How Did Gary Halbert Get His First Client?

6 replies
Apparently there is a well known story about some interesting thing Gary did to land his first gig (and it's not writing a sales letter explaining why they should hire him)...

A colleague asked me, I couldn't answer, and now I need to know.

Any ideas?
#client #gary #halbert
  • Profile picture of the author cwrinco
    Gary actually started working with a guy in Ohio... don't remember the name. Then he led off with his own products... the penny letter and the heritage letter. I don't think he was writing for clients then.
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  • Profile picture of the author DeadRooster
    According to his son, Bond, he started out by selling his own products and getting noticed. Clients approached him... he didn't go out and pitch this copywriting services to potential clients until he was already pretty well-known.
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  • Profile picture of the author GordonJ
    Originally Posted by RobInCharlotte View Post

    Apparently there is a well known story about some interesting thing Gary did to land his first gig (and it's not writing a sales letter explaining why they should hire him)...

    A colleague asked me, I couldn't answer, and now I need to know.

    Any ideas?
    A "story" from who? Gary? Do you mean his first paid writing gig? As a freelancer?

    Knowing the answer is to resolve your curiosity or do you think it might help you somehow?

    GordonJ
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  • Profile picture of the author dddougal
    Was he not working with joe polish as one of his first clients selling carpets or something?
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  • Profile picture of the author splitTest
    Those old-schoolers did things the smart way... They didn't set out to become a copywriter -- they set out to make money. ...So they worked on their own products.

    I don't know why anyone would want to be a "copywriter" these days, when your competition is anyone with a computer and an internet connection. The internet has in fact made things worse for writers of all kinds -- including copywriters who set out to serve clients. A few of the biggest names in copywriting have said this -- including big-time copywriters that I've contacted privately.

    Journalists are even more open about the sad effect the web has had on their earning potential. ...And these are smart people... If copywriting was the "boon" that some make it out to be, these journalists would easily transition to copywriting... but it isn't. Some journalists actually have made copywriting and publicity writing part of their repertoire -- and they still struggle to make a living.

    Now howsabout those people who become skilled at using their writing to make money by selling directly to customers? The internet is a boon for those people... including the ones "selling the dream" of freelance copywriting as a "biz-opp".

    I think it was Malcolm Forbes who said (to paraphrase): "You'll never get rich until you can find a way to make money while you sleep."

    Can you sleep while serving clients? Heck -- you don't even make money during many of your waking hours as a freelancer serving clients, given all the unpaid time you might spend chasing new work...

    But if you're good at writing (and copywriting) and you use that skill to sell your own product, you can indeed "make money while you sleep", especially in the age of the internet.

    Very few people are going to tell you the truth about this business, because damn near everyone these days is selling the copywriting "biz-opp"... Can't knock them though, because many of them have taken to heart the adage about "making money while you sleep"...

    Btw -- Didn't Halbert spend a little time in "club fed"? Do you think a guy as driven as that is going to start out trying to sell writing services to clients? lol
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    • Profile picture of the author michaelscollins
      Originally Posted by splitTest View Post

      Those old-schoolers did things the smart way... They didn't set out to become a copywriter -- they set out to make money. ...So they worked on their own products.

      I don't know why anyone would want to be a "copywriter" these days, when your competition is anyone with a computer and an internet connection. The internet has in fact made things worse for writers of all kinds -- including copywriters who set out to serve clients. A few of the biggest names in copywriting have said this -- including big-time copywriters that I've contacted privately.

      Journalists are even more open about the sad effect the web has had on their earning potential. ...And these are smart people... If copywriting was the "boon" that some make it out to be, these journalists would easily transition to copywriting... but it isn't. Some journalists actually have made copywriting and publicity writing part of their repertoire -- and they still struggle to make a living.

      Now howsabout those people who become skilled at using their writing to make money by selling directly to customers? The internet is a boon for those people... including the ones "selling the dream" of freelance copywriting as a "biz-opp".

      I think it was Malcolm Forbes who said (to paraphrase): "You'll never get rich until you can find a way to make money while you sleep."

      Can you sleep while serving clients? Heck -- you don't even make money during many of your waking hours as a freelancer serving clients, given all the unpaid time you might spend chasing new work...

      But if you're good at writing (and copywriting) and you use that skill to sell your own product, you can indeed "make money while you sleep", especially in the age of the internet.

      Very few people are going to tell you the truth about this business, because damn near everyone these days is selling the copywriting "biz-opp"... Can't knock them though, because many of them have taken to heart the adage about "making money while you sleep"...

      Btw -- Didn't Halbert spend a little time in "club fed"? Do you think a guy as driven as that is going to start out trying to sell writing services to clients? lol
      If you can make money for yourself in your sleep, you have a valuable skill others would gladly pay you for as well.

      Journalism is a garbage career and most journalists can't write worth shit. The ones who can have such overinflated egos that it's very unlikely they would give away their "writing chops" to write on a level the everyday man and woman can understand. Hell, these days, most journalists write incessantly about how evil the everyday man and woman is.

      Journalism is a hack career and just does not compare to copywriting in any way, shape or form.

      Copywriting is a skill like anything else. There simply are not that many people at the top. There are not even that many people at the mid range. Even if there was, which there isn't, there will always be more business owners who need copy than copywriters who can get the job done.
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