How to Hypnotize People into Reading Your Sales Materials!

(or, "The Amazing Robert Collier Technique Revealed")
by Joe Vitale

On a sunny, warm day in August, 1996 I kneeled over the
grave of P.T. Barnum and had one of the most remarkable
experiences of my life. 

I had begun researching the famous showman in order to
write my forthcoming new book, "There's a Customer Born
Every Minute." 

 I had visited the Barnum Museum, the Historical Library in
Bridgeport, Connecticut, and met with Barnum scholars,
biographers, and collectors of his writings. I wanted
to visit Barnum's grave and pay my respects. Little did
I know that the incredible, magical experience would
change my life forever... 

Recently I went online to hunt for old books by some of
my favorite authors, this time I went after anything by
Robert Collier, mail order advertising genius and
author of such classic books as The Secret of the Ages
and The Robert Collier Letter Book. 

I typed in his name at one of my favorite book search
engines (which I'm going to keep a secret as long as I
can), and to my amazement several new (to me) titles
came up. I stared wide-eyed, my mouth open, as I saw
that someone had two copies of a magazine Collier
edited in the late 1920's called "Mind, Inc." I
couldn't believe it. I immediately grabbed the phone,
called, and bought those magazines. A few days later
they arrived. 

I opened the brown package, my heart racing with
excitement, and nearly drooled as I slid the little
paperback sized magazines onto my desk. They were well
worn but intact. I thumbed through them and marveled at
my find. Here were new articles by one of my heroes, my
mentor, a man who changed my life not once but twice
with his books. I felt like a happy child on Christmas
morning, getting the gifts he longed for and needed
most. 

As I looked over Collier's magazines, something shifted
in me. I saw an advertising technique at work that
seemed hypnotic in power. I had one of those "ah-ha!"
experiences great inventors write about. I held one of
the issues in my hand and read the back cover. Collier
had an ad there that began -- 

"How can I tell if I am working aright?" many people
ask. 

There is an easy, simple rule. With it in front of him,
not even a child could go wrong. Just ask yourself one
question. If your answer is "Yes." You are on the wrong
track, and you will never make much progress, until you
get off it and on the right track.

If your answer is "No," then you are working in the
right direction, and you have only to keep it up to
attain any goal you desire.

That question is the basis of the Lesson in the next
issue of "Mind, Inc." If you are looking for a road map
to guide you through the mental realm, send for it! 

Did you catch what Collier did?

Let me give you another example. This one comes from
Collier's editorial in the opening pages of the other
issue I found: 

Dear Reader:

Twelve years ago, the three examining physicians at the
head office of the Life Extension Institute made a
thorough physical examination of the writer. They had
him hop and jump and do sundry things to stir his heart
into action, then they listened with their stethoscopes
and nodded knowingly to each other, finally gathering
in a corner to whisper earnestly together, with many a
meaning glance in the writer's direction.

The upshot of their conference was a solemn warning
against all forms of violent exercise. The heart was
dangerously affected, in their opinion. Tennis,
horseback, swimming -- all these were taboo. Even
running for a street car was likely to result
disastrously. If the writer wanted excitement, he might
walk (as long as he did it sedately) or crawl about the
floor on all fours!

That was twelve years ago, remember. A few months back,
he had occasion to be examined for life insurance. The
examining physician knew of the Life Extension
Institute findings, so he asked the Head Examiner of
his company to check his report. The Head Examiner
came, made the same exhaustive heart tests as the
Institute and put away his instruments with a chuckle.

"When you get ready to pass out," he said, "they'll
have to take out that heart and hit it with a rock to
make it stop beating. Work, play, do anything you like
in reason. The heart can stand anything you can!"

What made the difference? Perhaps the following lesson
may give you an indication."

Collier did it again! Did you catch his method?

Collier told you just enough to intrigue you, to get
you hooked, to get you interested -- and then he
stopped! 

In the first example he cleverly trapped you into
wanting to know the question he kept referring to. But
he never told you the question. He snared you and then
asked you to send for the next lesson, where the
mystery of the question would be revealed. How could
anyone not send for it? I sat at my desk reading
Collier's ad more than seventy years after he wrote it
and I wanted to send in the coupon, too. But Collier is
long dead. I'll never know the question! 

In the second example Collier cleverly told you two
intriguing stories, asked the question that every
reader would then have on their mind -- put then didn't
answer it! Again, Collier generated interest, and then
told you to read the magazine to find the answer. Talk
about hypnotic writing! 

And that's how you get people to read your sales
materials. You pull them into it. You grab their
attention, keep them reading, get them wanting what you
have and then -- stop and tell them to send in a check,
or call you, to get what they now so badly desire. 

Did you notice how I began this article?

I used the Robert Collier technique to hypnotize you
into reading more. I began saying I had an experience
at Barnum's grave. What was the experience? What
happened? What's my new book about? All of these are
questions in your mind as you read the opening. It's
hypnotic. And if you've read this far, you know the
method works. 

The next time you want to write something and be sure
people actually read it, remember the Robert Collier
technique. Start by writing about something that will
interest the people you are addressing. Tell them an
interesting story. Get them wondering about something
that they want to know more about. And then STOP.
Change direction. Write about something else that may
still be related to the opening, but don't resolve the
opening until the end of the article. And maybe not
even there. Maybe you'll want people to send in a
coupon or call you for the answer. For example: 

I started this article telling you I had a memorable
experience at P.T. Barnum's grave. Do you want to know
what happened? Of course you do. Well, I reveal the
whole astonishing story in my new book, "There's a
Customer Born Every Minute. "