about all the things you said about outsourcing, and how this could be very difficult in the business I am in. (playama) When time passed by I got the strong feeling you were right on various points, and that made my eyes open up.

I must say I do work more then 4 hours a week, maybe that is also a bit overdone by you, but hell I am having a lot more free time since I finished your book. It inspired me truly to make the most out of my life, really enjoy it right now.

Thanks for that!

All the best,
Niels

P.S. spoken about guest posting, how can I reach you?
Reply
Jared — September 2nd, 2010, 4:47 pm

You should make a post on how you go about making blog posts, or what helps you with your writing, I like your writing style a lot. Unless theres already a blog post you have posted about such?
Reply
Rick Markoulatos — September 2nd, 2010, 5:28 pm

Hey great tips man. I learn something new everyday.
Reply
David Eckoff — September 2nd, 2010, 11:20 pm

Tim, loved this post for the combination of art and science – and practical advice.

Really looking forward to the new fitness book! Anticipation… like a kid waiting for Christmas!

I clicked through to the Athletic Greens site, and they look good. For the past couple of years, I’ve been doing daily greens in a big glass of water to start they day – with the goal of hydrating and alkalizing. I switched from Tony Robbins’ formulation (could never get used to the taste) to “Berry Green Superfood” by Amazing Grass (I have no financial interest in the company or product). I don’t know how to measure the results directly – other than Ph. Anything you’re doing to measure results and effectiveness of greens mix?

Ingredients look similar, and I’m looking forward to hearing more about your experience with Athletic Greens.
Reply
Sylvia — September 3rd, 2010, 12:04 am

Much like chess…

Inspiration from your outlook has changed our business model.
Reply
Rich Trucke — September 3rd, 2010, 4:24 am

Tim,

Have you ever traveled to Egypt?

I love the ‘packing tips’ videos, and always look forward to your recommendations for adventuring light.
Reply
Patrick McGinley — September 3rd, 2010, 1:25 pm

I feel so dirty and used after reading the Hail Mary approach, haha. Just kidding. This actually resonated with me as I am trying to learn about the blogging world and (indirectly) writing skills.

Not the first to say, and definitely not the last – but thanks for your all work, Tim.

Cheers!
Reply
Monica — September 3rd, 2010, 9:00 pm

Hello Tim,

Well, if you spoke Portuguese, you would give me some tips about your book.
I’m reading “four hour work week” and I’m really excited to put yours advices in practice.
I’m a lawyer and working in the government. However, I’m thinking to start a new business with sales.
If you have time for this, please, contact me. I’m follow you on twitter (@monicamgo).
By the way, I can teach you portuguese if you teach me how to have time for traveling, like you.
Abraços from Brasil,
Monica
ps.: 1)I can wait until next monday, rs. 2) Sorry about my English…I’ve not spoken since 2002
Reply
{personal name} — September 4th, 2010, 5:36 pm

Long time listener (4HWW audio book) first time reader/commenter. This post was well worth the inquiry. Thanks for the awesome info!
Reply
Alejandro — September 4th, 2010, 7:14 pm

One thing that works for me is stating the problem, then letting people know the solution is there.

such as “Why do you smoke and how to get rid of the habit”

the How to is always a kicker for sure.

Wicked info!
Reply
Rick Clark — September 5th, 2010, 11:51 am

Thanks. I was wondering about getting more the “RTs.”
Reply
Melissa Ann Mitchell — September 5th, 2010, 4:01 pm

Hey Tim!

How are you doing? I loved this post. I have to tell you.. I have been building my business and my blog every day for a year now.. and it is just now beginning to really kick up a notch..

Very exciting, it is.. And I luckily found your book in the middle of this work.. so you, honestly, saved me so much time and agony from your tips.

I have to say, after I read this post (three times) I went into my stats. Out of my 52 posts, the ones with the most traffic or RT’s or comments, even.. are the ones that are titled… “How to…..”. and I also have to admit, they are fairly boring titles. Guess it’s my English Teacher training, keeping me on the subject and using keywords. (which isn’t always a bad thing in SEO)..

But, I certainly am going to get back in there, and change just five posts.. five posts that I knew could have knocked the socks off my FB followers.. I am going to use your formula and see.. how many RT’s I get.

Thank you for the inspiration..

You certainly know how to inspire others to greatness, which is what I am doing right now as well… inspiring others to find their greatness within.

But you also have inspired me to be myself again… and you have always been able to do that, even in middle school, just never told you.

Would love to catch up again soon. You know where to find me.

Melissa
Reply
Andy M — September 6th, 2010, 4:26 am

Thanks a lot, I learned a lot from this post. This improved my Twitter Skills a little more now!
Reply
Dennison Uy — September 6th, 2010, 4:45 am

How about mentioning the fact that you have … oh … 145k followers (and counting)?

You cheat, Tim.

Very … very … well.
Reply
- Tim Ferriss — September 6th, 2010, 8:24 am
  
  I link to the FB/Twitter profiles in the first two paragraphs and make the numbers clear. My headlines are comparative (A vs. B) so there’s no cheating. Second, there are people with 1 million+ followers who get fewer comments and retweets on posts. Not appropriate use of “cheating”, but I suppose perception is reality.
  
  Tim
  Reply
personal name — September 6th, 2010, 11:14 am

Great tips tim, ive been trying different ways to drive traffic to my travel blog and never seem to get the right combination. Def will try the tips you gave.. and of course… retweet the article lol
Reply
Nabil — September 6th, 2010, 11:51 am

Tim,

Great post. I am a personal development blogger and I am trying to test out new headlines. One of my posts that got a lot of clicks was “How to be Nice and Finish First”.

Had a question:

1) How does SEO work. Does google automatically rank you higher if you have good content or do you suggest spending a couple of hundred bucks on outsourcing SEO stuff. I have been going to this cool site called seochat.com. However I feel like I am great at building relationships with people and providing great content and I am concerned that if I spend too much time on the technical aspect I wont be able to spend time on providing content.

Thanks for the help TIm.

Also check out a book called “The Power of Now”. Its amazing.

Cheers,
Nabil
Reply
- Tim Ferriss — September 6th, 2010, 1:05 pm
  
  HI Nabil,
  
  I spend zero time on SEO besides occasionally using Google Keyword Tool to decide between two or three words in a headline. That’s it. The rest of your time, if you’re using an SEO-friendly platform like WordPress, should be spent on good content and good community.
  
  Good luck!
  
  Tim
  Reply
James St. James — September 6th, 2010, 3:29 pm

As a new blogger, I would love to know more about the process behind your posting! From Idea to Post, or The Process – A Ferriss Day Off.
James St. James
Reply
Kate Southcombe — September 7th, 2010, 12:55 am

Tim, where would we be without you? Your comments are so useful, so inspiring, you have kept me going on my hour plus drive to work via your audio book!! I am struggling to break free having gone back to part time work to keep my 3 horses fed – yes I have expensive babies! I am currently working on my second book about car restoration – a 1982 Capri that I have had for 14 years and brought back to NZ with me in 2001! and lecturing in Early Childhood AND desperately faffing around with my training company! I combine ABA , psychology and my teaching experience to training horses but really it’s about training people! LOVE your stuff so much and you are truly a gem, thanks for sharing your life with us all!
If you are ever in NZ would LOVE to catch up with you!
Reply
- Tim Ferriss — September 7th, 2010, 1:03 am
  
  Reply
Dave — September 7th, 2010, 5:04 am

Hey Tim,

I haven’t received an email from you about Sao Miguel. I know it’s a long shot to ask you. But if you are NOT interested can you just let me know.

Thanks.
Reply
Sherri — September 7th, 2010, 9:02 am

Thanks for the info! I love your formula for coming up with a great title. Now if I could just figure out what weird obsession I have…
Reply
James Cooper — September 7th, 2010, 1:36 pm

Hey Tim,

A little bit of quick research shows me 5 out of my top 7 blog posts by total pages views have “how to” in the title, interesting. My Retweet data is lacking depth as yet to meaningfully comment. Kudos on the tip to add the WTF factor in titles… kind of reminders me of the “Interest” point from the old A.I.D.A. principle… basically ask a question in the title that can’t possibly be answered unless the person reads on. Thanks for that!

James

PS any stats or thoughts on retweet influence on bringing all time unique visitors to your site vs returning, or are they mix of both? Basically, is it mainly strengthening your existing community or gain new visitors?
Reply
Russell Morris — September 7th, 2010, 1:37 pm

Tim,

Thanks for the great info. Towards the end you got pretty deep with tracking. As a new blogger you have given me lots to consider.

Again, Thanks for all the tips.

Russell Morris
Reply
Erin — September 8th, 2010, 5:00 am

Tim; can’t wait for the new book.

Athletic Greens looks like a soild product.

I can’t wait to see what the haters throw at you after the book launch!
Reply
Lowell — September 8th, 2010, 11:55 am

Tim, thanks so much for this priceless post. It inspired my blog post title today, “How Your GPS Can Make You a Better Leader.” I am admitedly new at this, but in the last hour I’ve gotten far more response than any past post’s total!
Melissa’s right – you’re inspiring.
Reply
- Tim Ferriss — September 8th, 2010, 5:23 pm
  
  Great job, Lowell! Thank you (and Melissa and all) for such nice words. I’m just a normal guy with a healthy dose of controlled OCD, but thank you
  
  All the best,
  
  Tim
  Reply
A.W. — September 9th, 2010, 4:03 am

“2) Here’s a sneak peek of a goodie from the “Becoming Superhuman” book: Athletic Greens, which I’ve been using for the last year. I have no financial interest in the company or product.”

Kinda weird that the linked site https://athleticgreens.com/checkout/usalaunch/
says “secured” – yet the Popup when clicking on the “secured” image on the bottom of the page gives details on a ssl certificate for a completely different website.

—
Domain Control Verified
GoDaddy.com has verified that the certificate holder controls the domain http://www.idkmanage.com.
Site Name
http://www.idkmanage.com
—
Reply
- Tim Ferriss — September 11th, 2010, 1:56 am
  
  Not to worry, IDK Nutrition is the parent company.
  Reply
Mr Swank — September 9th, 2010, 11:13 am

Thanks for a great article.

We are in the process of setting up our site and getting into Twitter. It helps to do research and find articles like this that tell you “how to” in plain english.
Reply
Ryan Martin — September 9th, 2010, 8:13 pm

It is crazy how much difference a title to an article can make. Before you explained your strategy I remember clicking one of your headlines just because I was a little confused and curious. I should have known it was all part of the plan.

thanks for sharing
Reply
Jack Dotacje — September 10th, 2010, 12:00 pm

Its impressive how many people are intresting in that what you are writing and what to do. Now if i speak with somebody who i give information one year ago about your book, then this peoople took now: this is the same what was writing in this book : )
Reply
Trey Zackery — September 10th, 2010, 9:40 pm

Hi Tim,

Great post, keep them coming. I visit your site from time to time for motivation and solid tips. This post was right on time as I am beginning my blog this month as one of my “muses”. I’ll save the plug for another post…..just remember the name….greatness awaits! And I mean that in the most humble way!

TZ
Reply
Frank B. — September 11th, 2010, 10:13 pm

Tim,

You are awesome!!

All the information you share seems to have the potential for being life-changing!

You’re a god!

-frank b
Reply
Mark Miskelley, M.D. — September 12th, 2010, 10:02 am

Ah, the eternal search for the perfect headline. My dad started doing mailorder back in the late 60′s, and this is just the modern equivalent. If you cannot grab the readers’ attention with the headline, then the rest of your message, however brilliant, will never be seen. Great piece!
Reply
Jeff Ramos — September 12th, 2010, 12:48 pm

So, I’ve been trying to research better headline writing techniques for a while and reading this decided to make me try and experiment.

I re-submitted an old article I posted on my blog with a catchier title (3 tip to help you find a job better) and within a few seconds, it got 30 hits. I’ll have to check the numbers later tonight but GO FIGURE.
Reply
Dave Nierman — September 12th, 2010, 2:12 pm

I wish their was this much transparency in everything I need or want to know. Thank you.
Reply
Andreas — September 12th, 2010, 2:22 pm

I find it much harder to read long capitalized headlines. I have been annoyed over this use for some time. It really makes no sense to me. Is it is an american thing, to do this?
Reply
Matt — September 12th, 2010, 4:21 pm

Tried to read all the comments for this one question. If it was asked already I apologize in advance. Curious, how did you track speed of the retweet? I’m actively using SU.PR, and have twitter and facebook fan pages but cannot figure out speed of the retweets and likes. I’m looking at traffic data in SU.PR and just not seeing that metric nor do I know how to read tweet times in twitter or facebook.

Thanks!
Reply
William K Wallace — September 13th, 2010, 3:10 pm

This may sound a wee bit crazy…I know from personal experience how much of an impact writing a WTF title can have. However I decided to go against this approach and stick to writing titles that gave a fuller understanding of what my article is about. Now that I’m thinking about things WTF did I not stick with what was making my articles more successful…
Reply
Rita S — September 13th, 2010, 10:23 pm

Nice post, very useful.
I will certainly split test some of this stuff. Seth Godin is THE man indeed!

Though I am surprised controversial headlines aren’t included here. Oh well.
Reply
Damien — September 13th, 2010, 10:51 pm

Love it Tim, will be testing your advice over the next few days with my own business blog.
Reply
John Sherry — September 15th, 2010, 5:15 am

Tim you kind of mentioned an interesting point here in that long post titles i.e. ‘Why smiling is good for you and why it’s the No.1 technique tat being a winner in love’, are actually very popular and really work. They act like a book title and that means the reader gets great info but without the numerous pages to read. Thus they get the direct stuff that’s gonna change their life, weight or sex life etc. in a fraction of the time. And the benefits are in the title too. It’s the reverse of regular blog thinking but I’m liking it more and more!!
Reply
Scott Dinsmore — September 15th, 2010, 9:33 am

Very useful article Tim. I’ve been making a major study of this as I’ve been growing my blog and Personal Freedom Coaching. Inbound Marketing (Hub Spot) and A List Blogging by Leo Babauta of ZenHabits have done awesome work in the headline area too.

Thanks!
Scott
Reply
Steve — September 15th, 2010, 1:29 pm

Nice article! I try look at headlines on the news stands for ideas and tips – Newspaper and magazine publishers have to grab your attention to get their publication off the shelf and have had years of experience in good headline copywriting.
Reply
Danny — September 17th, 2010, 2:12 pm

Interesting Timbo. I’m guessing the approach changes if you want your blog page to rank higher on google? This is my priority and I just string what I would imagine someone would type into google if they had a question on mind. Ie “should I make my outdoor bootcamp competitive” (that would be my title!) I’m newish to social marketing so it would be interesting to see how you would change your approach depending on which medium you wanted your message to get across or whether a tool like twitter would help you leap frog up the google ranks (???).

On a side note. I know one person that actually uses twitter! This is probably old school inforamtion but surely twitter is much more a business tool than a social friend network tool?
Reply
Anon — September 17th, 2010, 2:28 pm

Great post and I like this concept of swipe file. Another method which has been gaining popularity is inclusion of info graphics in the post.
Reply
MG — September 21st, 2010, 11:15 am

Haven’t gotten into tweeting yet but I like this one: “How To Create iPhone Apps With No Programming Experience”
Reply
Piotr Klepacz — September 22nd, 2010, 12:29 pm

Hi Tim,

It would require some more in-depth research to prove your point, have you tried neuromarketing tools, too? – http://su.pr/81xlRc

I am impressed by your activity on the blog.
I bet you outsourced at least 80 percent of the comment management… )
Reply
Ret — September 26th, 2010, 12:37 am

Hi Tim. I’m so glad I found your blog and this very helpful post. I’m on my way of finding solutions to bring my blog to the next level. But I could not just find a way till I read this. I am now on creating my intriguing titles and headlines. Thanks.
Reply
Monica — September 28th, 2010, 6:12 pm

I will try yours advices in my new blog…
beijos do Brasil
Monica
Reply
Scott Asai — September 28th, 2010, 7:24 pm

Really like the idea of being prescriptive and stating a solution. That’s crazy that most people don’t even click through a post and retweet it. I definitely have some work to do…
Reply
Carp — September 29th, 2010, 12:31 pm

Long time fan, but first time poster (simply because with this crowd it’s impossible to win an intelligence or popularity contest, and apparently my ego has a problem with that .

For what it’s worth though, I thought I’d pass along one headline hack that WORKS EVERY TIME–a list.

For some crazy reason, people absolutely love lists. It doesn’t matter if the list is a list of confessions, recipes, strategies, or workout routines, when we see a list in a headline we can’t pass it up. “9 Ways to Save $100 a Week”, “14 Tasty Recipes Under 300 Calories”, etc.

Something in the human mind equates lists with concrete value (as if putting a number or bullet point next to it somehow makes it a fact), and condensed packaging (don’t make me read a damn essay, I’m too American and too lazy. Just give me the bullet points, and I’ll be on my suburban-middle-class-middle-management way).

Next time you’re at the newsstand or grocery store, check out the magazine covers and count how many headlines use a list of some kind–easily 80-85%

Regs,

Carp
Reply
Christopher Hofman — October 1st, 2010, 7:12 am

Great post Tim!

I´m sending out to a list of 4.000 domain clients, and I usually spend loads of time preparing the post and landing page but very little time on the captivating headline. Will definetely focus more on this in the future
Reply
Anna Vital — October 4th, 2010, 12:44 pm

Tim,

From my blog tracking I see a pattern about lists: lists longer than 10 items get far fewer retweets than under 5 items. Plus, 5 or less item lists get disproportionately more traffic.
Reply
Adam — October 4th, 2010, 4:31 pm

This is great stuff; kudos. Lol @ WTF FTW.

I’m definately gonna be keeping that in mind next time I’m writing – I’ve always been “stuck” with titles and keep coming back to the same old boring, practical stuff. After reading this I guess it’s okay to go a bit nuts and get your readers to think “wtf does that mean?”
Reply
Akhila — October 6th, 2010, 9:16 am

This is a great post- very helpful and clear. Thank you and I definitely have to think more strategically about my blog titles. I don’t think most of mine are currently wired to go viral, so– definitely an area to improve! I have a hard time being creative with titles…
Reply
Black Zen — October 6th, 2010, 12:51 pm

Hi Tim,

I’m still a “freshy” when it comes to blogging, but I’m learning and developing all the time. Coming across posts like this though always bumps my writing up another level, so I’m grateful to you for providing me with yet another turbo boost! Nice Work!
Reply
Dave Nierman — October 6th, 2010, 6:01 pm

Great insight as always. Doug Flutie would be proud of this posting…http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3ykWbu2Gl0
Reply
Jacob Sokol — October 9th, 2010, 12:23 am

Digital dopeness dude. Thanks!
Reply
Brad — October 11th, 2010, 5:23 am

Headlines have driven traffic to my site, but mostly due to targeted search keywords. (rarely do I get a RT)
Reply
Andrew — October 12th, 2010, 2:00 pm

Will really focus on attention grabbing headlines now. Can’t believe there are so many retweets without even reading the article!
Reply
Patrick Hefner — October 22nd, 2010, 6:04 am

Great article! There’s a lot of really helpful things in here for people like myself to think about when starting a blog. Itis always great when people share their methods of success.

Thanks again,
Patrick
Reply
ben sanami — October 22nd, 2010, 9:59 pm

great post, Tim. the internet is all about finding answers and learning new things. Teach them something new and they will retweet it or stumble it (I find is quite amazing) and soon you too will have a viral following.
ben
aspiring for the 3 day work week
Reply
Darren — October 23rd, 2010, 1:31 pm

Great blog Tim. I just found your website and it’s great. Lots of informative information. I’ll definately be taking some tips from this post so I can get some retweets in the future.

Thanks
Reply
Matt — October 24th, 2010, 7:28 pm

I’m really interested in your posts as I’m getting ready to launch a series of eBooks and want to optimize the titles. This is about the best discussion on the topic of headline optimization I’ve found yet.

Still struggling with the details though. I understand the how you formulated the deciding factor, speed of retweet. However, with the stumble upon approach would this not require a lot of followers? I currently don’t have many followers on StumbleUpon and so I don’t know how I can decide between headlines. I had also thought of integrating the tweet / like buttons with Google Analytics. Has anybody done this?

Thanks!
Reply
Laura — October 25th, 2010, 3:41 am

Hey Tim,
Wow! very interesting…I’m a twitter-rookie, i’m reading joel comm’s book right now [i hope to advance quickly]. This was very helpful, thank you.
I’m anxiously awaiting your next vimeo with Kevin Rose. did i miss it?? has it been since summer?
i’m a nightowl, too, and apparently with a case of insomnia this morning…
best,
Laura
Reply
Mark Aylward — October 25th, 2010, 3:31 pm

Tim
This is my first time at your site and it truly is Fonzie cool. I’ve been in offline marketing for 20 years but researching online for 1. After all is said and done, it comes back to the simple stuff right?
If you could just document your own actions and repurpose the techniques that got you to click, buy, whatever….everything else is gravy.
Seth Godin is great and I am adding you to that list
Thanks
Mark
Reply
aharon — October 28th, 2010, 12:17 pm

tim, I never would have thought to develop my quirks into my marketing. It’s so true though, that what makes people interesting.
Reply
Christine — October 30th, 2010, 9:15 am

I’ve been meaning to catch up on this post. Glad I did. Funny about Seth’s versus title. I just wrote a post called, “Frugal to Survive or Frugal to be Rich?” and I received a great response. I believe it was the title and well written content. Hope to achieve that response again!
Reply
How to create headlines that get retweeted | Brian Cormier — November 28th, 2010, 4:01 pm

[...] almost two million click-throughs via his Twitter profile and Facebook page in the last six months. Click here to read the article Share this post with your [...]
Jackson Lo — January 15th, 2011, 12:39 pm

‘How to’ titles have really helped me generate consistent traffic to my blog, specifically to that post. With how things are shaping and people are beginning to search for answers on their own, articles like these or ’101′s will be very useful to them. A lot of what Seth Godin talks about (permission marketing) revolves around this. Great tips!
Reply
alain — February 12th, 2011, 11:22 am

Hello Tim,
Thank you for alle yours experimentations.

We can’t order Athletic green in switzerland do you have a alternative?

Thank you very much for your answer and your greet book.

Alain
Reply
Rob — March 22nd, 2011, 3:08 am

I noticed that Athletic Greens contains Vitamin D2 (Ergocalciferol) which you and many others advise against. Any comments?
Reply
Tv Serials — March 27th, 2011, 7:36 pm

i think the most catchy titles are the ones with “how to” and “top x”… i think there have been some tests done that showed that these titles got the most clicks and it’s pretty easy to understand why everybody likes to know “how to” do something or which are the top 10 x he can do or use..
Reply
Evan Rapoport — March 30th, 2011, 1:28 pm

Awesome! I’m recommending your post on my corporate blog for adventure travelers looking to expand their readership (for improving sponsorship potential, promoting causes, etc.). Even people with incredibly epic stories to tell (climbing Everest, running across deserts, rowing across oceans, etc.) cannot assume that alone will do it. In a world with way too much information, there’s just too much competing for attention to have a boring title. Thanks, Tim!
Reply
Debbie N — April 9th, 2011, 9:28 pm

One of my best reads this week! Super useful content. Thanks, Tim! Retweeting you in about 2 seconds from now….;)
Reply
Clare Munn — July 15th, 2011, 8:08 am

A wonderful post, Tim. I so agree with what you’re saying, that even the best content need to be tweaked and adjusted to suit the proper medium. Thank you for the fabulous insights.
Reply
Claudio C — August 2nd, 2011, 1:45 am

Headlines are super important! haha Judo chopped my brain. FTW.
Nice post, headlines are hints to a bigger story, if you give away to much info, then the person has made hes mind up already not to read it most likely.
Reply
Brandon M. — August 14th, 2011, 5:47 pm

I agree with you 100% Tim…writing headlines really is an art AND science. Human psychology, as diverse as it is, has a lot of the same fundamentals.

When I write headlines, I am always trying to think of what would grab my attention the most. Does it create the controversy that many people are after? Would I re-tweet this to my followers?

I “borrow’ headlines all the time. I don’t necessarily copy word-for-word, but I take the concept and make it my own. I think this is key since if there was a viral headline, you don’t want to be like everyone else, otherwise people won’t re-tweet it.

Great article and thanks for some great idea’s.
Reply
SoFla Web Designer — August 16th, 2011, 12:34 pm

Always looking for new stuff to keep my SEO posting on point. This article has given much for me to be considered. I look forward to reading your other posts.

Keep up the great work!

Tom
Reply
serialsking — October 5th, 2011, 11:34 pm

I agree with you 100% Tim…writing headlines really is an art AND science. Human psychology, as diverse as it is, has a lot of the same fundamentals.

When I write headlines, I am always trying to think of what would grab my attention the most. Does it create the controversy that many people are after? Would I re-tweet this to my followers?
Reply
All Hit serials — October 18th, 2011, 3:40 am

I agree with you 100% Tim…writing headlines really is an art AND science. Human psychology, as diverse as it is, has a lot of the same fundamentals.
Reply
onenewvoice — November 8th, 2011, 9:33 pm

I know this is totally crazy and late to the game, and maybe no one will real this. But I wanted to say thank you. I read your article today and something clicked and made sense.

So I wrote “If Your Father Is A Loser, Suck It Up! So Was Mine” You can find it by clicking on my name.

I wanted to say thank you because I never wrote anything like that because I never came up with a title like that before.

After that, I wrote down like 15 titles of articles I could write. The crazy thing is that they just came to me in a few minutes.

By the way, the article I have put here is getting views faster than any other article I have ever written.

Thank you thank you thank you!
Reply
Shaun — November 16th, 2011, 11:24 pm

Very useful Tim, I have had writers block for a couple of days. Thanks for the plug and play!
Reply
Paul Lacombe — December 3rd, 2011, 7:25 pm

I have most certainly been involved with trading stocks and for more than ten years. I am an engaged individual in todays marketplace and my favorite main method is working with Option Trading Strategies. The current market has has proven by itself perfectly to me over the past number of years. Your posting agrees with my initial thoughts on the current market and appeared to be right on track. You did an excellent job of capturing the substance of your own point and driving it home. Investors and also seasoned traders alike really need to understand trading shares is an excellent vehicle to generate income. The recent market needs to be (and deserves to be) addressed with respect. Those which exploitation it will now unquestionably pay the piper ( or in this case the market maker). Option Trading Strategies should always be believed to be a part of every single individual strategy. Thank you and keep up these terrific reports!
Reply
Jason — July 5th, 2012, 9:11 pm

I guess “the proof is in the pudding” as they say. I did a google search for “popular twitter headlines” and sure enough Tim Ferriss comes up. Great stuff! Keep it coming!
Reply
Craig Smith — July 6th, 2012, 5:37 pm

You break it down perfectly! The art, and the science. Which there is always these two aspects of pretty much everything, and you break it down flawlessly.
Reply
Walter Verrecchia — July 27th, 2012, 7:28 am

I am not real fantastic with English but I get hold this real easy to interpret .
Reply
Judi Bola — January 12th, 2013, 10:00 pm

Tim this is an excellent post. I will have to read many times to get the fine details.

I’m curious how you track Facebook click throughs. Is that through Su.pr?
Reply
Odilia Rivera-Santos — February 15th, 2013, 1:51 pm

I really like this concept of being an entrepreneur without working nonstop; it seems practical to rely on one’s expertise rather than work endless hours. Lately, I’ve given more consideration to the title of blog posts and see there’s more traction. Thanks for the ‘weird obsessions’ tip. Will do
Reply
Benny — April 3rd, 2013, 10:10 pm

Wow, so simple. Yet, I’m going about it all wrong.

Thanks Tim!
Reply
Anton Volney — May 7th, 2013, 3:16 am

Here are a couple headlines that worked really well for me. I use them as canned templates for all sorts of stuff now:

“An Online Dating GOLDMINE.”
- used in the online dating niche, something about the word GOLDMINE really compels people. It got a 3x response.

“A Copywriter Punched Me In The Face!”
- I’ve used this for my copywriting business…following up with a punchline. I say on the next line, “with his words of course ” This one is very alarming. It’s sensational. You can switch out “Copywriter” for anything else.

Here’s one that I used as a Flyer that I personally loved:

SLAVERY IN PETERBOROUGH?

—This was for a Capoeira class in my home town peterborough. In the ad, I told the heroic story about how this martial art was developed by slaves. I never got hard numbers on this one’s performance as it was a flyer…but the buzz around town told me what I wanted to know

Cheers
Reply