A few MAGICAL secrets you copywriters might enjoy...

by gjabiz
6 replies
Anyone got some extra testosterone they can toss my way? I see plenty of it here...

Anyhow...I thought maybe I'd break up the "discussions" and pissing contests...and give one or two of you a couple of ideas...

Especially, you who WRITE things in addition to doing COPYwriting...

These lessons go back...and just a quick story to get you there...a few years ago, when the Summit County Library was being redone, they moved into an old grocery store for a couple of years...AND, the hidden archives (you needed a special library card)...that were once in the dungeon became accessible...and these magazines dated back to about 1830...

I started my research at 1860, because direct response really wasn't much to speak of before the Civil War...but afterwards...for the next 30 years it BOOMED. The reason it boomed was because of the railroads made it possible to deliver goods to almost anywhere in the country...so new companies like Montgomery Wards and SEARS started their catalog businesses.

And the SNAKE OIL salesman sprung up all across America...

OK, enough history...how can YOU profit from my research today:

I call your attention to Ted Nicholas, who has written many times about how he would find good books with BAD titles and republish them...you don't have to write or create new works..

YOU can just RECYCLE old works and make them popular to either a new GENERATION or to a new market...

That is probably the sentence you want to copy out by hand...

In the 1970s, Ben Suarez sold a recycled book by Dr. Jarvis called Vermont Folk Medicine, which had been a best-seller in the 1950s...and made a ton of dough...

These modern direct response geniuses (Ted and Ben) were Breakthough guys...but, not on this technique.

Enter Wehman Bros. Publishing...one of the early pioneers in direct response ads...selling BOOKS, and in many ways, they were the forerunner to Gene Schwartz...and could they have been his secret SWIPE file? We'll never know...

But Wehman Bros. did a lot of RECYCLING of books, many by MAGICIANS...they often bought overstocks and out of print books and just changed covers...

And, in 1900 they ran ads for a 20 year old book, much the same as Suarez did in the 1970s, and used direct response to make it a best-seller again.

The writer was Martin Young, the original was published in 1880. Martin Young ALSO wrote a best selling book on MAGIC too...but this book...

was ONE of the ORIGINAL...

wait for it...

wait...

HOW TO SEDUCE WOMEN books...giving those shy men of 1900 the inside secrets from around the world a sure fire advanatage over other guys...

Here is the ad:

mystery.jpg (image)

And today's lesson, the POINT, before we get back to our regular scheduled battle of the copywriters is:

YOU can find many books, courses and information which were successful 20 years ago and RECYCLE them today...heck, many IM gurus do just that.

So, go to your library, or search Google and look for best sellers from 1980s...and see what you can find...

And here's the SECRET...

YOU can get the rights to many old books with just a signature on an agreement...why wouldn't the copyright owner want to make a few bux today???

OK, gentlemen...start your pizzing...

gjabiz
#copywriters #enjoy #magical #secrets
  • Profile picture of the author Mark Andrews
    Banned
    Originally Posted by gjabiz View Post

    Anyone got some extra testosterone they can toss my way?...


    Pardon?

    You might want to rephrase that for a British audience.
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  • Originally Posted by gjabiz View Post


    HOW TO SEDUCE WOMEN books...giving those shy men of 1900 the inside secrets from around the world a sure fire advanatage over other guys...

    Here is the ad:

    mystery.jpg (image)

    gjabiz

    25 cents! I need this book. Do they accept Paypal?

    By the way, in the U.S. publishers occasionally did not not renew the copyright on some of their books. They just forgot or figured the book was a dud.

    You have to do some digging but there are good books published since 1923 that are not in copyright. Anything before 1923 is out of copyright.
    Signature
    Marketing is not a battle of products. It is a battle of perceptions.
    - Jack Trout
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  • Profile picture of the author max5ty
    Very interesting article.

    Some of those old time ads are priceless.

    The internet archive is also a good place to get some great stuff.

    Internet Archive: Wayback Machine
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  • Profile picture of the author Studio13
    Recycling old works for a new generation.

    I made my first $10,000/month site from this principle. Instead of selling a single publication, I sold a collection of 300+ ebooks on the occult, and sold an all access pass to this "Magic Library" for $97. Each one I obtained for free, free of copyrights and free to distribute from the PDF archives listed in the link above by The Copy Nazi.

    Recycling old works for a new generation, indeed.
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  • Profile picture of the author Don Schenk
    Quote from the ad: "All countries have been ransacked to get These SECRET OF LOVE MAKING."

    Ransacked!

    Too funny.

    Great post Gordon, and @Mal, thanks for the link.

    :-Don
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