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Gary Halbert 30 day challenge Copywriting Group

SlowlaneJay

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Sowexly

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I'm in and I'll do my damnedest to grind this out in 30 days time!
Shoutout to @SinisterLex for putting a fire under my a$$.

TL;DR Progress Report:
Scientific Advertising
The Robert Collier Letterbook
Tested Advertising Methods
How to Write a Good Advertisement
The Gary Halbert Letter
The Boron Letters

The Lazy Mans Way to Riches
Breakthrough Advertising
7 Steps to Freedom

Day 2:
  • Finished Scientific Advertising keeping my eyes open :watching: for places to find the older books.
  • EDIT: Just invested a paycheck into books :bookworm:
Day 3:
  • Tracked down all of the books in preferred editions :banghead: starting on the letters until shipping catches up to me.
  • Finished back issues of Gary Halbert Letters (luckily there are only 8 back issues but I skimmed further and the rest of it looks gold too)
  • Finished the Boron Letters (reading this makes me wish I could meet Gary, and it's assuring that the more I read on the subject the more previous media agrees and supplements it) Woo that all day reading, time to unwind and reflect :brb:
Day 4:
  • Still waiting for shipping o_O
  • Got Kindle copies of Boron Letters for reference, working on printed copies of Gary's Letters (only the back issues pg1-70)
Day 5:
  • That waiting... I'll do something productive and make a copy of Gary's letters in a binder.
Day 6:
  • Books arrived! Half way through Tested Advertising it's great but I feel I'm skimming as time goes on. Also these beauties arrived!
    books.jpg
Day 7:
  • Done with Tested Advertising, and Easter around the corner ;)
 
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Grinning-Jack

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I have some pdf books of the list and I'd like to change them on the copies that I have no yet. PM me if you're interested.
My wanted list is.
The Robert Collier Letter Book by Robert Collier.
The Gary Halbert Letter" (all back issues) by Gary Halbert
The Boron Letters by Gary Halbert
The Lazy Man's Way to Riches by Joe Karbo
7-Steps To Freedom by Ben Suarez.
I have over 800 different e-books to change.

The challenge sounds cool - 30 days to complete all stuff. Sounds like your month bills will be paid by someone else. lol
 

Sowexly

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Day 8:
  • Guess post edit limits exist :wtf:
  • Having a damn hard time getting through the Robert Collier Letterbook, Gary did a great job summarizing the pinnacle of thinking.
 

William

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Does anyone know where I can find Breakthrough Advertising at a reasonable price?
 
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mcw

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I know this is an old thread but...
I've committed to taking this copywriting journey. However, I will not kid myself about getting it done in 30 days. I work a demanding full-time job (switching between day and nights), I have a very active family 5 (including me) and I'm 16 classes shy of a degree (not for career advancement but for personal achievement). Although these may sound like excuses, the are not. They are reasons why I must read and re-read every single one of these books, manually copy all of the stated sales letters and do everything else that Gary has mentioned. Will it be in 30 days? I don't know, but I do know that I will commit to working on it every single day as I have been for the past couple of weeks:

Scientific Advertising - Done
The Robert Collier Letterbook - Done
Tested Advertising Methods - Reading...
How to Write a Good Advertisement
The Gary Halbert Letter - Done
The Boron Letters - Done
The Lazy Mans Way to Riches - Done
Breakthrough Advertising
7 Steps to Freedom - Just came in today.. massive book..

upload.jpg

I look forward to hearing about everyone else's progress.
 

Ryllban

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Question to everyone who has done the challenge or a lot of it. DO you find a big difference in your writing? Feel like you have made a big progress so far?

Im doing something similar, the copyhour. Have been handwriting 18 letters so far and it's amazing the switch in your mind you feel when you start to get into it. You see the great offers they promote, how easy it is to order, and how risk-free it is. How they get a lot of credibility and back up their claims in some way.

How they get you to sit down and read an entire newspaper ad and feeling: Oh shit, I really want this! the entire time..!.

Powerful stuff this is!
 

Yumms

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Im getting started on this. Found a few of those titles online as free PDF's in about 10 minutes time using google.
I hope this is ok to post these, if not please feel free to take it down or let me know...

http://www.timrosenblatt.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/ScientificAdvertising.pdf
https://s3.amazonaws.com/sherus/The-Robert-Collier-Letter-Book.pdf
https://archive.org/stream/pdfy-hHdovzQ-RvFny9Cy/Tested Advertising Methods_djvu.txt
http://www.what-is-coaching.com/support-files/lazymansway2riches.pdf
 
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Patchwork Girl

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Hi all. I'm returning to this challenge after a few months (I got bogged down in some new freelance work) and am keen to get through the rest of the books if I can get hold of them in the UK.

There seem to be two editions of The Lazy Man's Way to Riches and the newer one has been revised - does anyone know which edition is preferable? Edit - I read some reviews and they seemed to suggest that a lot of the revised edition was filler that does not add to the original text. I have ordered the older edition.

I'm also wondering if the dropbox file is still available (Breakthrough Advertising is going to cost more than £100 and I think there was a pdf somewhere? I'll skim back through the thread to see if I can find it but, if anyone can give me a point in the right direction it would be appreciated.

Thanks all. Those of you who have completed this challenge are inspiring me!
 
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EconomicSage

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Wow! Thanks so much for starting this thread. I'm over a year late but after bumping into this thread couple of months back I bought all the books except for Breakthrough Advertising because of the 150$ price tag. Just have a couple more letters to write by longhand but planning to take a step further like IceCreamKid and do a 90 day challenge instead
You should have made money for helping increase sales for those books though damn
 

EconomicSage

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Wow! Thanks so much for starting this thread. I'm over a year late but after bumping into this thread couple of months back I bought all the books except for Breakthrough Advertising because of the 150$ price tag. Just have a couple more letters to write by longhand but planning to take a step further like IceCreamKid and do a 90 day challenge instead
You should have made money for helping increase sales for those books though damn
 
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BobbyD

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I know I'm late to both the forum and this thread, but I'm extremely happy I joined and found this thread. I just have a few questions.
1. Has anybody experienced real results as a result of finishing the challenge?
2. I realized that these books were written some time ago so how relevant are the methods in todays world or are you guys implementing other methods to make these strategies work in todays technology advanced world?
 

The Grind

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I know I'm late to both the forum and this thread, but I'm extremely happy I joined and found this thread. I just have a few questions.
1. Has anybody experienced real results as a result of finishing the challenge?
2. I realized that these books were written some time ago so how relevant are the methods in todays world or are you guys implementing other methods to make these strategies work in todays technology advanced world?
Read @SinisterLex threads.

Stop reading this thread.
 

marklov

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I know I'm late to both the forum and this thread, but I'm extremely happy I joined and found this thread. I just have a few questions.
1. Has anybody experienced real results as a result of finishing the challenge?
2. I realized that these books were written some time ago so how relevant are the methods in todays world or are you guys implementing other methods to make these strategies work in todays technology advanced world?
I'm typing from my cell and so the formatting might be weird, I completed this from about mid year last year and a lot of it didn't make sense to me but since I have made marketing my sole purpose day in day out and began internalizing the concepts a lot of it started to make sense as if magic or some sort of wizardry.

I can tell you that many of the books are very abstract and you will often have to take a breath an reflect on what is really being said even highlight a paragraph and return to it later then it just clicks into place again as if magic, I just don't know how to explain this phenomenon..The book breakthrough advertising for example blew right over my head the first time but now I get goosebumps whenever I read it and discover a gold nugget it's just pure thrill.

The books are dated yes but the core principles are very alive in today's market and the same reasons that made people buy 50 years ago are the same today, many ways to skin a cat but a cat is still a cat.

Has the methods worked for me ?

Yes they have worked and once you have learned how to write a good ad it doesn't matter the medium or industry you choose , you will be able to write copy that makes you or your client money.
While I don't like Gary halbert style of copy this challenge was the beginning of the rabbit hole.

It,s just crazy the amount knowledge you have on tap that you can access anytime from these books.
It's late an I kinda rambled maybe left out some other points but that is my experience so far...
 
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BobbyD

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I'm typing from my cell and so the formatting might be weird, I completed this from about mid year last year and a lot of it didn't make sense to me but since I have made marketing my sole purpose day in day out and began internalizing the concepts a lot of it started to make sense as if magic or some sort of wizardry.

I can tell you that many of the books are very abstract and you will often have to take a breath an reflect on what is really being said even highlight a paragraph and return to it later then it just clicks into place again as if magic, I just don't know how to explain this phenomenon..The book breakthrough advertising for example blew right over my head the first time but now I get goosebumps whenever I read it and discover a gold nugget it's just pure thrill.

The books are dated yes but the core principles are very alive in today's market and the same reasons that made people buy 50 years ago are the same today, many ways to skin a cat but a cat is still a cat.

Has the methods worked for me ?

Yes they have worked and once you have learned how to write a good ad it doesn't matter the medium or industry you choose , you will be able to write copy that makes you or your client money.
While I don't like Gary halbert style of copy this challenge was the beginning of the rabbit hole.

It,s just crazy the amount knowledge you have on tap that you can access anytime from these books.
It's late an I kinda rambled maybe left out some other points but that is my experience so far...

Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions, you have convinced me to continue! *opens "Tested Advertising Methods"*
 

Lex DeVille

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WarWizard

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Wow! Thanks so much for starting this thread. I'm over a year late but after bumping into this thread couple of months back I bought all the books except for Breakthrough Advertising because of the 150$ price tag. Just have a couple more letters to write by longhand but planning to take a step further like IceCreamKid and do a 90 day challenge instead
You should have made money for helping increase sales for those books though damn
@EconomicSage : This is one of the best priced I could find -> http://store.directmarketingiq.com/store/p/39-Breakthrough-Advertising.aspx
 

Lex DeVille

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What is your method Link? I have read you post about odesk but you didn't really go into how you learned copy?

You read the whole thread + the other thread where I virtually broke it down step by step?
 
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Austin Sarwar

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You read the whole thread + the other thread where I virtually broke it down step by step?
That's what I'm trying to figure out I just saw where you said how much you made and what you said about not telling the client all about you but what yo u can do for them
 

Kraelog

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I've also started the challenge, but unfortunately I cannot seem to find a copy of 7 steps to freedom?

Could anyone add me to the shared dropbox? Can I PM someone?
 
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mosdef

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How to write a good advertisement : a short course in copywriting and
How to write a good ad both by victor, whats the difference between these two? One is for like 5 dollars at google play.
 

vshetty.vs

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Does anyone have the lazy man's way to riches ebook

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
 

Testament

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You guys should check out @SinisterLex 's thread on copywriting - infinitely more actionable. Trying to tackle so many books/info before you actually try it is just going to develop a glut of information in your head that you won't be able to properly access when you need it.

I do that a lot with new skills that I take on - I'll try to get to know everything I can about it before I actually start in on it in any significant way. It never works out well - I always get my a$$ handed to me as soon as I try it for real the first time, and all the hours upon hours I put into trying to learn the skill before actually attempting to use it in the real world is essentially a complete waste of time.

I can't remember where this particular quote came from (I think I first heard it on an Eban Pagan DVD) but, you can't learn to surf by reading a book about it. You can spend 20 years learning every single thing you possibly can about surfing without actually doing it, but the first time you actually try to ride a wave, you are going to fall on your a$$.
 
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The Grind

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You guys should check out @SinisterLex 's thread on copywriting - infinitely more actionable. Trying to tackle so many books/info before you actually try it is just going to develop a glut of information in your head that you won't be able to properly access when you need it.

I do that a lot with new skills that I take on - I'll try to get to know everything I can about it before I actually start in on it in any significant way. It never works out well - I always get my a$$ handed to me as soon as I try it for real the first time, and all the hours upon hours I put into trying to learn the skill before actually attempting to use it in the real world is essentially a complete waste of time.

I can't remember where this particular quote came from (I think I first heard it on an Eban Pagan DVD) but, you can't learn to surf by reading a book about it. You can spend 20 years learning every single thing you possibly can about surfing without actually doing it, but the first time you actually try to ride a wave, you are going to fall on your a$$.
100% correct

I would argue this entire thread is a waste of time...

...or irrelevant.

Lex's threads are the cherries on top that proves it.

If I stuck with this "challenge"...

...I'd still be reading a book about copy instead of having $500 in my Upwork account from actually doing it.

Not saying not to read and study copy, I do it everyday, but you have to apply it at the same time, and apply it hard.

90% application, study and write copy to practice 10% of the time.
 
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SlowlaneJay

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This was in the Cult of Copy Facebook group today. Someone was asking if they should read the Robert Collier Letter book, not sure if it was worth the money, and not sure if it's still relevant today.

The response was awesome and hits the nail squarely on the head:

"IMO, the big advantage to reading a lot of the "foundational" texts for copywriting like Robert Collier, Breakthrough Advertising, Scientific Advertising etc isn't getting specific ninja moves to improve your copy, but seeing where they all agree. What you find if you read them all is that, basically, they're all saying the same thing with different words. Those are the fundamentals, and hearing them repeated in different voices helps them to sink into your brain more thoroughly."

I remember reading all these books around this time last year. At the time, I thought there was no way these books were relevant. The world has changed a lot since those pages were printed.

But I 100% agree with the above quote.

After finishing the "must-reads" you get a really firm grasp of what actually works. Not tricks. Not 9 small tweaks for better headlines (you won't BELIEVE number 4!)… You get a foundation. When you read the "masters" you understand what helped them achieve mastery.

And that in itself makes every word worth it.

My 2¢

PS. Just eclipsed my one year anniversary on the forums. This was the thread that brought me into the TMF world; what a beautiful, beautiful place to end up… *sniff*
 

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