This. The importance of titles is (in my opinion) under-appreciated on the sell side. I spend significant time coming up with a good lead as it’s the best hook, given my clients get a thousand emails a day from the sell side and have limited attention bandwidth t.co/gRs1MZmnLL
On earnings evenings I send the team home when the note is done, but I may be there another hour (late at night) doing nothing but trying to think up a good title
My SAs however reject at least 1 out of 5 of my titles, so I’ve learned not to go to sleep until the piece actually hits the wires
My favorite one that actually made it through (for a little while) was:
“[Company name redacted] - Pity almost takes the fun out of being short” It went out.
Company was PISSED with a capital “P.”
My mgmt woke up in the morning and made me change.
“[Company name redacted] - Pity almost takes the fun out of being short” It went out.
Company was PISSED with a capital “P.”
My mgmt woke up in the morning and made me change.
Which I did willingly. I was forced to admit that in the cold hard light of day, it was mean (and it didn’t need to be mean).
I sent out new title with an apology.
I sent out new title with an apology.
Some of my favorite ones that didn’t make it through (I’ll leave the company names off)
“It’s not the size that counts, it’s how many you can squeeze in”
More recently
“A cough trading like pneumonia”
“A cough trading like pneumonia”
I tried a nickelback song once:
“'Nother round, fill 'er up, Hammer down, grab a cup, bottoms up!”
“'Nother round, fill 'er up, Hammer down, grab a cup, bottoms up!”
“Old analyst yells at cloud”
(This title was actually ok, but I wanted to use it together with the picture currently in my avatar, which was denied, so I wound up using a different pic and title)
(This title was actually ok, but I wanted to use it together with the picture currently in my avatar, which was denied, so I wound up using a different pic and title)
“[CEO NAME] turns the screw”
“The dogpile” (actually not sure why they had a problem with this one)
Some others I successfully fought for
“After hitting yourself on the head with a hammer, it feels good when you stop”
“TANSTAAFL” (they didn’t know what it meant, thought it was something dirty)
“Even prisoners get a phone call”
Lots of others...
BTW it turns out any title with even a hint of a gambling reference is a no-no...
Adding one more to the reject pile:
“I’m still a rock star, I got my rock moves, and I don’t want you tonight”
“I’m still a rock star, I got my rock moves, and I don’t want you tonight”
