In Defense of Clickbait
It’s not all bad.
The Four-Hour Workweek was the Bible for millennials.
It preached escaping the 9–5 grind by starting an internet business where you only work a few hours a week while traveling the world.
The dream.
No wonder this book sold 2.1 million copies, stayed four years on The New York Times Best Seller List, and was translated into 40 different languages.
But did you know that Tim Ferriss was originally going to name this book Drug Dealing for Fun and Profit?
He tested this title along with some other titles using Google Adwords. Turned out his audience responded to The Four-Hour Work Week best. The rest was history.
I’m not surprised. The Four-Hour Work Week sounds more clickbait. It holds more promise to the reader. We’re all lazy bastards who want to avoid work. Of course, that title won out.
It targets our base desires. All good clickbait does. Get paid, get laid, get fit. If you do any of these things you’ll get clicks.
Do you think as many people would have bought the book if it was called Drug Dealing for Fun and Profit?
I doubt it.
The book wasn’t, however, just a clickbait title without substance. It wouldn’t have…
