So , how do you stop a train with your bare hands ?

No . I'm not going to teach you how to stop a train with your bare hands . But that would be pretty cool , wouldn't it ? Maybe in a future post after I have been through a terrible science lab accident that left me with a bunch load of superpowers .

This post is related to Copyblogger's latest article by James Chartrand called 'The single most important thing your headline must do' . And they tell us what our headlines should do and that is : to promise something in return .

The article deals with a successful headline that promises to offer something weird , maybe funny or even emotional - “How a cashier stopped a train with her bare hands.” - as oppose to other headlines that simply deliver facts without promising anything in return - "Plane passengers survive shaky landing." .

So how do you make sure your headline stands out of the crowd ?

image by murat karakas

The key is to ensure your potential reader that when he has finished reading your article he will have learned something new , useful ... or maybe he will have had some fun ... or maybe ... well , you get the point .

"Hook readers with a promise and then seal the deal with your content ."

Fair enough . But we don't all have the skill or the experience to write a catchy headline just like that - poof - I have my headline . Some of us need some guidance . Some pointers , a couple of tips ...

Let's take that example :

"How a cashier stopped a train with her bare hands ."

The story is , obviously , about a cashier . A cashier that does something extraordinary . Stopping a train is not an easy task , unless you're the mechanic , but stopping a train with your bare hands ? And all this while being just your average Joe - a common cashier ? Now that is something amazing .

There is no story you could extract from the headline . You know that the headline must have a catch . I mean , there is no way that could happen ... so there must be some underlying story that goes with it . And this is were you get hooked . You get curious about how that phrase relates to something real , to a real story ? And you click .

A good headline needs a good story . You cannot have a good headline without a story that allows that headline . Think outside the box when it comes to writing your headline but don't overdo it .

Write a headline that gets people wondering : 'What could he mean by that ?' . Better yet ... when it comes to blogging ... you could even write headlines that have nothing to do with the content of your article . Write epic headlines promising amazing battle's with dragons and fairies . And deliver . Not the battle but the excitement , the reward . Headlines are a tricky thing . Make sure your article delivers what the headline promises .

People that visit your blog already have a general idea on what you are blogging about . So they suspect that the article with the weird title must be something related to your blog's topic . But what could it be ?