As Ed dale said the Boron Lettersby Gary Halbert are on of the best educations a direct marketer can ever get. Written to his son bond at a difficult time in Garys life the letters sum up a philosophy on direct marketing and Direct Mailing
So I have tried to summarise as halbert would say the Golden Nuggets from those letters. They are indexed by the letter number , for anyone that wishes to go back to the originals.
This is another tribute to Gary , a flawed human being but a great marketer. His sons are keeping the website Gary Halbert Letter as a valuable resource
I have also tried to bring some of this into modern context
The first letters talk about gary getting fit and training on a hill at the prison.
And here are the golden nuggets of wisdom from the rest
Become a student of markets, not products, techniques or copywriting
The most important thing is to deduce what people want to buy, by observing what they already buy,
Don’t be deceived by what they say they buy
Most will say they buy premium beer – they don’t they buy regular!
And the best way to do that is to see what they have bought by researching mailing lists
An internet equivalent is looking at ebay pulse and affiliate sales on clickbank. Real people buiying real product.
What advantage would you want as a hamburger stall owner? The biggest advantage is a STARVING CROWD
Groups of people who have demonstrated by past behaviour they are hungry for the product or service Use the most targeted list you can have – the people in the right place who have bought a similar product recently
Become a student of mailing lists
Recency - when did they buy Frequency - how often did they buy Unit of sale – how much did they buy
Of these the most important is recency Sell people what they have shown by recent behaviour they will buy
Gary quotes from SRDS lists - A UK alternative is www.hilitedms.com
Most people say They don’t buy mail order – they don’t read the enquirer But the statistics say they do! Just as most people say they watch Plays not movies: They will say what they think they ought to do not what they actually do.
Always Keep awake to a possibility See a list of 120000 per month new Pregnant women – So Write a book: “how to raise your childs IQ before it is even born”
Make it specific dont produce just “make extra money”
Produce “Make extra money for chiropractors” Wheel out the same product to many tailored groups The more custom tailored the more successful
Talking to his 16 year old son he said which would succeed for you “dear occupant ways to make money Or “dear 16 year old here are ways to make money”
First Read “Scientific advertising” Hopkins and also “Colliers letterbook” Halbert 2001 headlines Read and take notes make a Swipe file, look through lists
Customise an offer to a specific group Not “did you know there is a way to buy LA real estate Customise the LA to a location in LA
Create a product Take all the books extract all of the ideas as nuggets Strip away the garbage and so produce a better product than all of the others. “The amazing LA roadmap to real estate riches”
How do you get it opened?
People sort mail into A Pile and B Pile A Pile is personal, B pile is advertising. They read all the A pile but not all the B So make envelope look personal No company name, and a real stamp
How do you get it read? Atterntion and intrigue- Try a Bag filled with dirt to grab attention
Date and time. – make it look personal
Make it a personal conversation and bond with the reader Write about where you are. ” I am sitting here and” Make it pleasant easy read interesting and not confusing
Now envelopes matter SRE – stamped return envelope, wastes all those stamps Usefor High ticket items And when you can make them feel guilty “those children need your help right now!”
Use a Guilt inducer “Someone else will take advantage if you dont” “I hope you can take advantage of the offer , but if you cant Could you drop me a note so I can extend this offer to someone else?”
BRE business reply envelopes
Disadvantages of BRE– They slow up response Proves it is not personal If you cant do good guilt with a SRE a BRE is better
PSH Place stamp here - the customer pays the stamp
- lose some, because of hassle and cost - but gain because of personalisation over BRE
Test this it is probably best!
The bag of dirt. An Attention grabber must be relevant “ a sumbmarine that flies” cheap shot wont work
Bag of dirt “I am attaching this bag of dirt for two important reasons” “First because what I have to say to you is very serious and I needed a way to grab your attention
“Secondly because what is in that bag could be your passport to complete financial independence
“Why is this? – because what is in that bag is a tiny amount of what the most valuable commodity on earth Im talking about real estate, and in this case Hawaiian real eastate Yes its true” And so on.
So the formula is. Picked list – a product - envelopes – attention – first para
Now you need an order card, But Don’t want reader to see order card and brochure why? They go straight to the coupon
So fold up with message– “open paper to find special info promised inmy letter” The mailing needs to be business like personal, not just personal – some typeset – brochures etc Reader to see at the proper time
Now technical side of copy - first research
Read Everything you can about product Books, Old DM pieces Headlines – reading and taking notes These are the golden nuggets- Reread Put stars by best
Then leave for a while.
Get the right kind of ATTENTION dont use cheap shots.
iNTEREST – feed some facts eg maui proprerty – amount of sand, pretty girls and so on
Then DESIRE - The benefits Eg more money - Or attract the opposite sex
ACTION Be Very clear and specific what you want the customer to do.
Right now today
Copy the “tova facelift ad “in your own handwriting Do it just as if you were taking to the typing pool
It allows you to internalise the thought process. You will have a big advantage of those who are lazy and dont.
Gary lists a number of important ads - including all time best such as
The original coat of arms letter The famous dollar bill letter from the Robert collier letterbook
Notice the construction
Use simple words “Get not Procure” Transitions - “Well as a matter fo fact” -”Now naturally we don’t want to” Ask questions - “Can you imaine that? I know it seemsunbelievable” Word pictures – “And just wait till you step in”
The best way of becoming a good writer is by writing good writing
The layout should catch the attention of your reader, but not in a way that causes him to notice the layout
Use Editorial look No long paragraphs Make it look appealing
Gary says that he once produced a catalogue as a back end to the coat of arms letter, and it bombed But a letter advertising another product to the same group turned in $40m Moral, you do better when it appears youa aren’t trying to sell
Juries, lovers, interviewers make up their minds in minutes Then spend the rest of the time trying to justify that decision
You can hook a reader before they read, just when they look at it So the look is very important - they spend the rest of the time trying to convince themselves for a decision that has already been made
So use a crisp look , clean layout
If using labels Bright white label on matching envelope Use commemoratives Letterhead dignified and non distracting Use red to underline
Dont take decisions on ego - and remember HALT Never make a decision when “Hungry Angry Lonely Tired”
You need an explanation to make a good deal believable
Fire sale Out of business Taxes Lost the lease
A reason why.
Offering you this deal because of a unique circumstance eg “Only if you write a review”
Read your own copy out loud to look for places you stumble and reword them Read good copy out loud to imprint in your memory
So a project summary
Identify the list Define a product of interest Car owners, “heres how to fix your car to get 50% more miles” Then got to financer ask for $5000 to kick off the project Do a small test mailing and if it works Roll out to 50000 If it still works finance big rollout from cashflow Split profit with funder
And the formula is
Find a hot market Create a product Direct mail piece with benefits Test mailing Roll out
Don’t make it complicated it is not.
Someone showed gary a product wood machine and asked if he could sell it. He said “It’s the single biggest mistake”, “Find market first - Then concentrate on a product the market is asking for”
Difference in success is awareness Being ready when the opportunity comes “so stay up to date”
He said If people are right and I am best copywriter, it is because “I work like crazy”
Take card players Everyone gets the same hands over a long period, it is being ready for the good hands that matters. Sweat the details, be ready for opportunity
Try fuessing the Time and check it - are you aware enough?
IMPACT The impression of attaching to top of letter something like a Classic dollar bill – 90% Or a Japanese penny - It Must tie in with promotion
If you try something novel and make it look like a driving ticket They will remember you with distaste - so No sale Dont use cheap tricks
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