Hate writing headlines? Steal one. Lots of copywriters do

When you have to write a headline for an article or blog post, and your mind goes blank, don’t always start from scratch.

Do what I and thousands of other writers do. Steal someone else’s headline, remove a word here, add a word there, and make it your own.

One of the best places to find great headlines is on the cover of Cosmopolitan magazine. You don’t even have to buy the magazine. Just scan all these images of Cosmo covers. If the headlines are too risque for your topic, choose your favorite consumer magazine. 

Example of  a Cosmo headline:

Weird Things Guys Do When You’re Not Around

An expert in home security might steal that headline and change it to:

Sneaky Things Housekeepers Do When You’re Not Around

A consumer advocate might write:

Scary Things Your Supermarket Does When You’re Not Around

You get the idea.

That Cosmo headline is one of several hundred “formula headlines” that many editors and copywriters use. The pros even steal headlines from each other’s publications. You can too, as long as you change a word or two in the one you found and you’re not violating copyright. If in doubt about copyright law, don’t steal it. 

That little trick is one of many I’ll be sharing when I host the webinar “Headline Tips, Tricks, Tools and Templates That Make Readers Click” at noon Eastern Time on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2013. If the time is bad for you, register anyway because I’m recording it and you’ll get the video replay and all the bonuses.

Register here.

I’ve discovered  some amazing tools that will make your job so easy, they’ll practically write the headlines for you. Wait! One tool I discovered does, indeed, write your headline for you. Not only one headline, but several so you can choose from the best one. This is a lifesaver when you’re up against a deadline or you need to send an email promotion and you need a compelling subject line that will make people open your message .

See you Saturday. And remember, the best blog post, article or email is useless if no one reads it. What makes them read it? The headline.