38 Great Ideas for Your Next Headline

The best way to get ideas for headlines when you are stuck is to keep a swipe file of successful headlines, and consult it for inspiration when you sit down to write a new ad or mailing.

As a shortcut, here’s a partial collection of such headlines from my vast swipe file, organized by category so as to make clear the approach being used:

1. Ask a question in the headline.“What Do Japanese Managers Have That American Managers Sometimes Lack?”
2. Tie-in to current events.“Stay One Step Ahead of the Stock Market Just Like Martha Stewart – But Without Her Legal Liability!”
3. Create a new terminology.“New ‘Polarized Oil’ Magnetically Adheres to Wear Parts in Machine Tools, Making Them Last Up to 6 Times Longer.”