Mission Accomplished

Grab the giggle juice, my friend. Because I am D-O-N-E done! I did it! The Headline Project is over! 10,211 headlines in 100 days. OK, 106 days, but who’s counting?

(Me. I’m counting.)

Great googlymoogly, does it feel good.

I finished on Tuesday—and I wanted to send a note sooner, but I needed time to step away. To bask in not having to write anymore. To go out for lunch rather than spend it composing a post. To think about where I was rather than where I was headed.

I needed time to just…be.

The last 10 posts went well. If you’re wondering, no, it never got easier. These all took nearly an hour longer than usual. They were a challenge—and it culminated in a free-flow style post about my own business. Crazily, it revealed ideas that may have been obvious to everyone but me.

…Which makes sense because I told you when we started I was a dummy.

I’ll keep the recap short for you. There’s a bigger post coming. But give it a skim. There are some good ones here! Click over for a closer look.

91. Olly Personality Robot – An all-around solid list about a virtual home assistant with a programmable personality. Think Alexa, with an adjustable attitude.

 

92. Lianna Patch Training Video – Lianna is one of my favorite writers. She let me whip up 100 lines for her tutorial, 5 Ways to be Funnier in Your Copy. It wasn’t easy, but I pulled 21 good lines out of it. I’ll take that. Check this one out—if not for the funny video alone.

 

93. Mail Bricks – Essentially, Potato Parcel pt. 2. Except with bricks. More silliness and stupid fun. My specialty.

 

94. iite Smart Toothbrush – This smart toothbrush for kids links to a game. So as you brush, you’re also brushing a virtual monkey’s dirty mouth. Kinda gross and I wish it came in adult sizes. I added some direct response themes for a good-but-not-great list.

 

95. Naptime Power Nap Assistant – A sciencey way to take naps. Proof that we live in the future. This built on themes from previous posts and resulted in a good batch of lines. If you love me, you’ll buy me one.

 

96. Travis the Translator – Mixed feelings about this one. I went more aggressive with the lines & played up fear, embarrassment, and confirmation bias about learning languages. I’m glad I tried it because it confirmed that’s not my style. Good lines, and a more valuable lesson.

 

97. Batman’s Belt – For a product that does all the things, this was harder than expected. I positioned it as it were real item, which was fun, but a challenge. I pulled in fashion lines that worked surprisingly well.

 

98. Mystery Shoppers – I was trying to play up “detective” theme, puns and all—but I never cracked the case. A few lines came close, but I marked it as unsolved.

 

99. Pair of Thieves Underwear – Their site is as good as their skivvies. I love their tone and was afraid to compare myself to something so good. But it was now or never—and I loved it! All kinds of silly in here. It’s worth a read. Lots of butt jokes.

 

100. Pretty Fly Copywriting – Badda bing, badda boom, it’s the final post! Call me selfish, but I applied everything I learned to my own site. Consider this list a work in progress. There are some good themes here, and I like a lot of it. It’ll take time to dial it in

And we’re done!

Almost…

I’m going to wrap everything in a great big post for you. It may take time because I’m still processing—but I promise, it’s coming.

Here’s a preview:

• The writing never got easier. But my pain tolerance rose with each list. The last post was just as grueling as the first—but I went into it knowing I could do it.
• Companies, services, products…I thought I’d be able to narrow down a niche. But ultimately, who I write for is more important than what I write about.
• I want to work with fun people.
• I have no feminine voice when it comes to writing. I’m 100% OK with that.
• No woo woo stuff either. There are plenty of great writers out there for that—I’m just not one of them.
• This project put me in the sights of some super talented writers. I was offered a seat at the big kids’ table, and I’m not going to pass it up.

OK, no more peeking. I’ve got lots more coming your way. But let me leave with you this; Put yourself out there, my friend. Good things happen when you do.

(Hey, you. If you’re looking for permission to start that thing you’ve been thinking about, here it is. This is it.)

Now go be great.
JB-