Gary Halbert 30 day challenge Copywriting Group

[oldscool]

Due to hijacking another thread I decided to create my own thread.

This thread is for every one who is interested on taking Gary Halbert 30 day challenge to be a world class copywriter. The intention is to follow gary halberts way to the letter without deviation, and, to keep each other motivated. If you are in on this holla out in the thread to let me know you are here. Just say, "I'm in"

Feel free check in periodically to ask questions, participate, motivate and, make others accountable including myself.

If you dont know already, we are starting from Gary's premise that anyone can be a good copywriter in 30 days.Read Link Below:
http://www.thegaryhalbertletter.com/Newsletters/zfkj_hands_on_experience.htm

Here are the newsletter back issues and boron letters that you will need that is spoken of in above link.
http://www.trafficplusconversion.com/1345/gary-halbert-letter/

Here are the ads that gary halbert mentions that you will need from first link.
http://theryanmcgrath.com/2010/04/gary-halberts-favorite-ads/

NOTE: When you buy TESTED ADVERTISING METHODS by John Caples buy the 4th edition or earlier.
NOTE: When you buy 7 Steps To Freedom by Ben Suarez buy the 1st edition (if you can find it)
NOTE: When you buy The Robert Collier Letter Book by Robert Collier DO NOT buy KINDLE VERSION(its crap). You can buy the authentic 1937 version of the book from the heirs of Robert Collier: http://www.robertcollierpublications.com/page/by-robert-collier#letters
Disclaimer: I haven't purchased from their site I cant give you any purchase feedback.

Anyway, Lets try to do this as if he was over our shoulder. In case you dont know who Gary Halbert was, he was universally recognized as a legend in the world of copywriting. Gary died in 2007 RIP.

P.S. Do you mind if I call us "The Unofficial Disciples Of The Gary Halbert Way" , (TUDOG< for short )? Lets keep the torch lit!!!

UPDATE: A late addition: I am not sure if it should be a part of this challenge so I am going to leave it OPTIONAL at your discretion. Here is Boron Letters 2.0 written by Gary's son. I dont have all the details, but, you are free to take a look at the link below.
http://www.thegaryhalbertletter.com/1FOTGHLFramesetBoron20.html

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Enki]

Anybody interested in a shared dropbox folder? Pm your dropbox email and I'll invite you.

 

[IceCreamKid]

The sad part is when you try to wake them up and they take it as an attack

I stopped trying to wake people up a while back. 99% of the time they think damn this ryan kid be 50 Shades of Cray Cray.

I'll help people who want to be helped. I can't raise the dead...my boy Jesus can though!

 

[IceCreamKid]

This is still relevant today folks and neuroscience all but proves it.

Not gonna lie...it was a bit saddening when I came to this realization as I was hand copying sales letters.

Copywriting exposes you to the jaded side of the human brain and helps you understand how twisted the majority really do think...eek

Selfish desires, need for instant gratification, wanting something for nothing...all of this and more is exposed when you learn copy.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[leono]

Hey everybody!

I'm just getting started on the part of the challenge where you're suppose to find ads by a bunch of other copywriters: Gary Bencivenga, Dan Rosenthal, Joe E. Kennedy, etc., and I've found a few so far, so what I'm going to do is add them to this thread as I find them for each copywriter. First up, Gary Bencivenga.

Ads by Gary Bencivenga:

• Lies, Lies, Lies: http://www.theryanmcgrath.com/bencivenga1.pdf
• Marketing Bullets: http://www.marketingbullets.com/index.htm
  
• The Bencivenga Dvd Course: http://www.marketingbullets.com/b100dvd.htm
• Skousen High-Income Alert: http://web.archive.org/web/20090210...usenhighincomealert.com/visitor.php?offer=260
• Do You Make These Mistakes in Job Interviews: http://web.archive.org/web/20101024200715/http://www.greatvaluebooks.net/jobcopy.html
• The Great Olive Secret: http://www.theoliveoilsecret.com/
• Fresh-Pressed Olive Oil: http://web.archive.org/web/20130530190149/http://www.freshpressedoliveoil.com/oliveoil.htm
• Fresh-Pressed Olive Oil Club: https://www.freshpressedoliveoil.com//a/APHKFB2011
• The Rosengarten Report: http://web.archive.org/web/20070325005105/www.davidrosengarten.com/landing_page.asp
• "Real" Artisanal Vinegar Club: http://web.archive.org/web/20121231093844/http://www.freshpressedoliveoil.com/vinegars.htm
• How To Launch Your Own Business: http://advertisingcopyswipes.com/gary-bencivenga-rare-advertising-copy-example-swipe-file/

Also, I found 2 more links you might want to look at (not ads). The first is just a link to Gary Bencivenga's archives. The second is a link to a bunch of interviews a man named Clayton Makepeace did with some great copywriters, one of which is Gary Bencivenga. And I'm mentioning these two because Gary Halbert recommends somewhere in his newletter to read everything you can find on, about, and written by successful copywriters, so I'm adding these as well. Here they are:

• Archive: http://www.marketingbullets.com/archive.htm
• Interview: http://www.makepeacetotalpackage.com/copywriter-tools/interviews-with-top-copywriters/

PS: Sometimes Gary Bencivenga's website won't load, just type it into the wayback machine, and you're good to go!
PPS: I'll be adding links to this thread as I go, so it may take me awhile to list ads for them all.

Peace.

 

[IceCreamKid]

Damn this is dope. Mad respect to you for setting this up. I wish somebody held my hand along the way like this when I was trying to figure this stuff out.

I doubt you guys will need me for this, but holler if you need any help.

 

[IceCreamKid]

Lets go. *Pushes chips forward.* All in.

And lets also understand the deep reason why we're doing this. @IceCreamKid said in this thread https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/threads/zen*******-changed-how-i-view-the-world.49457/

My brother Dave, thank you for posting this. Sometimes I feel like a dude can't get any friggin credit out here because everyone's so focused on their own gig hahah get the ice cream.

 

[Kyle Tully]

Is writing copy a job? Ex: will someone pay me to write an ad for them like the ones listed?

You bet.

I got paid $4,000 for the first salesletter I wrote for a client.

A decent copywriter who knows how to sell himself can make low 6-figures relatively easily... world class copywriters can make a million a month in royalties... but it's a LOT of work and not a fastlane business.

However here's the harsh reality:

Most copywriters make less than $30k a year.

Because often the type of person attracted to being a copywriter likes writing and hiding behind their computer and lacks the selling/business skills to get clients.

And when you write a letter for $5,000 that takes you two weeks and your client makes $100,000 in one week, you quickly realize you got the wrong end of the stick.

 

[Enki]

Is this a good idea for a newb like me? There seems so much to learn in general from this site SEO, Copymarketing, Sales etc. I have no idea what to prioritize but plenty of free time at the moment.

I think SEO should be learned last. Why drive traffic to a site if it's not set up to convert? I'm starting with copywriting because It will apply to any business I ever set up in life. What if I come across someone who has a good idea and just can't figure out how to sell it? Bam! I now have exclusive rights to sell it! And I have those rights because I proved I CAN SELL IT! This is just one of the millions of scenarios I can think of.

 

[DennisD]

Hahaha, nice! A member of the forum and I started this in a secret FB group a while back...except I had/have too much 'on my plate' so she got started with Gary's advice and I'll have to wait until later.

Anyone who feels "I'd LIKE to take the challenge... but I have too much going on right now" should still get started.

From the tone of the letter, it seems that it's designed for those who absolutely HAVE to get good in 30 days...
30 days isn't a necessity, it's a suggested timeframe built on a question. It would certainly work over 60 days, or 90, or 360.

even if it takes you 2 years to go through the complete training, you'll be happy in 2 years that you did it... rather than still waiting for that golden 30 days where you have nothing else going on.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Sam Beddall]

Awesome thread! As a professional copywriter-turned-entrepreneur myself (agency, private commercial and freelancing), I can't praise this 30 day course enough. Stick with it!

Or, if you want the centre of the issue copy out this quote by Claude Hopkins and put it somewhere you can see it everyday:

You are presenting an ad to millions. Among them is a percentage, small or large, whom you hope to interest. Go after that percentage and try to strike the chord that responds. If you are advertising corsets, men and children don't interest you. If you are advertising cigars, you have no use for non-smokers. Razors won't attract women, rouge will not interest men. Don't think that those millions will read your ads to find out if your product interests. They will decide at a glance - by your headline or pictures. Address the people you seek, and them only.

Believe it or not, the writing itself isn't the crucial part. You'd be surprised how many clients throw out what you think is best and ask for something simpler. And they are always right. They know their markets back to front (usually!), and know how, when and where to get the most from their audience.

Great market knowledge, the right person, at the right the time, in the right context is what makes the difference.

Know thy customer and your copy will be as effective as it can be!

Wow, that took a long time to write out on the kindle. Hope it helps!

Good luck,

Sam

 

[Enki]

It's a very mechanical process and sometimes I get lost in a thought totally separate from copywriting when I notice that I'm already half a page further... I can only focus on a few words at a time and feel like I'm not retaining much of the sales letter at all. Anyone else experiencing this?

When you read a text and get lost in a mechanical process, something amazing happens if you do this consistently. You pick up the style of writing much easier. Human beings have a strong sense of identity when it comes to speaking and writing styles. Your subconscious is more likely to reject a incroaching writing style if your critical thinking is at work while reviewing a text. It's almost like your mind takes it as an argument and rejects not the info, but the style that it was written with. There is a reason Gary wanted us to do the challenge in a mechanical way. this dude knew his s***. Ever seen the movie inception? The concept is true, you are more likely to act on an idea if you think it is your own. Mechanical processes are usually enough to bypass your crit think long enough to implant an idea.

I've been studying this for years. I mainly used it to get customers of my painting company to buy extra services. I would throw some math at them and watch as the worked out the problem on paper, all the while hitting them with ideas. just before I would leave I would ask them if there was anything else?????? They would always ask about an extra service. 70% would actually buy the service.

 

[Florin]

Challenge Finished!​

It was a looongg road to study (longer that I've ever taken). At first, I didn't believed that I could finish such a challenge. Each passing day was harder and harder to devote only to reading (damn, I don't really like reading). But in the end, I'm quite enthusiastic about what I've learned.

Needless to say, I have quite a popular product selling right now. After I apply everything I've read, I'll make gazzillions now muhaha.

Good luck to everyone!

"Scientific Advertising" -by Claude Hopkins

"The Robert Collier Letter Book" -by Robert Collier

"Tested Advertising Methods" -by John Caples

"How To Write A Good Advertisement -by Vic Schwab

"The Gary Halbert Letter" (all back issues) -by Gary Halbert

"The Boron Letters -by Gary Halbert

""The Boron Letters" 2.0

"The Lazy Man's Way to Riches" -by Joe Karbo

"Break-Through Advertising" -by Eugene M. Schwartz

"7-Steps To Freedom" -by Ben Suarez

 

[Enki]

I am getting an esoteric feel studying copy. It translate to personal life. Strange but it works for me. I dont have to write a goal because I am in the goal.

I know exactly what you are talking about. I said almost the same exact thing to my fiancee over dinner. I think it is becuase we are getting a glimpse behind the "producers" curtain after only seeing it from the consumers side for so many years. This s**** makes the world go round. I'm starting to see all the ice cream.

 

[Phones]

This is a personal request, first things off, I don't blame anyone for getting the PDF's, BUT, please, if the book (any book) was valuable to you, buy it afterwards. If you don't have the means to do it now, start making a list to make sure to give back everyone their fair share once you can.

I'm currently in the middle of traffic blackbook, once I finish I'll start this journey.

 

[mindfulimmortal]

Golden Nuggets/Notes from Breakthrough Advertising.

• Find hopes, fears and desire of others
• Look for and harness fundamental forces
• Run against desires and mass and die!
• Mass desire = public spread of private want
• Mass desires already exist - focus/fill/channel the needs with product or service
• You cannot afford to educate the customer - this occurs when you try to create the desire
• Until a problem is solved a customer will buy and buy and buy
• Every product has two products - physical and functional or product in action. The physical product does NOT sell - customers do not buy the steel in the car or the glass in a vase!
• First look at your product and find the number of "performances" (benifits) it contains. Match that against fundamental desires that each satifies. Then find the greatest desire, fear or hope that the product solves and focus on that.
• Your headline only has one desire - to stop your customer and compel him/her to read the second sentence of ad
• Mass desire has 3 dimensions
  • Urgency
  • Staying power - repetition
  • Scope
• If customer is aware of your product and realizes if he/she can satisfy desire start your headline with product
• If customer is NOT aware of your product or service start headline with desire
• Only look for and focus on customers who's desires are solved by your product or service
• Price means nothing to a person who does not know your product, or want your product
• The name of your product means nothing to a person who has never seen it before
• Once headline captures attention the body of the ad does the selling. It does this by altering the customers vision of reality. It creates a new world for your customer. A world in which your product emerges as the fullfillment of their dominant desire that cause the headline to capture thier attention.
• Every social role (achievment) in life is immediaely translated into the possesions which we believe express that position clearly
• Life for the average man is dull, completly lacking in adventure - offer to let him/her participate in the frontier explorations of our world and you have melded a tremendously potent appeal onto your product.
• My favorite quote from the book -- "The mass desire must already be there. It must already exist. You cannot create it, and you cannot fight it. But you can - AND MUST - direct it, channel it, focus it onto your particular product!"

Cheers fellow current and future business owners!

 

[Lex DeVille]

"The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step". - Lao Tzu

Finished The Boron Letters.

The Boron Letters
The Gary Halbert Letter
Scientific Advertising
Tested Advertising Methods
The Lazy Man's Way to Riches
Your First 100 Million
Break-Through Advertising
7-Steps To Freedom
How To Write A Good Advertisement
The Robert Collier Letter Book

Now is the turn of The Gary Halbert Letter (10 issues)

What will you do once you finish all of this?

I have yet to see a breakthrough or even moderate success from anyone who started this challenge.

It's great you love to learn, but at what point do you put it to practical use?

When do you start making money?

This thread was started almost 3 years ago.

29 pages.

Why isn't it GOLD?

Because it's a waste of time.

Time you can't get back.

For everyone reading this...

For the love of god, read Ca$hvertising and apply it.

Write copy in the real world and test it to get real results.

Skip all this other crap until you make a dollar.

 

[davedev]

Lets go. *Pushes chips forward.* All in.

And lets also understand the deep reason why we're doing this. @IceCreamKid said in this thread https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/threads/zen*******-changed-how-i-view-the-world.49457/

It helps you create better products, find needs/solutions to those needs, and overcome objections. It has also impacted how I speak with others and how I handle personal situations. Powerful stuff. I think the most unusual impact it has had is that I no longer care about making money as much as wanting to solve the pains of business owners.

Learning to write copy has given me the confidence to pick up the phone and start reaching out to people. Face to face. No more hiding behind the safety of a computer.

EDIT: TUDOG sounds dope as f***

 

[jujumac]

I've been using this forum for a while now and have been absorbing the various fantastic threads. I read the post by @IceCreamKid which recommended learning copywriting (thanks for your wise words BTW) and that led me to find this one. I'm still in the 'not quite sure what to do, need to knuckle down and take action' phase and so wasn't intended to post anything until I had something tangible to show but had to write a quick post.

I thought that this challenge sounded interesting but I wasn't sure if it would be me just doing more learning and not actually doing. BUT I just went into my living room to have a bit of a sort out and start packing (moving in about 2 weeks) and picked up a bag full of bits and bobs and this was in it! WTF!



Actually can't believe it. Don't even remember buying it and a lot of my old stuff stayed in storage so this slipped in somehow and has stayed hidden for a year. And 5 minutes after I read this post I find it in the first bag I pick up?!

A sign is a sign - so count me in! Will start reading the first book right now.

Thanks for starting the challenge and for outlining what we need to do!

 

[oldscool]

Listen UP:

I ran a test to help those of you who absolutely cannot afford some of these books and cant get/read the pdfs(or rather not read them). This can be a bit of a waiting game and a bit of a pain(experiences may vary), but, if this is your last resort then try it.

I requested at my library in person and online to get them to do an interlibrary check(remember that word). I got them to obtain me breakthrough advertising 1966 and robert collier letter 1937 by doing this!!!
Look, if they can get me breakthrough advertising they can get you any book in this challenge.

The key is stay on top and communicate with the interlibrarian person because they may not be resourceful about obtaining books if you do not show you really need them! Note, the interlibrarian may not be at your branch where you pick up the book(s), but, you can still talk to them by phone or email.

P.S. I wanted to do this myself before I presented this information because when you tell people to do stuff they dont listen, but, when you shown you have done it they follow. I spoon fed you, you have no excuse. Get to it!

P.S. #2 Do your research & present research you've found to your librarian. You may need to enlighten them & you might want to whisper to tell them exactly what you've found.(i.e. that book is available at this place through my research on worldcat.org, or, I see the book is circulating at these libraries out of state, can you call them? etc).

P.S. #3 Interlibraries are international as well so I know you can get books. Just have to do a variation of what I explained above.

P.S. #4 In terms of speed and convenience it is probably best just to buy the darn books or look for them online. However, who knows, maybe you get lucky and your library has the book and you dont have to go through all this to get it. Either way, the options are yours.

 

[Kyle Tully]

I own all of the books in hardcopy.

There's something funny about people trying to learn how to sell from a book about selling that they stole.

 

[Yumms]

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

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Enki]

what do you mean?

https://www.dropbox.com/

Its a program that lets you drag and drop pictures, documents, and practically any file to an online cloud. It's really simple to use. The free service includes 2gb of online storage. the concept is, access your files from any computer. Plus share a folder/files with multiple people.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Ardú]

Just finished the Boron Letters. I started for the education in copy writing, but this is turning into a full fledged crash course in marketing.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[oldscool]

"Gary, I've got to learn how to write copy. I've never done it before ......

Can you help me?
So listen: Not only is it important what you do learn; it is equally important what you do not learn. So, step one is to read only the material I have listed."

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Daniel A]

Anyone who feels "I'd LIKE to take the challenge... but I have too much going on right now" should still get started.
From the tone of the letter, it seems that it's designed for those who absolutely HAVE to get good in 30 days...
30 days isn't a necessity, it's a suggested timeframe built on a question. It would certainly work over 60 days, or 90, or 360.
even if it takes you 2 years to go through the complete training, you'll be happy in 2 years that you did it... rather than still waiting for that golden 30 days where you have nothing else going on.

The 30 day time frame was not a big deal for me, but I do want to get things done as quickly and effectively as possible. I have my objectives planned out for early 2014 and I am sure I will finish the Gary Halbert recommended plan of action early Q2 of 2014, but maybe even sooner.

On my cork board is my partial game plan for the next 30 days (plus more). I'm doing 30 days for that because I am re-doing Victor Pride's 30 Days of Discipline haha

The things that I won't complete in 30 days is almost everything up there because it takes longer than 30 days. Although the only thing I am not starting yet is the stuff highlighted in pink and orange.

Read Gary's recommended books (orange highlighter list), green highlighter list (I've started that, it's a lot to do and includes copywriting), pink highlighter list (not my priority #1), INSANITY work out because it's 63 days long, college classes.

Instead of 20 mile march, I'd say I'm doing 30 mile march I've been burned out before, it's not worth it.

PS: One thing that's up there is the time/date of the sunrise/sunset for the rest of 2014 which you can get here.

http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/RS_OneYear.php

I had to screen shot it, then print it out though...and it's only in 24 hour clock time format which I am starting to prefer now.

 

[mindfulimmortal]

Wow what a powerful statement found in Breakthrough Advertising by Eugene Schwartz:

"The men who use these forces did not create them; they can neither turn them on nor shut them off; they can neither diminish them nor add to them. But they can harness them! The scientist did not create the energy of the sun; but he can direct that energy into the explosion of an atom bomb. the speculator did not create the enormous growth of the electronics industry after the war; but he can ride that growth to produce fifty times increase in his capital. And the copy writer does not create the desire of millions of women all over America to lose weight; but he can channel that desire into a particular product, and make its owner a millionaire!"

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[mma323]

It's great that many people seem to be following Gary Halbert's advice!

I've been following it for a while as well... I've been copying great ads by hand for the last 594 days... everyday (I've been using Lift to track this - so, here's proof if you're curious/skeptical https://www.lift.do/app/users/ef44961e1c139bedbf84).

I had zero copywriting knowledge before, but now I have a reasonably good foundation for my copywriting skills thanks to this Gary Halbert exercise.

 

[wade1mil]

Great to hear you have been taking action , I think the part I am having the most difficulty with is the mechanical structure of the sales copy since I am coming from an engineering background EE.

I am writing copy but its god awful.

I would like to get into writing white papers using my engineering background and overcome this damn road block.

Going to try a different angle of attack

Based on what I've read about copy and my brief experience writing it, I'd say that the more mechanical and engineer-like you get with your copy, the harder it's going to be.

I feel that it's closer to art than it is mechanical.

Take a step back and think of it as 1) a headline 2) a lead and 3) the rest.

Write it, go back over it 10 times and then set it live.

Test different headlines, find a winner and move on to the lead.
Test different leads, find a winner and move on to the rest.

The best feedback you'll get is from sales data.

 

[BlakeIC]

How do I get a hold of Breakthrough Advertising? I bought all the other books for The Gary Halbert challenge already. Just don't know how to get a hold of Breakthrough Advertising by Eugene Schwartz. Plan on doing the challenge and freelance on Upwork as I go through the challenge; while also incorporating Lex's 15 day challenge.

Here you go
https://www.dropbox.com/s/hxuz1ck8f...ugh-Advertising-by-Eugene-M-Schwartz.pdf?dl=0