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Looking for John Caples quote/example

by marciayudkin
7 replies
I am looking for examples from (I think) John Caples where different book titles were tested against each other back in the golden era of mail order ads and one title far outperformed the other.

I looked through Tested Advertising Methods and couldn't find the passage I recall reading. Does this ring a bell with anyone? It might not have been John Caples, but it was from that era. I'd like to be able to quote the book title tests he provided.

Thanks in advance!

Marcia Yudkin
#caples #john #quote or example
  • Profile picture of the author ewenmack
    Marcia, it was the book title "The First Hundred Million"
    by E. Haldeman-Julius I think you are referring to.

    He chronicles how he sold 100 million books in the Little Blue Book series.

    And part of his success was due to changing book titles.

    So here's the whole book in PDF form here...

    http://www.masterkeymarketingwarrior...redMillion.pdf

    Enjoy,
    Ewen
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    • Profile picture of the author Steve Hill
      Originally Posted by ewenmack View Post

      Marcia, it was the book title "The First Hundred Million" by E. Haldeman-Julius I think you are referring to.

      He chronicles how he sold 100 million books in the Little Blue Book series.

      And part of his success was changing book titles
      Thanks for the reminder, Ewen. The story is well worth reading, as an intriguing look at the past and as an example of brilliant marketing.

      Haldeman-Julius (H-J) kept exacting records of how many books he sold of each title, and how many he sold after changing the names of some of them. As he sold them in minimum amounts of 20 for a dollar, people were able to slip in books of a somewhat more embarassing or controversial nature without being obvious. H-J was very meticulous, and his observations about sales and salesmanship are quite interesting.

      Just about everything you'd ever want to know about printing, shipping, and distributing little books around 1928 is in this document. It has some interesting implications and lessons for modern-day publishing too.
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      • Profile picture of the author marciayudkin
        Ewen,

        No, this was not what I was thinking of because I've never seen this guy's work.

        Even so, thanks for the reference because I can probably pull the kind of examples I need out of it.

        Marcia Yudkin
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        Check out Marcia Yudkin's No-Hype Marketing Academy for courses on copywriting, publicity, infomarketing, marketing plans, naming, and branding - not to mention the popular "Marketing for Introverts" course.
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        • Profile picture of the author ewenmack
          Marcia was it "How To Win Friends And Influence People"
          by Dale Carnegie"?

          I recall it was referenced, somewhere, but not sure where,
          about the previous title was a dud.

          Best,
          Ewen
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          • Profile picture of the author wilmath
            In Caples book," How to Make your Advertising Make Money" he talks about how Readers Digest picked their articles. It is in the chapter "Sales Appeals That Last forever" on page 100.

            Caples said that Readers Digest asked him for a way to find out which articles had the greatest sales appeal to readers. He remembered the "Little Blue Books". They were sold by having an ad that had a list of 350 titles and the reader would pick twenty from the list.

            Caples liked the idea and tried the same thing with Readers Digest but with the intent of finding out which articles were most requested. Once they knew the most popular they would then advertise them in radio commercials, newspapers and on the cover of Readers Digest.

            The Readers Digest offer was a little different from the Little Blue Book in that the reader could pick any three articles and Readers Digest would send them free.
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  • Profile picture of the author Loren Woirhaye
    Caples does refer to Julius once or twice - e.g. "Quest for a Blonde Mistress" outselling the same book titled "Fleece of Gold".

    I haven't read "How to Make Your Advertising Make Money".

    There's a guy on this forum who put out a big collection of headlines from Cosmopolitan covers than show the general principle.... in regards to sex anyway.
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  • Profile picture of the author Don Schenk
    Marcia,

    Are you thinking of the Dale Carnegy ad with the "How To Ruin Your Marriage - In The Quickest Possible Way" ad on page 49 in Tested Advertising Methods?

    Or perhaps the book title list on page 117?

    :-Don
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