You may not be able to judge a book by the cover, but people will always judge a book by its title. A Consumer Reports study says that we are exposed to 247 ads a day, but that seems low to most of us! If you want people to read your book, the choice of a title is one of the most important decisions you can make. Below are three tips that will get your title noticed:
1. Benefit, benefit, benefit. Why should I pick up your book? What is the benefit? Your title should convey the benefit that your book will bring the reader clearly and succinctly. If it is impossible to convey this in the title, make sure that is spelled out in the subtitle.
2. Be specific. Once you nail down the benefit of reading your book, spell it out as plainly as possible in concrete terms. For instance, if I wrote a book on how to sell books I could title it:Sell Your Book: Marketing for Success. To make it more effective, turn general statements into tangible, specific benefits: Sell Your Book: 38 Proven Ways to Boost Your Book Sales by 350% or More!
3. Test Your Titles. Never fall in love with just one title. Try to come up with at least 3 different titles, and then test them to see what works better. This can be as simple as asking your friends what they like better, but you will almost always receive more direct answers from strangers. You can use the restaurant strategy and talk to people about the titles and see what works best. Even a small sample size can go a long way here. For more extensive feedback, use SurveyMonkey to create a free, online survey or use Google Adwords to test multiple titles.
For additional information on headlines, see CA$HVERTISING. For more information on how to use Google Adwords for testing, see The Four-Hour Workweek. Contact us for more information.
