How Gary Halbert and an empty coffee cup got me a job

A handful of years ago I needed a job.

Like a REAL job.

A good ol' 9-5er.

After sweeping through the listings on Craigslist, I found a potential job as a sales guy for a well-known pest control company near by.

Not having any sales experience, I felt that I was at a disadvantage. I didn't want to apply for the job out of fear that my email would never be read.

So instead of "dropping by" to introduce myself, I decided to write a direct marketing piece.
It was the perfect excuse to execute what I had been learning at the time.

I went to Starbucks and snatched an empty large clear cup with a lid, and a $5 dollar gift card.

After that I called up the company and asked for the name of the branch manager. Once I had all the info I needed... I got to writing my 'cover' letter.

I ended up using Gary Halbert's opening from his famous dollar bill letter.

I closed the cover letter with something like "I'd love to hear more about the position. Perhaps over a cup of coffee, my treat?" then I taped the gift card to the bottom of the letter.

I think I used FedEx same day shipping.

Needless to say I got the interview... and the job.

All thanks to a Starbucks cup and Gary Halbert.

This isn't the first time I've used this to get a job. I did it with a friend of mine who was applying for a GM position at a hotel. We used the monopoly hotel pieces as the grabber. I remember scrambling at the local Walmart to buy more monopoly boards because we didn't have enough pieces lol.

I'd love to hear some quirky direct mail stories you mailed or ran across!