The Humble Little Handbook for Writing Highly Effective Headlines 📔

Get my 77 top tools, lessons, and learnings to help you write better direct response headlines, kill imposter syndrome, and earn more money.

“You want to put … WHAT … in the headline, David?”

The CEO of the multi-million dollar company called me out, point blank, in a meeting with 15 of my coworkers.

“Um … a … a poop 💩 emoji, sir,” I responded feebly, bracing for the backlash. 

His response was cold and flat. “I don’t like it. Seems really weird,” he told me.

Against my better judgment, I fought back.

“Look, I know. I know it’s weird. But hear me out. I don’t think anyone in our niche can touch this headline with a 10-foot pole. It’s risky, and I get that, but that’s why I think it’s going to work. I believe in this idea and I’ve seen it work before. Just let me just try it out and if the data says no, we’ll can it,” I told him.

At this point, the internal safety voice in my head was screaming. I was essentially telling the CEO of a million-dollar company that I believed I was right, and that they were wrong.

But while I may have feared for a firing, I knew I was on to something.

I knew the headline had massive potential …

In fact, years of writing headline “rules” to use for myself had taught me that this specific idea could be perfect for this audience.

I just … “sensed” it.

But being able to sense the way your audience might respond to a headline is not an easy skill to acquire.

Through tireless effort, however, I’ve developed a system that has helped me do just that.

I call it The Humble Little Handbook for Writing Highly Effective Headlines, and it’s my attempt to catalog every piece of headline writing wisdom I’ve gained (often through brutal failure and embarrassment) for myself.

If you’ve ever heard of The Enchiridion by Epictetus — a “manual” that covers the most important ideals of Stoic philosophy — well, it’s kind of like that.

… Except for direct response headlines. Duh.

Handbook, as I call it, contains 77 tools, lessons, and learnings to help you understand and write better direct response headlines … defeat imposter syndrome … earn more money, and, most importantly, be looked at as not just a copywriter … but a  copy strategist.

In fact, the tools contained inside Handbook are the exact tools I credit with the success of my career.

Because when you have a proven, repeatable system for doing something of value for a business, they’re much more likely to hire you … while paying far better rates than “run of the mill” writers.

And yes, it also contains the wisdom surrounding the exact story I tell above, which you can find in tools #4, #25, and #71.

Turns out my choice to talk about poop in a headline paid off, and the headline ran as a primary control for the company for a long, long time.

This is the power of Handbook.

I spent years developing and testing the tools inside it for myself because I wanted a reliable “guidebook” to use, on repeat, as a senior direct response copywriter.

The strategies in the guide have been tested against millions of impressions on dozens of channels and placements.

Even better, the very tools inside Handbook are the tools I credit with receiving a 29% raise in just one year.

But enough about the back story. If you want buy Handbook, it’ll cost you a cool $25 … for now.

Eventually, that price will rise closer to $100. But since I’ve just launched the product, I’m waiting to get a few testimonials.

Once that happens … game’s over and price rises.

Here’s what you’ll find inside 👇

• You’ve been berated with the concept that headlines are the most important thing in advertising. In tool #1, I shatter this idea … and offer an alternative view far more powerful than you may have considered. This single tool is the bedrock of the course, and was a paradigm shift that propelled my career, culminating in a 29% raise to my salary in 2022.

• An alphabet-length list of 26 general formats (and yet still a non-exhaustive list) that tend to work well for headlines. As a general rule, many of these overlap … and they can also be combined, depending on the situations. Tool #26.

• When to use “fill-in-the-blank” headlines … and more importantly, when to STOP using them. You can find blog posts for these templates everywhere, but if you’ve ever used them, you’ve probably realized that they don’t always work. Tool #28 reveals why … and what to do about it. 

• My mega list of powerful psychological trigger points that people tend to respond to best in headlines. An invaluable rule that you will likely use for years to come. Tool #5. 

• How to build what I call a “Headline Ecosystem.” This is my easy-peasy method for finding winning headlines and scaling them fast — especially with paid media — often tapping into new audiences by barely changing even a single word. Tool #30. 

• In the modern era of digital advertising, readers are more skeptical than EVER before. But follow what I lay out for you in tools #18, #19, and #70, and you’ll be able to convince almost anyone to click, buy, sign up, or download what you’re promoting.

• 7 dead-simple places anyone can go to on a near-daily basis to find the perfect inspiration for headlines. Tool #34. 

• The exact order in which you should think about combining the three major elements of your headline. Follow this rule, and your headline writing will be as easy as apple pie … and just as delicious, too! But …. do these three things out of order, and your pie will be rotten before you ever take a bite. Starts with tool #31. 

• How to develop a “sixth sense” for writing — and magnetically attracting — highly-effective direct response headlines. Tools #4, #73. 

• What is headline “espionage,” and is it okay? I say yes. Here’s how to do it, ethically. Tool #37.

• How to defeat imposter syndrome and produce headlines that your clients or manager will almost always love. Tool #74.

• A fun headline “game” you can play that will not only make you a better writer … but that can also make your headlines more versatile for the character counts required by different clients and ad platforms. 

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