Gary Halbert's Direct Marketing "Course"

I'm no copywriter ( I am learning) but i tink its safe to say u can take anythin the late great Gary Halbert says as Gospel truth in regards to writing copy. If he has laid out a way to write killer copy, then just do it. Don't question the advice he has given, you just do it.


What he says is pretty standard stuff, that every great copywriter has done and does to become a great copywriter. Read those books, write out by hand, proven headlines and sales copies, ads etc

I've been doing that stuff myself in bits and pieces, albiet in a very disorganized manner ( which will change in the New year). I've learnt that i must absolutely learn how to become good at writing copy if i'm to make it big time.

If you do this, you will be a better technical copywriter than 98% of this forum.

NOBODY does what he says in that post. N.o.b.o.d.y.

Do it all, and you'll be a stronger copywriter than anyone a business owner can currently hire, online.

- HR

"For the first time?" I don't mean to take a "tone" (I really don't), but you need to dissect about 5,000 ads before you're going to get a deep understanding of advertising. That's not an exaggeration - being a habitual dissector of everything persuasion-related and an incorrigible critical thinker, I'm sure I've mentally dissected way more ads than that in my lifetime.

Writing out ads as Halbert suggests is definitely going to help you. If you've only recently started taking ads apart and looking under the hood to see what's going on psychologically, I'm sure it will do you a world of good. And, in between rounds of doing that, get a hold of a huge collection of classic ads (just Google it, there are several great sites) and start tearing them apart mentally every which way from Sunday.

Figure out what makes people BUY. That's what you study ads for. It's something you need to understand not just intellectually, but on an automatic, intuitive level. You need to understand the psychology of advertising in your bones. And the psychology of advertising is no more and no less than the psychology of human beings in general. Anyone who does this can write copy even if they've never touched a book or a course.

But again, ignore me in favor of Halbert, by all means. He's a giant and I'm just some guy on Warrior Forum. No doubt he knows all of this and concluded that having people write out ads by hand is the best way to get it done. Makes a lot of sense to me, especially if one hasn't spent a lifetime in the habit of tearing ads apart just for sport. And even if one has, it couldn't hurt. I'd be doing it myself if I cared about "moving up," although currently I really don't.

Goddamnit. The hand writing is for muscle memory and "magic."

If you've never written these classics by hand, you do not understand this.

If you have, you don't need me to explain it any further.

This is not about dissection. This is about "magic."

- HR

I can easily believe it might take 5000 ads or so to "get it." But no time like the present to get started.

No, I don't understand the magic. But that is hardly unexpected not being a copywriter. But I have to admit, the ability to sway thoughts via the written word is intriguing to say the least ... and magic at best .

Okay, I've gone out and found the ads talked about in Gary Halbert's newsletter, and over the next week or however long it takes, I'll go ahead and write them out by hand.

To save the trouble of searching for anyone else interested, here is a thread on the WF that has links to them:

http://www.warriorforum.com/copywrit...omplished.html

Many thanks for your input!

Marvin

No, I don't mean in a super-detailed way, but just a quick examination of the key points. To examine 5,000 ads in detail, systematically, would of course be a Herculean task and an implausible claim to make. I sincerely thank you for calling me on this, as you've made me aware that I might have inadvertently sounded like I was trying to BS people, and that's the last thing I want to do. I hate BS. Everybody says they hate BS, but Lord knows I really do. There's far too much of it, especially in business.

So... I agree, the term "dissect" was probably the wrong one to use, as it implies a lengthy, detailed examination. I was referring to more of an instinctive grasp of the key elements. I wouldn't necessarily call that "superficial," though. It's just a different way to approach things.

But yeah. Let's change "dissect" to something more like "attack." A quick, aggressive look at what makes an ad tick. And yes, I can do this. Really anyone can, if they have a certain mentality. I have a love/hate relationship with advertising which has really leaned much more to the "hate" side historically.

Tearing ads apart comes naturally to me, and writing them is at least partially a process of applying what my cynicism has taught me. I understand advertising partially because I make it my business to study all forms of manipulation and behavior control. It's part of my full-time avocation, which is the study of psychology, philosophy, and human culture. It's my obsession and the focus of my life.

I don't blame anyone for either not understanding this or simply not buying it. I'm a rather weird guy and most definitely not your typical Warrior Forum member. My thinking is profoundly different in many ways. If that sounds in any way patronizing, it's not meant to. I simply know no other way to say it. I'm an unusual sort of guy. More than a bit of a weirdo, really. The way I think would probably shock many here, but it does give me certain insights, and the way advertising works is one such area.

But yeah, "attacking" 5,000 ads in a lifetime is probably a massive understatement. I shred every ad I hear on TV, often out loud, which sometimes drives my wife nuts.

Also, please understand I'm not saying any of this with any kind of "selling myself" in mind. I'm not even working or taking clients at the moment, and that's totally by choice.

I really don't care whether people believe me or buy anything I say - but don't take that as a brush-off. Some of you guys are fantastic at what you do and I enjoy talking to you.

Gary Halbert is the reason I chose to become a copywriter (undboutfuly). I am a very uncertain person when it comes to doing certain things, always sceptical, but His letters are just fantastic!

Thanks for showing this one, taking it truly to heart.

you're not supposed to understand it. thats the whole point.

if you understood it, you wouldn't be asking how to write better... you'd already be a great writer.

just do it and thank hank later :-)

OK -Logically and theoretically, I agree 100% with you, Collette.

Also you, Ken ;-)

But both of your posts let me know you've never sat down with the dozen or so
classics he talks about, and copied them down a few times, by hand.

You can't really explain it. You "absorb" a measuring of your words... the "energy" of
copy. And on repetition, you understand the ad on a deeper level than surface.

I used the word "Magic" in my other post... but... I did not use it lightly.

Here, I'll prove my point to you - and help you become a better writer, in the process:

(not that you need it, of course. I'm coming from the understand we're all constantly
improving)

Here's David Ogilvy's famous Rolls Royce ad:
http://marchingagainstphilip.files.w...royce_stor.png

As you can see, it's one of the shortest direct response ads you'll ever come across.
Also, it's one of the least "commonly structured."

Take just one hour, today, and write it down twice by hand. Not once, but twice. And
here's a little tip I've learned from writing a few dozen of these bad boys out by hand:

Imagine you're writing it down not simply to write it down, but writing it down for
someone else to read.

Something happens when you take this mindset - You measure your words, make
every letter more carefully, etc etc etc.

Whatever it is, it's conducive to learning.

If... After this exercise... You don't agree that this process has a tinge of "Magic" to
it...

... Then I can't convince you. I'm truly sorry.

But I know from experience you'll "see the light." And maybe even the ghost of John
Lennon ;-)

- HR

Thanks Marvin for reminding me about this. And for the link to that thread with the ads. That's really cool and saves me a lot of time.

I would certainly say writing Halbert's newsletters by hand, too, improved my writing ten-fold. But I've only done three or four to date.

Thanks again for the reminder. Word on the street is, Dan Kennedy followed Gary's advice when he was first starting out. And now... Dan charges over $100,000.00 to write copy for his clients.

Be good or be good at it, right?

Personally, I thought 9th graders wrote most of the commercials I've seen on TV...they suck as far as decent sales copy goes IMO