The Boron Letters
Page 5
Frequency - The more often a person buys a particular item, the higher his desire for that type of production service. It just makes sense. If you are selling a book on skin diving and you can find a list of people who have purchased several other books on skin diving, then you know he is interested in the subject and will be a likely prospect to buy your book.
Unit of sale - Once again, we have a guideline that just plain makes sense. After all, a person who recently paid $100.00 for a bottle of diet pills is probably a hotter prospect for diet type products than a person who has only paid $10.00 for a bottle of diet pills.
You know, Bondo-Dog, people don't always put their money where their mouths are; but they do nearly always put out their money where their true desires are.
Recency, frequency and unit of sale: All good guidelines for evaluation of a mail order list. And, in my opinion, of the three guidelines, RECENCY is, by far, the most important of all.
Now, let's discuss some other ways of finding out what people like to purchase by mail. In addition to mailing lists, there are a number of so called "hot" mail order publications. These are the newspapers and magazines that mail order companies advertise in over and over. You should make it a point to discover what these publications are and get copies of them and become very familiar with them. You should pay attention to their editorial content and pay special attention to the mail order ads they carry.
STOP 10:55
START AGAIN
11:27
There is a newsletter out of New York City called the "Gallagher Report". This newsletter covers the world of advertising and once each year they publish a special edition that lists all of the major magazines and it ranks them by circulation.
You should get a copy of this special issue (ask Eric) and then get copies of the top 100 magazines and go through them and find out which ones carry a lot of mail order ads.
STOP 11:31
START AGAIN
8:56 PM
I have just come in after visiting with you, Kevin, B. and Z and a digression at this point might be productive. Z, as I am sure you will agree, probably feels a certain sense of relief that, because of the circumstances, she has more or less gotten her own way in regards to her ad. It's really too bad. Too bad for her! You have just seen an excellent example of why I generally treat clients with an iron fist. Z pulled this same stunt when she had her other ads written (by other people) and the ads were miserable failures.
If I were on the street I would have handled this situation in a totally different way. In fact, after about 5-minutes I would have told her to get lost and that she either gets out of my face or else she can write her own ad.
The lesson here concerns control. Can you imagine how disastrous it would be if a patient could tell his surgeon how to do the operation? Or, if an athlete could tell his coach how to do his job?
I could go on and on. But isn't it ridiculous! A client pays me big money to write an ad and then they want to tell me how to do it!
It happens all the time. But not with me. At least not when I am on the outside. You see, part of the reason I am in so much demand is that I am so hard headed. Clients, although they would never admit it, most often feel relieved with someone who takes a "don't you dare mess with my copy" attitude.
As you know, I couldn't make a scene in the visiting room but you can be sure that the next time I talk with Z that I am going to quietly but firmly put a lot of pain in her brain.
Here's another illustration of the importance of control. When B. took me aside, one of the things he explained to me was that (name deleted) in Vegas wants to put the commissions into another project and delay paying me.
Now, here's the thing. (Name deleted) is one of the good guys. And, sadly, even the good guys have trouble living up to their agreements when it comes to money. That's one of the reasons I try to structure my deeds so that I get paid often. You see, when there is big money involved it is very hard for the clients to write those checks.
STOP 9:17
START AGAIN
9:20
And, what really makes it hard for the client is that he usually believes that he doesn't need you anymore since he already has the ad.
Ah, there's a lesson here but, also, I'm blowing off steam. Let's get back to becoming aware of markets. Right here, what I want to do is encapsulate one of Halbert's Rules of Marketing Success. It is:
Sell People What They
Want To Buy!
So obvious, so overlooked and so important.
Now one thing I haven't mentioned so far is that you want to be on the lookout for ads and direct mail pieces that you see over and over. What this means is that whomever is running the ad has hit a nerve.
And, a good way for you to make money is for you to hit that same nerve only do it better.
But, and I know I'm being redundant, the most important thing to do first is to locate those hot buttons. You don't have to guess. You don't have to wonder. You don't have to ask people or take surveys.
All You Have To Do Is Observe!
Observe the ads that keep repeating. Observe the size of the mailing lists available for rental on different product areas.
Observe the direct mail pieces that keep getting mailed out month after month and sometimes year after year.
More tomorrow.
I Love You and
Good Luck!
Dad
9:31
UPDATE:
Many people have said my father could sell ice to Eskimos and it’s meant to be a compliment but, that is the exact opposite of what he preached.
Gary Halbert felt the smartest marketers offer all the Eskimos a great deal on heaters!
So many people get excited about Gary Halbert’s copywriting skill, they forget his main focus was on good hooks, offers and solutions.
My brother Kevin and I know far more about Gary Halbert level copy than anyone else on earth but, we don’t focus on writing better copy. We focus on creating better deals.
We watched as people came from all over the world to learn how to write copy from Gary Halbert and after a few editing lessons and a couple homework exercises, he concentrated on teaching them how to become marketers.
He taught them to go after the low hanging fruit first.
Also, I’d like to add an observation to his point about getting paid often and how good people do bad things.
Some of my favorite people owe me money.
It doesn’t matter that they can afford to pay me or even that they know they lost way more money in missed opportunities because I can’t recommend or work with them.
It’s basically a mental block people have to being able to hand over money unless they see an immediate payoff.
The larger the debt the larger their aversion to paying so if one week’s commission becomes two weeks owed etc. the small debt starts to increase as you let it slide.
This is why you should try to get paid as often as possible and spell out simple agreements via email.
You could save a good relationship as well as a lot of money.
more free letters at halbertising.com
The Boron Letters
Chapter 8
Tuesday, 10:52 AM
June 19, 1984
Dear Bond,
Another digression. I am tired. I was upset after last night's visit plus my roommate was snoring like a buzzsaw last night. (Poetic justice)
Anyway, what should a person do when he is tired? Should he stay on his program or should he rest? It all depends. I am skipping lunch today and I am writing this on my lunch hour. If it turns out, that in my opinion, I am just spinning my wheels, I will stop writing and start resting.
The same applies to my road work which I will start a couple hours from now. You see, the way I look at it, if you halt your forward progress every time you get a little tired or irritable or whatever; then you are suffering from a lack of discipline. On the other hand, if you keep pushing when you are chronical
ly tired or really sick, then you are a fool. A lot of men do this because of a misplaced sense of macho.
It's not macho, it's stupid.
So what I do when, like today, I don't feel like working, is that I start working anyway and I pay attention to what signals my brain and body is sending me. Then, after working a while, if I honestly do start to feel worse I will stop and quit. However, if I just feel a little bit crummy (as I do now) I keep on plugging along.
As someone once said, "Most of the world's work is done by people who didn't feel much like getting out of bed."
So true.
By the way, I am having coffee and V-8 Juice. I am a big fan of V-8. It's cheap, it only has 36 calories, and, when you pour it over a tall glass of ice cubes it really tastes great.
Give it a try. It's a nice alternative once in a while to eating or having a soft drink.
Now, back to marketing. You know, one of the remarks I hear all the time when I ask someone what they think of one of my ads goes something like this: "Oh, I'm not a good person to ask. I never buy anything by mail."
Really. Mail order sales run into the billions of dollars each year but rarely will you run into anyone who admits to being a mail order buyer.
Personally, I think all these non-mail order buyers are the same people who don't read the "National Enquirer."
Once again, it must be all those Martian invaders.
What I am doing here is redundantly making a point and I am going to be even more redundant. Here's another little glimpse into one of the vagaries of human behavior: Once I asked at class at USC how many of them preferred to go to plays more than movies.
Lots of people raised their hands.
"Bull!" I said to them. "You are all fooling yourselves and I'm going to prove it." I then asked for a show of hands of those people who had seen a play in the last week or so.
No hands.
I then asked to see the hands of people who had seen a movie in the last week or so.
Many hands.
Bond, this phenomena is common. All of us, including thee and me, have a slightly shrewd idea of ourselves. We often try to convince others and ourselves that we are something we are not, something we have an idea we "should" be.
Therefore, truth, my good son, can be determined NOT by how people use their mouth but rather how they use their wallet.
I want to burn this message into your mind. Be skeptical of what people say. Be skeptical of surveys. Of questionnaires. Instead, believe in numbers. For example, if everybody you talk with says they like plays more than movies and yet the numbers say that 10,000 times more people buy movie tickets then you believe the numbers!
If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck - guess what? It's probably a duck!
So keep reading the "SRDS" book. Keep looking at hot mail order publications and repeat mail order ads. Get yourself on as many mail order lists as possible. (Get a P.O. Box.) Watch the offers you receive. Anything you are going to buy anyway, and you can purchase by mail - do so.
Keep your finger on the pulse of the industry. Stay aware. Keep awake to the possibilities of overlooked marketing opportunities. After a while you will develop a sixth sense.
Here's a true story that illustrates what I am trying to get across. It has long been my belief that a lot of money can be made by making offers to people who are at an emotional turning point in their lives. For example, when they have just had a baby, just gotten married, just lost a loved one, just gotten a raise, just filed bankruptcy, just purchased a new car, and so on.
Well, guess what? For a long time I have been wishing there was a way to get a list of pregnant women. Now there is! While looking through the "SRDS" I discovered that now you
STOP 11:35
START AGAIN
11:40
can rent 120,000 new names of pregnant mothers every month. Oh boy! Well, I got myself a hold of an M.D. who is very skilled in research in the areas of human and animal intelligence and I have commissioned him to write a report titled "How To Raise Your Child's IQ Before It Is Even Born!"
This is exciting. Let's talk numbers. I plan to sell the report for $19.95 + $2.75 postage and handling. (Total $22.70) My fulfillment costs will probably be (including the 10% I pay the doctor) about $5.00. This means that every sale will yield a $15.00 contribution to overhead. Now, let's assume I'll get a 5% response. This means, of course that out of every 1,000 letters I mail I will be receiving a total of 50 orders at $22.70 or a total gross income of $1,135.00. Now let's deduct $5.00 per order for fulfillment (which is $5.00 x 50 orders or $250) from this $1,135.00 and, as you can see we will have $885.00 left. Now, of course, we must also deduct the cost of the mailing. I figure it will cost (including list rental) about $400 per M (thousand) to mail a promotion like this. Thus, when we deduct this $400 from the $885.00 we have left to play with, you will see that we have a profit of $485.00 for every thousand letters mailed.
Hot damn! I'm cooking now! I'm glad I decided not to rest.
Onward. Let's see now $485.00 profit per M times 120M equals a total profit of $58,200.
EVERY MONTH!
STOP 11:54
START AGAIN
12:23
P.S. I'm sitting here with Bobby B and I have just discovered how to get Paul Harvey on my new radio. What I get is a very weak signal from KABC but, my other co-worker Jack (The Plantation Nigger) (he's really white) has just shuffled over. Jack told me earlier, that you can get Paul also at 2:30. Maybe I'll interrupt my running and see if I can get him then.
STOP 12:27
I LOVE YOU AND
GOOD LUCK!
Dad
UPDATE:
Kevin and I struggle with the decision but ultimately decided to leave all the letters unedited because it is a powerful reminder that Gary Halbert is writing this from prison surrounded by all kinds of people.
For what it’s worth, I never saw my father pass up a racist joke but I also never saw him treat anyone differently based on race.
Onward…
The ability to recognize reality apart from what people say is key to really understanding your prospects and how to turn them into customers.
After the initial copy dump where I pound out all my thoughts for a sales letter on a keyboard, I re-read whatever I wrote and apply the so what test.
I once took a speech class in college and everyone had to give a speech on something they are passionate about.
One of my fellow classmates was training to become a police officer and his speech was on why he wanted to become a cop.
Everyone had to make three points and his were:
He got respect
He often got free food
He could get out of speeding tickets.
There wasn’t a single mention of protecting or serving the public.
At first, I thought, “finally… a little honesty” but I quickly realized he may not be the sharpest person to give a badge and a gun.
I’m not saying police officers don’t like to protect and serve, and I have never heard a full-fledged police officer say the best part of his job was power, free stuff and the ability to break the law.
But they can’t hate those perks. Who would?
My point is simply that even the good men and women in law enforcement usually choose the politically correct answer over their feelings.
One big key to having marketing eyeglasses is to be honest with yourself.
Do you really enjoy getting up and going to the gym or do you really take pleasure in the sense of accomplishment or the afterglow?
The more honest you are with your true self and others, the fast you will see what really motivates people.
more free letters at halbertising.com
The Boron Letters
Chapter 9
Wednesday, 10:30 AM
June 20, 1984
Dear Bond,
Well, kiddo, I don't exactly know what I'm going to write about today so what
I am going to do is just keep putting words down on paper until I start to get some direction.
It occurs to me that I need to tell you that just because I told you how to pick the very best lists doesn't mean that the less responsive lists are not valuable. Never forget the coat-of-arms promotion. That was mailed (and very successfully) to names taken from the white pages of the telephone book.
I guess what I want to start on today is how to think about developing a mail order campaign. And, as I said earlier, from now on a good part of your working life should be spent reading the "SRDS" list book and newspapers and magazines that carry a lot of MO advertising.