Pick Up Lines to get you the girl….
- Do you believe in love at first sight, or should I walk by again?
- If you stood in front of a mirror and held up 11 roses, you would see 12 of the most beautiful things in the world.
- If I could rewrite the alphabet, I would put U and I together.
- I’m sure glad I brought my library card, ’cause I’m checking you out!
- Inheriting eighty million bucks doesn’t mean much when you have a weak heart.
Ok – these pick up lines (opening lines) will never get you the girl – but in the same way that great titles are vital when it comes to getting the attention of RSS feed readers – the opening lines of your blog posts DO matter – a lot!
The Purpose of Opening Lines
A recurring theme of David Ogilvy’s Ogilvy on Advertising is:
- the purpose of a title is to get potential readers to read the first line of your content
- the purpose of the first line is to get people to read the second one
- the purpose of the second line is to get people to read the third one….
How to Use Opening Lines
Readers will make a judgment upon whether your full post is worth reading based upon how it starts and they will continue reading IF you succeed in connecting with them on one of a number of levels:
- Does it interest them or pique their curiosity?
- Does it hook them into the topic?
- Does it create a need for them to read more?
- Does it promise a benefit of reading your post?
- Does it promise to entertain them? etc
You don’t need to do all of these things in the opening sentence of each post you write – but if you want your readers to reach the bottom of your posts and to be persuaded by what you write you’ll need to work hard early on at hooking them on some level.
This is especially important for those bloggers using ‘excerpt feeds’ that don’t give readers a full post to read in their RSS readers. In order to get them to click through to your actual blog you’ll need to give them a reason – and all you’ve got to do it is a title and a few opening words.
Opening lines matter.
Funny title, Darren!
I enjoyed reading this article and I now plan on incorporating this technique in my blog :)
For a second there I thought you were serious about those pickup lines and I almost threw up, good post though lol.
You really scared me. When I started reading the post, I thought WTF :), but then I saw the real sentences. Nice post. :]
I’m actually going to try the alphabet pickup line the next time I go to my college bar. It’s so corny that it’ll probably get a laugh.
Opening lines and titles are really important.. though I think a well placed and interesting image will grab attention faster, while complementing the text.
I do agree with that Maki, When I read a blog I usually see the image first…
I really love the third line, as a joke not as a chat up line :)
I find it frustrating when you think of a great blog post title, only to be disappointed when you find out a similar site has the exact (or very similar name) – and it’s rude to copy, they say.
The opening line is indeed crucial. The harder part is, starting to write the post! ;)
I lost my number, can I have yours? :)
For all those shy guys (or girls out there), a good opening line:
How much does a polar weigh? Enough to break the ice. How you doing, I’m Nick.
Works everytime ;)
Although I have started to get the hang of hooking a bit with the titles I haven´t given that much thought to the significance of the opening lines yet. Good post and good reminder to start doing that. And those pick-up lines are awesome =)
An excellent post as well as an entertaining one. :-D
Personally I am not a gifted writer although after 12 months of blogging I have absorbed a lot from blogs such as yours and can see that my writing has improved quite a bit. My aim of cause is to keep improving as I do feel I have something to offer; especially for those interested in a combination of art and other stuff thrown in for a bit of extra spice. I guess the proof of the pudding will be if my readership keeps growing.
I definitely agree about opening lines. I just wrote an article at TycoonsRow.com which a portion read: “Breaking Into Hollywood”. The article was instantly submitted to Reddit & has been getting read a lot more then many of my other articles have been.
That specific articles popularity rose 27% instantly & had 2 comments on it. But I think when I look into the words deeper, I created a “need”, however, for this period of time, I think it was more of “desire” of potential readers during this time that wanted to read this content.
Hey Darren, trying to relate blogging to dating isn’t gonna work man! We’re bloggers not sports players! Haha.. only kidding everyone
Somebody call God!! One of his angels has fallen down to Earth!!
Haha! Great post. I totally agree with it – if you’re like me and have at least 20 firefox tabs open at any given time, you really need attention grabbing lines! And if you’ve also got a short attention span (like me!), you need to keep readers hooked after the ‘pick-up’. Perhaps that is a much more difficult thing to do….
Hooking up the readers and keep them continue reading is most important.An image makes the most of the difference.If right image is chosen they get an idea before reading what is it about.If they know they can get benefit you got them.
One more thing is keep asking questions in between not many but a few, so the post doesn’t become boring like a lame newspaper.
The roses one is new to me and it was cute
Pssst.
Valentine’s Day is coming.
Don’t forget to get a gift.
Or you might have to use some of those pick-up lines again. :)
Okay, Darren, it worked!!
[…] Opening Lines […]
Hi Darren,
A post after my own heart. I’m a great fan of David Ogilvy’s writing. Whenever I can I make my post titles interesting, intriguing or even controversial.
I also try and bring readers in with a good first line leading to a great second line and get them into the content.
Jim
[…] During my recent hiatus from eBay and The Auction Rebel Darren Rowse wrote “5 Pick Up Lines to Get You The Girl – And Why Opening Lines Matter.” […]
Interesting how you relate pick up lines with opening lines of a blog. since we all know that pick up lines don’t really work so well, its a good point that you’re opening better be really good to keep the interest going.
A good pick up line should not give away what you want atraight away. Like a door to door salesman it should instead just give you a foot in the door, to get the girl to talk to you so that you can then win her over with your smooth charm. Good pick up lines are:
“Excuse me but I really need a female opinion on something that has been bothering me for a while………a range of questions can then follow such as……….my best friend has started seeing a new girl and is still friends with his ex but his new girl friend wants him to break off all contact with her, what do you as a woman think he should do?………or who lies most men or women……………..or I think I am going grey and want to know whether to dye it or not, do women think grey hair is a turn off”.
Or a situational statement such as “oh no it looks like its going to rain” great for outdoor pick ups. “Those are really nice sun glasses you are wearing where did you get them”. etc. Sometimes the less clever the opener the better as it is only meant to allow you to get a conversation started.
[…] 5 Pickup Lines to Get You the Girl – and Why Opening Lines Matter […]
All of these lines are utterly absurd, I can’t imagine anyone with even an ounce of self-respect using them, seriously.
You may as well go with a line like this:
“I’d marry your cat just to get in the family.”
HUUH?
From here (not my own):
http://www.voont.com/pickup
also another one is:
i need a map, cause i get lost in ur eyes. lol. corny i no.
o and nice post it helped a lot.