The Psychology Of Blog Post Titles: How Being Mean Gets Readers

The psychology of blog post titles: how being mean gets you readers

Do you want more visitors and subscribers to your blog? Of course you do – we all do. How can you get them? You’ve probably searched all over the internet, and I’ll bet you’ve found lots of articles.

Which ones did you click on?

I’ll bet you found three kinds of posts:
1. The negative-biased post
2. The survivor-biased post (or reverse-engineered success post)
3. The clickbait post

All of these draw on basic principles, which I call the psychology of blog post titles. What do I mean?

The Negative Post

Negative bias is real.

Bizarrely, it’s been proven that people are more likely to click on your headline if it contains negative superlatives like ‘never’ or ‘worst’ rather than positive ones like ‘always’ or ‘best’.

Even stranger, people respond to being manipulated by fear.

If you scare them witless and then promise them the solution to their problem in your post, then they’ll be compelled to click through to discover what to do.

I’ve seen this manifested in posts called something like, “x reasons why your blog sucks, and how to fix it.” So after the reader is insulted and a little hurt, she starts to think, “actually, my blog does suck… everyone else’s blog is better than mine… everybody else knows it… I need to fix this or I will fail.”

We’re all a little insecure, so having someone point out our fears and insecurities is going to grab our attention, and offering a quick fix is going to reel us in.

It reminds me of negging, where someone (someone sleazy) makes an insulting remark to another person in order to undermine that person’s confidence and make themselves seem more desirable.

If putting people down to build yourself up is your thing, then off you go. On the other hand, you can use the principle behind this negative bias more gently, and present a known problem along with a clever solution.

The survivor-biased post

Survivor bias is seen when conclusions are drawn using only the experience or opinions of people who have succeeded.

For example, you may see a headline that says, ‘how to make $3,000 in your first month of blogging’, and excitedly click through to read how you can do this, only to find that the article is about how the writer made $3000 in her first month of blogging because everyone in her apartment block used her Bluehost affiliate link to start their own blogs.

The only thing you get from the article is that to do what she did, you need to be her.

But you can’t be her. You’re you.

You can learn from successful people, but working backwards from their end points and plotting your own way to success is not feasible. You cannot reverse-engineer success.

What about all of the lessons you can learn from the people who got things wrong? People who may be dealing with the same issues as you are, but gave up? With negative bias, we are drawn to finding out what not to do, but with survivor bias, we are only presented with what someone did. The other side of the story stays silent… because there’s no-one telling that story.

Don’t mislead your readers by dressing up a “how I” post as a “how to” post. If you’re going to write a “how I” post, be clear on the steps that anyone can take to come to a similar result, or the factors that gave you an extraordinary advantage.

The Clickbait Post

We all know about the clickbait headline – how about this one: “She had no visitors or subscribers, until she tried this one trick!”

It’s hyped, and it offers conflict along with the prospect of easy (one trick) resolution. The thing is, when you’re reading it, you know it’s clickbait. Clickbait draws on emotion, outrage and curiosity, and it’s so powerful that even though you know it’s probably going to be dreadful, you end up clicking anyway.

Ask yourself if you want to trade clicks for self-respect. Maybe you do, I dunno.

It’s clickbait! Pure clickbait!

What kind of headline should you use?

Let’s face it – we want clicks, and we want results. Still, there has to be space for ethics in the world of online publishing. Leave the dirty tricks aside and use aspects of these headline tricks in a responsible way, and you’re more likely to win the respect of your readers.

Manipulating psychological biases doesn’t need to be sleazy…

After looking at the psychology of blog post titles and more, do you think that we’re able to create catchy headlines without straying into irresponsible manipulation? What do you think about these title tricks?

Is It Printmaking or Drawing? Art Between Boundaries

Is it printmaking or drawing?

And does it matter? I’ve made a number of text-based paintings, which I like to describe as the result of thinking about trying not to think too hard. Not thinking too hard is nearly impossible for me, so as an exercise these works were fantastic!

A loose process, tightly managed

There’s an element of relaxation in the process of abandoning total control of the paint and letting it do its thing, but even this is not really complete; the process is managed throughout. I’m not one for completely gestural work and to go in for that entirely would feel false to myself.

Exotic. Handwriting print by Lee Devonish, 2014 — Exotic. Watercolour on paper, 2014

There are a limited number of prints, each one unique in its own way.

The process of drawing becoming printing

I think of these pictures as prints, although they are simultaneously drawings and paintings. Although they do not fit the mould of traditional printmaking, the work is approached as an edition, produced at the same time, and created by repetition of a specific process.

My handwriting is my specific graphic fingerprint, which is the same, yet different each time. This is repeated in the paint, the colours of which are the same each time, yet different, as the process of interaction varies across the surface.

Text in art and its associations

Of course, these are redolent of associations with Jenny Holzer, John Baldessari and Tracy Emin; for me, I like to think that they are the graphic link between the conceptually privileged thought/word and the thing/image.

Exotic?

The concept used in this example is something that I’ve batted around for years, and I know to be something that occurs to all people like me – people who have moved around the world and viewed it from new angles. The idea relies on the received notion of perspective, which should make it immaterial… but the word is a much heavier one than it should be.

It links to the idea of the words ‘immigrant’ and ‘expat’, and how we choose to assign these to people from different backgrounds.

How to buy:

Original prints are also available in my Etsy store.

‘Exotic’ is also available as part of my dissemination range from Zippi, where it is available as a print on a selection of items.

Why You Probably Shouldn’t Start A Blog

Why you probably shouldn’t start a blog

You’ve been clicking around the internet, looking at how you can start your own blog, but now you want to know if there are any reasons why you shouldn’t start a blog.

Hello!
There are so many reasons why you shouldn’t start a blog – where should I start? As with any venture, there are pros and cons, but too often the drawbacks are glossed over by the most vocal proponents. So here are three reasons why you might find that blogging isn’t for you.

Now, let me stress that I’m talking about a commercial, for-profit blog – not a personal blog that’s meant only for fun, friends or family.

Reason 1 – You already have a life.

If you’re like most people, you already have a life. You’ve got some kind of social life, some kind of family life, and likely some kind of job.

Blogging can quickly turn into a full-time job, trust me. If you want to do everything properly to give yourself the best possible chance of building a successful blog, you’ll end up doing a lot of work.

Wait – scratch that – blogging is actually more like five full-time jobs.

There’s writing, taking photographs, creating graphics, posting on social media and sorting the technical aspects of web hosting including search engine optimisation. Then you’ll have to do the admin – negotiating with clients and sorting payments.

If you’re not doing these yourself, you’ll probably end up paying someone else to do them somehow.

You’ll end up squeezing all your blog jobs into that busy life, and probably squeezing something out of it. If you don’t want to stay up late/get up early/put your life on hold to pursue a full-time career that you were promised you could do in your sleep, well, think carefully about it.

You know, you probably shouldn’t start a blog if you’re not prepared to view it as a real job.

Reason 2 – You’ll end up mining your life for material

Instead of just enjoying that meal, you’ll have to take a picture of it.
Instead of just reading that book, you’ll have to type up a quick review of it.
Instead of just having a chat with your partner, you’ll end up conducting an interview.

You’ll end up so caught up in picking out things to write about that you’ll end up living in the third person – thinking about yourself doing things and picking the right words to describe them.

This gets old, and very oppressive, very quickly.

You should definitely think twice about how much of your own life you put into your blog, and how personal you want it to be.

Reason 3 – You’re not guaranteed to make money

Did someone tell you that you could rake in the money just by writing a blog?

Well, you could also win the long jump at the Olympics. It’s a possibility.

Lots of bloggers make money, but it’s not easy money. There are also lots of bloggers who have been slogging away at it and not made a penny.

It can take years to earn a living from a blog – just because someone says they made so many squillion in their first month doesn’t mean that you will, even if you did the same things they did.

There are things you can do to help boost your earning potential or remove roadblocks to earning, but as with any form of self-employment, it’s not guaranteed. There’s always the element of risk.

So ask yourself, “why are there so many bloggers writing about blogging?”

It’s because you’re prime customer material – you probably want to believe.

You will click on their affiliate links for web hosting, domains and “how to blog” books and courses. Blogging about blogging is big business!

Am I saying this because I’m a jaded, unsuccessful blogger? Well, I actually do make money from blogging, and yes, I do have affiliate links for web hosting and domains. I do think that blogging is an exciting, challenging and rewarding industry to be involved in, and I wish I’d known what I was doing back in 2007 when I set up my first website!

I do believe that making a living as a blogger is similar to making a living as an artist – it’s not easy and what works for one person won’t work for another.

You still want to write a blog, don’t you?

You’ve read all of that but you still don’t care – you’re here because you want to write a blog, and you’re gonna jolly well do it no matter what anyone says.

Fine, be that way! But seriously, if you’re determined then that says quite a lot about your chances of going the distance – just don’t be taken for a ride by the promises of easy riches, thousands of visitors overnight and followers beating down your door.

Here are some positive signs that mean blogging might just be ideal for you:

You’re prepared for the work and to learn as you go on
You know it might take years to get where you want to be
You’re enthusiastic about your subject and love talking about it
You want to help your readers

What if it’s not for you?

If you’re debating whether or not to start a blog, but you know your heart isn’t really in it, it might be because you’ve been told that you have to blog in order to promote your business. It’s true; blogging is a great way to drum up noise around your business and products, but when it’s just a necessary evil, it can be hard to gather the enthusiasm to blog in a way that’s meaningful enough to make a dent.

I’ll be looking at options for blogging when you don’t really know what you’re doing, and as I’m an artist, I’ll be approaching it from the aspect of promoting an art business.

Male Muscle Studies – Charcoal Sketches

Male muscle studies – new charcoal sketches available.

I’ve released some charcoal sketches in my “muscle study” range. I’m quite pleased with these drawings – they’re simple but convey a sense of elegance combined with power… and the power of transformation.

All of these drawings are mounted to A5 size – 15cm wide x 21cm high.

Muscle Study 4 by Lee Devonish — Muscle Study 4

First releases of male figure drawings

These featured drawings are mounted to A5 size, and more A4-mounted drawings along this theme are also available.

Muscle Study 5 by Lee Devonish — Muscle Study 5

Muscle Study 6 by Lee Devonish — Muscle Study 6

Muscle Study 7 by Lee Devonish — Muscle Study 7

Original drawings at affordable prices

Originals are available from only £75, but to receive a discount on all work in my store, sign up to be a Patreon patron! Discounts start at 10% – that makes it amazing value just for a very small outlay (as low as £1).

Creating My Home Art Studio

Creating my home art studio:

Since moving house I’ve been chipping away at getting my new studio ready. By ready I don’t mean simply ready to work in – oh no, I mean ready enough to be shared with the internet.

A few months in and I’ve decided that it’ll never be that ready, so I might as well force myself to start sharing pictures of the work in progress.

Upcycling and Frankensteining

I did a lot of work on my lime green desk, which is the only furniture project that’s “done” so far. After painting it all (with paint left over from my last house) I waxed it (with furniture wax left over from 2011). Then I covered most of it up with canvas shoe holders salvaged from the side of two canvas wardrobes.

I’ve also been working on making a storage unit/light box out of an old demi-lune table and a drum kit. It’s in use at the moment but I’ll add pictures once it’s closer to finished.

Finding room for everything is a challenge

With a conservatory pressed into service as a studio, the main challenge is the lack of wall space. What’s brilliant about it is its main drawback – three of the four walls are mostly made of glass – but I dare not complain about anything at all about my studio. I love it!

Still, I need more desk space to paint on. I’ve got my eye on my current dining table which is due to be replaced soon and will afterwards migrate into the studio.

Right now, there seems to be a lot of space taken up by fabric and craft materials that I don’t use in my fine art practice, so I need to spend some time zoning areas and prioritising space for painting, carving and printmaking.

Getting around to making new work…

Getting used to a new house and finding a place for everything is very time consuming, so all my work has been put on hold for a while. Now that things are settling down, it’s time to get back down to business!