Let me tell you about one of the highest-leverage skills in marketing.
You could have the best product in the world. The most compelling offer. The most transformative coaching program ever created.
And it won't matter if you can't write a headline.
Headlines are the gatekeepers of every piece of marketing you create. Your emails, your ads, your social posts, your landing pages — they all live or die by the headline. Get it right, and people read. Get it wrong, and they scroll.
I've been doing this for 23 years. I've rewritten headlines for hundreds of coaching clients. And I can tell you from experience: most coaches have no idea what a good headline looks like — because they've never studied one.
Let me fix that.
What a Headline Actually Does
Most people think a headline's job is to be clever. To grab attention.
That's only half right.
A headline's job is to get attention AND keep it.
You can write the most attention-grabbing headline in the world — if it promises something ridiculous, you'll get clicks but no sales. Or you can write something accurate but boring, and nobody clicks at all.
The best headlines do something more powerful: they speak directly to the person reading them. They name a specific problem. They imply a specific solution. They make the reader think "yes, that's me."
That's it. That's the whole game.
The Four Things Every Great Headline Does
When I'm reviewing headlines — mine or a client's — I check for these four elements:
1. It names a problem. Not vaguely. Specifically. "Struggling to get clients" is okay. "Why you're invisible to the clients who need you most" is better.
2. It implies a solution. The reader should be able to feel, even from the headline alone, that you have the answer. Not the whole answer — just enough to make them want more.
3. It projects a future. After working with you, what does their life look like? The headline should point toward that destination.
4. It establishes credibility. Not always, but when possible, the headline should give them a reason to believe you over whoever else is competing for their attention.
Here's a headline that does all four: "After working with 120,000 business owners, I figured out the 3 things most people aren't doing to reach 7 figures in sales online."
Names the problem? Yes — most people aren't doing 3 key things. Implies a solution? Yes — I know what they are. Projects a future? Yes — 7 figures. Establishes credibility? Yes — 120,000 business owners. All four in one sentence.
The Biggest Secret About Writing Headlines
Here's the secret most coaches never learn: you will not use the same headline everywhere.
Your email subject line needs a different structure than your Facebook ad. Your landing page headline needs to be different from your podcast title. Your Instagram post headline needs to be different from your YouTube thumbnail.
Why? Because each platform has different attention spans, different contexts, and different audiences reading in different states of mind.
Once you accept that you need dozens — sometimes hundreds — of headline variations, something shifts. You stop trying to write the perfect one headline. You start treating headline writing as a volume game.
And volume is how you get good.
How to Get Better at Headlines — Fast
Here's the exercise I give every coaching client who wants to improve their marketing:
Step 1: Subscribe to 10 email lists of coaches or businesses you admire. Actually read the emails they send. Pay attention to the subject lines. What makes you open one? What makes you delete one without opening?
Step 2: Pay attention to ads. When you're on Facebook, on Instagram, watching YouTube — notice the ads. What headlines make you stop? What headlines make you keep scrolling? This is free market research.
Step 3: Steal the structure, not the words. You're not plagiarizing. You're studying. When you see a headline that works, ask yourself: what's the structure here? Problem-solution? Curiosity? Social proof? Then apply that structure to your own offer.
Companies spend billions of dollars on headline testing every year. You get to free-ride on that research by paying attention. Most coaches never do. The ones who do are the ones whose marketing actually works.
My Headline Process
For any major marketing piece, I write at least 20 headlines before I pick one.
No, I'm not exaggerating. Twenty. Sometimes fifty.
Most of them are bad. Some of them are okay. A few are good. And occasionally, one jumps out and makes me think "that's it."
The 19 bad headlines aren't wasted. They're what allow the 1 great one to surface. Because you can't find the best headline without generating the bad ones first. The filtering is the work.
Most coaches write one headline, decide it's good enough, and move on. Then they wonder why their open rates are low or their landing pages don't convert. The answer is usually in the headline — or lack of a strong one.
Stop making that mistake. Write more headlines. Test more headlines. Get better at headlines. It's the highest-leverage skill in your entire marketing arsenal.
Your revenue will thank you.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I know if my headline is actually good?
Test it. Send two subject lines and see which one wins. Run two ads with different headlines. Show your headline to three people in your target audience and ask if they'd click. Data beats intuition every time.
How many headlines should I write per piece of marketing?
I recommend at least 20. Most will be bad. A few will be good. The one great headline is only findable if you generate all the bad ones first. Volume is the game.
Do I need different headlines for different platforms?
Yes. Each platform has different attention spans, contexts, and audience mindsets. Your email subject line, Facebook ad, and YouTube title should all have different headline approaches even if they're about the same topic.
What makes a headline "clickbait" vs. genuinely good?
Clickbait grabs attention but fails to deliver. A good headline grabs attention AND delivers on its promise. If your headline creates a specific expectation, you must fulfill it. Otherwise you'll lose trust — and conversions.
How do I write headlines if I'm not a natural writer?
Study. Subscribe to email lists, pay attention to ads, and notice what makes you stop scrolling. Then steal the structure — not the words. Headline writing is a learnable skill, not a talent.
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About Jeremiah Krakowski
Jeremiah Krakowski is a coaching business mentor who helps coaches, course creators, and consultants scale from $3k/mo to $40k+/mo using direct response marketing, AI systems, and proven frameworks. He runs Wealthy Coach Academy and has 23+ years of experience in digital marketing. Learn more →