If you want to see great web copy, read Andrew Chen. I’m going to show you his top 15 posts from last year. What do you see? The headlines are very compelling; smart little nuggets that draw you in. The secret is how he combines several copywriting techniques so well. It looks seamless. And that’s what makes it so great.

What Andrew Chen Can Teach You About Writing Killer Headlines

Let’s look at the first seven. Remember, Andrew writes about business models, design and metrics. Not very sexy. But, armed with the right attitude…

1. How to create a profitable Freemium startup (spreadsheet model included!)

Includes Freemium (good keyword) and adds the spreadsheet teaser. How many headlines have you seen include offers in brackets?

2. Built to Fail: How companies like Google, IDEO, and 37signals build failure-tolerant systems for anything!

Nice twist on Built to Last, the best-seller business book.

3. Free to Freemium: 5 lessons learned from YouSendIt.com

Squeezes two killer keywords, uses a number to grab attention, lessons learned implies that there will be some benefit for you the reader into the same headline

4. Product design debt versus Technical debt

Product design Technical debt. Four short words, nice and punchy.

5. Friends versus Followers: Twitter’s elegant design for grouping contacts

Do you see a pattern emerging here? Andrew counterbalances popular keywords (Twitter) against Friends and Followers. Also, ‘versus’ implies conflict or tension. A nice way to stir the reader’s emotions.

6. 5 warning signs: Does A/B testing lead to crappy products?

Crappy isn’t seen in too many headlines. When’s the last time you saw it?

7. Freemium business model case study: AdultFriendFinder ARPU, churn, and conversion rates

The 7^th most popular article has 13 words, including several acronyms, all flying in the face of convention wisdom.

FYI Andrew is here http://andrewchenblog.com/2010/01/03/top-posts-for-2009-freemium-design-and-metrics/

Those are the first seven on his list. Here’s the rest.

8. Which startup’s collapse will end the Web 2.0 era?

9. 2009 conference schedule for the digital media industry

10. Does every startup need a Steve Jobs?

My Fav!

11. Why low-fidelity prototyping kicks butt for customer-driven design

12. What if interviews poorly predict job performance? What if dating poorly predicts marital happiness?

13. How to calculate cost-per-acquisition for startups relying on freemium, subscription, or virtual items biz models

14. 5 crucial stages in designing your viral loop

15. Age (and ARPPU) ain’t nothing but a number: Data on how age impacts social gaming monetization

Over to you

What do you think of these headings? It’s not PC, it’s not the ‘correct’ way – but I think it works?

Does it work for you?

ToonsTunes made its debut at the TechCrunch50 conference in San Francisco. This is virtual playground for children where they can hear, create and share their own music. Think of Club Penguin meets GarageBand. It also has an in-game virtual currency that lets kids buy virtual items to bling up their online band.

It also lets them share music by e-mail, MySpace and Facebook.

The ToonsTunes universe is a Space Station occupied by player-controlled avatars, a friendly species of alien, as well as other congenial pets.

How it works

• Make a song with Mix-O-Matic
• Mix-and-match from over 5,000 music loops
• Instruments inlcude Guitar, Bass, Drums, Keyboard
• Write your own lyrics and sing along to your own song by recording your voice using your computer’s microphone
• Share songs with friends and parents to email, Facebook, Twitter, streaming on your iPhone, ringtones, or MP3 downloads

ToonsTunes is targeting Tweens (ages 6-14). Over 70 percent are downloading music online on any given month, 46 percent of kids who have a cell phone download ring tones/ring tunes.

How it makes money

It generates revenue from three different channels:

1.    Freemium – kids pay for an premium experience
2.    Sponsorship
3.    Retailers who sell merchandise

The plan is to market virally through mobile apps, e-mail and social networks.

This privately funded company has five employees and estimates its value at $15 million.

Investors Reaction

George Zachary, Charles River Ventures, “Really impressed by product quality. Reflects a lot of thought into what makes it fun for kids. Has a good revenue opportunity for selling copyrighted material.”

Don Dodge, Microsoft’s director of business development for emerging business, ” The quality is amazing. Amazing sound library and animations. It’s in a hot market — games and music are two of the biggest markets on the Internet. You’re hitting both of them.”

From Crunchbase

ToonsTunes is the first virtual community for kids to create and share music. It has an online recording studio and performance venues.  ToonsTunes offers a virtual playground for musical geniuses, or those who aspire to be one.

Kids can mix-and-match pre-recorded music loops, pick musical instruments, genres and tempos, and put them together to create completely original mixes. Combine grunge guitar, with punk drums, a reggae base and even add your own recorded lyrics. Then, perform songs for friends on a concert stage, play as background music in your personal pod, or put songs on your iPhone.

Links

http://www.crunchbase.com/company/toonstunes and www.ToonsTunes.com