Controversial Titles For Getting Attention

Hi SM4B2B members,

I thought the 2/25 session on blogging was a good one. Thanks Loyan.

I've incorporated a number of the ideas discussed at that meeting in my most recent post.

1- Use of a controversial title:

“Light Rail Is A Dinosaur, It’s Completely Useless.”

2- Interview with a leading expert to gain credibility for my blog.

3- Use of video (my first HD video post) to make posts more interesting.

Please let me know if you think it's an effective post. Or is it a cheat to use a firey quote to get attention.

Thanks!

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jerry W. Saveriano on March 1, 2010 at 11:53am

Good point Bill,

I think to be an effective the post title, it has to be true - not just shocking for shock effect. And it shouldn't be personal. It's risky when it looks like an attack on a person or company. A 'You suck..." lead is going to be difficult in overcoming to win the reader over to your point of view.

In this case, the title is an actual quote from the subject of the interview. So I shouldn't take much heat for the hackles that are surely to be raised - being just the messenger and all.

I think your piece on tag lines is a good one. You could cool it a bit by saying: "Why Most Tag Lines Suck." Taking the reader out of the line of fire.

I'm a big believer in company tag lines telling the company's story from the customer's perspective.

My all time favorite is the old Burger King: "Your Way - Right Away."

I'm pretty fond of Sanda's "Storytellers for the Information Age" too.

Permalink Reply by Loyan Roylance on March 1, 2010 at 3:32pm

Bill, if the title of that blog post is preventing you from sharing it proudly...I don't see too much harm in changing the title. Google isn't going to black-list you or anything crazy like that.

This blog post title I used recently may make you feel better (wink).

Permalink Reply by John Norris on March 1, 2010 at 8:28pm

On a tangentially related note, I did two blog posts in a day, and they are forever linked together via the same URL. One was controversial, the other not...so guess which one I end up recommending to folks.

"You might skip the 1st part, it's the second bit that you might be interested in."

Just in case you are not making enough mistakes, please feel free to learn from mine. I've got plenty to share.

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