5 VALUABLE LESSONS FROM THE PRINCE OF COPY.
If you”re serious about learning something, you might as well learn from the best.
A few months back, I came across the infamous book by Gary C. Halbert “The Crown Prince of Copy.”
Its most likely the only copywriting book you’ll ever need. Extremely Fantastic and readable.
So last weekend, I recently re-read The Boron Letters. In this post, I’m going to write down some of the most valuable lessons and new insights I’ve learnt from the book.
Lessons that you can apply to your life starting today!
LESSONS FROM THE BORON LETTERS
The first few lessons aren’t specifically copywriting related or even marketing related.
But there’s so much valuable lessons about life from Gary.
Lessons you can apply to your life as quickly as today (if you have the guts to) and watch how your life will change.
In this post, I’ll take you through the most valuable lessons I’ve learnt and applied from The Boron Letters.
Lets move on but first...
A little about Gary C. Halbert…
Gary C. Halbert, often dubbed as “history’s greatest copywriter” made and lost a fortune in direct mailing and other business ventures more than once.
He was so damn good with his writing that he was often referred to as the “The KING of Copy”.
Here’s why I bring this up…
His famous letter (The coat of arm letter) was mailed over 600,000,000 times (that ain a typo), which brought in over $40 million in sales in the 80s.
That’s a lot of money in the 80s.
But what’s most fascinating about this is that…
This letter must’ve required a large number of staffs to run the operation…and…to give you an idea of the logistics needed to run an operation like that, hear from Gary himself..
“The letter built an organization that needed 700 employees to keep it going…and…40 of those employees were needed just to make the bank deposits!”
In the mid 80s Gary Halbert was sent to prison for tax fraud.
While he served his time, he wrote the letters in this book to his son Bond.
Gary intended to give his son an education in the direct-mail marketing field, but ended up covering a whole lot about business and general philosophies about life.
Lets dive right into lessons and the first thing you need to know is….
It all starts with your health
Gary Halbert opened his book talking about the importance of health, exercise and eating well.
These all contribute to a better performing individual across all aspect of your life.
Now, this may not seem evident but our brains function are highly impacted by our body health and the food we eat.
It is no secret you have to always put your health first.
If you don’t pay attention to your health, it only gets worse.
Here are easy things you could do to improve your health…
You could…
Take long walks in the morning or evening…
This is my favorite. It helps clears my mind when I’m going through a tough day.
All you have to do is put on your shoes, step outside your house and walk in any direction of your choice. It’s that simple.
Also…
Exercise at least 3 - 4 times a week
Eat fruits (apple, orange or banana will do) and vegetables.
Fast a full day at least once a week.
This allows your organs to get the much needed rest that they need.
Fasting itself is a miracle-worker.
This is why it’s highly prescribed in every religion on earth.
You’ll be shocked just how quickly your health returns to its peak when you fast.
Try and make this a habit.
It will be hard at first but it will certainly be worth it.
I remember how hard it was when I started but I soon realized it was worth it.
In the past 4 months, I’ve taken a full day fast at least once a week.
If you can do this, you’ll be glad you did.
But…
If you think this is hard, start small by skipping breakfast.
And instead eat at least 3 pieces of fruit before lunch.
Your increased focus and brain power will prove you didn’t waste your time.
Moving on.
Keep At Your Goals Until You Master Them.
This is a simple “grit and sticking with it.”
Gary explained that to be successful at anything, you’ve got to show up every day.
You’ve also got to study the greats, read the books and gradually, step by step you become great at anything you set your heart to.
A Caveat…
This will not be easy. It’s rarely ever fast.
But…
If you “stay the path,” you will get there eventually.
Most people are on the lookout for the next big thing, the next shortcut to riches or some guru secret…
What they don’t realize is that they’re subconsciously avoiding the most important thing of all, which is…
The shortcut to success is that there is no shortcut to success.
You will have to show up every day and be willing to sit your ass down and do the work.
Gary put it best when he said…
“Everyone wants to climb the mountain. But the difference between those at the top and those at the bottom is simply a matter of showing up tomorrow.”
Remember, most of the world’s work are done by people who didn’t feel like getting out of bed.
Another of my favorite lesson is….
Be Skeptical About What People Say…Rather Watch What They Do.
Gary knew as much as we do, that people have an idea of themselves.
That how people perceive themselves and how they actually act may be two different things.
If you were to poll people about their favorite meal, they’d tell you something exotic, expensive and unique-sounding.
But in reality, there’s a reason why McDonald’s is one of the worlds biggest companies…why there are five kebab shoes on every high street in the UK.
Humans want to associate themselves with better things in life, with values, with discipline…but if you watch their actions as well as their spending…you might come to another conclusion.
Don’t listen to what people often say…rather watch what they do.
And finally…
Money Is Where The Enthusiasm Is…
This is a copywriting and sales lesson but it’s applicable to all aspect of life.
In sales and in copywriting in general, there are tips, tricks and systems that are designed to get people to put their money in your pocket.
Gary drills all these into a simple idea: Money comes when you can generate enthusiasm.
In sales, people fall into the trap of addressing a problem by giving a bullet point list of all the features of the product and how it adds up to a solution to the problem.
That’s logical except this is a trap.
What you really want to do instead is to generate enthusiasm for your solution.
That means appealing to the emotion of your target audience.
Humans are not rational, we like to think we are but were not.
We’re emotional beings.
We do things from the place of emotions and as such people buy things with emotions and justify it with reason.
Put simply in another way…you need to appeal to the emotions of your target audience.
If you sell anything online you will need to create a message so powerful, so emotional (with your writing) that will make people abandon their inertia in favor of trying out the new reality you present them with.
You will need to convince your reader that what you sell will change their life – regardless if it’s a $10,000 life coaching session or a $2 book.
There are so many lessons and advice you can get from reading
Gary Halbert classic The Boron Letters. I’ve covered just a fraction of them that you can apply today in your life today.
I really enjoyed reading The Boron Letters and would recommend it to anyone.
At just 100 pages you can finish it in one afternoon of reading.
The book contains more lessons but these resonated with me a lot.
Regardless of whether you’re a blogger, a businessman or a freelance writer, you will learn something extremely valuable from this book.
