Another trick copywriters use to write a punchy headline is to invoke some element of pop culture. The latest fad, a popular sitcom, even the number one hit on America’s top 40; all these make for handy attention-getters for your headline.

Case in point, a recent client’s client, an asphalt maintenance company, was holding an Ugliest Driveway contest. Not exactly a topic that lends to a mass audience. So, we came up with a headline that catered to a larger demographic:

“If Ugly Betty can win a Golden Globe, your “ugly driveway” can win you a luxury night out!”

That’s a bit more enticing than “Ugliest Driveway Contest, winner receives a luxury night out!” And since topics like driveway generally appeal to a more masculine audience, we made the headline more mainstream by including a show that’s very popular with women.

That’s not to say you want every headline to have some pop culture reference. Pick your spots. Just make sure it’s something that is fairly well known. A pop culture reference that’s not terribly well known or appropriate for a particular audience can really fall flat on its face.

Proofreading. Sure, this may not do you much good against people stealing your mail or going through your trash. But it will absolutely serve you well to become an amateur proofreader to protect yourself against a form of identity theft know as phishing.

We’ve all received those e-mails supposedly from our bank or lending institution “warning” us of a breach of their system and asking you to log on and update your information. Now, if you just browse through these e-mails without thinking twice about the spelling or grammar mistakes you see, you just might click on the link and update. But if you read these missives carefully with your proofreader’s hat on, those typos and grammatical errors should raise a giant red flag.

Why? Lending institutions go through meticulous review processes before sending out anything to customers. Not that every single piece that goes out is flawless. It’s just extremely, extremely unlikely that there would be major typos or mistakes—e.g. saying “your” instead of “you’re”, etc.

So, when you see mistakes like that, you might want to phone the bank and ask them about the correspondence. Or click on the link and see if the name of the bank is actually in the url. Chances are it won’t be. Delete that e-mail immediately.

As a copywriter, you do tend to casually “proof” everything you read out of habit. While it may annoy some, it’s a habit that can serve you well in the business world. Yes, it can help you protect yourself from identity theft scams as in the example. It’s also a good lesson for your own e-mail correspondence.

All too often, people don’t take the time to give their e-mails a quick proof before hitting “send.” Consequently, punctuation, spelling, capitalization and other basic rules of grammar go out the window. Does this raise any major red flags cause you to lose any points? Depends on the person. The real question is, why risk it? Especially when it’s usually just reading something twice.

No matter how much people might claim otherwise, we like to be told what to do. More accurately, how to do something. Particularly if it’s something we want or something we may want. That’s why headlines that contain “How to” seem to work better.

For example, what reads better to you:

How to improve your golf game

or

Improve your golf game

Both advertise the exact same thing. Yet “how to” implies somebody’s going to show you or teach you, while “improve” comes across like a command. It’s a subtle difference, but a difference nonetheless. And if you’re stuck for a headline, “How to [fill in the benefit offered]” works every time.