Gary Halbert’s Favorite Ads

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Is it really possible to become a world class copywriter in just 30-days? One of the most famous letters in the illustrious Gary Halbert Letter is titled “Hands on Experience.”   Gary goes over, in extreme detail, the process he would use learn copywriting, as if he was starting again from scratch.

His most mysterious instructions are as follows:

I want you to get a copy of the following ads and direct mail letters:

“Do You Make These Mistakes In English?”

“What Everybody Should Know About This Stock And Bond Business”

“The Nancy L. Halbert Heraldry Letter”

“How To Burn Off Body Fat, Hour-By-Hour”

“At 60 Miles An Hour The Loudest Noise In This Rolls Royce Is The Ticking Of The Electric Clock”

“Why Men Crack”

“How To Collect From Social Security At Any Age”

“The Admiral Byrd Transpolar Expedition Letter”

“The Lazy Man’s Way To Riches”

Now that you’ve obtained copies of these ads and letters, I want you to sit down and copy them out word-for-word in your own handwriting.

Now if you’re like me, you’ve read this probably a zillion times over, wondering the whole time: “Thanks Gary, but where the heck do I find all these ads in the first place?”

So I’ve spent countless hours online trying to track each of these down for my swipe file.  And to save you the trouble, I’m listing all of them right here.  With one exception, each of the ads will open as either a JPG or PDF file:

And here are 9 bonus ads for your swipe file:

In addition to above, here are more (free) educational resources to help you with your copywriting career:

Lastly, on the issue of finding your first clients…I’ve found the resource below to be extremely helpful in my copywriting career:

If you found any of this helpful, please drop me a line by sending me a quick email.

Lawyers: Five Ways to Market Yourself with Blogs and Social Media

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Social media is both a cost-effective and effective means to reach your market.  Here are five tips to use blogs, Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook in marketing your practice and building your personal brand:

  1. Have your own blog, and post to it at least twice a week.  Even a few weeks of blogging is a quick way to build credibility Need to find topics to write about on your blog? Imagine common problems your clients might have, such as “How to Find & Hire Legal Counsel,” and then provide your thoughts on how to best solve the problem. Consider writing “Top 5” lists – using a format similar to how I wrote this article.
  2. Find and read 10- 20 blogs that really matter to your market, and then comment when you have something helpful to say.  This tactic builds traffic to your blog, and helps establish you as an expert in your niche.
  3. Publish great content on your blog and share it using Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.  Free websites, such as HootSuite and Ping.fm can automatically push your blog posts to places such as Facebook and Twitter.
  4. When you start your blog, begin to think about writing posts as chapters for a book.  After six months of blogging, you may have more than half a book already written. A printed book is the ultimate “business card” that people keep forever.  In addition to self-publishing a book, you can also publish an e-book. But there is no doubt about the prestige and credibility you build upon becoming a “published author.”
  5. If you are asked to give content away, such as serving on a panel discussion, giving a presentation at a conference, or writing an article for a newsletter, always say “yes!”  Give your content away for free. You never know who might spot your content or where it might end up, from potential clients and referral sources.

Using these tips will both increase awareness of your services, and establish you as an expert in your market niche.  Nearly all of these social media outlets are available to you at no cost.  And best of all, it’s highly likely you will get paying business as a result of these efforts.

If you found any of this helpful, please drop me a line by sending me a quick email.

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