24 highly effective headlines

I found this excellent advice on LinkedIn and thought it worth passing on. Hope you agree. You can use all these headlines in many different contexts - just alter to fit.

The first one is an absolute classic; the original version (dating from the very early 20th Century) was "They all laughed when I sat down at the piano. But when I started to play...".

You could also use a version of another favourite, "Do you make these mistakes in English?" - the embarrassing problem headline.

Anyway, here's the article - enjoy!

Author: Zeke Camusio of TheOutsourcingCompany

"From my own swipe file:

Underdog
They Laughed When I Told Them I Was Going to Be a Professional Weightlifter. Nobody Is Laughing Now.

Who Else?
Who Else Wants to Quit their Jobs, Spend More Time with Their Families and Make $87,000 per Year Working 2 Hours a Day from Home?

Are You Ready?
Are You Ready to Discover the Secret Marketing Formula that a Handful of Dentists in the UK Are Using to Get Thousands of Dollars a Month (Without Any Extra Work)?

How I Did It
How I Went From a Complete Rookie to Ski World Champion in Only 3 Years and How YOU Can Do the Same

How To
How to Lose 2 Pounds per Week for 8 Weeks Eating Ice-Cream

Niche Headline
For Busy Doctors Who Want to Cut Back Work Hours (But Don’t Want to Earn Less Money!)

If You Are…, You Can…
If You Are a Doctor Who Makes More than $100,000 per Year, You Can Pay 42% Less in Taxes!

Secrets
Successful Serial Entrepreneur Reveals the 6 Secrets that Helped Her Make Millions Selling Informational Products

Warning
Warning! If You Mess This One Thing Up in Your Mortgage Application, Your Banker Can Take Your Home!

Give Me… and I’ll Show You…
Give me 90 Seconds And I’ll Show You How You Can Have a Flat Tummy in 3 Weeks

Ways
5 Ways to Make More Money With Your Existing Website Without Getting More Traffic. Guaranteed!

Celebrity
What Would Brad Pitt Say if He Saw You Wearing This Dress?

Illegal
A Money-Making System So Easy that Should Be Illegal

Direct Statement
Get 1.25% Cash Back on All Your Purchases!

Question
Are You Sick of Your “Love Handles”? Don’t You Wish They Would Just Go Away? What If I Told You that You Can Make them Disappear with 2 Simple Exercises that Won’t Take You More than 6 Minutes per Day?

Testimonial
Microsoft Has Increased their Online Sales 142% in 2008 Using Our MarketPack. You Can Do the Same. Discover How!

Command
This Is Your Chance to Lower Your Long-Distance Call Costs. Take It!

Guarantee
Natural Cream Guaranteed to Completely Eliminate Your Acne in 13 Days –or 110% Money Back and You Keep the Product!

Problem/Solution
What Would Happen if Your Computer Crashed Right Now? How Much Valuable Data Would You Lose? Here’s How You Can Make Sure This NEVER Happens to You

Discount
5 DVDs. 5 Bucks. No Commitments. No Strings Attached. Act NOW!

Reasons
9 Reasons Why You Need to Stop Complaining About the Economy and Do Something About Your Business Right Now

Story
How a Single Mom with Two Kids Managed to Get Out of Debt and Save $20,000 in 11 Months without Working Extra Hours

News
Doctors Astounded by New Miracle Pill that Increases Chances of Getting Pregnant by 211%

Not This… But This…
No “Get Rich Fast” Scams. No MLM Lies. No “Build It and They’ll Come” BS. Just Down-to-Earth Tips for the Smart Business Owner.

And remember: you can combine two or more of these tactics into one headline!"