Human minds are wired for crappy headlines like the one used in the title. As well as the variations like these:

• “7 ways to XYZ”
• “13 XYZ Mythds debunked”
• “How To Double Your XYZ”

While these headlines sound promising, most of the articles that are behind them, are not delivering. Yet people still click on them, why?

My article doesn’t have the promised structure, sorry. It was a lie, to attract your attention, and prove it that we think this way.

I believe these things are governed by the way we are wired, and I am quite certain some psychologist out there could easily explain us why this is happening. But as a content creator, I am compelled to abuse this pattern for my own gain, yet in a sense it is stripping away value from my work, and robs me of my time, as it puts me in a certain pattern of content creation.

How to find a balance?

Writing a good headline is though, there are millions of copy pasted headlines that are competing with you for attention. And in such a competitive environment, you need to promise great content, and over-deliver. And boy it’s though. Especially if you are writing on the serious topic of productivity.

As any sane person, I gave up on competing for the attention of the people who are not interested in the field. It’s simply impossible to attract a person who doesn’t care about his goals, and optimizing his life to achieve them. So I went and did what everybody else does. Went to a market where people are already talking about it, only to find that similar headline structure is frequent there as well.

Now my mind is racing to find a solution that will satisfy my desire to produce something original and helpful, and connecting it to the need of the skimming mind, that desires the instant gratification. After all, I am in content creation business. The magic of crafting great headlines is my challenge.

Back at you

Are you a fellow blogger, or content marketer? Are you fighting tooth and nail for the attention of the readers? What are your tactics to approaching the digital market and winning the attention?