It Begins With a Really Good Line

Not covering pick-up lines today. But the resemblance is hard to ignore.

Whether it's a landing page, an email, a deck, a one-pager, or anything else, your opening line sets the entire trajectory of what follows. Unclear, generic, or confusing? You've already lost, before they get to the part where you're actually good.

There's a landing page tutorial that became a meme because it's completely obvious and completely true:

Your main header's job is to get someone to read the subheader. The subheader's job is to get them to keep reading. Everything else is designed to get them to act.

Which means if your opening line doesn't land, nothing after it matters. Same logic applies to email subject lines, blog post titles, deck headers, and presentation slides.

So before you write: nail down who you're actually talking to. Speak their language, catch their drift. Consider whether your message needs to be framed differently to actually land. Check that it's clear enough for someone to repeat to a colleague.

Then check your flow. Does each line pull the reader toward the next? Does your opening line make them want to continue?

That's the job. Everything else is just content.