I have a tremendous amount of respect for the late Gary Halbert…
If you’re reading this and don’t know who he is, you’d be well served to go The Gary Halbert Letter right now and prepare to get schooled in the world of copywriting and direct response marketing…
But do you know WHY he was the best?
Sure, he could deliver the goods. Very few marketers would dispute that Gary was at least ONE of the greatest of all time, if not THE greatest…
I was lucky enough to interview a Halbert protégé, Craig Garber, a few months ago…
(You can listen to the interview here)
And one of the many things that Craig said on that call that REALLY stuck with me was a conversation with Halbert that he had…
It went…
Gary: Craig, do you know why I’m the world’s greatest copywriter?
Craig: No Gary, why?
Gary: Because it says so right there on my website.
And it’s TRUE!
Yes, Gary could back that claim up with mountains of proof…
But there’s a HUGE positioning lesson there.
No one ever appointed Gary the “right” to be the best. There wasn’t some marketing meeting that gave Gary permission to call himself “the best”…
He believed he was the best, and he let the world know.
Do you know what kind of balls it takes to call yourself “the greatest of all time” at ANYTHING?
I mean, even if people had never heard of Gary, once they see himself calling himself the world’s greatest copywriter they’re going to think “this guy has some balls” and at least be curious enough to check him out…
And when they did check him out, and saw the mountains of PROOF that he was indeed world class – They’d flock to him in droves and BEG him to work with them…
Gary probably wouldn’t be remembered as “The Best” unless he took that title for himself. And he did.
This can be applied to selling ANYTHING though…
It doesn’t matter if people are buying products or services, they’ll generally want to buy “the best”…
Whether that means the best martial arts training course on the planet…
Or the best internet home study course on the planet…
Or working with the world’s greatest copywriter.
It’s like the old RC Cola Vs. Coke comparison…
Not a lot of difference in taste. But there’s a reason Coke sells billions more every year than RC, they’ve positioned themselves as the best…
And no matter what you sell, if you believe it’s the best, you MUST position it as the best…
Because no one wants to buy a $97 course that’s just “okay”, when people are shelling out hard earned money, they always want the BEST value for their money.
So ask yourself, how can you position yourself and your products to be “the best” in your niche?
Something to think about.
-Scott Murdaugh
(The best living copywriter under 30 who plays recreational poker, has blue eyes and owns a website with “Make” and “Sell” in the title of it ;P)
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Hey Scott,
Nice email and story about Gary Halbert. Not the first time I’ve read about the power of positioning. But as I read the story I kept thinking, “Well, ok that sounds fine. But how do I position myself as the best if I’m lacking mountains of proof”?
What if there’s only a little proof, as in testimonials? And I wonder at what point in Gary’s career did he put that on his site?
Yes, positioning is a fascinating study, and truthfully it’s something I don’t always think about or do in my online businesses.
Ken
Hey Ken,
Proof is very powerful. And impossible to manufacture (without committing fraud).
I faced a similar challenge when I started out writing freelance copy. I had to convince my first clients that I could deliver the goods…
Without other people vouching for me that meant writing the first letter selling my services very well and proving I knew what I was talking about when first talking with clients.
I don’t have that original letter, but it worked well enough to land my first dozen or so clients.
These days I have testimonials on my website and references, but I still have to “sell myself” through demonstrating knowledge, past project results and just sounding like I know what the hell I’m talking about
When you actually do know how to deliver the goods, people can usually tell through the way you communicate with them.
I talk a little more about “alternative” proof elements here… http://makestuffsell.com/how-to-write-sales-copy/108/
Thanks for stopping by!
-Scott
Scott, fantastic post!
I really enjoyed Gary Halbert’s stuff. I read his letters and even hand wrote many of his copy for pratice.
But, was he really the best?
Come on lets think about this for a moment…hmmm.
Can John Carlton the marketing Rebel or Dan Kennedy out write or sell Halbert? at the time, I believe they couldn’t.
If you gave all three of them the same assignment to write, I will bet that Halbert would have the control, not John, not Dan.
John would come in second. Only because I like his writing more than Dan’s. What do you think?
On another not, Scott I see that you are from Springfield. I live down by Lake of the Ozarks, maybe some time we can get together for cup of coffe and talk copy and marketing?
William,
It’d be interesting to see a competition like that. Unfortunately I don’t think anyone could really answer with anything other than a guess, and I honestly don’t know.
I think it’s like comparing musicians. Who’s the greatest of all time?
Hendrix? Clapton? The Beatles? Too many to list here, and everyone has an opinion…
I think there are a handful of truly “great” copywriters in the world, and you can’t really say who’s “the best”.
Hopkins and Schwartz broke new ground. Bencivengna, Carlton, Makepeace and dozens of other guys have innovated the industry as well. It’s impossible to say.
I’d be down for coffee (or beer) one of these days. Just hit me up.