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Nike founder's first business

Marketing, social media, advertising

wade1mil

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When Phil Knight was the last cut from freshman high school baseball, his mom said he could deliver papers or try out for track. Track led to Nike.

This is a sales letter from his first company called TIGER. I can imagine if I was a track coach and read this, the first sentence would make me want to read the rest of the letter. The last two sentences are great because it challenges your ego, although I'd probably use something other than idiot these days.

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Polarbeans

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It's like reading a Gary Halbert letter.

  • Starting with Dear
  • Putting in a big hook
  • telling them the offer in a clear way
  • product benefits
  • testimonials
  • tapping into the emotions and a challenge
  • signing off with proper ending

I love this, I printed it:)
 
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funkj25

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Still seems like a pretty relevant letter even for today, although you might tweak the first line to be more specific on the benefits (fastest, lightest, most efficient, shock absorbing, etc.) versus "best" if you wanted to grab a coach's attention (more apt to grab the athlete's attention honestly).

Loved the closing line. I'd love to see how people react to it nowadays, definitely has some bite to it.


As an aside, I actually have a pair of Onitsuka Tigers in my closet right now based on the '64 Olympics version. My racing flats are 1/2 of the weight of the tigers nowadays, but the Tigers sure are comfortable for an everyday flat/shoe.
 

MJ DeMarco

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Love it, so many takeaways from such a short letter.

1) Professionalism.
2) Direct to the point.
3) Appeal to audience and ITS wants.
4) Taking action.
5) Confidence and the quality of your product.
6) Social proof (testimonials)
I don't see anything in there about how he wants to be a billionaire, be rich, drive Ferraris, etc. etc.
 
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throttleforward

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Love it, so many takeaways from such a short letter.

1) Professionalism.
2) Direct to the point.
3) Appeal to audience and ITS wants.
4) Taking action.
5) Confidence and the quality of your product.

I don't see anything in there about how he wants to be a billionaire, be rich, drive Ferraris, etc. etc.

First and last sentence include "you" and "your," nowhere in the document does the author say "me", "I", "our" or "my."
 
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AgainstAllOdds

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Biggest thing that stands out is what he did before writing this letter: He got endorsements.

When the top 11 of 12 runners in the world are wearing certain shoes, then it's a no-brainer to buy the same shoes - especially when the price is less than the competition.

To get to that point Phil Knight likely had to work his a$$ off.

Great sales copy? Yeah. But even greater marketing!
 

VegasMan

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edward222

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Interesting :)
hhhhhmmmmm
Wondering if it still works these days.
Gotta try this kind of letter.
 

BlakeIC

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RHL

The coaching was a joke guys.
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MKHB

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God damn dat copy.
This is the philosophy outlined in the book "Pitch Anything," where he uses a
"lucky for you I have agreed to sell you my product/take your money" approach.

Someone who is not famous, I would love to hear your experience if you've tried this method.

MK
 

AllenCrawley

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I highly recommend reading Phil's book Shoe Dog. One of the best books I've read in a while. Lots of valuable lessons. He's also an incredible writer and story teller.
 

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