I woke up at 6:37 am, and instantly knew I’d made a mistake.
I had an appointment booked in for 6:30am with a big client in the USA, but the previous day was a nightmare…
And didn’t set my alarm for the next day.
I instantly knew I’d bungled it, and ended up losing the client as a result.
It may have only been just over 10 minutes, but it was a big mistake which potentially cost me tens of thousands of dollars… because I lost their trust.
A stitch in time saves nine, right?
These days I have a closing off process where I note my meetings for the next day, and set my alarm for 10 minutes before them to ensure this never happens again.
How about your clients?
What costly mistakes do they make?
If you know what your prospects are doing is a mistake, the “oncoming disaster” headline hack can be powerful — because it taps into the emotion of regret.
For example, recently I saw this headline:
Will the prescription you’re taking right now be the next great drug disaster?
It makes you think, doesn’t it?
Or at least want to read the next line to see what they’re talking about…and perhaps what this prescription could be?
Or if media propaganda is protecting it?
Or if it has long term side effects, like Vioxx?
The same concept could be applied to virtually any business.
For instance, if you were selling shoes…
Could the Football Shoes You’re Training in Ruin Your Career?
Or tyres…
Could the Tyres Your Car Has Right Now Cause an Accident?
Or shampoo…
Is the Shampoo You’re Using Toxic?
How could you apply this to your business?
P.S. If you enjoyed this headline hack…
There’s 100 more in my 101 Headline Hacks report, which is based on real experience from writing over 9,127 subject lines for emails – and seeing split-test results over a period of over 14 years.