My blog articles are exploding because of this. And I’m going to let you steal it for free.
Making FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out)-inducing titles is an art form that I’ve mastered. And it’s significantly increasing engagement and views on my blog articles.
Would you like to learn it too?
Great! Here’s my step-by-step blueprint to creating titles that make readers click and read your content because of…
Fearing they might miss out on something great.
The first thing I like to do is think about who I’m talking to. I often don’t directly call out that person, but I steer the headline towards them.
But you can also directly address your reader in the headline. And it works great, especially on sales pages. In the case of this article’s headline, I addressed you, a blog reader.
Stop poking me where it hurts.
Next, I dig into the hell my reader is in. I talk about that more in this article:
How To Influence Your Friends in 7 Easy Steps
Unlock the secrets to winning friends and boosting your income
The number 1 thing you can do is understand the pain points and problems your audience faces that your article can solve.
And if you don’t want to go negative with pain, then you need to know what your audience hopes and dreams about.
Everything we do is either towards pleasure or away from pain…
Your title must tell the reader what pleasure or pain you have for them.
And then you have to let them know why they must get it from you.
I made this article stand out from all the other headline and title articles out there by adding the fact that my whole blog exploded when I learned about writing headlines this way.
This means that I know something that everyone else does not. It gives the feeling that if you don’t want to miss out on how to write a great title then you should read this article.
And my whole account did explode when I wrote my best story title ever, right here:
From Zero to Hero: My Real-Life Blueprint for Earning $5k Monthly on Medium
Unveiling the Struggles, Strategies, and Insider Secrets Behind My Success Story on Medium
And use those power words and emotional triggers!
Of course, there are the classic power words like:
- Secret
- Instant
- Exclusive
- Discover
- Unveil
- Unlock
I ticked a couple more boxes on the FOMO story checklist with that above article… and it got me in some hot water.
Because when you create an emotional connection it can make people angry or eager to read. Don’t concern yourself with which one.
Your job is simply to get them to open the article.
The force of FOMO is strong with this one.
State the benefit in a present tense, active voice.
We talked about the heaven and hell thing above but I also want you to make your story title in an active voice.
I told you above that my subtitle was, “My whole Medium account exploded when I learned this.”
But after I remembered my advice I changed it to this:
My Medium account is exploding because of this.
It’s a little more powerful, no?
And of course, a FOMO title has to have urgency.
A lot of my title ideas are implied. I don’t directly say, “Don’t Miss,” “Last Chance,” or “Hurry” in this article. But you still feel the FOMO because you feel that my account explosion is happening right now.
Present tense and urgency are superchargers on a title.
Those two things imply an immediate benefit.
And an immediate benefit is a huge thing to a reader.
Caution: If you don’t deliver on your promise, you’ll get one read. If you deliver on your promise, you’ll get a fan.
The obvious bits of title-making.
You can and should test your articles if you’re into that. I don’t tweak a blog title unless it gets low views.
If I get low reads, I make the article better. It means my title did it’s job but my article content didn’t. It means I disappointed the reader and they bailed.
And of course, titles with numbers work amazing, but I don’t use them much. Numbers make me feel like I have to write in blocks of 3,5,7 and so on.
It forces my writing style. And I’m a freedom junkie. Aren’t you too?
So although effective, I seldom use numbers because of preference.
Keep it simple but keep practicing.
You’ll never go wrong with a simple “How to” article like this:
Before: “How to Improve Your Writing Skills”
After more practice: “Unlock the Secret: 5 Proven Writing Techniques You Can’t Afford to Miss”
You can see the changes and feel the different energy between those two titles.
The 70/30 science and art of magnetic headlines.
It’s about creating a promise, sparking curiosity, and tapping into the reader’s deepest interests and emotions.
It took me many years to realize that good titles were the gatekeepers to earning more with my writing.
I spent countless nights tweaking words and measuring their impact until I decided to get serious.
I bought courses and books from the best copywriters in the world and spent 20 hours studying nothing but headlines and titles.
And I finally discovered my formula that consistently works.
So I’ve been there, staring at a blank screen, wondering why my content wasn’t getting the attention it deserved. The turning was seeing where my writing was suffering and turning my weak titles into my secret weapon.
My framework for viral article success with banger titles.
- Make them curious and make them wonder.
- Promise value and show what’s in it for them.
- Make an emotional connection and tap into their feelings.
- But when all else fails, clarity is the master ingredient above all else. Make sure the headline matches the content.
Try these tips and skyrocket your results like I did.
Once I figured out headlines and titles, I watched my Medium income take off.
And you can replicate this success on the writing pieces that don’t die on the cross of engagement… or lack thereof. In things like emails, sales pages, ads, etc…
Which I show you every week in my Secret Sauce Club. You can get all my money-magnet title ideas and more about predictable passive income for writers, right here: https://raymondburton.com/Secret-Sauce
P.S. I share all my insider strategies, personal anecdotes, and the secret ingredients to my success, including how I navigate the ups and downs of content creation both on Medium and off.