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How to Write Incredibly Useful Medium Headlines
And why “useful” headlines win
I’ve been doing a deep dive on Rob Fitzpatrick’s Write Useful Books (which I’d highly recommend) and applying his principles to Medium articles.
The first bit is on headlines and how to ensure that your headline is as clear and useful as possible.
But before we dive in, why is being useful such a critical goal?
Reasons to be Useful
Most writers on Medium are just average people.
Lots of us are enthusiasts who enjoy writing and learning and want to engage with other writers. We’re not celebrities, we don’t have big PR firms, and we don’t have decades of expertise in a particular subject.
That means there aren’t many reasons people will read our writing. Without a pre-existing audience or established authority, people have no reason to follow what we write or trust what we say.
But we can still write successful articles.
There is a reliable way to ensure people read what you write even if you don’t have thousands of dollars to spend on marketing.
The secret is this: Write something incredibly useful.
