Have you read the crazy titles the "tabloids" come up with for their articles? "500 Pound Cat Eats Owner", "Elvis Found Alive in Jamaica", "Something You’re Eating Right Now Can Poison You-Do You Know What It Is?."

Pretty captivating, huh?

The tabloids use these crazy titles to get us to buy and read their publication. They understand the high value a captivating title can have in getting their product sold.

The same thing is true for any book or article you write for sale. You need to have a captivating title that grabs people’s attention and forces them to buy.

Here are some ways to create a captivating title for your next project:

1. Have Emotional Appeal

"How to Lose Weight on a Low-Calorie Diet" Yawn.

How about "Suddenly Sexy: How One Small Change Can Give You the Body of Your Dreams (and His!)" Wow, sign me up!

Appealing to emotion dramatically increases the likelihood your article or book will be picked up and read. Appealing to our innermost desires, our ambitions, our curiosity or our vanity can be powerfully effective.

Consider this title for a book on overcoming diabetes: "No More Needles: A Handbook for Beating Diabetes". It appeals to both the fear and pain as well as the hope.

2. Make it Catchy

"Suddenly Sexy" conveys a whole image in just two words. "No More Needles" does the same. Over the years you have probably seen many titles with a "catchy" theme:

"Chicken Soup for the Soul"
"Rich Dad, Poor Dad"
"The One Minute Manager"
"Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff"

3. Convey a Benefit

"Six Figures in Six Months" conveys a compelling benefit. So do "No More Tantrums" or "Fly Free: How to Fly Almost Anywhere on Earth for Nothing". Each has an obvious benefit to the reader.

4. Be Creative by Copying Others

To create captivating titles, look at what titles have been compelling or successful in the past then adapt them to your own use.

If I were writing an article or book on parenting, I might use "Chicken Soup for the Soul" as inspiration.

First, I would break it down:

"Chicken Soup" - a warm, homey, positive image for many
"for the Soul" - the target of the image

Next, I would try several variations to see if one works well:

"A Warm Blanket for the Hurried Parent"
"A Soft Shoulder for the Parent"
"Gentle Advice for Frazzled Parents"

Of these three I like the third the best, though I would probably work with this more to come up with an even better title-or look to a different winning headline for inspiration.

While these four keys are not a guarantee of success, they should go a long way to help you create titles that are compelling. Give it a try, you might be surprised at how well you do.