This isn't every copywriter's tale but it's close enough to illustrate how and why the top ad men like to work with a few professional clients and/or starting their own businesses.
The best copywriters love to write and keep taking clients but to get them you need something profitable, easy and very interesting to snag them away from other opportunities.
In this letter my father mentions using a dollar bill as a great grabber and it is but I will tell you about a better one in just a moment.
First I want to make the point that in a pinch, a dollar will work as a great grabber for almost any product with a margin of profit high enough to be worth adding a whole dollar to the cost per leed.
You can say the reason this seemed appropriate is it relates to saving money, making money or as the first dollar they can put towards buying your product.
But, if you are planning on mailing a list at least twice, thanks to my dad, I think I have found a better way.
You see, among my father's things, I found a stack of Iraqi dinars and knew instantly he thought they would be good grabbers yet I had no product to use them for until a few years later.
Allow me to get side tracked for a moment…
I like to experience human energy in mass so…. if there is a huge crowd, I like to meander about by myself.
Every Christmas season, I finish all my shopping early enough to go casually walk around the crowded malls.
I check out almost any large protest and on one such occasion I had a brainstorm at a political rally.
It was an early Tea party rally and I saw how fired up they were and it inspired me to comehome and type up a sales letter using the dinar.
Here is the beginning…
Dear Mr. Everett,
As you can see, I have attached a crisp Iraqi Dinar to the top of this letter.
I did this for two reasons.
1) I needed some way to get your attention and since what I have to say concerns the falling US dollar, it seemed especially appropriate.
2) This Iraqi Dinar is going to help me prove what I have to say.
You see this currency is basically worth less than the paper it is printed on because even blank paper has some value.
However, some savvy people made millions of US dollars from the fall of the Iraqi Dinar and in a moment you will know…
Exactly How They Made So Much Money
From The Fall of This Doomed Currency!
And, how you can benefit from the same knowledge.
You see, what made this Dinar so worthless was the decisions made by the man whose face is on the front of it.
And…
If you sense the decisions being made right now by our own government are hurting the American Dollar, this may be the most important message you will ever read!
Here is why…
When the government started spending billions and billions of dollars bailing out wall street fat cats and banks, I knew this was not good news for the good ole US Dollar and I was right.
As our government fired up the printing press, it made me mad and then it just bummed me out. Eventually, I even began to panic and started to wonder if it would become difficult to feed my family until…
I heard about a guy who taught me and he can show you…
How To Use The Situation
To Make Life Better
For You and Your Family!
I haven’t worried since and when you are finished reading this, you will realize there is a way out of the danger and you will worry a whole lot less too.
There are a growing number of Americans waking up to the reality that the US dollar is going down the tubes. They are getting nervous and they even refer to the complete collapse of the US dollar as…
“The Impending Event!”
Many of these good Americans have the right idea but they are ignoring the…
Single Best Way To Prepare For
The Collapse Of The US Dollar!
Don’t make the same mistakes they are by relying only on emergency food rations, ammo and gold.
Then the letter would use lot of conservative language which would explain how some good Americans are preparing for the future but going about it the wrong way.
I explain how investing in gold won't cut it and that there is a better way.
I talk about how passing spending bills lowers the value of the dollar which means places like Switzerland can't sell us as many Rolex watches so they pass their own massive spending bills to devalue their own money and keep jobs.
As this goes on throughout the world, the news of such spending bills will drive wild swings in the FOREX or foreign exchange markets and here is a FOREX system they can buy.
Now I like this better using the Dinar better than the dollar bill for several reasons:
1. The reader can't spend it so it can sit around reminding them
2. It's cheaper than a $1
3. It is more memorable.
This last point is where the real power is.
Beleive it or not some people have received more than one dollar bill letter and you can make serious hay out of your follow up mailing if your grabber is this memorable.
Dear Mr. Everett,
As you can see, I have attached this fake million dollar bill and I did so to make a point.
You may recall from my last letter with the Iraqi Dinar attached that I talked about the fluctuations in the dollar and investing in gold.
Well I'm proud to say that depending on the timing, if you had invested in gold depending upon the timing you could have earned %10 or potentially lost 30% but….
Since I last wrote to you, the fluctuations in the foreign exchange market have netted investors a return of 300%!
Blah blah blah
The reason I like this better is a Dinar can’t be spent or given to the kids and since it is theortically money, few people throw it away. This means it sits around a lot reminding them of my Forex offer.
Now when I remind the reader about the previous letter they think “oh yeah, I remember that. In fact, I think it’s still around here.”
Now it is rare, but some people do see more than one dollar bill letter but who else would have sent them an Iraqi Dinar.
The ability to remind them of you previous message is priceless because the prospects feel they got to know you a little over two letters and it allows you to make an effective I told you so argument to say gold has done so so but had you listened to me you would be sitting pretty.
more free letters at halbertising.com
The Boron Letters
Chapter 25
Friday, 7:14 PM
July 7, 1984
Dear Bond,
Tonight I am going to be writing about something I didn't think I was going to be writing about.
I just had a minor confrontation in the chow hall with a guy I've had a little trouble with before. He was giving out cups of ice and when I insisted on two cups he said 'no' and we verbally got into it. At one point, he suggested that if I didn't like his refusal to give me more ice, we could go fight behind one of the dorms.
I glared at him and walked away. We were starting to attract attention and there were (always are) guards in the mess hall.
Really, this is no big deal except in a way, it is. This guy is not very much like the room mate I had some trouble with. This guy is young, tattooed and stupid. He is a loser and I know from previous conversations with him that he is pretty much lost when he is on the street.
He is always messing up, he smokes dope and he is in the Lieutenant's office often for disciplinary action.
I would probably kick the living **** out of this guy. You never know for sure, I could be wrong but he is not a big, bad type. Mostly, he is just plain stupid.
But what may be instructive in all this is why it happened and what I hope to do about it so I, hopefully, don't have to deal with it again.
First of all, let me explain that both the incident with my roommate a
nd this incident happened when I was "off". As a matter of fact, I am off right now and I have been off for more than a week. When I am off, when anybody is off, this is communicated!
Right now, also, (or in conjunction with) being off, I am also quite vulnerable. I have fasted two days this week, I am missing L. and I have been, in general, feeling sad.
No big deal. Except when you are in prison. When you are in prison, even a very easy one like this one, your "Karma", I believe, is extra important! It's important on the street too, but it is especially important here. This is a bad place to be weak, even a little and even momentarily.
Remember how I told you, you could sort of tell if you were off by how close you could guess what time it is? Well, another indicator is if you bump into things just a tiny bit or you are just a tiny bit clumsy. Don't forget HALT. Hungry. Angry. Lonely. Tired. When I went into that mess hall, I was all of this except angry and I was probably a little angry too.
Now, here's an interesting thing about both of these two incidents. In both cases, I was "wrong". Not big deal wrong. But wrong from a not being aware and on top of things aspect. You see, in the incident with my roommate, if I had been aware, I would have realized that my radio was causing an infuriating disturbance. And, in this recent incident in the mess hall, I should have realized that this guy was deliberately positioned there for the express purpose of rationing out the ice and here I was responding to his "What about the rest of the guys?" with the answer, "To hell with the rest of the guys!"
And, believe it or not, I said that a little unconsciously because I sort of thought he was joking. You see, I just wasn't on top of things.
On the street, neither of these things would have been a big deal. But here, there is a lot less slack.
So, now that I know I'm off, what do I do? Well, I certainly don't intend to fight this guy who I refer to as "The Rodent". That could cost me six months extra in the joint. But, I don't want many more of these incidents either. So, what I intend to do is lay low for a while until I am feeling strong and not feeling vulnerable.
You know why I'm going to lay low? It's because I'm concerned. Not physically scared ("The Rodent" isn't very threatening) but concerned that I better get back on top mentally to be more prepared to deal with this environment.
Does it seem like I'm making a big deal out of all this? Don't kid yourself. It's serious. I'm missing L like crazy right now, I am missing my freedom, I am angry about having to be here, I am diminished by my previous confrontation, I am weak from fasting, I am tired (albeit pleasantly) from my long run and all the time I spend in the sun and, in general, I am a bit weakened.
I am starting to make mistakes.
No good. Not here. So, what I intend to do is fall back and regroup.
STOP
7:46
START AGAIN
7:48
I am, for a little while, going to try to avoid (as far as possible) my fellow inmates. I'm going to fast tomorrow and sort of hide out. I don't intend to fast again after that for another week. You know, when I'm on the street (God, I even talk like a con now!) I also avoid people whenever I fast and it is even more important here.
So, first I'm going to lay low and secondly, I am going to try not to "emerge" until I have pumped a little iron.
You know, I may be wrong but, I think had I been "pumped" neither of these incidents would have happened. I think this for two reasons:
1) I would have been more alert and never did the things that perpetuated these incidents.
2) And secondly, when I am "pumped" and on top of things, people react differently to me because I send out different "vibes".
By the way, another way I can tell I am stressed right now is my vision is a little blurred.
So now, after all this preamble can I relate any of this to your success at DM and MO? You bet. At the time in my life when I was making the most money, I followed the same procedure I am talking about here. Namely: I pay attention to myself and when I am off, I drop out of sight and do what is necessary to strengthen myself.
It is important here, it is important out there, and it is especially important in business dealings. People can smell it when you are weak. When you are vulnerable. They can smell success too.
They can sniff out a winner.
And you can't fake it. Not for long. You've got to be it!
STOP
7:59
START AGAIN
8:03
Lord I'm tired. My vision is more blurred. And, I have just made some minor but maybe important changes in my planned routine over the next little piece of time. I'll tell you what they are when I resume writing.
STOP
8:05
START AGAIN 9:31
What I have decided is, I had better not take a day off running right now. I intend to run in the morning and fast tomorrow. And, then, run again Sunday, even though I fasted the day before. What I'll do I think, is I'll get up early like (sun up) 5AM and eat a couple oranges and drink a little coffee and maybe take warm up shower or a longer than normal warm up walk and then run Sunday too.
Boy, did I just have a good talk! I found a guy here who is very much like me. His life is stones, he's intelligent, he's Cherokee Indian and he has had some "incidents" also and he gave me some good advice.
He said you can't sink to their level. Just don't talk to them. He also said avoid cursing. And, it's funny; he does the same stuff I do: He runs, he pumps iron, etc. Maybe a valuable friend.
I'm so tired. I really want to get out of here now.
Since this is the last of my first batch of letters (this is #25) to you, I am going to try and think of something extra, maybe a little special to say.
I don't know what. Let's see. How about this? One of the things I have learned here is how precious the good times and the good people are. I hope I have learned never again to not take care of my special relationships.
Like the one I have with you. Let's remember we've got something very special and really take care of it.
I LOVE YOU AND
GOOD LUCK!
Dad
9:42
START AGAIN 9:44
P.S. I've got four more minutes to do to get my hour in. Let's see. I guess what I want to focus on here at the end is my resolve to "go underground" and quietly strengthen myself. I've really got to do it. I've got to transcend myself.
And, what I think my theme will be is to make a game of becoming an expert at quietly diffusing explosive situations and sending out stronger vibes so I have fewer (or maybe none) encounters to begin with.
That's It!
STOP
9:48
This last letter is great.
Being off happens to all of us and it is super important to know when you are off.
Besides the tricks my dad talks about, I also found you can use Sudoku puzzles to gauge how off you and even better...
You Can Use This To Warm Up Your Brain
The brain is like any other human muscle. It needs proper nourishment and rest and can be exercised to work better.
When I am off I struggle to finish the Diabolical level Sudoku puzzles but when I'm on fire I can rip through them really fast.
Since they are 100% logic based they are better than crosswords and other brain teasers because one is not much more tricky than another and no special knowledge is being measured.
You may not like Sudoku puzzles but try and find a good way tpo determine when you are sharp and try and find something you can do to warm up the ole noodle.
Being on or off makes a HUGE DIFFERENCE in your success.
Ever have a problem that seemed insurmountable and after calm reflection you realize you can handle everything with one easy step? Everyone has.
When you are on fire, rock and roll. Just keep pumping out copy, cutting deals and make the most out of that energy.
But, when you are down do as pop suggests and work while you hide out.
Life really is like
high school and despite what people say, nobody wants to help or be with the sulking kid.
By doing working alone you will not only avoid allowing others to smell your weakness but you will cause an air of mystery.
The cool kids are always of doing something nobody else knows about.
By working independently, even if angry you will come out on a more solid footing which will e evident in your attitude.
The Boron Letters Page 14