5 Common Headline Mistakes & How to Avoid Them

Five Common Headline Mistakes and How to Avoid Them | Copyblogger
five common mistakes that people make when writing headlines, which also serve as checklist items for you to take into account when crafting your own.

Good stuff to think about when writing headlines, and a few I’d not thought about. Listing is a great idea, e.g., “Five common headline mistakes.” For the record, I Also Hate Headline Capitalization. Just cap the front and leave the rest alone please.

Working Smart: What’s the Secret to Your Success?

Working Smart: What’s the Secret to Your Success?
In a roundabout way via Merlin Mann’s 43 folders, I discovered this gem from Michael Hyatt’s blog on Getting Things Done. Hyatt, who is CEO of a Christian book publisher, weighs in on what he feels made him successful:

…if I really, really had to boil it down to one thing, I would say this: responsiveness.

So many people I meet are unresponsive. They don’t return their phone calls promptly. They don’t answer their emails quickly. They don’t complete their assignments on time. They promise to do something and never follow through…

…When I was a kid, we used to play “Tag.” The objective was simple: keep from becoming “It.” If someone tagged you (touched you), you became “it” until you tagged someone else. Whoever was “it” when the game ended, lost.

Business is very similar. People “tag” us in countless ways every day. They place calls. They send emails. They mention something to us in a meeting. Suddenly, we are “it.” And, just like the game, if you stay “it” too long, you lose. The only winning strategy is to respond quickly and make someone else “it.”

So poignant, and so true in my career. Sadly, the times I’ve really let people down, lost contracts or otherwise faltered hasn’t been from goofing up or doing the wrong thing, it’s been from inaction. Likewise, the times I’ve really been on top of things, gotten back to people immediately and kept the ball rolling I’ve been rewarded for it. And doesn’t everything seem simpler when you’re taking care of it all right away?

I think that’s the main thing I’m trying to get out of studying GTD: Getting down to being able to be immediately responsive whenever and wherever I need to be. Close up open loops, and always make sure I’m “tagging” others and keep from being “it.”