RobKinney.com

Imagine for a second…

The most important part of your blog post.

Rob

　　The title is the most important part of anything you write. It has been well known that a headline must be strong and be able to capture your reader’s attention. Your blog post title is a headline. While creating an attention grabbing headline is important, that is not what this post is about. This post is about creating relevant titles.
　　
　　To share a story with you, the other day I was sitting in a meeting and someone was giving a presentation entitled, “Creating positive employee relations” Now since this was for my nine to five job, the title interested me and I was looking forward to hearing what the presenter would share.
　　
　　After being drug through this presentation and forcing myself to stay awake, as it mercifully ended, my co-worker leaned over and said to me, “That is NOT what I thought this was about.” Needless to say, I agreed and we were both sadly disappointed.
　　
　　The information the presenter passed along was interesting and informative however, we felt like we were misled or duped. This caused us to think less of the presentation and the information he provided.
　　
　　You create this same situation if your blog titles are misleading. If I were to begin this blog post with the headline, “FREE! FREE! FREE!” It may capture your attention and you may begin reading it to see what you could get for free but, as you continued to read, you would realize that I wasn’t giving anything away for free. You may scroll to the bottom of the post just to be sure, but then you’d leave frustrated thinking it was all a scam. The title wouldn’t have reflected the actual content.
　　
　　You can still create an attention grabbing headline that does not mislead your reader and yet doesn’t give away all of the information in your post. This is the balancing act that you have to manage in creating a title. There are many good books and sources out there which can help you to create great titles.
　　
　　One of the things I did early on was to create a swipe file. Which is nothing more than a file of examples. I took a look at magazines and saw how they crafted the titles of their articles. Then I removed the specifics and created a fill in the blank form. For example, “ How to _____ so you can ______.”
　　
　　You can then use these fill in the blanks to write your titles. You can even do the same for sales pages and opt in forms. However, I would still suggest picking p a book or two on how to craft good headlines. But always keep in mind that your headline or title should be relevant to your topic.
　　
　　If your headline or title is misleading then that is exactly how your reader will feel, misled. If they leave feeling like that, it will be that much harder to get them to come back
　　
　　

So how do you keep your titles relevant?

Giving Back

Rob

　　Throughout life and especially in the online world, people are always looking for the next big thing. They are looking for the “Golden Ticket” that will create success for them or rather, bestow them with success and fame and fortune.
　　
　　But the truth of the matter is, that there is no “Golden Ticket”. Most things that others tend to look at as a quick fix has become so overused that it is viewed as spam. Using those tactics will only result in people rejecting your product as garbage and giving you a bad name.
　　
　　There are ways around this, so you can provide a quality product and be seen as a reputable business person. The key is to NOT think about yourself or what is in it for you but instead, to think of others and what you can do for them.
　　
　　You are a servant to the people who visit your site. Your job is to serve them. When you do this, you are providing for them and giving to them. They will become a customer because you are providing for them.
　　
　　There are a few questions that you can ask which will build a different outlook on things that will help you to give to others, which will in turn grow your business. By asking these questions, you are turning the focus away from yourself and what is in it for you and putting that focus on your customers.
　　
　　The focus is no longer, “What’s in it for me?” Instead, the focus is, “What can I do to help people?” By helping others, they will come to you because you are providing what they need. As they come, you will receive what you are looking for.
　　
　　If you were to only ask them to give to you, without providing anything, they will reject you because they are seeking help and not looking to give help. You would have the process backwards.
　　
　　Instead, if you ask the question, “What can I do to give back?” You will be looking at what you can provide to others. By providing that which other people need, you are creating value. When you create value, people are willing to pay you for that value.
　　
　　To build value, there are a couple of other questions you can ask. “What can I do to better this situation (for others)?” and “How can I be the solution?” When you ask these questions, again, the focus is off of you and on your customer. But you are looking at the question through their eyes and how can you make things better for them.
　　
　　You are adding value to their needs. You are looking to provide for them and to give back to them. If you can provide the solution they need and make their situation better for them, then you will have a loyal follower.
　　
　　Once you have them as a loyal follower, as long as you nurture that relationship, you will not lose them as a follower. That is all because you decided to give back and to be a servant to others.
　　
　　

How do you serve others or give back?