If you do exactly what I say in this post, you’re going to sweat.

At least your fingers will.  And they’ll get cramped, calloused, and tired too.  Undoubtedly, you’ll hurl a curse word or two in my general direction.  But that’s O.K. (you know, “sticks and stones,” love).  I still want you to follow through.

If you do (and 95% of you WON’T), it will be one of the best investments you can make to becoming a world-class copywriter.  This smart, focused effort is what separates the men from the boys… and the producers from the “gurus.”  It’s that effort that allows the top dogs to practically write their own tickets (AKA five-figure copywriting jobs) while everyone else fights for their scraps.

Don’t read any further unless you’re serious.  There’s still time for you to hop back onto Facebook, and I’m sure you can find a rerun of Law and Order on TNT or something.

No?  You say you don’t mind a little hard work?

I knew my readers were too smart to buy into those “shortcuts to wealth” nonsense.  Let me introduce you then to:

Neural Imprinting: Or, Weird Advertising “Black Magic” with Gary Halbert

This will sound weird.

But it’s the best way to expose yourself to a massive number of solid headlines.  And you need solid headlines if you want people to read your acts and act on them (i.e., buy your stuff).

We could go over classic principles that make certain headlines work and others fail miserably.  And, while that’s useful to a point, another way to this is through “neural imprinting.”  This technique ensures that internalize what makes a headline work.  Do it enough, and you’ll find yourself spitting out headline gold without really knowing how.

Call it black magic.  Call if psuedo-science.  Call it whatever you want to call it.  All I know is it works, and you’re doing yourself a disservice if you don’t give it a shot.

Hunter S. Thompson did this when he typed out an entire copy of The Great Gatsby so he could “know what writing a great book felt like.”  And Gary Halbert, one of the most successful advertising geniuses of all time (and my personal favorite), did this himself.  He also recommended all the subscribers to his newsletter do it with some famous sales letters and direct mail pieces.

Want to know how to do it?  Well, here goes…

Your Step-by-Step Guide to Use Neural Imprinting to Write Better Headlines

Here’s what you do.

First, you get yourself a stack of index cards.  You could use a word processor instead, but for some reason I’ve found there’s something about handwriting that strengthens the connection in my mind.

Got that done?  O.K.  Next, you take a look at the list of 100 headlines below.  I’ve searched high and low for these puppies.  Why?  Because I ONLY want you to focus this neural imprinting thing on proven winners.  So, I’ve only included proven winners in my list.  Headlines that exhibit the timeless principles that are just as effective today as they were 100 years ago.

Anyways, the next thing you need to do is to physically copy each headline.  If you’re using index cards, stick to one headline on a card.  It’s boring.  It’s monotonous.  But you can crank up the radio while you rip through them.  Whatever you do, just get it done.

The fourth (and final) step is for you to periodically review these headlines.  This keeps the imprints fresh in your mind.  And it can really help you out if you’re stuck looking for a headline for your latest project.

Are you ready to get busy?  Are you ready to sweat?  O.K.  You asked for it…

101 Killer Headlines to Implant into Your Memory Bank for Fun and Profit

Ready…begin!

1. Do You Make These Mistakes in English?
2. How to Win Friends and Influence People
3. “At 60 miles an hour the loudest noise in this new Rolls-Royce comes from the electric clock”
4. How a “Fool Stunt” Made Me a Start Salesman
5. “They Laughed When I Sat Down at the Piano – But When I Started to Play!”
6. Who Else Wants a Screen Star Figure?
7. How a Strange Accident Saved Me from Baldness
8. How I Made a Fortune With a Fool Idea
9. Profits That Lie Hidden in Your Farm
10. How I Improved My Memory in One Evening
11. Is the Life of a Child Worth $1 to You?
12. Here is a Quick Way to Break up a Cold
13. How Much is Your Working “Tension” Costing Your Company?
14. How to Burn Off Body Fat, Hour-by-Hour
15. Get Rid of Money Worries for Good
16. For the Woman Who Looks Younger Than She Is
17. Thousands Now Play Who Never Thought They Could
18. To Men Who Want to Quit Working Some Day
19. How a New Discovery Made a Plain Girl Beautiful
20. Why Some Foods “Explode” in Your Stomach
21. Imagine Me… Holding an Audience Spellbound for 30 Minutes
22. The Lazy Man’s Way to Riches
23. Are You Ever Tongue-Tied at a Party?
24. You Can Laugh at Money Worries – If You Follow This Simple Plan
25. Why Some People Almost Always Make Money in the Stock Market
    

    “Take a Short Break Now… or I’ll Destroy You With My Black Belt Skills!”

26. Do You Do Any of These 10 Embarrassing Things?
27. Does Your Child Ever Embarrass You?
28. Who Else Wants Lighter Cake – in Half the Mixing Time?
29. Free Book – Tells You 12 Secrets of Better Lawn Care
30. What Everybody Ought to Know… About This Stock and Bond Business
31. Don’t Let Athlete’s Foot “Lay You Up”
32. Check the Kind of Body You Want
33. You Never Saw Such Letters Harry and I Got About Our Pears
34. Often a Bridesmaid, Never a Bride
35. Little Leaks That Keep Men Poor
36. A Little Mistake That Cost a Farmer $3,000 a Year
37. Seven Steps to Financial Freedom
38. For People Who Don’t Have Time for Unimportant Books
39. “Here’s an Extra $50, Grace – I am Making Real Money Now”
40. Advice to Wives Whose Husbands Don’t Save Money – By a Wife
41. How to Create a Good Advertisement
42. To People Who Want to Write – But Can’t Get Started
43. How a New Kind of Clay Improved My Complexion in 30 Minutes
44. Six Types of Investor – Which Group are You in?
45. The Secret of Making People Like You
46. Corn Gone in 5 Days or Money Back
47. Can You Spot These 10 Decorating Sins?
48. Are You Ashamed of Smells in Your Home?
49. Girls. Want Quick Curls?
50. Quick Relief for Tired Eyes
    

    Not a Bad Headline Here…

51. Wanted: Dangerous Men for Safe Times
52. What Makes a Woman Lovable?
53. How to Collect from Social Security at Any Age
54. How a Man of 40 Can Retire in 15 Years
55. It Cleans Your Breath While it Cleans You
56. Why Men Crack
57. Have You These Symptoms of Nerve Exhaustion?
58. Can You Talk About Books with the Rest of Them?
59. Free to Brides – $2 to Others
60. New.  A Cream Deodorant Which Safely Stops Perspiration
61. Play Guitar in 7 Days or Money Back
62. The Crimes We Commit Against our Stomachs
63. How to Stretch Your Inflated Money
64. New Shampoo Leaves Your Hair Smoother – Easier to Manage
65. The Deaf Now Hear Whispers
66. To a $15,000 Man Who Would Like to be Making $30,000
67. When Doctors “Feel Rotten” This is What They Do
68. Give Me 5 Days and I’ll Give You a Magnetic Personality.  Let Me Prove it Free
69. How to Feel Fit at Any Age
70. Five Familiar Skin Troubles – Which One Do You Want to Overcome?
71. Why Wall Street Journal Readers Live Better
72. Is Your Home Picture-Poor?
73. How to Give Your Children Extra Iron – These 3 Delicious Ways
74. The Man With the “Grasshopper Mind”
75. Call Back These Great Moments at the Opera
    

    You’re in the Home Stretch!  Here’s a Pretty Landscape Photo to Help You Make it To the End.

76. Again She Orders… “A Chicken Salad, Please”
77. “You Kill That Story – or I’ll Run You out of the State!”
78. Are We a Nation of Lowbrows?
79. How to Get Rich Reading Classified Ads
80. The Man in the Hathaway Shirt
81. How to Have a Cool, Quiet Bedroom Even on Hot Nights
82. How I Raised Myself from Failure to Success in Selling
83. Car Owners.  Save One Gallon of Gas Every Ten
84. Ways to Beat the High Cost of Living
85. What’s Wrong in This Picture?
86. Will Your Scalp Stand the “Fingernail Test?”
87. To a Man Who is 35 and Dissatisfied
88. The Secret to Being Wealthy
89. Is $60 a Day Worth a Postage Stamp?
90. Can You Pass the Memory Test?
91. Discovered – Amazing Way to Grow Hair
92. Announcing a New Home Money-Making Plan
93. How I Became Popular Overnight
94. I Gambled a Postage Stamp and Won $35,840 in 2 Years
95. Now… a Low Calorie Bacardi Daiquiri
96. How I Earn My Living in 4 Hours a Day
97. A Warning to Men Who Would Like to Be Independent in the Next Five Years
98. A Wonderful Two Years’ Trip at Full Pay – But Only Men with Imagination Can Take It
99. Own a Rembrandt for Only $7.95
100. New!  Golf Club Specially Sized for Youngsters
101. Hollywood’s Make-Up Secret
     

     You Might Hate Me Right Now… But You Made it!

 Seeing Through the Matrix

If you made it this far and actually did all the work, I’m proud of you.  Take a breather now.  I’m sure you can wrangle up a hot shower, an adult beverage, some meditation, or whatever suits your fancy.

You’ve done some important work today.  So important that I suggest you do it with headlines, openers, and entire sales letters (if they’re good enough).  Absorbing as much information as you can like this is one of the best things you can do for yourself.

It’s like a secret window into the Matrix.  You might not able to articulate all the elements of what makes an effective headline.  But you sure as hell will be able to SPIT THEM OUT like nobody’s business.  And you’ll be able to look at a headline and instantly have an idea of whether it might be effective or not.

For those of us that want it bad enough, this separates us from all the other people out there using weak, ineffective, or non-existent headlines.

And that’s what I want for you.  I want you to get so good that you have practically ZERO competition.  For you to reach a level where you can charge whatever you feel like because you deserve it (your results demand it).  And for you to be able to turn away unsavory clients who waste your time, cause you hassles, and who don’t recognize the importance of good copy.

Sound like a plan?  Keep doing the work, my friend.  Keep pushing yourself.  And I’ll keep spitting out the ideas for how you can get better if you apply them.