Need Killer Headlines for Your Press Release?

Need a killer headline for your next Press Release?  Do your homework!  See what the pros (and non-pros) are using for their headlines, and tweak them for your own needs.  You can find examples of the most current press releases available online at PRWeb.com.

Some examples:

• "National Survey by Chi Herbal Finds 90% of Endurance Athletes Will Injure Themselves This Year" -- the media loves survey results and statistics
• Laugh Doctor Celebrates National Humor and National Stress Awareness Month This April -- cute moniker combined with current holidays
• Virtual Trespassing - A New Trend in Web Surfing -- the media is always watching for trends, and the term "virtual trespassing" piques interest (what's THAT mean??)
• Gastric Bypass Just One Piece of Weight Loss Puzzle -- piques interest (what are the other pieces of the puzzle?)
• Motorcyclists Find Peace of Mind in Their Hip Pocket -- how can you find peace of mind in your pocket?  Makes you want to read on to find out
• How to Get the Most from Walt Disney World’s $1,500 Family Vacation -- How-To's are always good, as are specific dollar amounts (and I know I'd love to know how to coordinate a family vacation at WDW for that amount!)
• Working Mom Launches Used Wedding Dress Website to Stay at Home With Kids -- you just KNOW there's a good story behind this; the media loves a good backstory

Another place to look for headlines is the covers of our beloved scrapbooking magazines!  They're written by professional writers, and already targeted to the audience we're trying to reach!

• 195 Great Ideas for Fall
• Hot Internet Finds
• 35 Easy-to-Do Techniques
• 7 Amazing Pop-Up Projects -- Fully Illustrated!  Every Step Explained!
• Fiendishly Fresh Tricks for Halloween
• How to Get That Lovingly Worn-in Look
• Heritage Photos: Unlocking Their Hidden Stories
• This is Card Making Made Easy

Do you notice the buzzwords?  Hot, Easy, Fresh...  Work those into your copy, and you're halfway to reaching your audience.

Check out other magazines for cover headlines, like Cosmo, People, even the Star (you know you read the headlines in the grocery store checkout line, anyway...)  Take note of which headlines pull you in and make you want to read more -- those are the ones you want to file away for later.

Copywriters call this creating a "swipe file" -- find examples of effective headlines, sub-headlines, persuasive ad copy, etc, etc, and keep a file of them.  Next time you need to write promotional copy for your business, pull out your file and "swipe" some inspiration from the examples you've compiled.