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Gary Halbert's influence

by Bigtree
6 replies
I just received an email from a copywriter (Harlan Kilstein) suggesting that Dan Kennedy learnt much of his marketing nous from Gary Halbert.

I had no idea.

I was wondering if anyone has traced the major lines of influence to gurus like Dan Kennedy, Gary Halbert, Jay Abraham and others...

Many thanks

BT
#gary #halbert #influence
  • Profile picture of the author Loren Woirhaye
    Well, Halbert was was a decade or so older than Kennedy, Abraham
    and other guys who got their starts in the early 1970s.

    Halbert had a newsletter going back pretty far - he was influential
    I think not only because he was very insightful about what works
    in direct response, but also because he was a screamingly funny,
    entertaining writer.
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    • Profile picture of the author Sam Mlambo
      I'm always and forever a student of direct reponse marketing and copywritng. I make it a habit to read the works and info-courses of guys like Gary Halbert, Dan Kennedy, John Carlton, Clayton Makepeace etc.

      But I also study the resources of older (but legendary) marketers and copywriters like Robert Collier, Napoleon Hill, David Ogilvy, Eugene Schwartz, Claude Hopkins, Victor Schwab, John Caples, etc

      Many marketing Gurus like Dan Kennedy, Gary Halbert etc were influenced by these older kats. They continue to influence marketers to this very day! I'm a living testimiony.

      I encourage you to look them up and check out their resouces if you're looking to improve your direct response marketing and copywriting efforts.
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  • Profile picture of the author Mr. Enthusiastic
    Dan Kennedy openly talked about this in some of his presentations. Apparently when Dan was in high school, the Halberts hired lots of people in his home town to stuff and send sales letters, and to open payments. This was how Dan discovered the potential of mail order. So Halbert was definitely an influence on Kennedy.
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  • Profile picture of the author The Copy Nazi
    Banned
    We've ALL "learnt much of his (our) marketing nous from Gary Halbert". He mentions Kennedy and Kern in this wonderful newsletter - The Gary Halbert Letter

    It seems there are hundreds, perhaps even more than a thousand, web blogs talking about me. I've even come across an entire website that gives information about me.
    And it's been during these last few months as I became a "lurker" and began reading some of these blogs and the like, I started learning a great deal about myself. Recently, John Carlton sent me a link to a website with a comment something like, "My God, Gary, what are they going to think of next?"
    I clicked on the link to that website and there was a huge headline that said: "If you're wondering why you haven't heard from Gary Halbert lately, it's because he has been sent to prison." It then went on with page after page describing why and how I happened to be in prison.
    Another time I was looking at an article someone was preparing to write about me. It told about the time I had an idea at 9:00 in the morning and turned it into a quarter-billion dollars in cash that same day.
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  • Profile picture of the author RickDuris
    It's the people the gurus DON'T acknowledge that have the biggest impression on their lives and careers.

    Oh my goodness, guru-tis is creeping in once more.

    Let's switch contexts so that I don't step on any toes. (By the way, all this is TRUE.)

    Comedy.

    There is a comedian you all know, love and perhaps respect. But you'd be surprised to know how much material he lifts outright from up and coming comedians at comedy dives. When his manager is confronted, he simply cuts a $500 check to the originator and says "thank you very much."

    The comedian you love will never reveal his sources. Neither will the best copywriters.

    In public, they may give a tip of the hat to the masters of old, like Collier, Caples and Hopkins, but candidly, the truth is "mums the word."

    That's why I am advocating YOU SEARCH OUT EVERYTHING and inhale it.

    This isn't like rock music where you can trace everything back to the roots of Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson or Blind Lemon Jefferson. Or less knowns like Sun House or Taj Mahal.

    That's why it's important to get your hands on everything new as well as old and study it. Immerse yourself. Copywriting is not a static entity. It's being rewritten as I write this post, which makes me kinda paranoid. Especially in this age of the Internet and social media.

    It sounds rather daunting but that's the truth. ANYBODY who's swiped a sales letter from old and ran with it knows this--it's a loser and you lost money on the promotion.

    Just like a Muddy Waters record would NEVER sell today.

    Neither will those old ads. BUT you can use them as inspiration and guidance and have them influence you at your core. That's the BIG secret.

    - Rick Duris

    PS: Muddy (as well as Little Walter) were brilliant.
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