Man Accidentally Impregnates Goat

Now, of course this post is not going to be about the actual story, but the story of the headline.

This is a headline I read quite a few years back in a trade magazine. The headline certainly caught my attention, and is one that made me read the article. However it was less interesting than it sounds. The “Man” in the headline was a veterinarian going about his daily business, and the goat should have been a sheep.

So the headline could have been “Vet Accidentally Impregnates Wrong Animal”. But that wouldn’t have been as exciting of course, and I would probably not have read it. Then again, for some reason I was reading a vet’s trade magazine, the reason for which I can’t remember.

Chris Garrett has a new free eBook (NO opt-in required) called How to Create Headlines that Go Viral with Social Media that talks about creating compelling headlines, the key 5 types of headline, pressing emotional hot buttons, and essentially headlines that work.

It’s free, no opt-in required, and only 10 pages long so a quick essential read. It also links to another document with over a hundred sample headlines that work.