Is the Gary Halbert Course A Good Intro To Copywriting?

John,

I was where you're at a very long time ago.

Halbert was the undisputed copywriting hero.

Dan Kennedy was up and running with his first copywriting courses.

And John Carlton was just beginning his "guru" career (I heard his very first ever "talk' at a Kennedy seminar).

I bought everything they and all the other "experts" were selling.

And waded through the RC Letter book, 7 STF and dozens of other classics.

I learned a lot from them all (at times it was heavy going).

But over all the years did I have to spend around $137,000?

Probably not.

Because nobody showed me the "holy grail" to complete copywriting success.

However, collectively they pointed me in the right direction.

And if there is a "secret" that would be it.

Don't ever rely on just one or two "teachers"

Get an academy full of them.

From the old pioneers to the modern day heroes.

And you don't have to spend a fortune doing it.

Choose carefully. You want the legends not the pretenders.


Steve

The key to getting good is taking the collective wisdom of those who've gone before, and making it your own.

In other words, learn from them because there's absolutely no earthly reason to reinvent the wheel when you could just hop on your bike and ride. But you've got to make it your own and apply it to your own business. Maybe the stories are outdated, but surely there are nuggets of wisdom that apply to your situation.

Steve,

Thanks for your thoughtful reply. Having gone down this road, my question for you would be how helpful is reading book after book on copy-writing? It seems to be a lot of theory and basically rote memory. The part of Gary Halbert's method that really appeals to me is copying out successful ads by hand. I feel my time would be better spent just studying these ads rather than reading ancient excerpts on how to write an ad.

I suppose I'm young, hyper-motivated and a tad brash. Basically, I just wanna to start writing some darn copy. I feel like I learn best by doing and trial-and-error. But perhaps I'm trying to run before I can walk.

I never did the agonising write by hand - 10 letters x 20 times.

I'm glad because 28 years later I may have developed acute arthritis.

But many say they found it useful, it's supposed to "wire" the copy techniques deep into your psyche.

I preferred reading and deconstructing the damn things again and again.


You're right on the books and the same applies to courses and seminars there is a lot of theory.

And endless repetition.

But how else will you discover all the principles of great copy?

Maybe by studying more and more campaigns.

And choosing just a few highly recommended books and courses to get a greater insight into how and why Ads work.


Steve


P.S. The "gurus" are often marketing geniuses. They'll tell you they found it so unbelievably beneficial to pay a big chunk of money for a seminar ticket. Book a hotel, travel for hours then sit and listen to an "expert" rabbit on for days - just to get ONE (supposedly) priceless gem of information.

Which of course will make an untold fortune.

Be careful.

I was did this and a few weeks later picked up a copy of John Caples "Tested Advertising Methods" for $20.00.

Not only did it have the "priceless gem" that I paid nearly $7,000 for - it was crammed full of other golden copywriting nuggets.