ptoducl"

"ByfarTfteillostlmmrtantMarleting
"I gat to knou this gug. I{e's from Neut Jerseg, as street smart as
theg come, and he has the energg of a shituteasel on amphetamines.
He created o business that generated $lOO,OOA,OOOin 23-sltort
montLvs. vincent did thi,s with just o.pen, a pad, and a simpre id.ea. I
belieue lhis is bg far the most important marketing product euer put
together. In it, he reueals alot of secrets that euen I haue neuer
before reuealed to anyone (except a few clients and mg closesl
friends)- If you dare sag the information gou get from this product
uas already knoun to Aou or it usasn't uorththe moneg, gou are
much more than a shifitseasel. You are o stone-cold., unethical lior.
Belieue it or not, much of this infonnation is so electrifying; it was
unknown euenta me. And I am naut using these secrels uhen I
create aduertising for mysetf or for mg clients. you are beyond" all
hope if gou do not order "The 12-Month Miltioneire', as soon as gou
finish reading thfs message. Your hand shourd be reaching for your
checkbook or the telephone thi"s uery second.,

#* CeH^t
YC-

"l lflailG
TheDecisionHotIo Hllitelnothel
Wonil0l Go[yUntilI lleuou]cdvout800["
"It is so blazing hot!!! It's so hot- that in bgtwesnfricnds from Germany
and LA
visiting,2 hangingdeadlines(14 daysaway),four pagesinto The l2 Month
Millionaire I madethe decisionnot to write anotherword of copy until l
devourcdyour book-which I did in four daysflat and I still haven'thad time to
go over the pagesof notes- but it's in the double digits for sure.So I love the
book! It hasinspiredmy soul and sparkeda coupreof killer ideasI'ncgeari,g to
test.with the back-endas the appleof my cye! I will let you know how much
moneyI makc and get to keep over the next year applying thc secrets,facts and
hard-nosed insiderknowledgeyour book so easilydeiails."

AIL the Best,

Carlosl)uran

Send/our TesrimoniaITo TheI 2]vlo'rh\liIlionaire@yahoo.corn

 Tableof Contents

lntroduction

Chapter One:
The Best Business In the World

Chapter Two: 22
Products and Arithrnetic

Chapter Three: 36
What lt's Like Wheri One
Of These Things Explodes

Chapter Four: 47
All About lvlailing Lists

Chapter Five: 56
A11About Magazine Advertising

Chapter Six: 66
Creating Your Swipe File

Chapter Seven: 6B
The Back End

Chapter Eight: 75
Auto ship

Chapter Nine: B1
Lifetime Customer Value {LCV)

Chapter Ten: B5
The Two Step

Chapter Eleven: 9s
An irresistible Offer
 Chapter Tweive: i03
GuaranteeEverything

C h a p t e rT h i r t e e n : 109
Premiums

Chapter:Fourteen: 113
Testimonialsand Endorsements

Chapter Fifteen: l1B

Four ReasonsWhy People Don't
Buy From Your Sales Letters and
Advertisements

Chapter Sixteen: 130

I-Iire a Copywriter or Do It yourselp

Chapter Seventeen:
The Mail piece

Chapter Eighteen: 14T

Graphics... Photos and Typography

Chapter Nineteen: r47

Copywriting

Chapter Twent5r: 163

Headlines

Chapter Twenty One: Ltt

Printers

Chapter Twenfy Two: 183

Letter shops

Chapter Twenty Three: 189

Postage

Chapter Twent5rFour: 193

The Post Office
Chapter TwentY Five: 197
How To Test

Chapter TwentY Six: 202

Whispers and Screams

Chapter TwenQr Seven: 2r2

Costs and StePs

Chapter Twenry Eight: 218

Bumping Up The Unit Sale

Chapter TwenfY Nine: 222

Response Rates

Chapter ThirtY: 226

Refund Rates

Chapter Thirty One: 230

Increasing Response

o2.o
Chapter ThirtY Two:
What I Know About Websites

Chapter Thirty T.hrge: c?6

Merchant Accounti'

Chapter Thirty Four: 241

Call Centers

Chapter Thirty Five: 245

Telemarketing

Chapter Thirty Six: z+t

Television Advertising

Chapter Thirty Seven: 251

Radio Advertising
Chapter Thirty Eight: 253
The "Suck Out"

Chapter Thirty Nine; 257

Employees

Chapter Forty: 266

The Only 3 Ways To Grow
Your Business

Chapter Fort5r One: 273

Keeping Out of Jail

Chapter Forty Two: 277

Blunders That Cost Me Millions

Chapter Fort5i 'lhree: 281

Knock-Offs

Chapter Forty Four: 287

In Closing

Bonus Chapter # i 29t

Fishing

Bonus Chapter #2 293

How To Lose $48,O0O,OOOIn A Day

Epilogue: 300
The Millionaire's Library

Special Addition Chapter: 30s

How You Can Hire Me To PERSOIiIALLY
Coach You For Just $lg.ZO a Dav
 To
lntroduction
The 12-MonthMilllonalre

lf you think being educated about a new profession from a guy who
pllad guilty to Fraud and Money Laundering is a bad idea". this is
not your book.

If you think learning how to rnake millions of dollars from a guy

who almost lost $48 Million in a brutal lawsuit- practicaliy making
him homeless- is a bad idea'.. this is not your book'

If you think discovering how to live the "good life" from a guy who
was facing 1O years in prison is a bad idea.." again... this is not
your book.

But if you are looking for the real... the genuine... the no bulishit
way to become filthy rich- and at the same time- avoid any of the
pitfalis massive success comes with-.- this will be the rnost
rewarding book youll ever read.

You see, I've made over $1OO Million in fewer than 1O years using
the very sarne techniques I'11reveal to you in this book. I've also
nearly lost all of my fortune being stupid with my success' I'm
going to teach you how to make tons of money- and just as
importantly... I'm going to show you how to keep your millions in
your bank by not being stupid like I was.

This is my first major book. I am not an accomplished author' so

this book will have some flaws- If you read for style, or for literarSl
quality, like I was saying before, this may not be a book for you.

But there are paragraphs in this book- ideas in this book- whole
chapters in this book that I han'e never had the balis to put down
on paper before! And they will open doors to you- maybe as soon
as tomorrow- that otherwise might have taken a lifetime of waiting
for you to walk through.
Right now... I'm sure you're skeptical as hell. You may even be
t"hinking to yourself that you have bought the diary of a madman.
But 1et me make you a small promise:

Give me a few da-vs.

Read this book.

You will never be the same again.

Once you learn what I have to teach you... unless you somehow
lose your entire memory..^ it would be impossible for you to ever be
"ordinary'again- It would be impossible for you to not knorv how to
make tons of money- starting with virtually nothing as I did iO
short years ago.

I hope you'l.l give me the benefit of the doubt with my promise. If

you do, please read on- But if you can't cast-aside your skepticism,
please do not rvaste a::y more of your tirne reading any further.
Unless you believe in me- this book will be worth nothing to you.

Anyway, before we jump into this thing with both feet... lets get
acquainted. Maybe I should tell you a little about myself, hor,v I
grew Lrp and where I came from.

I was born in northern New Jersey on January 23rd, 1974.

I grew-up poor- single parent household. I think I had some sort of

learning disability, because as a child, I could not retain anything I
learned in school. I'd study like hell for an upcoming test... but as
soon as I finished reading a chapter in my school book-.. I couldn't
remember what I just read. It would not penetrate into my brain. It
was extremely discouraging, so I gave up. I failed ever5rthing... even
P.E. c1ass.

I finally dropped out in the 10th grade. Nobody seemed to mind.

No matter how hard I tried, it always seemed like I wasn't going to

amount to anything real irnportant in life. And this reallv sucked
 10

because I had a passion for the finer things. I wanted the gold
Roiex. the sporty Mercedes, and the Million-Dollar Mega Mansionl

But when I 100ked in the mirror, i didn't iike what I saw. I rvas
convinced the good life I wanted was just a dream'

But that was all about to change. seriousiy- by the time I was 19, I
had a brand-new corvette. At20,l had 2 brand-new Mercedes
Benz automobiles. And at 2I, I was the proud owner of a Roils
Royce Silver Spur!

By the time I turned 28.-. I made over $loo Million in gross sales. I
profited over $5o Million. I owned fwo homes- one of them was
14.000 squa-re feet and had a seven-car garage, a billiards room
and a resort-st5rle pool with a.n underwater bar! And I paid cash for
the home!

In my garage: I had a red Lamborghini Diablo, a yellow Ferrari 36O

Spider, a white Bentley Arnage Red Label, about 4 Mercedes, and a
12-passenger Lincoln Town Car Limo!

My checking account had over $10 lr{il1ion in it. I was earning

$4OO,O00 in pay each and every week. That breaks down to
$80,OOO a day... or $IO,O0O an hour! And those figures were if I
worked 5 days a week for eight hours a day, which I didn'tl

In the year 2OO2, I rnade more money than the CEOs of Federal
Express... eBay... Ama'on.com... Time Warner... Apple Computer..'
McDonalds... Microsoft... Nike... Yahoo... Ford Motor Company...
General Motors... and Goodyear Tire- COMBINED!

Yes-COMBINBD.

In the May l2th, 2OO3 issue, Forbes Magazine listed their top paid
500 CEOs in America. Of their prominent and prestigious list of
the 5OO CEOs, I made more money than 483 of them.

$17,549,000 MORE than the CEO of Starbucks.

$l3,O30,OOO MORE than the CBO of Target.

 ti

$ 17,225,000 MORE than the CEO of Motorola,

Now, this may all seem like I'm some rich asshole bragging about
how rich I am.-. and you're partly correct. I am bragging! But more
importantly, the reason why I'm telling you abor.rt all this is that
this book is about getting rich very quickly. If the talk of obscene
money rnakes you feel uncornfortable, or even angers you, maybe
you do not really want to be rich.

The reason why I'm telling you about all the toys I had when I was
just 28, is toprove toyou that if an guylike me.-. with alearning
disability... a bad childhood... and no formal education can get
filthy rich by the time I was 28... you can absolutely follow in my
footsteps and build yourself your very own empire of wealth!

I rememtrer back when I was 18, I was sitting on the steps of my

Aunt's home. A few doors down from her lived a girl I went to High
School with. Anlnvay, while I was out there sitting on her steps
smoking a Marlboro, I saw a red Mercedes Benz SLSOO pull up at
this girl's home.

Some preppy geek got out of the car with his sweater wrapped
around his neck and went to her front door. He was picking her up
for a weekend trip I presumed because she made him carry a small
duffel bag to the trunk of his shiny red Mercedes.

Things were sure difrerent from when we were both in High school
together. Where that girl may have had no problem going out with
me back then... nowadays her boyfriends had to be frnancially
accomplished- When I saw that freaking red Mercedes pull away
and drive past me, I remernber saying to myself, "I\re got to get my
shit together!" And I did. About a year later- I had the very sarne
model and color Mercedes Benz SL5O0 in rny garage.

How did I get the car? I didn't steal it. I didnt win the lottery. I
sure didn't receive an inheritance from some long lost relative who
just kicked the bucket. I made the money on my own. I started
from scratch with nothing but a pen, a pad, and a crazy idea_ I,m
now going to teach you how to do the same.
 12

total
why would 1 teach these incredible wealth secrets to
don't know' Iuaybe
strangers for the small fee this book seiis for? I
Maybe I
I like Io teach people sruff. Maybe I want to be immortal'
want to leave *o*ithing behind on this Earth after I die that will
last forever. Whatever the reason- you're in for a treat'

I named this book THE 12-MONTH MILLIONAiRE because that's

what it,s designed to do. It's designed to make you a full-biorvn,
certified MILLIONAIRE within 12 months of reading it'

stop laughing. I'm being serious. And I'm going to guarantee it' If
thii book fails to rnake you a millionaire within the next 12
months... seriously,.I want you to send rne a letter explaining what
you did in an attempt to get rich... and I1l send you every dime you
paid for this book.

Maybe you do not want to become a filthy rich millionaire mogul..'

maybe you just want a better iife for your family... that's a1right...
but I do have to tell You this'..

It,s just as hard to make a "good" income in this business as it is to

become filthy rich- earning millions a year... and I do not mean
this in a negative way..- I mean it in the rnost positive way possibie.

It's just as hard to turn one dollar into three dollars one hundred
times as it is to do it one million times, so why not do it to it's
fullest? I sure do.

So anyway, lets get this thing started right away- I'm so excited for
you. I remember when I was lirst learning these secrets, piece-by-
piece over 1O years ago- It rvas like a menta-l orgasm. I couldn't
stop devouring this stuff from every source I could squeeze it out
of... whether it was spending $tO,OOO on books dating as far back
as the early 19OO's... or spending $5,0O0 to go to a single weekend
seminar... or giving uP my entire personal life from age 19 until
24... including women..- jrrst because I was so excited with what I
was discovering.
 li

seriousiy- I envy you. I wish I cor,rld experience again what you,re

abor-rt to learn-.. but of course I can't- so I have to settle for the iov
of watching the light bulbs go off in the thousands of people,s
minds who read this book.

In my head, this book has been begging me to write it for the past
five years. I finally gave in and did it. Am i happy with the end
result? You bet I am. The very book you hold in your hands is not
just a bunch of paper, ink and glue... it,s litera]ly a roadmap... a
blueprint-.. a formula for getting rich in America today.

These secrets are used equally by the single Mother trying to put
her child in a good private school, to the srnall businessperson
making a great living... a1l the way to guys who ar. running oNE
BILLION DOLLAR Publicly-Traded corporations such as The
sharper Image. These techniques are not Mickey Mouse. They are
powerful. They are life altering. They can even be dangerous if they
are not used properly.

so, I'd like to welcome you to the uBest" of your life. I hope after
you make your millions you still remernber this book and tell
everyone you know how it helped you.

Enough already- let's get this party started.

 1A

ChapterOne:
TheBestBusinessIn TheWorld

Before you read this chapter, get a pen and a piece of paper'

These are the two main tools you need for this busines-q'

When you add together the pen... the paper--- this book"' and a
simple idea for a prodr-rct or service... it could literally be worth
hundreds of millions of dollars.

Traditional businesses like retail stores, manufacturing plants,

restaurants, etc. require you to jump into the {ire, with both feet,
risking almost all of your money before you earrl a dime." and
what's worse is you will not know if you are going to be a success
until after you've risked most, if not all, of your stant-up monby." if
you're even luc$ enough to have start-up money'

And still worse, these traditional businesses cannot offer yor: the
rapid forced growth and wild prolits of the wonderful business this
book teaches about.

The business this book speaks of allows ynu to start small, and
only after you have scientific proof and a valid and profitable idea,
would you then gradually invest more and more of your money. in
most cases, you'll be reinvesting profits.

The business I speak of in this book allows you to get rich even
when 99 out of 1OOprospects don't want your product.

The business I speak of in this book is the Direct Response

business. Its a business that aliows you to discover very quicldy if
within 3O days. You can also
you have a hit or a miss..- 11s11ally
find out if you have a hit or a miss for cheap... most of the time
you can find out for $2,OO0 or less"
 ].i

Another plus is that your "offering" is what gets judged... not you_
Let me expiain,,.

You can be of any descent and suffer Ool"racism.

You can be male or female and sufTer 0%osexism.

You can be straight or gay and suffer Oyo homophobia.

You can be a midget... a gimp.._ bald... fat... cock-eyed... butt_

ugly... toothless... have bad breath... etc. None of this will affect
your chance of success in this business.

You can also live an5rwhere..- even in a uni-bomber*t5rpe cabin in

the middie of BFE... and as long as you can get your letters to a
Post of{ice and as long as you have access to a phone line... your
location will not have any effect on your success in this business.

You can be a high-school drop out, like I was, and with the right
idea you can rrrn circles around the Harvard MBA with the *io.rg
idea..,

You do not need any specific expertise in the product you plan to
seil. I've manufactured and sold golf clubs while I never played
a
round of goif once. I've manufactured and sold vitamins, where i
am not any kind of scientist or Doctor. That's the beauty of this
business.

And guess what is best about this business? you can be sitting
in
your one beclroom, roach infested basement apartment
right rro*...
but as soon as you craft the right letter, selling the right product,
to the right people, for the right price, and at the right time
in his
or her iife... you can be in possession of some inteGcruar property
worth over $1oo Million! And itll take you just 7 to 1o aays jter "
you mail your letters to know what you have. Seriously.

About five years ago, I was between businesses. I was not

earnlng
any money. I was a little discouraged. I created a letter
for a
product and i tested it and got 6-times my money
back. It cost
 lo

$600 tomail looo letters and I got$36O0 back, of rvhich ail rvas
profit, once I subtracted the $600 mailing cost.

Now, what I then knew was that the amount of narnes I could mail
the letter to allowed me to seil 40,00O new people every month fo:
$i80. That means I'd make $7.2 lvlillion in gross sales every 3O
days. Itwould cost me $t.Z a month to advertise. So rvhen
everything was said and done, I was iooking at $6 Million profit
every month.

Pretty hard to sleep that night knowing t had 4 sheets of paper

that were going to bring me over $7O Milion. Twenty months later,
I grossed over $77 Million and netted $+g tt'tittion in pure profit
from this single sales.letter.

What did it cost me to create this lett"er? A pen.." a legal pad". a

good idea... and the skilis and secrets revealed in this very book!

The Direct Response business is not a new business. Ben Franklin

even had a mail order catalog! There are scores of books in
bookstores you can buy for $ 1O or so that can tell you all about
direct response..- or mail order as some call it- But what I rvant to
teach you is how I do it. I do it a little different.

Right now, we're going to focus just on mailing sales me ssages for
a product to a qualified mailing list. Later, well talk more about
magazine advertisements and TV and radio commercials.

In 2000, i had an idea for a dietary supplement. Actualiy I didn't

even have the idea. I saw a product selling in health food stores for
$60. I thought this was a hot product that was not getting
marketed properly- It was br.rried on the back shelves of the store...
so I bought myself a bottle. Its best to sell products you cannot
find in stores... but since this one was so poorly placed in retail
storas, I felt I could effectively sell it through direct response.

The good thing about dietary supplements is that manufacfurers

cannot Patent the ingredients they use. I can come up with a great
blend of herbs and spend hundreds of thousands in clinical
sfudies and all it takes is someone to read the ingredient list on
 17

the side of the bottle-which is required on the bottle by law... and

they can knock-rne-off instantly. So, basically I can take a bottle of
anything I find in the vitarnin store or in any catalog and aly local
'"'itamin manufacfurer can make the identical pill for $2 a bottle or
so... even if it is selling for $50 to $60 in stores!

No need for research. No need for clinical studies {if the other
company aireaciy sponsored one or there is one in the rnany
medical journals). You can have your very own brald name dietary
supplement for a few dollars a bottle.

Anyrvay, back to my dietary supplement.

I was quite arnetzed when I saw these pills advertised and sold for
$60 when i could make them for $2... and even less in larger
quantities!

I made up a narne for my'new'product and had labels made for

the bottles through the pill manufacturer. Viola! My very own,
trademarked brand name dietary suppiement in less than a week's
time!

So, I crafted a sales letter for this product and located a few
mailing lists to mail the sales letters to. sometimes it's easier to
come up with a product by looking at the different types of mailing
lists on the market. For example, instead of thinking of a new
product to sell, look at all the different t5,pes of mailing lists on the
market and their sizes, and then fit a product to the list.

I'll talk more in great detail about mailing lists later in this book.

Anyway, the pills sold for $60 in my retter, and remember, I made
them for $2. It cost $1.5O to ship them to t].e customer including
the bubbie bag. I charged $6.95 for shipping and handling, so tliis
fee covered the i-Boo phone bill, tl.e order taker's paycheck, the
shipping fee, the credit card processing charge-.. hell it even
covered the cost to make the damn pills themselves!

It's totally legal to do this. That's why it's called a shipping and
handling fee. You can charge whatever you wa'tt for Jhandling"...
 t8

even if your customer knows it costs just $2 to send his order and
you charged hirn $5... the difference is the handling fee

so, basically, when a customer would call me and order these piils
for $6o, plus $6"95 for the shipping and handling... a-11$60 of the
selling price was pure cTo. cTo is short for contribution Tcr
Overhead.

cTo is what your business will net after you pay for goods sold.
Out of this CTO, you still have to pay for advertising, postage,
employees, etc.

Most people are ama?,edwhen I tell them that 5o% to 100% of your
cTo may go to the advertising expense to bring in the customer!
Who pays 5oo/ofor advertising? In this business, you'd be lucky if
you can pay just SOYoof your initial purchase CTO on advertising,

Anyway, when I tested this new supplement on a handful of

mailing lists, I was pleasantly surprised. This is what happened:

At the current time I tested this product, postage cost $gZ0 for
every t"housand stamps.

It would cost $1OO per thousand for names to rnail the sales letters
to.

It would cost about $1OO per thousand to print and sfuff the sales
letter we sent to the names on these lists.

When we're all finished, it's safe to assume it's going to cost $eOO
to mail 1OOOsales letters to qualified groups of prospects.

Being my product sold for $6O... I got to keep al1 $6O of it, as the
cost to manufacfure the product is covered in the shipping and
handling fee.

Common sense would tell you that when I mail 10O0 ietters for
$OOO...I need at least 1O orders to break even and get my
advertising dollars back.
 19

Lets say my product was a new diet pill. Not just any diet pill, but
one that acfually enlarges in size once it reaches vour stomach so
it feeis like you are full all the time.

Now, let's say the mailing lists wete mailing our sa_lesletters to are
made r"rpof people who have bought diet pills in the past, so we
know they are prirne prospects.

OK- we're mailing our hot, new diet pill to lOOO people who
actually bought someone else's diet pill in the mail recently. Of the
1OO0, how many do you think would order our pill? Some would
say 25O of the IOOO. I'd say that they're crazy- Some would say
1OO. Again, they're crary. Let's say that 987o of the people we mail
our letters to, throw.our sa-lesmessage right in the trash... Let's
say just 2o/oof our prospects decide to purchase our new, super
diet pill. Let's do some math.

TWo percent of 10OOletters is 2O orders. Remember, I said earlier

that we need at least 1o orders to break even. since we received 2o
orders, we just doubled our rnoney... but that's not the best part.

When I sold my supplement, I was arnazed when each customer

purchased an average of 4.4 bottles over the next 6 months. This
figure is called LCV or Lifetime Customer Value. I'11telt vou all
about it later in this book.

Anyway, when a customer thought he was buying a bottle of pilis

from me for $6o.-. he was actually spending $l80 over the next six
months. He didn't know this... but from statistical data I,ve
compiled frorn past customers, I was well aware of what each
customer was worth-

when it was all said and done, each customer was worth $tso ln
cro. Lets go back to the 2a/o w],'a bought from my sales message.
weve got 20 0rders at $18o. That's $3600 in cro for every 1000
sales letters I mail. It costs $ooo to mail looo letters, so we can
safeiy say; I1l profit $3OOO for every 1OOOletters I ma.il. That,s $3 a
ietter on a1'era[Ie. what are you going to do when you get a diet pill
or a wrinkle serum to pull numbers like this when you test the
Victoria's Secret mailing list that has gOO,OOOFRESH names a
 1ll

just one iist? You

month? Can you realiy make $2'7 Million from
bet yor-rr assl

Andthat.examplewasformailingsalesletterstojustonemailing
Response- You
iistl There are many ways to sell products via Direct
direct mail
can sell products tirrougrr magazine advertisements...
just spoke about)"' radio spots"' teievision
sales letiers (like we
spots..'longformatinfomercia]s'''internetsearchterms...
book'
telemarketing'.. and many more well go over in this
work
I used them a11...but only a handful are the ones that really
wel1. We'll talk all about magazine ads.., direct mail... radio."
These
television spots... and some Internet promotion in this book.
are the best ways Iae discovered to make money in this business.

Basically, your ad or sales letter, or radio ad or TV ad is

salesmanship multiplied. That's a,11 that advertising is.
salesmanship in print... or on TV... or on ra-dio... That's all- Forget
all the fancy Madison Avenue ad agencies Inay try to tell their
"t.rff
clients. tn a head-to-head, dollar-for-dollar competition, direct
response techniques like the ones you'll learn in this book will
always out pull the fancy shit these guys are churning out.

Are you having a hard time believing you can really strike it rich in
this business? Let me give you some examples of what people have
done in the past, and how their iives changed'

Proactiv Skin Care Solution:

Proactiv is an acne treatment you've seen advertised over TV
infomercials since 1997 - The product was created by a couple of
Dermatologists and is sold for $39.95. In their prirne, they were
selling 30,OO0 new kits a month. with reorders, I'm sure they were
selling 90,000 kits! I'd guess they gross $50 Miliion or more in
annual revenue. Do you need to be sorne Dermatologist to sefi this
product? Absolutely not. It does add to their credibility, but for a
few cents on each kit sold, you can sure get your own
Dermatologist to endorse your product.

This skin care product is a good direct response product because

the three bottles of cleanser they sell in the kit could cost $6 ci- so
 l1

to manufacture, and $2 to ship. A shipping and handling charge of

$7.95 could easily be charged, so the $39.95 selling price is pure
CTO, And this is a consumable product!

Girls Gone Wild:

'I'his
guy is in his early 3O's and is making close to $ 100,0O0,000 a
year. Yes, that's ONE HUNDRBD MILLION. He owns two private
jets, Ferraris, numerous homes all over the place... and from what?
Cheaply shot, cheaply produced videos of drunken college girls
showing their breasts. What this guy does is offer 2 videos for
$9.qS and then a new video every month for the regular price of
$tg.gS. Now, it probably costs $2 to produce a VHS cassette and
$t to ship. To charge a $4 shipping and handling fee is realistic, so
the entire $9.95 or $19.95 is 1OO%pure CTO- And he
automatically sends his custom.r* ^ new video every month!

Carlton Sheets No Money Down Real Estate:

Carlton discovered a way to buy real estate for no money down and
instead of running around himself buying homes using his
techniques, I'm sure he realized it was far easier and far more
profitable to simply make a home study course and sell it via TV
infomercials.

Carlton has been on TV for over 10 years and I'd bet he's made 1O0
times more money telling others how to buy real estate for no
money down than he has from actually using his own techniques...
which is fine.

Remember the California gold rrsh? I'm sure the men selling the
picks, shovels, and overalls rrade more money than the men who
acfually were in the mines trying to find the gold- Levis is still
making jeans... but all the miners and their forfunes (if they ever
found any) are all long gone.

while information products are great-.- it is more of a challenge to

create "back-end" sa-ies.-.that is products you can go back and sell
to your customers. when we are selling pills, it's an easy resell. A
video series... again, an easy resell. still- information products are
one of the top direct response products because they are cheap to
produce and they can have a limitless perceived value. A simple
 i2

sheet of paper may cost nothing to produce... but when that

s i m p l e s h e e t o f p a p e r i s a w ' i n n i n g lottery ticket; it can easil-vbe
rvorth SlO Million and more!

Tae-Bo Videos;
Billy Blanks was a struggling California exercise instn-rctoi-, as
most exercise instructors are. But what happens when you
videotape your amazing exercise routine and sell it via direct
response? If you were Billy, yor.r'd be looking at selling 5 MILLION
copies of your video and more! l'm sure over $1OO Miliion lvas
grossed with this amazing product. But did you know this: Billy
was teaching this unique Karate and boxing inspired fltness
techniques for years in Southern California glms... it took
'Hay,
someone with direct.response smarts to say, let's get a
camera and film this guy. People a-ll over the World would love to
do this in their own homeslo

Can you come up with a rnillion-dollar idea? I hope so. What I'm
here to do is tell you what type of products you need to make for
this business to work for you. And once yor.r have that winning
idea... there is no better set of tools you can get than this book to
show you how to suck every ounce of money from your idea.
 l3

Chapter
Two:
Productsand Arithmetic

In this chapter, we're going to talk about the types of products and
services that are best to promote through direct response,

I realiy do not care what I'm selling,.. ais long as it sells at a prolit.
To me, the product I'm offering is just a means to an end. I,m in
this business to make a profit- hopefully a large one. I,m not
married to any "type' of product or service. If I test a sales letter
or
an advertisement for a product and if it fails... I11 abandon the idea
like a red headed stepchild, and I advise you do the same.

of course, the best products to seli are your own products. you
need big margins in this business, and selling someone else's
product is never going to ailow you to make the large
margins
needed to cover your advertising expenses.

It's so rnuch easier to manufacture your own branded product.

lf
you were to sell dietary supplements or some form
of a wrinkle
cream or semm, it's an absorute must the product is your
own.
Especially when it is so easy to do so.

If you are selling information on how to do something,

it has to be
your own. Buying someone else,s book and trying
to market it
through direct response is the kiss of death, t.r#. y", even.spend.
a dollar testing it.

You must have pret$r damn cl0se to roo%o profit

margins; meaning
the cost of goods has to be made up in the shipping
and handling
fees you1l charge your customers.

Let's say that you are invorved in some Multi-Iever

Marketing
company and they have a super_duper.diet pill
theyl"l sell tolrou
for $15 a bottle and you can sell it for g25
* If"someone were
to ask me what I thought of a product like "o.Id
this, tell him or her
not to bother.
 1A

But if the product is a desired product that could pul| 2o/. or so in

orders from your direct response sales letters, I'd advise you to
copy their blend of ingredients and make the product on your own,
So you can keep all the revenue generated from your customers.

My friend and mentor Gary Halbert says if he were given just one
thing when he is creating a product for sale through direct
response, he'd want a starving crowd.

In order for a direct response product to work well, you have to

have prospects with passion indexes through the roof. Golfers are
nuts... people who need to lose weight are nuts..- people who want
to get rich in a certain type of business are mrts.--

Also, I've learned that people will not pay a cent for a
preventative... but they'd give their lives for the cure.

Seriously. Let's pretend you have a product that would prevent

cancer. Your sales would be rninimal and probably not large
enough to make a profit. But if you had the cure for cancer and
your prospects believed it... and the group of people you're
marketing it to all had some form of cancer, they d pay an entire
year's pay for what you have.

Now, of cou.rse, there is no cure for cancer... especially one yolr can
manufacture. I'm just using this as an example.

I like products that lead to continual sales. A consumable product

is excellent, because as you1l discover in this business, it is t0
times easier to get satisfied custorners to reorder than it is to keep
attracting new customers, and the huge profits usually come on
the back end... meaning the continual sales.

I had a product I spent $1.2 Million advertising every month. The

sales from the initial sale resulted in $2.4 Million. Now, if the
business stopped there, I'd make a good living... but what if the
product could be resold to the same customers month after month
after month? That's where the big money comes in.
 l5

Luclly for me, the product I u'as making $2.a Miilion a nronth with
led to $4.8 Million more in back end sales as they reorrlered every
month.

Here's a quick way you can see if your idea has any chance of
success before you spend ar1 ounce of your time and a cent of vour
money testing: .

This business is all about arithmetic.

Your product has to sell for more than $5O. Nowadays, it,s so hard
to make a profit with a unit sale of under $5O. Even if you were
selling a video for $19.95 and you got to keeo all $19.95. Let,s do
some math.

say you're selling this video for g t9.9s through direct response
sales letters. You need $6O0 in orders for every IOOO letters you
mail. In order to breakeven, you're going to need 3o/oof your
prospects to buy. In order for you to make some serious money,
you need 60/oto buy. Six percent is not likely to respond.

Now, maybe if you can get 3o/oto buy the video and this video vou
are selling is a rnonthly video, meaning your customers will
automatically receive a new video every month and youL1 rebill
their credit cards. Maybe you can get this to work... but again, 3yo
to buy is a high nr.rmber.

Most direct response offers get lyo to 2o/oin orders.

Here's some great numbers I try to shoot for with any project I,m
looking to test- Let's say I've got a pill that I can seil ioi
$sg.gs ana
ar $59.95 is pure cro- All I need io get in response (orders)
is 1%.
That's realistic. Now, let's say that each customer buys an
average
of 4 bottles from you over the next months. Let,s say the three
additional bottles they buy will cost $3q.g5 on an altornatic
shipment. Your customer life value would be approximately
$tgo.
If you got 1% to buy, you,re looking at spending $60 to ,.buy,
the
customer in advertising expenses. when the customer is
worth
 t6

$ t 80, you're left rvith a 3OOo/orefurn on your erdvertising dollar'

This is rea,lisilc.

I remember when I had a pill that rvas getting 27o response' I

plotted a mathematical equation that wouid allow me to make
$1O0,OOO,OOO a year. Here it is:

If I were to get 4O,OOOfresh customers every month at $60 and if I

could spend no more than $1.2 Million to do so, I had a customer
acquisition cost of $3O. Now, I'd automatically enroll these
cr-rstomers into an amtomatic shipment club where they'd receive a
fresh supply of my pills every 3O days for a reduced price of
$39.9s.

Each customer bor-rght 4 bottles on average- Three bottles at $4O

and the initial bottle at $6O would equal $180. lf I could bring in
4O,OOOfresh customers a month, my database of active customers
would peak at 16O,OOObottles a rnonth being sold.

Now, as long as I brought in 4O,00O new customers every month to

{iil in the 4O,0OO that would fall off every month... I could maintain
the database of l60,000 shipments. When you add up the 40,000
people at $18O I would make $7.2 Million each and every month...
or $86.4 Million a year. Now, I'm not counting the shipping and
handling fees the customers pay. If I were to include this money,
I'd gross over $lOO Million anmrally.

I got the company to this size in less than 12 months by getting no

more and no less than 2o/oof my prospects to buy. I needed just
17o to cover advertising cost.

If you need more th.an 2Yo of your prospects to buy in order to

breakeven... I'd forget it.

You should try to promote products that are solutions to problems

your prospects are dying to solve. And when I say dying... I mean
DYING.
 )7

How can you discover the magic product to sell? I like to make a
list. On one side, I like to write down people's desires. On the other
side, I write dorvn problerns people have.

If I write down 2O desires and 2O problems, I usually can get

moving in the right direction.

Another tactic you can do is go to your local Library and go to the

reference section and look for a book called the SRDS Direct
Marketing List Source.

This book is the Bible in the direct response business. what this
book is a book that cornes out every 6O days and it lists the
mailing lists that are.on the market for rent.

This book is the only legitimate place mailing list owners advertise
their lists for use by marketers iike you and I.

This book will have lists that are from other companies... magazine
subscriber lists.-. compiled iists... etc.

In this book, youll-find the rnailing lists of Adam and Eve catalog
Buyers, Victoria's Secret Catalog Buyers, Subscriber Lists to
almost any magazine, etc.

what you can do is sit yourself down with this giant book and just
go through it. Look at the different types of lists that are available.
It may be easier for you as a beginner to fit a product to a mailing
Iist or group of mailing lists.

Here's an example. Let's say there's a rist of the men who buy frorn
the Richlee shoe company. This is a cornpany that sells Elevator
Shoes. These shoes have a hidden *lift'in them so the men who
wear them appear to be ln -.. 2"-.. even three inches taLler.

Now, it's safe to assume, the men who buy these shoes through
this catalog are short... or at least they crave to be taller. rhef
crave to be ta-ller so much; theyll actually buy special shoes
io do
so!
 l8

Now, I don't know if this company has their customer list on the
market, so let's just use this as an example' l,et's say the,v have
20,0O0 peopie buying from their catalog every month. That's a
decent number of fresh prospects each and every month-

Why don't you come up with some sort of product that you think
can make these guys taller? I know there are stretching manuals
out there on the lnternet that show men how to stretch their
cartilage and thus, grow taller.

Let's say that there are special amino acids that you can take to
keep your cartilage healthy and dense. What about if you get your
hands on the exercise manual and bring it to a personal trainer
and have hirn perform the exercise and you have it filmed.

You can burn the video onto a DVD. You can also then make a
dietary supplernent that would aid in keeping the cartilage healthy
and dense. You can then create a "system" where for $59-95, the
customer can get the DVD of exercises... and a bottle of the
"supplement" they need to keep the cartilage healthv.

Now, your sales ietter can automatically enroll your cr.rstomers into
a preferred customer club where they will receive a fresh supply of
pills every month for $39.95.

Let's say each customer lets you ship him or her on average 6
months worth of pills. The first bottle wiii get you $59.95 and the
remaining 5 will get you $39.95 each. This all comes to $259.7O.

Now, when you sell this product, youll charge a $6.95 shipping
and handling fee. This fee will cover the cost to manufacfure the
DVD and the cost to manufacfure the bottle of pi11s... plus it will
'
a-lso cover the cost to actually ship the product to them- It should
cost you no more than $2 in postage to get the DVD and the bottle
of piils to the customer's front door. Being you are doing this, the
$59.95 for tJle DVD and the first bottle of pills is pure CTO. Then
for the additional 5 bottles theyll let you send them, youll again
charge the $6.95 shipping and handling fee... so the entire $39.95
for the additional monthly bottles will also be lOO7o pure CTO.
 l9

Now, lets say you create a great sa1es ietter with the tips you're
going to master later in this book. It's going to cost you $6OO to
mail 1O00 sales letters. Being that you are getting $259.7O... how
many orders do you need to breakeven?

You need just 2.32 orders per lOOO letters to breakeven- Let,s say
you get 2o/oof your prospects to order... that's $259.70 multiplied
by 2A orders. This comes to $5194 in CTO.

When you divide this figure by the $600 it cost you to get those
orders, you're looking at a promotion that yields 8.2 times it's cost!
That's a great mrmber!

Now $5194 in cro minus the $600 to solicit the prospects reaves
you with $4594 in profit for every IOOO ietters yolr mail.
Remember, the mailing list gets 2O,OOOfresh prospects each and
every month- There's 2o thorrsands in 2o,ooo, so that means you1l
make 2o times the $4594 you prolit per looo letters, Do the math.
You'll earn $91,88O each and every month mailing just 2O,0OO
names.

And don't forget, this was just one mailing list. Maybe there are
ot.her mailing lists for "short'people. I know IVe seen a few
clothing catalogs out there for men s-foot-z and under. If a man is
compelled to actually buy clothing from a catalog like this... being
short angers him... and when you offer him a sorution to his
problem... and if it really works... you're going to get filthy rich.

I know some of the people reading this book will say that diet pi11s
are huge. It seems like everyone is fat nowadays. But, on the flip
side of this-.. every other direct rnarketer also knows of this and
even though diet pills are one hell of a powerful product... there are
only so many slices of tj:e pie... and when there are 1oo people
mailing to the diet lists offering their products... your offering for
this type of product is greatly diluted.

This is a business where success or faiiure is as thin as a razor's

edge. The difference between success and failure is not the
difference of getting lvo to buy versus getting 4ov. to buy. No. It,s
rnore like getting .5% to buy is failure... and getting 2o/oio buy is
 l0

massive success. We're all competing for the magic t\Mo percent to
bu)'.

Let's do another example- This one is for a moneymaking

opportunity. Let's say that you have assembled a course on Real
Eiiate Tax Deed Sales. I don't care if you're not an'expert" on Tax
Deeds... you can make yourself one by researching the product'
This is one of the largest hurdles people getting started in this
business f,ace. They feel they are not "qualified" to sell certain types
of products. But the last time I checked, if you were to se1l a course
on Tax Deeds, i do not recall anyone saying you have to have a
Diploma of Expertise... becan'rsether:e's no such thing!

Back to the course. lt would consist of a few CDs and maybe a

directory of the states that have Tax Deed sales. To create this
directory, all you have to do is order someone else's course and
copy the information in the directory they offer. I don't think they
'own'the addresses, website addresses, and phone ngmbers for
the states that offer Tax Deed Sales... right? Of course.

Now, as for the CDs... what you can do is order a few different
courses on this subject and simply make notes of the important
issues in each of the courses-.. and when you are all done.'. just
assemble all the stuff you put together into one super package you
can call your own!
oexperts'in Tax Deed Sales and
Heck, you can even locate a few
call them and see if they1l let you buy an hour of their time over
the phone. You'll ask them all the questions you would have if you
were going into this business. Tape record them and simply turn
those cassette tapes into yor-rr CDs. Are you providing an expert's
information to your customers? Of course you are- Where the
expert may say he wants $2OO for an hour of his tirne.-. and if you
figure you need 4 hours of his time... for $BOO you can create an
excellent product you can then sell to thousands of people for $ 180
or so.

This cor.rrseshould cost about $8 to manufacture. This will include

the CD duplication, the printing of the directory, and the case to
hold everything in place. What you'd then do is get the mailing lists
I
il

of opportunity companies and subscriber lists from business

opportuni[r maeazines.

what you'il do next is come up rvith your offer. A good price

for a
course like this would be three credit card payments of g59.95,
plus $9.95 shipping and handling.

The $9.95 will cover the cost to manufacfure the CDs, the
directory, the case, and of course- the actual shipping charges
to
get the thing delivered to your customer.

Basically, all $59.9s x 3 is yours to keep as cro. If you got

iyo to
buy..' you're doing wen. If you got 2o/oto buy... youtl doing
great.
Let's say you learned how to write sales lettlrs iro*
reat pro lrra
ha)'-. and you got 2o/oof your prospects to buy this "
Real Estate
course. This is realistic because you1l only be targeting
people who
snbscribe to business magazlnes... and people *lio
h..r. shown
they are interested in opportunities uecause they bought
them in
the past.

Two percent buy at $59.95 x 3... which is $179.g5. you

got 20
orders for the IOOO letters you mailed. That equals
$3592 in gross
sales. When you minus the $OOO it cost you to acquire
these 20
orders, you're left with $2992 in pure ptont for evi^ry
rooo letters
you mailed. Let's say you mailed the ENTREpRENEiJR
Magazine
subscriber list, which gets 5o,ooo fresh tr"rn." .
*Lth-.- and rets
say you tested fwo other mailing lists of opporfunit5r
buyers for a
gra:rd totef of 2oo,ooo prospects to mail this
Real dstate letter to.

Now, 2OO,OOOis 20O thousands. youll make

$2gg7 multiplied by
200. we're talking $sgg,+oo in profit each and
every month!
You'll get to keep most of the profit. costs
that eat at your profits
are customer refunds.-. which will not exceed
royo in practicary alr
cases'.. Youll have to pay for a few employees
to answer the cails...
you'll pay the electric bill, etc- If you were
getting $599,4o0 in
profit... it's safe to assume youll get to
put around $5OO,000 in
your pocket to spend as you wish, eachand
every month!
 )l

This Real Estate course did not have a back end to resell... but you
can look at the installn'rent payments as your back end.-. because
your prospects will not think they are paying $179.85 for the
course... their mind tells them they are paying $59.95... three
tirnes.

But that shouldn't stop you from sti11trying back end products.
You can put together a newsletter... videotapes of a seminar... etc.

Another issue you have to take into consideration lvhen looking for
a product is how many ways are out there for you to rnake money
from. If there is just one mailing list and it has just 25OO fresh
names added to it a month, this product is probabiy not worth
your time. If there are no lists that have even the slightest chance
of working for you, there's probably good reason for it- nobody
wants to buy that type of product. if there are no publications, or
publications that are smaller than 5O,OOOpaid circulation every
month or every other month, consider another prodr-rct.

When it comes to selecting a product to sell, your options a.re

endless".. as long as the numbers work and as long as there are
people you can promote it to. You have to do your own math. If you
need more than 2alo to breakeven and if you do not have a kilier
back end... or if you cannot locate a large mailing list or lists in the
SRDS... forget the idea no matter how much you think it is good.

A friend of mine was telling me about his friend who makes these
"really cool" clocks. He told his friend about me and his friend was
wondering if he could se1l his clocks via direct response sales
letters. Let's do the math:

He made these clocks for $tS.

It took him three hours to make the clocks.

There are no mailing iists of people hot to buy clocks.

Even if there were, these clocks would have a hard time selling for
more than g5O. We have to subtract $1S to make the clocks from
the $5O selling price and we're left with 935. Let's say we can
 _i -J

charge $10 for shipping and handling, and iet's assume it would
really cost $5 to send the clock... so \r'e can add another s5 to the
S35 CTO for a grard total of $4O CTO.

when we mail looo sales letters as a test, well need l5 orders just
to breakeven. So, lets say we need to do double over... which
means we need to make back double what we spent on mailing the
sales letters. That means well need 3o orders for this clock.
THREB PERCENT to buy.

Do you really think he's going to get three percent of his prospects
(if there were any) to buy his stupid clock, which he could never
make in large quantities anjrway? Are you craz',1? Of course not. So,
I had to offend him and tell him "what time it was." Bad product.
Bad, Bad, Bad.

Another thing I look for in a product to market is that it has to be

small and easy and cheap to ship to the consumer. I think
computers are the worst product to sell via direct response. They,re
huge. They're heavy. The profit margin on them is next to nothing.
And what's worse than anything is that they depreciate in value 5y
the minute! I could never be in a business like the computer
business... but the software business is another story! Microsoft
has the life. It's cheap to copy. It's light to ship. you can sell
upgrades to new versions.

what I would tell you to do is keep your eyes open for products you
have purchased in the past that fit the patameters explained in
this chapter. see if you can create yor-rr own version oiit. you
don,t
have to be an expert or have any'qualifications" that you may
have thought you needed. when i first got into the dietary
supplements business, I thought you needed some sort of expertise
in this field... boy was I wrong- Most vitamin manufacrurers
have
"house blends" of certain t54pesof products that you can
simply
"private label'.

All vitamin companies have their own diet pill blends... their
own
arthritis blends.-. etc. All it takes is a brand name and
a label and
you're in the supplements business.
 J4|

Make your producis easy to create. Don't come up with some

robotic vacLlum cleaner that will take thousands of dolials in
development. Take the easy road and shoot fish in a barrei.

Here are some ideas:

1. A karate instructor creates a video series showing how even a

wimp can kick some ass.

2. A video course on how to pick up women regardless of your

finances, your looks, or your nationality.

3. A wrinkle serum that fills in wrinkles making you look lO years

younger in just 6O seconds time.

4. A pill that eniarges a woman's breast size naturally... without

the risk or expense of implant surgery.

5. A sports handicapper offers $39.95 a month access to his

special website revealing sports "picks".

The sky is the limit..- as long as the mailing list or magazine is

there to advertise in and as long as the mathematics pan out.

If you really feel you have a great product and itll cost you $zs to
make, and you think you can sell it for $30O, plus 925 shipping
and handling- even though it goes against the principles I teach of
in this cha.pter.-- if you feel strongly about it* rnaybe go for it.

You1l still make $225-$24o in cro for every order... and guess
what? If you get 1o/oto buy... you'd earn 92250 to g24OO in CTO
per looo letters mailed. when you subtract the $600 for the sales
letters..r you're still left with $16s0 - glBoo per every io00 letters.
I know a lot of people who wouldn't cry about these numbers. And
we're not even going into talking about the back end this product
may or may not have.

So, please... NOTHING IS SET IN STONE. Breakthroughs only

happen when you break rules.
 -15

Another hurdle you may encounter is fear of not "being good

enough" to create a product and sell it as your own. Ii you were a
golfer, and you were going to create a few videos about driving and
you're *'orrying the really "great" golfers will be laughing at you...
forget it. over 9oo/oof golfers cannot break 1oo and for the most
part are hackers.

or how about if you create a product you feer is not to your high
standards... I wouldn't worry too much either, but let me clarify a
little. You should ahvays shoot to seil and/or create the absolute
best product you can make, but sornetimes this iust cannot
happen.

Reasons may be, in order to hit a certain price point, you have to
skimp on a few key farts.-. or use a lower grade. There's only one
person who has the right to tell you your product is crap... and
that's your customer"

If you're getting more t-l-al 1ooloof your customers asking for their
money back, maybe you should look into what thev are
cornplaining about and see if you can fix it... but eiren if you
cannot, later in this book, i1l teil you how to retain as manv
customers as possible.

Rolis Royce makes one hell of a handcrafted car. pontiac mal<es an

affordable car. The Rolis Royce's interieir is covered in wood
veneers, wool, leath_er, and sheepskin. The pontiac is cheap plastic
that will rattle and fall apart in s0,ooo miles. But there
h.rg"
differences in price between the two cars. pontiac could "r"
never Jeil
as many cars as they do if they were to make the car the
absolute
best they can.

Any car manuf,acfurer (even the Americans) can make a

car to rival
a Rolls Royce {rernember Dusenburgs?)... but they choose
not to as
they cannot do it at a profit.

There's nothing wrong with selling an inferior product

and i1l
probably be the onry direct marketer with enough
balls to tell you
this in writing- Hey, as long as you do not get *"or.
than loo% of
yollr customers to ask for a refund and as long
as you a-re not
 _1C

by aJ1fiIeans'
misleading your customers in your advertisements..-
seli, sell, selll

Consirler this and remember it:

make millions of
Those with superior marketing skills rvill a-lways
than someone with a far
dollars more with an average product
superior product and poor or no advertising skills'
 )]

Chapter
Three:
What lts Like WhenOne Of
TheseThingsExplodes

In the last two chapters and in the introduction of this book, I have
been "peppering" you with my past successes. And before we go
any further, I think I should take you inside one of my largest
successes... step-by-step... and show you only what a few people
on the "inside" experienced.

since 1994,lve been selling all different t5rpes of products through

direct response- wholesale membership clubs for consumer
electronics... computer software... how-to books and tapes...
premium car wax. .. you name it, I sold it... but I had my largest
success in dietary supplements.

Over the years, I,ve had people try to persuade me to get into
dietary supplements... but I could never realry get excited about
this type of product- unless it was something radically different.

Radicaliy different was on the way when my Fiance told me about a

product her hairdresser was taking and that alt the wornen in the
salon were hot to try. I'm not going to go into what the product
did... because that is not important right now.

Anyway, the product she was telling me about claimed to do some

amazing sfuff. I was a little skeptical, but when I did some
research on the rnarketer of this product's website, I saw that thev
had performed a clinical sfudy that proved their product deliverej
on its claims.

I looked around in several vitamin stores looking for this product

with no success. I had to evenfually go to a different state to buy
this stufll It cost a whopping $60 for a one-month supply.

My Fianc€ was also very interested in trying this supplement

for
herself- This is a plus when deciding on a product to market...
if
 Iu

you or your spouse wants to try it rvith a passion.-. thet'e's a good

chance others will feel the same

so, before I even thought about potentially rnarketing this type of

product, I had to see with my own eyes that my Fiance received the
desired result the product claimed.

within a few weeks we both noticed the product did in fact just
what it claimed to do... and it did just as well as their clinica-l Ffudy
said it would. This product was getting rne rnore and more excited'

At this point in my life, I never marketed or manufactured dietary

supplements, so I was a little confused about the manufacturing
proiess. I figured since these things were costing $6o in the store,
they had to cost the manufacturer $8 to $t5 to make... boy rvas I
ever wrong!

After locating a vitamin manufacturer in our local phonebook, I

told the man about the product I wanted to manufacfure. Turns
out he knew of the product and even had a "house blend" with the
same ingredients already made. All we had to do is have a graphic
artist create some labels and smack them on the bottles'

But I would still say the best part about this discovery was that
these piils... the entire one month supply'.. in a bottle." with a
label affixed to it... didn't cost the $a to $15 I thought it would cost
to rnake... it cost just $2 a bottle when I bought them in 1000
lots... and that price would go down even further when we'd order
larger quantities.

Now, this product had four things going for it so far...

1. it was a consumable product- Our customers would have to re-

order a fresh bottle every month if they wanted to keep seeing the
benefits this product delivered.

2. It was cheap to rnanufacture, yet had a high perceived vaiue- I

was able to make a full size bottle for fwo bucks... and the best
part was that i could sell it for $6O. And of that $6O, I got to keep
 i9

100% of itas I made the $2 to manufacture the prodlrct in the

shipping and handling fee the custorner would pa-r,l

3. It was small and cheap to ship- I think at the time, the post
Offlce was chargingus $1.87 to ship a bottle in a bubble bag. I was
charging $6.95 to cover shipping and handling, so the cost to buy
the bag, the cost of Postage, the cost of the product itself, was a-li
covered in this fee. And these botties are small, so they didnt
require a huge warehouse to stock them. you could easilv stick
20OO bottles in a one-car garage bay.

4. women had a huge problem with what this product was to help
them with... and there was only one other product on the markei
at that time offering to help with this problem And iike I was
saying
before, this other product's marketing was Mickey Mouse. A bunch
of ugranola nuts" as I ca-ll them who knew eveqrthing about herbs
and didn't know a thing about advertising and marketing... but
I
sure as hell did!

So what I did at this point was get my halds on looo bottles

of my
"new' product- Actually, I didn't "buy, them; I just reserved
them
rvith the supplier.

I sat at my brand new (at the time) orange iMac and just
got
typing. I wrote a really good sales letter and found three
mailing
lists that I thought were worth testing first.

I got 9oo0 sales letters printed up and I ordered the

three maiiing
lists, I was going to test 3ooo names from each list. you
can test
with as little as rooo letters, but since I was arready
an estabiished
marketer... 3O0O is actualiy being frugat.

one thing to remember: In order for response results

from a test to
be vaiid..' you must receive at least 2o orders. so, if your
goar were
to get ro/oto buy... you'd have to mail at reast 20oo
titters]trre key
to this business is testing smar and then rolring
out in rarger
quantities- If you mail 2oo0 letters and get 2-4il response,
you,re
looking at48 orders. T!a!'s enough to scientifically
say on a roil
out, you1l get befween 2.2o/o and 2.6vo.If you *"r."
to mail 5oo
 -10

letters and get i2 orders istill 2.4%)..' the 12 orders are NOT
enough to scientifically gauge a roll out's response percentage '

Let's get back to mY story.

I mailed 9000 letters to 3 lists of 3000 names each' Al1 9O00 got
the sarne exact letter... I had a coding device {which I'11talk about
later), which told me which mailing list they ordered from when
they were ordering. The orders started coming in, and I always like
to sit-in on tests-.. as they are the very foundation of a million-
dollar promotion. You want to make sure everything is right. i once
deemed a sales letter selling golf clubs a failure because I didn't get
any orders from a test mailing. Little did I know, we had the wrong
B0O# on the letter. The letter with the right phone number was a
success. Nowadays I watch every test as if it were a child fresh off
her training wheels.

The first few orders start corning in. I vividly remember a lady
saying how much she identified with the writer of the sa-lesletter...
and how it almost made her cry. She busted out her credit card
immediately. Sure, a woman may have signed the letter we sent
out... but it was written by me... a burley... hairy-chested'-. ltalian
guy. I found this kind of funny. I guess that's when you know you
are a good copylvriter. Sure, I got a lot of orders, but the final
response didn't impress me much...

I was thinking I'd get 2o/oto buy... I ended up with a lot less.

List #i got just 1O orders and I needed 30 for breakeven.

List #2 got just 15 orders and I needed 3O for breakeven.

List #3 got 3O orders and broke even.

This is why you have to test different mailing lists... you can have a
hit on one list... and a disaster on another list... even if they are in
theory the same type of people on them! Logic makes no sense in
this business and even seasoned Professionals like me fail to bring
in enoush orders frorn time to time.
 4t

so we had a list that broke even. Ivlany direct marketers say that
breaking even is 9A'/" if success is iO0%. Now you have to do
things to better the promotion.

we tried to up sell the customers to larger quantities of bottles.

Instead of buying just one bottle for $6o right now... we tried to get
them to order 4 bottles for $t39.9s... but we weren't successful.

In the dietary supplements business, we found it hard to sell

'lvomen numerous bottles upfront- even if they are at
a red.uced
price because they are skeptical if this product wil work for
them... s0 we went to Plan B.

I was discouraged the up sells didn't work. But I had an idea to

automatically enroll the customers into a preferred customer club
where they would "qualiSr" for future month's supplies at a $20
discount and I went on to say that they would receive these future
supplies automaticall_v. I worded t]ris like it was all for their
benefit... while, yes, they got a discount..- but I got an open-ended
contract with them.

If a woman tries a supplement, while she rnay not want to buy 4

bottles upfront.-. when those pilis or cream or whatever it is proves
to her that it works, she'll be standing in iine, begging you to take
her money for a fresh supply next month.

Here was the wording for my paragraph:

"And if you're one of the first 2oo people to order, you1l receive
FREE ENROLLMENT into our preferred customer club where
youll qua-lify to receive a full $2O discount on all your fufure
bottles of (product name). And so you don't go d"y without
(product name) in your system, youn automaticarly"
receive a fresh
bottle every 3o-days and your credit card will te billed the club
Member Price of $39.95 plus $6_95 S/H- not the $59.95 fee non_
rnembers have to pay. There are no minimuffr amollnts of bottles
to
buy and you can cancel at any time. The number to call is l-g0o-
123-4567, and you can call 24 hours a day, z days a week."
 .12

l'he addition of this paragraph was the only difference between the
initial sales letter that broke even, I ordered another batch of fresh
names from the list broker and had these new letters printed rvith
the magic paragraph. We mailed out 3000 and kept our fingers
crossed. You see while a back end is a rnust in this business..^ an
,,auto,ship" makes the back end l0o times more profitable. Notice
how the paragraph was worded as if I was doing thern a favor of
making sure their fresh bottle was there on time. while it is true,
they were getting the auto delivery and a reduced price... I was the
rea-l winner, beca.use I got to rebili their credit card automatically
every month until they called and told me to stop. This is super
profitable and absolutely legal to do.

Anyway... lets get back to what happened when I remailed the

30OO sales letters with this added paragraph-

I instructed our order takers not to mention the Preferred

Customer Club unless the caller asked about it. In the letter, they
could not have found the 80O# had they not read the added
paragraph because I stuck the 800# in that added paragraph. The
reason why I didn't want our order takers to bring up the Preferred
Customer Club was that if someone called to order and didn't ask
any questions about it, my words in the letter did the proper
amount of selling. if this club was a turn off, they would have
never called to order... or they would have at least asked if they
could opt out of the club, which a smal1 percentage did. And not
only all this, but I sure didn't want an order taker to "un-sell" what
I did in the letter- When you roll these sales letters out in large
quantities...you can't answer all the orders yourself- You will have
strangers answering phone rrho don't know how to talk about
some things as good as yolt could.

So the new orders started coming in... and we didn't mention

anything about the Preferred Customer Club. The first caller
placed her order and hung up... only to call back imrnediately. I
overheard our order taker saying "Preferred Customer Club"... and
I thought to myself... "Ah... she's calling back to opt out of the
club." Once the order taker was off the phone, I went over and
asked her what the lady was calling back for. I a-lmost hit the floor
when she told rne..- the ladv called back and said...
 +-l

"WAS I ONE OF THE FIRST 2OO CALLERS? IA,{ IN THAT

PREFERRED CUSTOMER CI-UB. RIGHT?"

These women achrally wanted to be in the clubl Good, good, good!

Now while this letter may breakeven and bring back just enoigrr
orders to cover the mailing expense... I automiticatty reship
them
ALL a fresh bottle every 3O days for g40l

After a few months.. I checked back to see how many bottles

(months) these women would rernain taking my supplement.
I was
amazed when I saw they were on this product a., .i..age of
4.4
months.

I rounded it off to 4 months. so, they would call and order

a $so
bottle initially, then I'd send them 3 more botties over lhe
next 9o
days for $40 each. Since it cost me $SO to bring in the $S0
initial
sale {breakeven},-. the three g4o sales added.rf to
$izo... which
was an over 3oo7o return on rny initial advertising dollar.
where
else can yon earn a 3ooo/o monthly RoI... That,s ale annuar
3600%
Roi..' and the promotion is just a breakeven... not even
one of my
bigger successes!

I went on to build an auto ship database of lo,ooo women

receiving this product monthly for an annuar sales figure
of over gS
Million! Had t oniy tested one maiiing list-.. I would have
not
discovered the one that broke e.ren... Had I not thought
of the
Preferred customer club-.. I would not have discovered
I could stiil
make 30O% ROI.

I was able to build this product to IO,OOO sa-les a month,

by
bringing in just 2soo new customers each month
from a mailing
list of 25,000 which.I got ro/oto buy. The 25oo
customers received
an average of 4 bottles total.-. so 2500 m,ltiplied
bythe 4 month
customer life, we came up with 1O,OOO.rrorrihly
sal"es.

While this product was a good one_ making me

and my 5O/S0
partner $ 1O,OOOin weekly pay for each of
Ls-.. it was just a
stepping-stone for my next dietary supplement.
 t4

The product I just told you about was my first attempt at dietary
supplements a:rd after having a hit with the first product, I was
fascinated with this business. I was hot to come up with my next
success.

This time, I thought l'd try to do a suppiement that men would

buy. After all... I arn a rnan and maybe I can write a better letter
because 1 really know what they are feeling... where I could only go
o{Twhat women told me they felt when I wrote the last letter.

I immediately noticed there were a ton more maiiing lists and

magazines to advertise the second supplement. I had rny vitamin
rnanufacfurer develop a blend of herbs for me- it cost nothing, as I
would rnanufacfure the product through them.

I wrote the sales letter. It was basically the very same offer I had
for the first supplement.., the first bottle for $59.95 plus $6.95
shipping and handling and then they would be automatically
enrolled into my Preferred Customer Club and receive automatic
rnonthly shipments.

I would have been happy if this product brought in the same

breakeven response the first one for the women did... as this
product had lO times more lists to break even on... thus getting
larger amount of club members on the arrto ship.

I mailed the letter to four different iists in quantities of 300O

each... List #1: Maxim Magazine, List #2: Playboy Magazine, List
#3: Adarn & Eve Catalog Buyers and List 4: Frederick's of
Holiywood "ma-leo Catalog Buyers.

The end results 3O days later were amazing...

List # 1 : We needed 3O orders to breakeven... we got 6O!

List #2: We needed 3O orders to breakeven... we got 6O!

List #3: We needed 3O orders to breakeven... we got 90!

List #4: We needed 3O orders to breakeven... we got 9O!

 .l -)

These numbers were phenomenal.. but the most amazing thing

was that I also got these customers to buy on average 4 botties
through the Preferred customer club! Each customer was worth
$ l80 to us and each 3ooo-name test cost us just $l Boo to maiil
You do the math.

Naturally, I rolled this promotion out rapidly. Maxim had a mailing

list of 150,o0o new names a rnonth. prayboy has the same. Adam
& Eve had 90,ooo fresh names every month... and Frederick,s was
less, so we mailed them every once in a while- But just the 3 lists
supplied me with over 39o,ooo names to mail e.ch and everv
month.

so we mailed 39o,oo0 names. It cost us 6o cents each, for

a grand
total of $234,ooo. And we took in on average 2o/" response
at $lBo
(over 4 months). A whopping 7,8O0 orders! This came ro
$1,404,000 in pure cro. After I took out the mailing cost... we
were left with $1,l7O,OOO in profit each and every rnlnth_
as
faithful as clockwork. After afi... as long as these two magazine
keen getting new subscribers {which they will, and this
will even
increase)... and as long as the catalog company we mail
to stays in
business (they've been around for over 25 years already)...
,rr"i"
going to make a_lmost $ 1.2 Million in profit a month!

Now I thought I was hot shit... but tl.is was nothing.

I immediately sfuck advertisements in a-ll the men,s

magazines...
full page ads.-. and they ar puiled the same profit
ratio as the
direct mail {about 6 times)... then I went to three page
ads in each
magazine and they all pulled a sales to ad cost raiio-of
6ooyo as
well.

I shrck this product on 6o-second radio spots. we

were getting a
6OOVIreturn on our advertising cost.

I sfuck this product on 6o-second TV spots. we

were getting a
6OOohrefurn on our advertising cost.
 45

We ended up spending $ 1.25 Million a tnonth on TV, radio,

magazine,lnternet, and direct mail advertising. We brought in $7.5
Mi]lion in sales... over $4 Miilion of it was money my partner and I
split 5O/50. Yes, I was making about $24 Miilion a year. It took
just 24 months to get the company this size. I started it with the
9000 test letters that cost me $5,4OO to mail.

I reinvested my profits. I had no venture capitalists- I sold no

stock. I did not take any money out of my savings to buiid this
company. It was all self-financed'

We ended up employing IOO peopie. We were the largest singular

Federal Express shipper. We were the largest customer of oui
contract manufacturer- we made up 6O% of their sales" These guys
were very young and just getting started in the manufacturing
business. I think when they built their plalt, they were
anticipating business to be easier than it was, so they overbuilt
this plant and it was literally empty when i first went to visit them.
Good thing for them I gave them my business. It saved their
company and within a few months, they were driving brand-new
Porsche ragtops and BMWs. Even our Federal Express rep was
making deep 6-figures in commissions- her husband even retired
she was making so much rnoney! It seems as if everyone got rich!
'popo... youll be arnazed at what it
When one of these promotions
feels like. I'm serious--. like when a TV spot goes off ald you look
down at the phone system and you see 20O lights flashing... these
are callers with their credit cards in hand wanting to GIVE YOU
their money!

I remember being at the ofTice one night and we just picked up a

new channel to run our commercia-ls on. I was there that night
because I was taking delivery of a brand-new Bentley from an out
of state dealership... so the truck arrived at like 9pm... and I was
out front in the street watching this $22O,OOO car come off the
truck as I was on the walkie-talkie with rny night manager as she
was saying, "EVERY LINE IS LIT! EVBRYONE IS ON TFIE PHONE
TAKING AN ORDER!" What a nice night. New car. Huge success in
bu.siness. This combo- the car and the phones ringing off the hook,
beat sex that night.
 ,fi

while you may or may not wish to.have

this huge conglomerate
like I built... I can telr you how to d-o
it better *.2' arryone eise
I ACTUALL' DID IT. I sufferea al can
irre bruises when i messed
things up and got careress.Ilr pass along
an my successes and I1r
all of my pains- you can avoid
l;:" "t""g "o them 1or at least try

As for this company... it went on to

gross $B Uillion a month
the product eventually lost its ruster until
as it matured in the market
as every product does. Woutd r buitd
anott;;;;;""" this big
ever again? I don't know. I realry
didn,t rike some;f ah. poritics
that started to devel0p when thlre
are_roo people under one
but when aI oppnrtunit5r reveals roof...
itself to you... you have to
every cent out of it. It's orgasmic... milk
it feels's. ;;;...;ou just can,t
stop,.. until there's no feelings left.
 "18

ChapterFour:
All AboutMalllngLlsts

In this chapter, we're going to be covering probat-ily the most

important part of direct mail success or failure.

A great sales letter, selling a great product, to a poor list wili never
do as well as a so-so letter, selling a so-so product to a HOT
mailing list.

If you're going to get ripped-off in this business, this is one of the

four places it will happen- on mailing lists {l1l cover a1l four in
deeper detail later, the other three are: at the letter shop, at the
Post Office, or in unaudited magazine circulation claims).

Anyway... we're now talking about mailing lists, so lets move on.

First of all, never consider a mailing list if it is not listed in the

SRDS Direct Mail List Source book. If you're looking to test one of
those mailing list companies advertised in Entrepreneur Magazine
or Small Business Opportunities Magazine... I'd advise you to save
your money and keep focused in the SRDS book. The mailing lists
advertised in the opportunity magazines are usually compiled very
poorly and trust me- from rny experience, 1 never got one of them
to work, and I dont know of anyone who has.

If you re just getting started in tJ is business, and are sti1l looking

for a product to sell-.. I'd tell you to spend a few days in the SRDS
book. Flip through the pages and see what tlpes of lists are on the
market. Fit the product to the iist. You"ll have more success going
this route rather than trying to come up with a product and then
trying to lit the list to the product.

Remember, its better to have a good list with bad writing skills and
a poor product than it is to be the best copywriter in the world,
with a hot product, to the wrong list.
 J9

This business is not about selling ]our" product through the

mail... it's more like seliing to mailing lists products that would
compliment their past purchases.

Anyway, i like BIG lists. I like BIG HorLiNE lists. when vou,re
looking through the sRDS book, youll see the counts foieach list.
These counts will be the universe (all the names on the list,
regardless of how long ago they were added), youll see the
s,6, 12
and maybe everi the 24 month count- which is pretty easy to
understand... and youll see the HOTLINE count.

The HOTLINE count is the one I'm interested in. Because if

I have
a hot letter and product that works when mailed to this list...
what
good is it if I run out of names in a few weeks once I mail
the 12
month count? or whdt about if their HOTLINB count were so
small... it would get wiped out as soon as you test it in small
test
quantities?

I don't understand why, but every time I ask for a orecon

from a list
!fo,k"r, they always send me these data cards for rists that are
5000 l2-month names... what the hell am I going to do with
this
list? I d probably get 4oh of it to buy, but .u"r, if {got ao/....
its reaily
not going to mal<e me any money because there,sJust 5ooo
nannes
a year added to the list.

In order to get rich in this business, yon need HUGE roriout

potential. But on the flip side, do not get misled by
some list just
because it's huge and can rnake yo' millions "if oily
*" were able
to get 2%oto buy'.

Before I go any further, let rne explain a little mailing list

terminologr.

when yo' get a mailing list to mail your stuff to--. its
ca]Ied
"renting"... you're not "buying" the list... you,re just
"renting. it for
a one-time usage-.- unless you pay more or get permission
for
unlimited usage.

A LIST BROKER works like a rea]tor. He is the agent

that
represents the BUyER.
 \ll

A LIST MANAGER also rvorks like a realtor, except he repi"esents

the SELLER.

if Acme catalog Company has 5O,0O0 new crtstomers a month

buying from their catalog; they usually put their customer names
on-the-market. It's a good Source of added income and they literally
have to clo nothing but fork over the fresh nalnes every rnonth to
their LIST MANAGER-

Now, you are the person who wants to RENT mailing iists to see if
you can sell your stuff to their customefs, or their subscribers, etc'

DATA CARDS are the.listing for a specific list. Do you know how a
realtor puils a listing on a home for sale? Well, this is the same
thing. The Data cards are not actually "cards', they are just
iistings in the SRDS book or sheets of paper a list broker will send
you.

You can get your hands on the SRDS book yourself and contact
the LIST MANAGER of each list yourself, or you can call a LIST
BROKER and theyll get the same lists for you'-. and you won't
have to make 1o to i5 phone calls to different LlsT MANAGBRS.
LIST BROKERS are also supposed to help guide you to the best
mailing list for your offer- Basically, the way it works is you fax
them r .opy of your sales message and they'll use their "expertiseo
to locate you all the lists that have people ready to buy your
product.

In fantasyland, this is how this works... but in the real world, if the
LIST BROKERS were so good, they sure wouldn't be RENIING lists
to you... they'd be mailing their own shit to the lists they know
"work" so well.

But still, LIST IIROKERS are usefr:l becamse they don't add any
more money to the lists you rent {the list owner pays his
commissions)... and they can make all the phone cal1s for you to
the other list managers... and best of all, once you start rolling
out... the list broker can extend you 3o day credit terms on all the
lists you rent from numerous iist managers.
 i1

Now, there are different types of mailing lists.

1. There are BUYER iists: These are lists made up of acfuaj people
who bought from the company. Victoria's Secret Catalog Buyers is
a list of all the people who bought from their catalog, and you can
select them by date. The last 12,month narnes, the last 6-month
names, the last 3-month names, even the HOTLINES for the past
month's buyers. Buyer Lists are the most powerful mailing lists to
rent.

2. There are SUBSCRIBER lists: These lists are what they say they
are.., subscribers to a magazine... or to a newsletter. while these
lists are great, and tl1ey are sorne of the bigger lists, they are less
powerful than the actual "buyer'lists... part of the reason is that
subscriptions are sold numerous ways. Direct rnail sold
subscribers.., sweepstakes soid subscribers {publisher's clearing
House-t54pes)... 3 -month free trial subscriptions... Bilr-Me- Later
subscriptions, etc- Where a buyer is a buyer is a buyer...
subscribers can come into the list many different \f,'ays. obviously,
the best subscribers are DIRECT MAIL soLD subscribers. so, if
you can, sometirnes i eliminate all the swEEps soLD subscribers
from the lists I test.
'l'here's
3. coMPiLED lists: These lists are the least powerful of the
three, but I did get them to work for me sometimes. cornpiled lists
are made up of data complied in some way and organlzed. year,s
ago a comparly RL POLK {now owned by EeUIFAE had a compiled
list I tested and it worked for me TwlcE on two separate offers.
This list was compiled by way of warrantSr cards. you know when
you buy a computer and the warranty card has a million and, one
questions on it and you feel obligated to jill out each and every
question or else J/our warrant5l may be voided... well, that data
went straight to RL POLK.

There are many different list-compiiing companies out there. I d

stick with the reputable ones like EeUIFAX. But, I wouldn't worry
so much about compiled lists right now. These are the LAST
mailing lists to test.
 ;2

I have somewhat of a systematic approach to mailing list rental-

Here's how I approach it:

I want the big F{OTLINES. I want to know that I can count on a

fresh supply of leads each and every month for rny sales letters.

I iike to test ONLY from companies and/or magazines Ive actually

heard of. If the list is from a companyyou've never heard of... and
it's a rather large iist... don't you think you would have hearcl of
them since they are so big? Of course you would have. I'm not
saying to forget about testing mailing lists from companies you've
never heard of... I'rn saying don't test them first.

I iike mailing lists where the customers paid a lot of money to get
on the list... hopefully more than I'm selling my product for. Youll
see this stat listed on the AVG. UNIT SALE part of the data card.
This is another reason why magazine subscriber lists don't pull as
well as buyer lists... rnagazine subscriptions are cheap- usually
under $2O.

But I've also made the majority of my money from subscriber lists
and this is for at least two reasons. Magazine subscriber lists are
usually huge. i'd rather ea-rn a do1lar on one rnillion names than
earn four dollars on 25,OOO names-.. wouldn't you agree? There's a
difference between powerful and profitable.

A1so, magazine subscriber lists are more creditable to me. I11 tell
ya... probably 9O% of the lists in the SRDS book are inflated,
hyped up... maybe even phonebook names! Who's going to poiice
it? And if they did.-, how would they do it? How can you prove the
name was actuall-y a man who purchased a $+OO item... within the
last 30 days? You can't. That's why there are a bunch of liars out
there. Usuallv the business thev are in revea-ls the level of their
credibility.

I tested a well-known adr-rlt video cata-log vs. one I never heard of.
One got 3a/oto buy... the one I never heard of got less thaii a
quarter of a percent to buy. These are the sarne type of lists in
theory- adult video buyers... but if this was really the case, why the
difference in response? Could the unknown list have phonebook
 53

names in it so they can scam a 10t of money by renting more

names to people who are too stupid to actualll, track their results
from mailings? You bet.

something else that pisses me offabout subscriber lists, is that

you have to beware of the hotlines. Most, if not a_llof new
subscriptions a-re "bill me later". Did you know that 65yo to Boolr
NEVER PAY UP!

so when the magazine company is saying "paid subscribers"...

do
they really mean they are not given a free subscription, but
they
have yet to pay,p... or do they mean these are the subscribers
rvho cut a check? Make sure when you are renting a hotline
subscriber list; always say you want the ones thalare actuallv
PAID UP.

Funny thing. I once tested weider's IvIEN,s FITNESS subscriber

list. The data card said "paid subscribers"..- and I told the
list
broker clearly I wanted the people who actually got off
their lazy
ass and cut a check,-even though the data ...a =rio
they were
paid subscribers... I had to pay an extra fee to
make sure they
were the ones who actually reaiiy ,,paid". Go figure.

something really good about subscriber lists... is that

if you can
get your letter to puli profitable in the mail... itll
be a smash
success when you advertise it in the magazine itself-

Jay Abraham, another of my mentors... and probably

the man who
influenced me the most in this business tells a storf
of some
bodybuilder clients he was working for. They rraa
ttiis manual they
were trying to sen to the subscribers of sornl of
the bodybuilding
magazine and the letter was just breaking even.

what he did was condense the sares letter down

to 4 pages and he
struck a deal with the magazine to prace his
ad. weil, where the
direct mail just br1!e even... the print ad version
of tLe sares retter
pulled 2oo% to 3o0% over what the advertisement
cost to place.
He tells of a similar success with his
$5,ooo seminar. when he
mailed the Entrepreneur Magazine subscriber
list, it.]'rr*t broke
even for him. So he got himself a 22-page block of ads and the
damn thing made him a huge profit. This 22-page ad in
Entrepreneur Magazine back in 1995 was the ad I responded to
and bought his $5,OOOserninar. Just imagine what will happen
when you get a winner on a subscriber list and then you rake it
over to print ads...

I had a product that was pulling six times cost on the subscriber
list, but when I placed the ad in the magazine on four pages-.. I got
not six times onr money back... we got back nearly ten times our
money!

The point of all this, is if you're interested in advertising in a

certain magazine, but the advertisement will cost a lot of money,
and you're nervous... before you spend a dime on a space ad"' test
the subscriber list (if its available)... if it is and you can at least
breakeven... feel free to go for it (as long as you negotiate a good
rate- rnore on this later)-.. because if you can breakeven on the
subscriber mailing list... you can do very good on the actual pages
with a print ad.

Most books on direct mail will tell you about the RFM guidelines to
keep in mind when you are selecting a mailing list. I think they're
worth going over-

Recency:
The most important. This means how recent the name is. Peopie
have a habit of buying in surges. You want to get thern while
they're in that surge. It may last 30 days... it rnay last 6 months,
Obviously, the fresher the better. This is where logic makes no
sense. You'd think if sorneone just bought a diet pill last monlh...
they wouldn't be ready to try your brand for at least two months.
But it doesn't work this way. The same goes for opporhrnity
seekers. You'd think if someone bought a book on how to make
money last month... they wouldn't buy another book on how to
make money for at least a few months... or until they realize they
don't want to.-. or can't do what the product says they have to do.
But it doesn't work this way. lf they bought a diet pill last month...
 )_)

youll have an easier time selling them another pill a weeks iater
than you r,vould if it were 12 months later'

FrequencY: _
This is the seconcl most important. Frequency means how many
times this particular customer bought. MULTI-BUYERS are what
they are called in the mailing list world. Multi-buyers afe twice as
likely to buy as one-time buyers. So, the more times they bought,
the more powerful theY are.

Monetary:
This is the least important of the three, but it is important.
Monetary means how much this customer spent to get on this iist'
I was just telling you about this a few pages back. obviously, you11
have an easier.tirne trying to sell your $6O product to a list of
customers who all paid $5OO to buy something, rather than trying
to sell the same $6O oroduct to a list of people who put out $ i 0 to
bu.y the product that got them on the mailing list- Maybe they
cannot afford your $6O product, where you know for a fact the list
of the $SOO buyers can afford your $60 gizmo'

Nor,v,in the perfect world, you'd rent only mailing lists of people
who bought similar products as yours--. ald the last time they
bought it was last month... and they bought the same thing seven
times in the past... and they put out five tirnes more money on it
than what your product is being offered to them for-

I've never found a list like this one. If you did, by the time you slice
it down... you'd be looking at a just few thousand names.

But you should strive for as close to perfection as you think you
can get. Youll never find the perfect list like I was saying before...
but why not try to get as close as you can to perfection?

Usage Reports:
Something you can request from a list manager or a list broker is
the USAGE REPORT for a particular maiiing list you are looking to
rent. This report is broken down in two sections. One is
"Continuations' and the other is'Tests".
 :6

Basically, when sorneone tests a list, the manager should add it to

the report... when someone is continuing to use the list afrer a
test... they get added to the report. Obviously, a continuation oniy
occurs when a marketer tests a list and it works. So if you get a
u.sage report for a list you're interested in and it has a huge
amount of Tests and few Continuations-.. that should tell you
something. A lot of peopie test the list... only to find out it sucks.

I always ask for a r-rsage report before I come to a lirm decision.

What I like to do is get a list to work for rne and get the usage
report. Then I pull the usage reports for similar companies and see
which reports have the same companies on them as the list that
works well for me.

It really can narrow down some lists to test in the future- But there
are errors in usage reports as well. I rernernber being a continuing
customer for a certain catalog company- i saw a copy of their usage
report and I was not on it. Not that I even want to be on it... I like
to operate in silence... but if I wasn't on it... how many other
companies are not on it... and is it even accurate? Everything irr
this business has to be questioned numerous times and in
numerous ways, as nothing is as it seems- especially in mailing
lists.

Dont call a list broker until after your sales letter is crafted. Go to
the library and look through the SRDS book yourself and open
your rnind. The ideas will just start flying in, one after another!
 a1
)!

Five:
Chapter
All About MagazlneAdvertlslng

The last chapter, we focused on mailing lists- the different types...

how to fitproducts to them... and how to gauge the "good" ones
from the bad ones.

This chapter is going to focus on magazine advertising. How to

know ahead of time if advertising in a particular magazine is going
to make or lose you money. Basically that's all that matters.

Now, where I told you about selecting a mailing list then fitting a
product to it.,. I would not advise doing this with rrragazine
advertisements. And if you're testing a new product'-'

Buying magazine space for testing can be a lot more expensive

than testing a few thousand sales letters in the mail.-- and the
response you'Il get from the direct mail will come to you a lot faster
than results from a magazine ad, as it'U take three months from
'tillyou can see your ad on the
when you send off your artwork
magazine racks.

But, I still think rnagazine advertising is a whole lot easier to get to

"work" than sales letters... for one sirnple reason- the mailing list
you select is a huge variable to your success. I'd say there's a 4Oo/o
to 5O% chance the mailing list you select will cause your test to
fail. It's easier to get ripped off or simply rent the wrong mailing list
than it is to pick a poor publication to advertise in.

It's very possible to send out 3OOO sales letters and not receive one
single order! I mailed a test of 4OOO letters a few months ago and i
didn't get one single freakin'order!

On the other hand... as long as you advertise in a magazine that

you can achrally lind on the news racks..- I'm sure youll at least
get some orders. The trick is to see if you can get more money in
orders than you have to put out buying the ad-
 )5

That's another good thing I like about magazine ads is that 5rou
can negotiate your price. In direct mail... it's hard to get a huge
discount on printing... it's hard to get a huge discount on mailing
lists... and it is IMPOSSIBLE to get any discount on postage.

With rnagazine ads... I feel like the publisher is ripping me off if I

can't get at least a 5oo/odiscount from their "rate card".

Here's pretty much everything I know about magazine ads {in no

particular order):

Stay Away Frorn New Magazines.

If a general circulatiop magazine is ne'*' and has not been on sale
for at least a year, I wouldn't advertise in it. Now, I say "general
circulation', and that means magazines like FHM, MAXIM,
COSMO, etc.

If you have a product related to a niche market like car stereo and
a new car stereo magazine comes out, I'd say it was worth a test as
that magazine is a "specialized" magazine. The people who picked
it up at the nervsstand were probably car stereo mrts- And they
were not ordinary guys picking up a copy of EDGE... a MAXIM
knockoff.

Magazines have a huge chance of failure in their first few years.

You sure as hell do not want or need to take an unnecessary
gamble on a new pubiication... you already have enough to worry
about with your own product's success.

Here are a few examples of new men's magazines that came and
went in less than a few vears'time:

GEAR
STUN
E D GE
RAMP
CONTROVERSY
RADAR
 i9

I couid go on for an e ntire page. When you're unsure about your

product;s pulling polver..- stick ONLY with ESTABLISHED
magazines, so yolr can at least put one of the worries opt of your
head.

I have tested a few new magazines rvith great success... but only
after I knew I had a successful advertisement. I had a car stereo
membership club that I advertised in fwo new car audio
magazines, CARSOUND and AUTOTRONICS. Both books were new
and both books failed, but I did have great success advertising in
them. The same goes for MIND AND MUSCLE POWER. This was a
magazine by the Publisher of Penthouse. I was in their first issue. I
needed 1OO0 orders to breakeven, and I ended up with 5OO!
Unfortunately, MIND A'ND MUSCLE POWER is also out of
business. Bottom line: NEW MAGAZiNES DO NOT MAKE lT TO
YEAR TWO.

Now, if there's something eating at you to test a cer"cain new

magazine... and you have some indicator from other magazines
that tell you have a successful ad.," here is the only way to test it:

Tel! the advertising rep that you are skeptical as hel| because they
are new. Tell thern to rrn your ad for free and if it works, youll give
them a full 12-month contract. If they are not game..' forget them'

Cost Per Thousand

All rnagazine space is sold on a CPM basis. That's how us Pro's
gauge what we're buying space for. I1l tell you... in the early 9O's, I
could buy full-page ads in magazines like MOTOR TREND for $1O
per thousand. Nowadays, if you can beat them up and paY $2O to
$SO per thousand, you did well'

Here's how CPM is figured out: Magazines count how many

subscribers and how many newsstand sales they get for a singular
issue. Say they have SOO,OOOnewsstarrd sales and 5OO,OOO
subscribers. That means they have 1 Million paid circulation.
Remember the word PAID CIRCULATION. Anyway, they have a
rnillion people buying the issue- If you were to place a full-page ad
in their magazine, you'd want to pay no more than $2O,OOO to
$SO,O0Ofor every million paid readers.
 60

If you have a full page ad working very well for you in Publication A
and you are paying $25/M for a full page ad... when you go to
advertise in Publication 8... youll want to pay $251M or less.
Ahvays try to pay less. The less you pay, the more cash you get to
keep, and that's the name of this game.

Audited Circulation.
Magazines can lie about their circulation. Many new publications
do. In order for businesses to rairly gauge the different magazines
to advertise in, there are two 3rd party circulation-auditors
magazines hire to validate their readership numbers. ABC is the
one most magazines are audited by.

What this company does is stick their nose in the magazine's

numbers. They check their subscriber counts, the price they're
paying to subscribe, their newsstand sales, the percentages of the
two, the pass-along copies, the free distribution, everything youll
ever need to see the 'inner workings' of a magazine's circulation
figures. When you request a media kit from a magazine, the ABC
audit will be on a pink 1ix17 sheet of paper. In rny opinion, any
magazine saying they have over 250,000 paid circulation should
have an ABC audit done. If they are bragging they have more paid
circulation than 25O,OOOper issue and they don't have an ABC
audit... chances are, they're full of shit.

The real important figures you need to look at on the pink audit
sheet are the paid subscribers and the paid newsstand. Add these
two together and then gauge your CPM from this count.

The "Total Readership" Scam.

This scam is a funny one and I hate magaeines that try to pull this
one on me. As soon as they do, I tell them to stick their entire
magazine up their ass as if they are going to lie about something
this bad. Here's what it's ali about. Magazine A claims to potential
advertisers they have 5OO,OOOreaders. The key word is "readersn.
Most advertisers would assume the magazine is selling 5OO,O00
copies each issue. WRONG!
 ol

If you're iucky enough to have a magazine tell you about their total
.,]-eaders"...tell them that's nice... but you are interested in hog'
many PAID CIRCULATiON they have each issue' PAID
CIRCULATION is the only number you care about- When you ask
this question, Magazine A, who was just raving about SOO,OOO
readers will have to tell you they sell 1O0,OOOcopies each and
every month, but a survey they performed says their magazines get
read by 4 other people, other than the guy who originally
purchased it. This is also called "pass alongl readership.

No matter what name you Put on it, it's a scam. \f a magazine is

correct, and their sltrvey honestly is true... that is only to be
viewed as a plus... but not sornething to pay additional for" CPM is
to be based ONLY from actual paid circulation.

Frequency.
Magazines come out in all different types of frequency. Some come
out every mont]-r... some every two months... sorne every quarter...
some EVERY WEEK! Here's what I can tell you about frequency.
Monthly publications are great. Bimonthly publications are good
and they give you a little more time to make your money before
their next issue comes out. Quarterly publications are not worth
advertising in, and weekly's or biweekly's come out too fast for you
to recoup your advertising dollars from the previor:s issue.

A magazine ad must bring back a prolit before the next issue

comes out. Monthly's and Bi-Monthly's are good. An5rthing else
either is too fast or too slow to recoup advertising dollars and make
a profit. Enough said about frequenry.

Newsstand vs. Subscribers Ratio.

Magazines should have a 50/50 balance between subscribers and
newsstand sales. If a magazine has too many subscribers vs.
newsstand, your ad is going to "burn out" quicker as the
readership is static- subscribers are the same readers every
month, where newsstand may not be... plus a newsstand buyer
actually has to get off his ass and go and buy the magazine every
month. You can be sure he's going to read the damn thing from
cover-to-cover. A subscriber gets an issue in the mail... he paid a
lot less for the magazine than the newsstand buyer paid... the
 62

subscription could have been a gift from someone else... hell, he

may not even check his mail for months on end- Nervsstand
readers are better qua,1ity. Look for 5O150... and if there is a higher
percentage of newsstand, that's good- But, just understand if a
magazine is 90% subscribers and loolo newsstand, your ad rnay
burn out quicker.

RHP and Upfront As Possible.

When you are running an ad, always make sure you get a right
hand page... and ask to be as up front as yolr can. But definitely
get yourself a right hand page. if they want extra money for it.,.
look for a different publication to advertise in... that is unless they
are still offering a kiiler CPM.

You wiil get better results if you are on the right hand side of the
magazine. It's as simple as that. Many magazines may not want to
guarantee you a right hand page... but make sure you get your
point across that you want a right hand page. Don't be fonled by
magazines... they want your business. If you're going to walk away
over which side they put your ad on... theyll make sure they don't
lose the sa-le.

I don't even like to mess around with this shrlT anymore. Nowadays
I place three pages ads that are right, left, right. I'm guaranteed my
right hand page.

If you are doing an ad smaller than a fulI page, youli still want it
on the right hand page and as far up front as you can get it.

Fractional Advertisements.
Maybe you don't have the big dollars to place full-page ads just yet,
and that's fine. You can place fractional ads. These ads are I l3
page... l/2 page.-.213 page... even I /t2 page.

Here's my theory. I'd rather have a full-page ad in a smaller

circulation magazine than a smaller ad in a bigger publication.
Remember, you have to still sell something in your ad. Most
products need a full page if they are planning on selling right off
the page.
 63

if you do fractional ads, choose a vertical I I 2 page over a

horizontal I l2 page... try to keep the ad to the upper right hand
corner of the page. If Vou're looking to sell your product right off
the page. .. you're going to need at least a 1 /2-page ad'

Negotiating Ad Cost.
Here,s some proven ways to get the Publisher rvay down on his
prices. First of all, tell the ad rep you are your own in-house
advertising agency. These words will save you 157" right off the
top. Advertising agencies get 157o comrnission on all ads. Next,
rnake sure to tell them you are a direct response advertiser. This
could get you an entirely new rate that wiil be as much as 25oh
lower. The reason for this is simple. Publishers know if you are a
rnail order advertiser,.You are going to be counting the sales from
your ad. General advertisers do not do this, so the publisher
knows he can gouge them. The general advertiser's ad agency
rloesn't care about this too much, becalse they earn a commission
of 15% for the entire cost of the ad the company runs' The more
the magazine charges, the more the agency makes in commissions.
Ad agencies are useless. In fact, by the time you are flnished with
this book, you could probably go to Madison Avenue in Manhattan
and create better ads than 7Soh of the chumps in their fancy oflices
high above the citY.

Another technique yort can use to get the rate card price down is to
tell them you want the "pre-pay" discount, if they have one. You
can save an additional3o/o this way.

Also, tell the advertiser you want the l2-time rate. Obviously, if the
ad works for you, you're going to run more and more magazine
ads, right? If the magazine does not allow you to make enough
sales to cover it's cost, yolr can call the publisher and renegotiate
your ad rate. If they are sfuck and you can't get a better rate, you
don't have to run any more ads- even if you told them you were
going to run I1 more times.

No magazine has ever sued me for breaking a contract if I failed to

advertise the remainder of mv I I months.
 o.+

When you add up and use all these techniques.-- yor'r should shave
5O% off the one time rate card price.

Spreads Suck!
Spreads are fwo page ads, one on the left and one on the right'
They look good, and make you feel good because your ad is fwice
as large, so it has to be fwice as powerful... but it's not. Let me
explain.

Success in this business, either in direct mail... or in space ads, is

just getting people to see and read your ad. A spread does not pull
100% more readers to it... yet it costs 10O% more. With a spread,
you're lucky to pull 5O7ornore readers- because of its added size...
but you're still stuck paying lOO% more.

If your advertising copy runs over into another page... put your
first page on the right hand... then the second page on the back of
the first page. This way, you can attract a potential reader on two
separate page turns.-. and if a reader wants to rip out your ad, al1
he has to do is rip out the one page and he's got the front and back
of your ad in one rip! By doingyour two page ad this way, instead
of a spread, you'd be looking at getting 2OOV>more orders for 2OOo/o
more advertising cost... this you can live with! NEVER, NEVER,
NEVBR do a 2-page spread. They never worked for me.

What a Magazine Ad Really is.

A magazine ad is basically your sales letter formatted to look as if
it was an article in the magazine. A magazine ad is not meant to
look fancy. It's not to look at all like an 'ad". You want to'borrow"
some credibility from the publication, so make your ad mimic the
editorial format of the publication. And so they don't slam
ADVERTISEMBNT across the top of it in 2O point type... when you
are creating the ad... have the graphic designer put the word,
"Advertorial" or'Special Advertorial" on the top or on the bottom in
reverse type. If you add these words ahead of tirne, the publisher
will not have to do it himself... and do it his wav... which of course,
will be larger than it has to be.

People read and trust magaz.ines. You automatically get sorne

credibilit5z by just having your ad in the magazine.-. but you can
 Ai

in the
get extra credibiliry by having you ad look like a page
"magazine. 'Pub Setting".... setting the art like the
This is called
publisher.

It has been proven that 5OO% more peopie read editr:ria1-style

advertisements over flashy, glossy, slick advertisements..' and
remember- this business is first and foremost all about getting
prospects to see your message. To get 5 times more people reading
yori"a will probably get you five times the orders. Pub Set your ad
ior each individual magazine you are advertising in. MIMIC THE
PUBLICATION.

Condensing.
When you a_rewriting.your ad, you may rl.n into a little problem
where there is too much text and not enough space. instead of
buying another page... and instead of eliminating potentially
po*e.frl selling copy... what I'd advise you to do is shrink the size
ortn" copy. If you have an interested reader, hell read B point type
if he has to. so, if I had to choose between brrying another entire
ad page... and doubling the cost of my advertisement... or editing
potentially powerful and needed sales copy... which will lose me
the sale entirely... or simply shrinking down the copy to fit it ail...
I'd choose the latter. Something funny is that a crammed-looking
ad appears like it has something important to say to the reader'

Controlled Circulation.
Earlier in this chapter we talked about paid circulation. Some
magazines, especially TRADB PUBLICATIONS are what is called
CONTROLLED CIRCULATION. This means that the readers have
not paid for their subscriptions, but they all had to qualify in some
way to receive the magazine. A trade magazine may go to lOO,OOO
CPAs. In order to get t}.is magazine you must be a CPA. If yorr are
a CPA and if you requested this magazine, you1l get it for free.

Now, advertisers pay a little more for these controlled circ.

magazines as the publisher is not making a dime from their
readers... their only source of income is from advertisers- so they
have to charge a little more.
 66

I never had remarkable success advertising in a trade magazine.

Partly because I usually only stick with consumer mass marketing.
I honestly cannot tell you any more about controiled circulation
publications or my successes or failures in them, as I have not
expiored them too much.

Stick With The Black and White.

Color ads cost more. Black and white ads are cheaper. The initial
job your ad has, is to stick out from the other ads. Black and white
ads stick out, get better response, and cost less. Color is good if
the publisher were throwing it in for free... otherwise I'd never pay
a cent for a color ad. Also, if you are going to use your "free" color...
use it sparingly. Seriously.

Everyone Has Eyes.

One thing I hate about magazine advertising is that knock-offs and
other scurn are looking at your ad and if you are running it rnonth
after month. Trust me, if you're luclqi enough to get a winning
advertisement, as soon as yoll run it three or four times, yorr may
see some knock-offs copying your idea and running it among the
very same magazine pages. They rnay even go as f;ar as to pick on
your price, or your offer, or your guarantee and then have the balls
to brag how theirs is superior. So, not only will they steal your
idea... br.rt also theyll talk shit about you at the same time. Now,
there's nrrmeror.ls ways to deal with knock-offs I11 cover in greater
detail later in this book. While this is a drawback of magazine
advertising... magazine ads are still extremely powerful and are
needed to succeed in this business.

Going to the bookstore and picking up a magazine on a news rack

with yor.rr ad in it sure feetrs good when you are lirst getting started.
'work"
It's easier to get rnagazines to for you.
 A-1

ChapterSix:
CreatlngYourSwlPeFile

Every successful person in the direct response business has what's

called a "Swipe File". A swipe file is a collection of advertisements
and direct mail solicitations that they appreciate.

Even if they do not appreciate a particular sales message, if they

continue to see it advertised in magazines... or continually receive
it in the mail, they collect them, as they must be working for their
owner's. If these ads and sales letters were not working, their
owners would not keep spending money to run them or to mail
them. Something that works is always worth collecting and
dissecting to see what makes it tick'

If you are selling a particular product, it is a must to collect all

your competitor's sales messages. Try to order them a,11,and see
what their up sells are... see what their back end products are.
You're going to make the same offers to your customers.

As you read further in this book, you're going to learn how to be a

master on spotting great advertising. I'm going to show you how to
recognize other marketers with supreme skills. This is not a
business of reinventing the wheel every time.

For exarnple, a skin cream company may be offering a free 14-day

sample in their ads. All they ask is for their customers to cover a
nominal shipping and handling fee, which has to be paid with a
credit card.

Now, to the blind eye, yolr may think they are really just giving
away the free sample of their product... but when you actually call
them and order their sample, they1l have a script the order taker
will read to you. It11 say sorrething like this:

"Your free 14*day sample of (product name) will be shipped out to

you today. Once you get it, use it as directed. If you are not
 68

absolutcly thrilled with what {product name) does to the

appearance of wrinkles and fine lines, simply call ss lvithin 1/'-
days and tell us. But if you are thrilled- looking lO years younger
with our product, do nothing and a fresh 3o-day supply will be
sent to you automatically every month and you'll be billed just
$29.95 plus $4.95 shipping and handling for each rnonth's
instaliment. You can cancel anytime. Again, thank fcrr you for
trying (product name). You should receive your free 14-day sample
tube of {product name} within the next 1O days, so look for it.
Again, thank you for calling!"

Now, had you not responded to your competitor's ad, you would
have never figured out the method behind their madness. An ad
that gives away a sample supply will almost always pull more
orders than if you just tried to sell the customer right off the page.

You have to keep a:r eye on rvhat others are doing in you.r related
field.

Great copywriters recognize great copy. you simply have to coilect.

A swipe file is also great when you are looking for new ideas or for
great paragraphs to use in your own sales letters or
advertisements.
 69

Seven:
Chapter
The BackEnd

The back end is where all the real huge profits come in.

it every
I sold a product for $6O. I got 40,000 new customers to buy
in advertising every month to get those
month. i paid $1.2 Miilion
+o,ooo people. Had I left well enough along, I would have grossed
never leave
$2.+ n4iition on the $6O sa-les to 4O,OOOpeople' Brrt I
well enough alone-

Before I even decided to test the product I'm talking about, I made
sure it had a strong back end'

Now, in my sales letters and magazine advertisements, I

automatically enrolled my customers into a'Preferred Customer"
club where they would receive a fresh supply every 3o-days'

Just this simple paragraph sold four units to every customer

instead of the one they would have originally purchased. Sure, I
had to lower the price on. the follow-up units to make being a
member of the "club" something to desire... but I was able to furn a
$60 sale into a $tgO sale on average.

So, where I would have been making $2'4 Million if I was an

inexperienced direct marketer... I was instead making $7.2 Million.
Did I spend an extra dollar in advertising? NO. Yet ttre back end for
this product was worth $4.8 Mifiion EXTRA in sales. Practically all
of that money was PLrre Profit'

Now, you don't have to force your custorners into buying as I

usuaiiy do with my "clubs". You can simply have two-.- three.'- five
or more back end products to go back and sell to your customers.

You can se1l them while they are on the phone ordering the initial
product, you can include a back end offer in the product's
shipment, you can go back and mail your customer list every 30-
days... or every i4-days... or even every week.

Do you know when you stop mailing? When you stop furning a
profit. Your customers will not get a.nnoyed receiving so much
advertising from you. Remember, they did want your product...
why wouldn't they want additional products to rnake their initial
purchase better or more rewarding to them?

I sold my first direct response book in 1995. I sold about 2O,OOO

copies myself through magazine ads and sales letters. While sa-les
were strong, I was just breaking even. For example, if I placed a
$20,OOO full page ad... I would sell $2O,000 worth of books. If I
didn't have a strong.back end, there would be no point of running
the initial ads. Most businesses only breakeven on their initial
prrrchase, so a strong back end is what makes 9oo/oof direct
response businesses profi table.

As for my $2O book, as soon as I got a customer to buy, I first sent

out their book. About a week later, I sent them a sales letter
oflering them a product related to the book for $20O. I'd get 5o/oto
buy. When you do the math, that's $1O on each back end letter Id
send out. Remember, the initiai sale was for just $20, and my first
back end product got anottter $ f O in rny pocket-

Ttren, three weeks later, I'd. send the sarne narnes another offer.
Again, it was a $2O0 product, 6ut a different one from the first
offer. I'd get a:rother 57o to buy. I{ere's another $1O in my pocket.
At this point, I furned every customer who bought a $2O book into
a $4O customer.

Was I done? Not a chance.

A few weeks later came back end offer #3. Another product for
$2O0. I again got 5%. Now wete up to $30 on the blck end of a
$2o book purchase. We're now at $50.

Another few weeks came offer #4. This time it was a $1OOO
product' I got 17o--.but since the product was a $tooo product, I
added yet another $tO to my back end r:rofits.
Norv we're at $60 in sales per customer'

And i kept this going and going. When I finally ran out of related
products, I'd remail the first, the second, the third, etc, offers.

So, when most people would wonder why I was thrilled to sell
S1O.00O worth of books from a $10,OOOad... I would chuckle. I
knew after a few months, that a $2O book buyer would make that
$tO,0O0 ad bring me $4O,OoOin sales.

Its 1O-times easier to get an existing customer to buy again and

again from you. You see, in this business, the #1 reason why
people do not buy frgm you is the simple fact that they do not
believe what you are teiling them in your ads and sales letters"
Once you sell them your initial product, if they are somewhat
satisfied with wha.t yor:. sent them... theyl1 buy again, and again...
1O-times more powerfully because they are familiar with you and
believe yon more than a "coldn prospect.

Your customer list is the most valuable asset youll own. You can
remail it time and time again and it'll never wear out. I don't even
look to market products unless they have a great back end
potential.

Back end sales can come from reselling the identical product you
first sold them. If yoir were selling a pill or a cream".- t1lis would be
resold to them.

If you sold a book, you can offer an advanced course on the

principles taught in the book, you can put on a serninar for severa_l
thousand of dollars, you can offer your services to your book
buyers in the form of consulting, yotl can even market other
people's products to yorlr list and split the money with them! My
friend and mentor Jay Abraham calls this "Host Parasite"
marketing. I'll get into this below.

Here's a great back end stratery for a skin care product that
reduces the appearance of wrinkles.
 12

A sa_lesletter or magazine ad offers customers a free sampie of

your product. Better yet, your sales ietters acfualiy have a sampie
of the product enclosed in a small packet'

The customer tries the sample and orders your product for $6o or
so.

The sales letter the customer responded from also automatically

enrolls them into a "preferred customer" club, where they'll receive
a fresh 3o-day supply of your miracle cream every month for a
reduced "club member" price of $4O-

Now you have your first back end set up- the autornatic
shipments

While your customers are enjoying the product, you send them a
sales letter for a compiete moisturizing and cleansing kit' Il has 4
or 5 different products in the kit, that if they were sold separately,
would cost $3OO or so... but you can offer them this "kit" for just
$139.95 plus $lO shipping and handling. If youVe been paying
attention, the $lO you charge will cover the entire cost to
manufacture t}re 4 or 5 bottles and the entire cost to ship the
whole thing to thern.

Since your customers love your initial wrinkle crearr, they believe
your claims for the moisturizing and cleansing kit. You end up
with 57o buying this kit. Five'percent response adds $7 to the
customer's lifetime value-

You do another "kit" for a different purpose next rnonth... and

another the next month... and so on. If you {ind out your customer
keeps receiving the initial wrinl<le cream for six months {or six
shiprnents), you should make six different "kits' to go along with
the six-month customer life-

When doing back end products, with the exception of an automatic

delivery club where you have to do a reduced price to make it
worth their while... the back end "kits" should be four to ten times
the price of their initia-l purchase. Don't mail sales letter offering
customers who initially bought a $6O product a $ l5 product. You
 73

already won their trust... so you can hit them for a larger price
poin:.

Norv remember, all this will fall on its face if you are sellingyour
customers junk. If a customer bought something from you and
they rrere not satis{led, they are not going to rebuy in a iarge
percentage as they rvould if they were at least satisfied with what
you sent them. While your product does not have to change their
lives... it does have to at least satisfo them somewhat'

Here's another great example of the back end-

A video is sold for $9.95. If you order with a credit card, you1l
receive a bonus video for free. But in order to receive it, a credit
card is needed. No clreck orders get this 2nd video'

The purpose of this is to gain the credit card numbers, so you can
automatically resend them a new video every month and you don't
have to go through the "bill me" headaches. You simply bill their
credit card. Of course, you have to let your customer know you're
going to do this.

Since the videos you're going to be sending to your customers are

going to be different every rnonth, you can do a low initial purchase
price- just to get as many people in the door as you can. The new
videos you're going to send every rnonth are going to be $19.95
plus shipping and handling.

You can spend $10,000 on an ad and bring in $1O,O0O worth of

$9.95 sales and be thrilled, because each customer may allow you
to send them 4 videos at $2O a pop. Wow- that's $8O in back end
sales from an initial $1O purchase.

I know a guy who does this and makes $9O Million a year.

When the auto ship product is different every shipment- like the
videos, you can have a lower initial sales price... but when the
product is the same every shipment- like a bottle of pills... you
have to offer the lower price on the future shipments because there
wiil be no advantage to being in tlle ciub, If you're selling a bottle
 1A

of pills for $20 to attract a lot of cr-rstomers and then go to tell them
you1l automatically send a fresh supply every month for $60-
theyll teli you to buzz off and just reorder as they see fit for the
initial $2O fee. They wouldn't do this on the video club... because
theyH just be ordering the same video every month instead of a
fresh one as tfre videos are different each shipment. Understand?

It took rne a long time to understand that you can get rich very
quickiy with a product that leads itself to back end sa-les...
especially when the product is a consumable- and you can
automatically reship a fresh supply when the consumable is
finished.

A few minutes ago, I was talking about my mentor Jay Abraham's

'Host
Parasite" or "Eirdorsed Mailing" technique. Let me explain
this in full as it as another powerful back end technique.

Let's pretend I was marketing the sale of this book. l'd rent mailing
lists... advertisements in rnagazine... buy Internet search terms,
etc. But what about if I went to my buddy who has a newsletter
with thousands of readers

If he allowed me to mail his subscriber list, I'd maybe get the

regular 2Yo to 47o response I'd get from any targeted list I'd test.
But what if I went to him and said, "Buddy, you ready my book
and you know it's great. Instead of me mailing your subscriber list,
why don't we rewrite my sales letter as if it came from you? you'Il
endorse my book to your subscribers and we can do sorne sort of a
profit split? I'11still cover the entire cost of mailing the sa-les lettbrs,
so there is no cost out of youipocket and only puie profit for you."

If he says yes, instead of rne getting Zo/oto 4o/oto buy my book... i

may now get something like 1oolobecause he is endorsing it to his
readers. Even giving up the slice of the profits to him, I11 still earn
a whole lot more money than promoting the book myself.

And this technique works on the flip side as wer. say I sold 20,0o0
copies of my book through direct mail sares letters and rnagazine
ads and my buddy wants to get more subscribers for his
newsletter. I can go to him, or he can come to me and we can
 15

strike up some forrn of a deal where either he or I-.. or both of us

can cover the marketing expense to mail his sales letter to my list
of 20,O0O customers and we'l1 spit the profits.

I would make money from a product that I don't own-.. and heli
make money from gaining new subscribers rvith a huge influx of
orders as I wrote the letter to my customers telling them what a
great newsletter my buddy puts out.

If you're a savsy marketer...you can do deals iike this with 5 or 10

different. products and profit share on afl of them. Obviously, the
best case would be having the other guy pay for the marketing
expenses... but this is not always the case.-- especially if you are
an unknown. Either way, work out some sort of fee arrangement
that allows yolr both to make a killing'

I don't know how many times I can attempt to drill this in your
head. The back end is where ail the real prolits are. If your product
or service does not have a huge back end potential... forget it-
unless your upfront response is huge. it is so much easier to resell
an existing customer than it is to attract a new customer, itll make
your head spin.

Back end products should always cost more to buy than the initial
product theyte purchased- unless it i.s the sarne product they are
buying over and over again- like a bottle of pills.

The entire trick to this business is to attract as many customers as

you can for the lowest advertising cost... and then resell the hell
out of them... rnore of the sarne product... upgraded, more
advanced versions of the same product... related products... other
people's products... the slgl is the limit. The only bad back end
product is one that fails to bring back more in orders than it took
to mail the sales letters.

Bottom line: Back end products are products you can go back and
sell to your customers after the inilial sale- Back end products can
also be sold as up sells or'bumps'while the customer is on the
phone ordering... but that's an entire chapter on its own we'll cover
iater in this book,
 i6

ChapterEight;
Auto shlp

Auto ship is probably the most powerful direct response marketing

technique I discovered my entire 10 years in this business.

lt took a company that would have grossed $2.4 Million in sales

rnonthly to one that grossed $7.2 Million without spending a singie
dollar more in advertising.

Only certain types of.product can lead themselves to an automatic

shipment arrangement, but if your product calls for it... you'd be a
fool not to implement it immediately.

Auto ship goes by many titles. TII.L FORBID... AUTOBILL... AUTO

DELIVERY... etc.

The greatest examples of auto bill are utilit5i compalies. You sign
up, and theyll keep your power on and billyou... TILL YOU
FORBID their services- usually when you move.

Auto ship is a favorite for "of-the-month clubs"... Wine-of-the*

month-clubs... book-of-the-month-clubs",. etc. You11 get a fresh
supply or a new supply... every month... or every other month... or
every six weeks... whatever you want it to be.

I was telling you a story about my pill company a few chapters

back where the product initially broke even... but then I added a
single paragraph and I was able to get 4 bottle sa-les out of each
and every customer. If I didnt do an auto ship, I wouldn't have
been in business for long.

Back end sales are great. We talked all about them in a past
chapter. Your customers will rebuy things from you at a rate of 5%
to 25o/o or so- depending on the product and their satisfaction level.
But auto ship gets every customer to rebuy unless he or she calls
and tells you not to.
 11

Auto ship will get 90% of your customers to reorder within 30

days. Ten percent will either take you up on your satisfaction
gulrantee or simply call and tell you not to send another
shipment. But that 9O7" who get a 2nd-.. a 3rd- a 4th.'. etc'
shipment will rnake you rich very quickly'

when I do an auto ship promotion, I like to phrase it as if the

customer is getting enrolled into a "club"... a club that sets them
apart frorn the'regula.ro customers- A club member qualifies for a
lower price a regglar customer off the street cannot get. It is also
rvise to enforce they don't have to pick up the phone and order
every month. If you put a spin on it as if all the benefits are for the
customer... they1l actually want you to rebill them every month'

Sure, from the customer's point of view... theyll qualify for a lower
price... and theyll automatically count on the product arriving in
their mailbox- even when they are far too busy to call yor.r.when
they're out of product... but the real benefit is for you- the
maik.t.r. Youll make every $1 in advertising glve you $6 worth of
sales... where it would get you just $2 without the auto ship club.

Are there some drawbacks? Sure. You have to word it properly in

your ads and sales letters. If you lail to word it right, customers
will not know why they are receiving more products every month
and dispute the charge with their credit card companies. Credit
card cornpanies are a pain in the ass on their own. Well speak
deeply about them in a later chapter.

Furthermore..- if you word the auto ship policy wrong, the

customer will see that you are just looking to get more forced sales
out of hirn and he'll tell you not to enroll him in the club.

You have to have a certain balance to word the auto ship

paragraph to get it to work. Lucky for you, I'm going to give you the
exact paragraph and even give you permission to use it word-for-
word in your advertising. i consider it a $60,000,0OO paragraph.
That's what this paragraph added in annual sales to my company-
r+'ithout spending a cent additional in advertising.
 7lr

An3rway, here it is:

"And if you're one of the first 20O people to order, youll receive
FREE ENROLLMENT into our Forever Trim Club where you'll
qualify to receive a full $2O discount on all your future bottles of
(product name). And so you don't go a day without {product name)
in your system- destroying fat, you1l automatically receive a fresh
bottle every 30-days and your credit card will be billed the Club
Member Price of $39.95 plus $6.95 S/H- not the $59.95 fee non-
mernbers have to pay. There are no minimum amounts of bottles to
buy and you can cancel at any time. The number to call is 1-8OO-
123-4567, and you can call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.'

As you can see... this paragraph almost rnakes it sound as if the

customer's will hinder his or her results if they do not have the
product in their system every day. It kind of implies a fear that if
they do not have the product... they're losing what they gained.
They want to put the delivery logistics in yor:r hands to make sure
they always have enough product on hand to keep their current
results and keep getting more-

This simple paragraph took an ordinary business and slqrrocketed

it to 9 -figure stafus. Use it as you wish.

Some direct marketers don't even reveal the auto ship club in their
sales letters or advertisernents. What they do is have a script the
order taker reads to them when they place their orders. I had to do
this when we were running TV and radio spots. You only have 6O-
seconds to sell the product itseli.. not enough time to sell an auto-
delivery club. So, we didn't speak of it in the commercials... but
AFTER we got the entire order... only then did we read the script
word for word.

Did a 1ot of customers ba-ik about their credit card being billed
automatically? Some did. And for the ones that did, I offered a
special 4-pack of the product they were buying for a great price.
The majority who didn't want the auto-delivery did take the special
4-pack... so at least i made more money than the $60 one bottle
sold for.
 lq

It,s fpnny, but I sold 4O,000 fresh people a month. The initial bottle
sold for $60. But maybe 5% of the callers actually got off the phone
with just a $60 sale'

One thing about this auto ship concept is that it will only work on
customers who buy with a credit card. You cannot rebill a
checking account off a check that was mailed to you.

Now don't get rne wrong-.. I'm not talking about just rebilling a
custorner's credit card without their knowledge. All my customers
were either told in the advertisement, the sales letter, or through a
script read to them on the phone. Even my website told them when
they were ordering.

How are you going to rebill all these credit cards every month? I'm
glad you asked. Later in this book, I1l tell you a-11about the
software youll use to process credit card transactions. The
software provided by the banks will allow you to set up each
customer's account to rebill at any price in any interval'.. rebill
every 23 days... 45 days... 30 days... however you work your
promotion. I'd stick with every 3O days.

This auto ship concept worked so well for me that once I saw how
well it worked... I stopped taking orders for my product with
checks or money orders! I didn't even give the customer an option
to pay this way in our ads. If a customer did want the prqduct I
was seiling and said he didn't have a credit card, only then would
we give them an address to send a check to... but we still made
sure to tell them about the special 4-pack offer.

What I liked about the auto ship club was that I didn't have to
drum up sales from scratch every month. What I mean is this. I
was selling 16O,0OO bottles of pills every month. Since my
customers stayed in the auto ship club for an average of 4
months... I had 4O,OOOpeople canceling their shipments every
month. To remain at the 160,000 mark... I didn't have to go out
and bust my ass getting 160,000 new sales... I just had to bring in
the 4O,O0Othat fell off to stay the same size.
 3(l

Let me tell you this. I siept so well at night knowing I had a

computer file with 160,000 people on it that are going to allorv me
to charge their credit cards between $4O ald $6O each and every
month- until ttrey call and tell me to stop.

I once sold a dietary supplement to 4OO,OOOpeople. To these

400,000 people... I sold 1,600,000 bottles.

Many products can be auto shipped... or auto billed.

Jr, Chefs Club:

Each month, youll receive a new video showing your child how to
prepare easy meals that taste great. Each video contains four
snacks, four entrees,.and four desserts. Initial offer: First video
free, just pay $5.95 shipping and handling with your credit card.
First 2OO people to join will receive a Jr. Chefs Ciub apron- Each
month's video is 6O minutes long and costs $tg.gS plus $5.95
shipping and handling. Cancel membership anytirne.

(Cr:stomer life on a promotion like this one can be 4 to 10

shipments or more!)

Girls Gone Wild:

Get first video for $9.95 plus shipping and handling. Order with
your credit card and get bonus video free- Then be the first to
preview future Girls Gone Wild videos for $19.95 each plus
shipping and handling. Cancel anytime. Money back guarantee.

(Customer life can be 3 to 6 shipments or more!)

Proactiv Acne Treatment:

Kit contains 3 or 4 bottles of different types of rnasks and
cleansers. The'sold separately" price would be $6O or so. Special
offer for kit is $39-95 plus shipping and handling. Every 30 days a
fresh supply will be mailed and you can lock in the low TV price of
$39.95 plus shipping and handling. 6o-day money back guarantee.

{Customer life on this product should be good. I kind of have a

problem with the auto ship price being the same as the initial
purchase price- There's really no benefit except for the delivery. If
 8l

try to give the customer an ever

this were my promotion' I would
Obviously this works.for them
better deal as a club inember'
becausetheyhaveb...'sellingthiskitalloverTVsincelgg7and
it's now 2OO4-\

NOTtr:
W h i l e w e h a v e n ' t t o u c h e d o n m o n e y b a c k g u a tY*q
r a n t e 3o
e s ydays"
e t " ' I w' i'd
ould
advise you this: f;;tt'tt res-hipping a product
This way, you don't get zapped
make my guaran.J. fo, 30 days--
withacustomerlookingfortwocreditsatatime.-.o neforhisfirst
Try to keep your guaraxtee
shipment and one for his second'
till the length of the 2nd deiivery'
""tioa
 g2

ChapterNine:
LlfetlmeCustomerValue(LCV)

As a direct marketer it is imperative You know the lifetirne value of

your customers.

Of course, you will not be able to "know" your lifetime customer

value by guessing it. You can figure out this mrrnber only after a
few months... or even a year of mailing back end offers to your
customers.

It is important to know your LCV to establish how much you can

spend to attract a new customer. By attract, I mean how much you
can spend on advertising for each new customer.

Let me give you an exarnple of a past promotion. I was selling a

bottle of pills for $6O... and my customer bought an average of
three more bottles in the next three months at $4O each.

Now, my LCV was $18O. So I knew I could spend as rnuch as $180

to attract a new customer without losing money- Of course, rye're
not in tl. e business of losing money... or even breaking even. We're
here to make a profit- hopefully a large one. So I was very satisfied
when I was able to bring in 4O,OOOnew customers a month
spending $1.2 Million in advertising every 30-days. If you take
$1,200,O0O and divide that by the 40,O00 customers I was able to
attract, you'd get $3O. That is the cost it took me on average to
acquire a new customer who I knew would spend $f BO over the
next4orSmonths.

I figured out my LCV by going back to a panel of customers who

were pretty much not buying anJrmore. It took about six months to
get a good measure. I went back the six months and measured
how rnuch these customers purchased, and then divided the gross
amount by the number of customers I measured. This was my
average LCV.
 83

So i had pretty gr:od LVC information when I tracked the orders I

got from a particular advertisement. If it took $45 to attract ne*'
iustomers... I would be happy, because I knew I would get $lBO in
CTO {contribution to or.'erhead).

As advertisements and sales letters started to decline in response, I

knew I could run the ads until it cost $9o <ir so to attract a new
cgstomer. Remember, frY first sale was for $60--. so to tlte average
business owner, it would look as if I was losing money. which I
was... on the first sale. But I knew I had $1BO coming my way from
each customer on average in the months to come-

LCV is a measurement of the gross sales you will make on the

front end sale... the up sells... the back end offers... the automatic
shipments... every dime your customer will spend with you over a
six month... one year... or even two year period'

Now, company's iike HBo can spend several thousand dollars to

attract a new subscriber, knowing from their past research, theyll
make several thousands of dollars on your monthly fees in the
years to come. Now, they may be fine with recouping their
acquisition costs 12... 24... maybe even 36 months out. But, I do
not advise you to extend yourself past three months or so to
recoup your advertising expenses. I always try my hardest to
recoup and even profit on the first sale. Only companies that are
financially strong can hold out for extended periods of tirne to
recoup their money and Profit.'

Here's another example. Lets say it's costing you $l2O to bring in a
customer. Lets say your initial sale is $6O, which all $60 is CTO.
So, you're losing $60 on every sale that comes in. If you didn't have
a back end... you'd be out of business prett5r fast right? Oh, yes.

But you do have a back end... because if you learned anything

from this book so far... you need to have additional products to
resell to your customer to really make this business pay off.

I look at it iike this. If you have just one product you sell to your
customer-..you do not own a business... you own a "promotion". In
 84

ubusiness"... you have to resell to your customers

order to own a
again... and again

Anyway, hrack to losing $6O on every sale that comes in.

First of all, to operate with these kinds of numbers, you either have
to remain small.,. or have some form of investment money to help
cover expenses until the database of customers really starts
growing.

So, a few weeks after you lose $60 on the initial sale... you resend
your customers a fresh supply of whatever you were selling for
$40. Now, you're $2O in a hoie instead of the $6O. Next month,
they get another supply for $4O. Now you're $2O in the plus. Next
month you send another and you're up $6O... the next month
you're up to $1OO... the next month you're up to $t+O. That's {ive
shipments after the initial.

The LCV of this lype of customer would be $26O. If you didn't know
this, when you lost $60 on the initial sale, you may have deemed
this effort a failure... but if you have enough cash to get you
through the lean months-.. you ca.n be on top.

Companies like Nightingaie Connant send out thousands of direct

mail sales letters offering a cassette series for $39.95 or so.
Obviously they are losing money on this offer. But they know and
understand an average customer of theirs will spend several
hundreds of dollars on other cassette and CD courses thev seli in
the months and years to come.

Sometimes in order to get large... you have to lose some money on

initial sales. Sure, you may be able to get some smaller mailing
lists and magaaine advertisernents to profit right offthe bat... but
the amount of customers they bring in may be small, In order to
get thousalds of customers every month-.- you may have to mail to
lists and run advertisements that are not the most profitable right
off the bat.

Like I was saying before..- making upfront prolits depends on your

product/selice, selecting the right groups of people to advertise
 8-5

to persuade them with direct

to... and of course- your ability
I'm teaching )iou'
,."pntt.. techniques like the ones
more youll be able to prolitup
The more desired the product"' the
front.Productsttratarelessdesirablewillcostalittleoralotmore
in advertising dollars to att'ract'
after six months of
When I was selling my d'ietary supplements'
who bought the first month and
selling, I went Ua& to tne people
customers on al-rto ship-'.
measured how many of thim were still
up all the money I made
how many canceledl.' and when' I added
offthemailanddivideditbytheamountofcustomerslsoidthat
ligured out from the
first month. At the six-month mark"' t
of sales, I got an average
customer data that frpm the first month
Three bottles at $4o
of four bottles sold-, which was four months-
was my LCV'
and the initial at $6O equaled $teO' This
 86

ChapterTen:
TheTwoStep

The Two Step... no, I'm not going to teach you a dance' It's another
way to find targeted customers for your pioducts

There are certain tirnes you want to use a 2-step approach'

1. When you cannot afford to place large ads in magazines.

2. When you need a lot of space to tell your fulI story and sales
pitch and it would be unprofitable to run all those pages in a
magazine.

3. When you want to operate in silence... under the radar of your

competitors and anyone else you w'ant hide your offer from'

4. When there is no mailing list and/or magazine targeted enough

for your product.

5. When your product is very expensive- usually over $4OO and

where it would be difficult to sel1 peopie in one singular shot.

6. When you're just starting out and want to make success as easy
as you possibly can.

Let's go overwhat a 2-step is... and then we can go over each of the
examples in great detail.

A 2-step is an advertisement you place in a magazine or a TV or

radio spot that oflers prospects a solution to a desire they have in
a free report, video, tape, DVD, etc. they can request by calling a
recorded message on an 8OO#.

It can also be a TV or radio ad... or print ad that refers people to

your website for more information. I don't like this approach as
 t5/

well... but it is another variation. But what we're going to taik

about now is the ad that olfers a free repori.

Say you're selling a proclrtct that explains to people how to buy

Real Estate at Governrnent Tax Deed sales. while you can sure
place ful1 page ads for a course like this one in almost any men's
magazine... and mail it to many mailing lists of business
opportunit5r seekers... iets say you want to do the 2-step ad.

So what you1l do is run a small ad in a magazine, usually a

I /12tin page... 1/6th page... I l4tll' page.'- or a 1/3rd page ad. The
headline would look to attract everyone looking to make money.
'Free Report Reveals
The headline may say something like this...
How I Bought This $6O,OOOHome For Just $345.28 Free and
Clear!'

Now, under the headline, you may have a photo of the house and a
paragraph that will tease the reader. it will NoT spill the beans as
to how or where you were abie to buy the home so cheap- You're
going to have to tease like your girlfriend in the 9th grade did'

After you tease them with the paragraph... you'd then say
something like, "To claim your free report... simply call this
recorded message and tell us where to send it. You can call 24
hours a day, 7 days a week. There is no obligation."

Now, everyone likes free stuff... and since they do not have to deal
with any salesperson hounding them when they call... youLl get
thousands of people requesting this free report... which is
basically...

YOUR SALES LETTER!

Of course, the report won't be all sales pitch.-- you will educate a
little on the Tax Deed process... but the main thrust of the report
will be,.. here's this fabulous opporfunity you may not have known
about... here's proof it is really true... I am an expert... and I'm the
best person to teach you... so here's how I can help you make a lot
of money.
 88

This sales letter/free report can be a larger format piece... because

you will not be mailing it to ihe masses. The people who responded
to your ad will self-qualify themselves as prime prospects.

Here's when and why you should use the 2-step approach:

1. When you cannot afford to place large ads in magazines.

Full-page ads cost a lot of money. If you want to get yourself in a
large magazine but the price is too high for a large enough page to
actually "sello your product... go with a smaller ad ald 2-step it.

2. When you need a 1ot of space to tell your fulI story and sales
pitch and it would be unprofitable to run all those pages in a
magazine.
Some products- especia-lly new ones sometimes need a lot of space
to tell your entire story. And if your product needs four or five
pages to "sell" itself... that may or may not be profitable. A 2-step
ad can get you prime prospects and the sales letter/free report yor,l
send them can easily be 12... 24-.. 48 pages or more!

3, When you want to operate in silence... under the radar of your

competitors and anyone else you want hide your offer from.
Knock-offs are a part of this business. People wiil notice your full-
page ads mnning month after month after rnonth. As soon as they
see this-.. it will take about five or six issues (maybe less) and
you1l start to see copycats sneaking into the magazines you.
advertise in. usually trashing your product... cutting your price...
taking yonr conservative (and true) claims and doubling them, etc.
It's fmstrating. But, if you have a simple 2-step ad... unless
potential knock-offs are willing to call your 80o#and request a free
report... they will never know what you're up to. Knock-offs are
known to be 1a4;t...after all; they're too laz1r to come up with their
own ideas.

Another reason why a 2-step approach is good, is that you fly

under the radar of anyone looking to critique anything you're
doing... like the authorities. As long as you're selling something
that is not a total fraud.-- you should not have to worrlz about the
authorities too mr.rch- But, this is another reason whlr some
 89

marketers prefer 2-step ads. Their entire sales pitch and offer and
product claims are not out there in the open for all to see.

4. When there is no mailing list and/or magazine targeted enough

for your product.
sometimes there is no qualified mailing list to mail to. And
sometimes there is not enough people reading a magaztne who'd be
interested in your product. If this is the case, your sales won't be
enough to cover a futl-page ad. In a case like this, you have to
build your own rnailing list... and/or pick the interested prospects
out of the miilions of general circulation.

I'rn sure you're seeing all these TV commercials for The Inventor's
Help line... and Inventec... and others. The commercial usually has
people saying that th6y thought of ideas before some large
cornpany and if they had a Patent, they'd be rich and so on. These
commerciaf s are looking for people just like this... people who have
an idea they want to Protect-

Now, these commercials offer callers an Inventor's Kit... which is

basically a sales pitch for their company.-. which is probabiy a
bunch of Patent Attorneys' For a few hundred bucks, theyll
protect your idea for You.

Now, the last time I checked, there were no mailing lists for people
with good ideas {and bad ones) who are looking to get protection in
the form of a patent. Well, acrually, the comrnercial says nothing
about a Patent.-- but you know what I mean. Being there are no
mailing lists, they went to the largest general circulation media...
TV and placed these 2-steP ads.

The people who cali these places probabiy do have some form of an
idea... and everyone thinks they have the greatest idea... so these
company's will feed off this and offer protection so big corporations
wil1 not profit from their ideas {irst. Even if the inventor does not
wish to market and rnalufachrre their idea... they feel assured
they are protected rvith a Patent... hoping a large company will
contact them and look to buy their idea or give them a royalty fee.
Whatever. The would-be inventor gladly shells out $5O0 or more for
the protection of their idea. A great 2-step exampie.
 qr)

5. When your product is very expensive- usua-liy over $400 and

where it would be difficult to sell people in one singular shor.
Sometimes the oroduct vou are offerins costs a lot of monev. It's all
right to sell things that cost several thousands of dollars... in this
business; there in no limits as to how much you can charge for
something. Software prograrns for $1OOO... financia-l newsletter
subscriptions for $2OOO...seminars for $55OO... etc. Now, a full-
page ad may not be able to sell such a high priced itern. Maybe
even two... or three... or even ten pages may not be enough to sell
in one shot. Sometimes your prospect needs to be nursed into a
large purchase like this. That's OK. A 2-step ad is needed. Your ad
would describe the item you are selling and you'd offer them free
information. Nowhere.do you teil them about the price in the 2-
step ad.

I'm sure youte seen the Tempurpedic Sleep System. It's a foam-
like mattress that is made out of some high-tech material invented
by NASA. Anyway, these mattresses are several thousands of
dollars... as most qualify mattresses are. What this company does
is rrn 2-step cornmercials and infomercials offering free
information and a sarnple of the mattress material. Basically, you'd
call the 80O# and give them your name and address... and
probably some other information, like what brand mattress do you
currently own... when are you looking to purchase a new
mattress... etc.

Theyl.l then send you the information and the mattress sample...
and theyll probably remail you sales literafure every so many
weeks... and maybe even call you on the phone. Only in the
information package they send you will there be a price sheet
saying these mattresses cost like $2OOO.

They built a mailing list of people interested in their mattresses,

where a qualified mailing list did not exist before... and they eased
potential customers into a purchase of several thousands of
dollars.

Another example of this is Bowflex- I believe the same company

that does the mattresses markets this product. 1'hey run 6O-
 91

second commercials for their rveight-training contraption and offer

a free video and free information. They'li build a mailing list of
prospects and hope to sell a machine that costs about $ 1000 and
more.

6. When you're just starting out and want to make success as easy
as you possibiy can.
Success with 2-step ads is the easiest way to do direct marketing
right. The 2-step technique is advised for beginners by many direct
mirketing pros- including myseli First of all, you're building a
mailing list of prime prospects. The prospects will respond to your
2-step ad shouid be lO-times as likely to buy your product ttran
people youd mail to on a cold mailing list. After a11..-they did come
forward and self-qualify themselves as prospects.

Now, there are a ferv guidelines I would advise you of-

The 2-Step Works Best In Print, on TV, and on Radio'

If you are going to do a 2-step... do not use this technique in direct
mail. Do not go fishing for prospects in mailing lists. It is best to go
fishing in a huge pond... like a large circulation magazine or
newspaper... on TV... on the Radio... etc. You're probably just
starting out in this business... so I'd advise you to stick with the
newspaper or magazine ad. The entire purpose of the 2-step is to
solicit a huge group of people and fish out the interested prospects
efficiently. Direct mailing to request an inquiry is not efficient'

Only Use A Phone-In Response Device.

i wouid not have your prospects mail in a coupon... or go to a
website... in combination with a call-in" Tests have proven that you
can get 300% more people to request your free report or free
information kit by having a phone-in option only. And when you do
this... make sure to use the words, "FREE RECORDED
MESSAGE". Prospects do not want to be bothered by a sales
person at tJlis point. They are slightly interested... but in no way
ready to be "sold" anything. Make sure you stress they won't have
to talk with anyone or you'll hurt your response. Also, you can run
one ad with a toll number... and one with a toll-free number and
see which one pulls more requests. A toli call will qualiS your
prospects even more, because they have to pay for the phone ca1l...
 92

but you want to make sure it doesn't hinder response too much.
Also, if you can get the toll number to work... you're sat'ing a ton of
money on the phone bill you're going to have to pay every month.

Price Point Must Be At Least $6O.

Don't waste your time with 2-steps if your product is selling for
less than $6O, Remernber^ we're all working on a rnathematical
scale. If your selling price is not high enough... you won't be able to
cover the cost of running the 2-step ad in the first place... and then
the rnailing of all the sales letters. Most 2-step products are $3OO
or so. But don't let that stop you if you have a $6O product. Here's
an example of a $6O 2-step offer.

i was flipping though.a men's magazine the other day and I saw an
ad that gave away a free "Sex Pill Guide" that listed all the top
herbal-Viagra-type pills on the market these days. The product
they were giving away said nothing about this cornpany actually
selling any form of pill themselves. Al1 it said was that they
published a guide and it was free for you to have and it was meant
to help guide you to the best product as they tested them all.

Anylvay, I called and got myself the guide, as I wanted to see the
mechanics of this offer. Why would they advertise a free guide?
Where are they making rnoney?

So, I called a recorded message and left my name ald address with
a fake middle initial, so I can track everything I receive frbm this
company in the future... as I'm sure they're going to mail the hell
out of me.

A guide arrived a few days later- It had a dozen or so products in it,

and of course the # I product in their guide also had a stand-alone
ad in their envelope. Obviously, this company made a supplement,
then rnade-up this guide, which was basically biased as hell to sell
their own $60 bottle of pi11s... and they persuaded you to buy the
#1 rated product-.. which said nowhere it was marrufacfured by
them... but any experienced direct marketer would know.
 YJ

This is a goocl idea... not the most ethical... but it is good. I'm sure
it Works for some products. The secret to success is acquiring
enough leads to justify the advertising cost-

You Have To Attract Enough l,eads.

The biggest hr-rrdle with 2-step ads is you have to attract enough
leads to justify the cost of the ad. I'm sure seiling the people with
the sales literature you send out is not going to be the biggest
hurdle. sayyou place an ad for $1ooo, the more prospects you get
to request the free info'.- the lower your lead cost is-

The secret is to attract enough leads to get the cost per lead way
down... but you don't want to get too vague in your ad, as you will
attract a lot of leads..^ but ttrey will not be as qualified- And you
don't want to hype up things too much as when they receive your
literarure, theYll be turned off.

2-Step Math.
Here's horv to do the math on a 2-step promotion-
Lets do the math on a 2-step ad I just saw and responded to in '
Entrepreneur Magazine -

This guy ran a I /2-page ad and it probably cost him $1O,OO0.

Entrepreneur Magazine is a rather large magazine and a 1/2-page
ad for his 2-step was quite big. Youll obviously run a smaller ad...
maybe in a smaller circulation magazine or newspaper-

An5rway, this I /2 page ad received 5OOO resllonses. So, he paid $2

a lead.

He then mailed a sales letter/free report, which cost him $1 to

print and mail. Now, he's invested $3 in each prospect. He has
$15,0OO invested in the ad and the sales letters/free reports.

His product is selling for $5OO. He gets to keep all $5OO as CTO as
it is an information product.

lle needs to sell $15,OO0 worth of his products to breakeven. He's

got 5OOOinterested prospects- just 3O people need to buy to
recouo his entire cost. I like these numbers.
 s4

Lets say he gets 25O to buy. That's 57". He's looking to gross
$125,000. That's 8.3-times his initial $15,OOO gamble! Even if he
got just 90 people to buy out of the 500o... he stiil increased his
money by 300% and grossed $45,OOO!

He can then look to run this ad in nurnerous other magazines... as

long as he continues to a,ttract leads at a similar price'.. and these
ads can be ran each and every month. He's going to get rich very
quickly with numbers like tlis.

What is the major task at hand for you to replicate an offer like
this? You have to attract prospects for $2 on average and you have
to sell 5% of them at $5OO- Selling the 57o is not the biggest
problem... its getting the 5OOOpeople to request the free
information, the free report and payrng $5OOO for the ad.

Kill Your Competitors With A 2-Step Approach.

My friend Gary Halbert says if you run a fulIpage ad in a magazine
and get l0O0 orders... the same full page ad offering a free report...
or a free guide for the type of product you are offering... will get you
10,000 requests for the free information.

He says youll get l0-times as many people to request the free

literafure as you would to-order right offthe page. Sounds realistic.

Then he goes on to say that of that lO,OOO,youll get 3O7<rto

actually buy from you. So, effectively, you1l end up with 300%
more orders than if you just ran the one page ad and sold right off
the darn thing.

This approach is great when there are many, many advertisers

selling the same thing in a r:-,agazine. Say, it was a diet pill. Instead
of being just another ad, seliing another diet pill... you can offer a
free diet pill guide instead. Peopie will call your phone number and
leave their name and address on the voicemail. You'd then mail
them your sales letter/free guide... and you will then sell the
customer... and your competitors are nowhere to be found.
 95

Your Advertisements'
Let Your Competitors Pay For
for$1"' go to 4 oiyour
Here's an idea. If you are acquiringleads
each tuy the leads f1o3 vour ads for
competitors and g"1-th"* to your
leads first"' then sell them to
25 cents each. You mail the
cents each gets you $- per name"'
competition- Four guys at 25.
in advertising!
just what it cost VJt i" acquire them

got me so excited"' I'm going to create

Hey, this chapter on 2-steps
opporrunit5l course I'm working
a hot 2-step offer for a business
on!
and add other concepts and
And remember, you can interchange
of this 2-step approach"' iike the
techniques I've taught you on top
auto shiP..' the back end"' etc'
 96

ChapterEleven:
An lrreslstlbleOffer

Before we even consider writing a word of advertising copy, we

have to first decide the best offer to promote.

This book is not going to talk about actually "writing'any sales

copy until the deep chapters. Before we paint our masterpiece... we
have to have a clear vision of it in our heads.

An offer is the "dea-l" you're going to make to your prospects in an

effort to get them to part with their hard-earned money for your
idea.

The better the offer... the more appea-ling your sales pitch will be.

Your offer has to also be simple and easy to understand. As soon

as your prospect does not understand what you are trying to give
them...you lost them forever.

Here are a few examples of offers I have used in the past with great
sllccess:

Free Gift With Purchase:

This is the most obvious. offer your customer a free gift... or a free
bonus when they buy. Information products are great for this type
of bonus. They cost next to nothing to make.-- and can have a
perceived value of $3O... a_ilthe way up to $2OO or more. Most of
the time, you can cover the free bonus in the shipping and
handling fee you charge for your product.

I've been noticing a lot of commercials lately, the merchant is

selling a knife set or whatever... and theyll double your order for
free-..you just have to pay the shipping on the 2nd set of knives.
What a deal! But in reality, the shipping fee you are going to pay
 9'l

for the second set of knives is actually the cost for them to
manufacture/buy the knives and the cost to ship them to you.

Feel free to give away a bonus and ask for the customer to pay a
shipping and handling fee. This fee covers the cost you have to pay
to buy or make the item... and you can usually include the extra
bonus gift in the shipment the customer is going to get anyway for
no additionaL cost.

You can offer a free gift that the customer has to claim after he
gets the initial order. For example, if you buy a car wax kit and it
comes with a free bottle of tire dressing.-- some companies wili
include a coupon in the wax kit that the customer has to send in
to receive the tire dressing. Not everyone will request the free
bottle, but you can still offer it to everyone. I really haven't done
this one for at ieast 1O years. With a product I was selling, I offered
a free gift that I reguested the customer pay the S/H on... but
instead of including it in the initial order, I simply included a
coupon the custorner would have to mail with the shipping and
handling fee. Maybe 7Oo/"of the customers requested the free
bonus.

$9.95 3O-Day In-Home'frial.

This is popular offer nowadays! I'm starting to believe you cannot
seil a product on an infomercia-l anymore. In order to get a
customer to call you, you may have to offer them an in-home trial
for a nominal fee, plus shipping and handling.

Here's how it works: l,et's use Carlton Sheets'Real Estate Course

we've aLl seen for the past 1O+ years on TV as an excellent
example. Nowadays, he's not selling tJ.e course like he always was
for several hundreds of dolla,rs off the bat-.. he's ofTering a 3o-day
in-home trial for $9.95 plus a shipping ald handling fee. The ad
says nothing about how much tJre product actually costs.

In order for this to work, you have to take orders only with credit
cards. A customer calls and orders the triat. He pays the $9.95
trial fee and the shipping and haldling fee- carlton will offer you a
rush shipping upgrade, which of course there is a profit for him
on. Then only after they got your credit card number,.. only after
 98

they have your shipping address-.. nnly a few seconds before you'd
say "goodbye"...you hit the caller with a script that goes something
like this, "OK- you qualify for Carlton's $9.95 3o-day in-home trial.
Your credit card will be billed just $9.95 plus $x for shipping and
handling. Preview the course for an entire 3Q-days and if its not
everything you hoped it would be send it back to us within the 3o-
day trial period and youll owe nothing more. Otherwise, if you
decide to keep the cor-rrseand make rnoney with Real Estate, yogr
credit card will be billed in four easy monthly installments of
$59.95. Your shiprnent is going out today and youll receive it in
about 1O days, so look for it. Thank you for calling!"

Its going to be I O-times easier to get a customer to take a 30-day

trial for under ten bucks. This fee can or cannot be refundable- its
up to you. You can even cover the shipping and haldling charge
for your customers... or not- Either way, you'll get 5 times the
people to order the trial... and even if you got 50o/oof the people to
send back the shipment, you're still looking at selling 2.5 times
more product than hacl you just sold right off the ad or
commercial.

I seriously doubt 50% will send back the course... maybe youll get
2OYoto send it back... but even if you get 2Qo/o...
who cares? The
$9.95 fee is non-refundable--. as is the shipping charge. You lost
nothing. Resell the course to someone else.

There's a fitness gun-r promoting an exercise gizmo for a $ 14.95

30-day in-home trial and $34.95 shipping and handling... but they
cover the shipping fee. So, for just $14.95, you can try out this
exercise machine for an entire month. But on the flip side... do you
really think people are going to disassemble the darn thing and put
it back in the big box and send it back to the marketer for $30-$50
in UPS fees? Not that many will. Ttris marketer will make increased
sales from skeptical people who only after the tria-l reaiized he sold
a good product- so it's a win-win. AND, the marketer will also profit
from the lazy people who may have refurned the product but are
too lazyrto send it back... so their credit cards will get biUed in 5
payments of $60.
 99

We Won't Cash Your Check For 30-Days!

Here'S a great example of reversing risk. Offer your customers that
you won't cash their checks or charge their credit cards for 3o or
60 days. You have to be strong to do this. You will not get money
in the door for a month or more if you go this route. What's worse
is you better have a product that costs you next to nothing to
make. If you're trusting people's checks or credit cards to be good
and they are not--. you're going to lose on scumbags' But, if the
product is a book or whatever, that cost just $4 to make and
ship... you're not at too much of a loss and all the added sa-les from
using this technique will a-lways cover the extra "deadbeat'losses.

This technique is said to add 3O0% to the pulling power of an ad or

sales letter. It may be worth a test.

Offer Installments.
Like the trial offer, this offer must be used only with credit card
customers. Yorr cannot accept checks or money orders with this
type of offer. If you're selling a high-ticket item... it may make
sense to offer your customer an instaliment plan. You see this all
over TV nowadays... "JUST 5 PAYMBNTS OF JUST $19.95!"
Breaking up the fee is a surefire way to get more sales. How many
homes would sell if there were no such thing as mortgages? Not too
many, right? The same with new cars? Without financing... a
dealership will have a tough tirne selling a high-ticket car. It's no
different he:'e. If you're.selling a $18O item-.. maybe you can do 3
easy payments of $59.95... and better yet... maybe you can do a
combo offer... $9.95 for a 3o-day in-home trial plus S/H... and
then you can do 3 paSrments of $59.95 instead of billing an entire
$tSO on the trial offer.

Like I was saying before in a past chapter... you can combine these
techniques sometimes and multipiy their power.

Now, when you offer installments, there are a few risks. First of all,
you do not get all your money upfront- You have to wait for it...
sometimes as long as 4 or 5 months! Another thing is credit cards
may go bad... or they may be declined for a month,s billing and you
either have to double up on next month's billing or call them and
get a fresh credit card.
 100

c.o.D
Cash On Delivery. lt is not used too much nowadays' I never used
it. There's really no reason to use it. There's art extra fee. Many
people reject the shipment and you iost the shipping costs and all
the lost time. But if you want to do this, make sure to send your
customer a postcard a few days before they are to receive the
package and tell them that you have included another special free
bonus in their order. This will help make the customer acfually
take the C.O.D. when it arrives. Still I think Cash On Delivery is
more of a pain in the ass. If your customer does not have a credit
card... or at least a debit card- which almost anyone can get-..
maybe you do not want them as a customer.

Bill Me Later.
This is a specialty for magazine publishers for one reason... if they
had to actually get people to pay up first... they'd get 5O% of the
people they'd get to respond... probably less. Billing later is risky.
You don't really know the people you are sending your products to.
Nightingale Connant makes their entire business from a "bill me
later" promotion. That's how they attract new customers in the
large quantities they do.

You have to have a billing system set up for you to mail out the
invoices. You can include an invoice in the shipment saying when
the money is due. If you're selling a subscription that you can stop
when they don't pay up... it's better than if your product was a one
shot and they got it all in their possession. Think before you do
this offer. While I'm sure youll get more orders, it ali boils down to
this... Track how many orders yolr get when you ask for the money
upfront. Then offer the "bill me later'option and track how many
orders you get... then track how many paid up in 3o-days or
whenever the bill was due. if the prolits were signihcantly larger
with the "bill me"... even after you subtract all the lost product
(your hard cost- not the selling price) ald all the added tirne to bill
people- go for it.
 1i)l

Bxample:

Pay upfront offer: I OO orders at $ IOO

S1O,OO0in sa-les

Bill Me Later= 4O0 orders (275 paid up)

125 didn't pay - $1250 loss - $ 10 each
175 more $tOO orders=$17,500
275 orders at $1OO
S27.5OO in sales
$1250 in losses from non-payers
526,25O in sales

If you can get your "bill me later" offer to work like this... it's worth
doing... but again... you have to wait to get paid- you d better have
a few bucks in the bank ahead of time.

First Bottle Free or First Video Free.

If you're doing an automatic shipment product like a monthiy
video... or a monthly supply of pills... you can give away the first
bottle or first video... and just ask the customer to pay the
shipping and handling fee of $4.95 or $6.95 with their credit card.
You can only do this with a credit card customer. The secret is the
automatic delivery club. If the customer is not satisfied with the
product, they have to call within 30-days to cancel further
shipments. You'd be sprprised when lOTo or so call and cancel...
and you get 2OOo/"more customers!

Of course there is problems with this type of offer as well. If you

are selling a product like a bottle of pills, where the product will
always be the sa:ne... you have to make sure yon do not get the
scammers calling in and ordering a free bottle to one address and
then another address and then another address... only to cancel all
the shipments the next week after they got 4 or 5 bottles out of
you.

Now, my direct marketing common sense tells me not to worry

about people like this because you did get the shipping and
handling fee out of the person-.. and that did cover the acfua1
product and the shipping fees... so there's no money actually
 102

"lost"... but the bigger problem comes next month when this
person is calling you irate if they didn't call and cancel their auto
deiivery in time and they have 5 billings on their credit card for
$4O or so each. The credit card companies may start to think
you're up to some kind of no good and give you heat. Make sure
you say in your ad, "LIMIT ONE BOTTLE PBR CUSTOMER AND
PER HOUSEHOLD".

You won't have to worry about this too rnuch if your monthiy
product is a different product... there's really no advantage
scamming additional copies of the same video.

Oniy Sell One Product At a Time.

I see jokers selling 2 gr 3 or 4 different products in a single ad or
sales letter. Fools.

Marketers sometirne s think they can justifu the high cost of

mailing sales letters... or running advertisements if they offer
many, many products. They acfually think theyll have a better
chance at success this way- but they won't.

Burn these words into your brain- when it cornes to creating a

singular sales letter or a singular advertisement... SBLL ONLY ONE
PRODUCT AT A TIME.

Joe Sugarman- the master behind BluBlocker Sunglasses even

tells a story similar to this. Before he had BluBlocker, he had
JS&A (the Sharper Image of the 70's). He was selling Navy Seals
watches. The supplier of these watches wanted him to sell all the
different color versions of this watch... and the wornen's sizes. Joe
wanted to sell just the men's black version. The watch
manufacfurer was puzzled why he wouid want to do this. Joe knew
something they didn't.

They really wanted him to seil all the watches at the same time.
Joe offered to do a split test, 'x'here one ad would have just the one
black, men's watch and one ad would have all the colors and the
men's and women's sizes. When the sales results carne in... they
chose to run the ad with just the black, rnen's version of the Navy
Seals watch. Now, this was an extreme example..- tJ:e watches
 103

were all the same. But definitely, if you're selling a weight ioss
pill... do not also offer an herbal-viagra at the timel
"r*.
PEOPLE CAN ONI-Y BE SOLD ONE THING AT A TIME.
If you want to give an unrerated product away for free with the
purchase of your main product... that's fine... just dont
try to seli
two things at the sarne time.
 r04

ChapterTwelve:
GuaranteeEverything

Do you know when a customer decides if he's going to return your

product? When he's buying it.

In the 1980's and 199O's having a satisfaction guarantee could

have given you a competitive edge. Nowadays, It's a requirement...
and the more'risk'volr can take off vour customer's backs... the
better.

If you are greedy and/or petrified to offeryour customers a

guarantee... rnaybe you are not too confident of what you're selling.
Maybe you are confident... but are scared a huge percentage of
people will take you up on it. I have two words for you- DONT
WORRY.

Here's how guarantees work in regards to response. If you did not

offer a guarantee, you may sell 1O people out of IOOO. When you
offer a guarantee, you may be looking at 2O orders... and out of
that 2O, two or three will request their money back- Even giving the
money back on two or three people... you're still looking at 7 to B
more orders. You'd still be on top-

in this chapter, we're going to be covering the most popular

guarantees I've offered in the past.

Unconditional 3O-Day Money Back Guarantee-

This is the standard guarantee your customers will expect. If your
ads don't say that all sales are final... you have to olTer a standard
3o-day guarantee anJrway. Not offering a guarantee makes your
product look shady.-. so at the obsolete rninimum, you have to
offer a standard 3o-day money back guarantee. Feel free to add the
words'Less s/H"... which means your customer can have their
money back.-- less their shipping and handling. Now remember,
your product and all its order processing costs are covered in the
s/H fee you charge. Even when a customer wants his rnonev back,
 r05

you can keep the fee it cost you to ship the product... create the
product... take ihe call." etc.

60-Day or 9O-Day or Longer Money Back Guarantee.

Also an unconditional guarantee. People work on deadlines. When
do you pay your rent? Your car payment? Your credit card bills?
When do you return movies to the movie store? If I know anything
about people, I d say you pay the bi1ls and return the movies on
the absolute last day. All people do this- Now, the ionger you
stretch the time frame to get their money back... the longer it will
take them to actually call and ask for it. As times goes on... they
forget. So to say that the longer time period you give your
customers to get a refund on your product, the less refunds you'll
actually have to give would be absolutely true.

Conditionai Guarantees.
This guarantee only permits the customer their money back if a
certain thing does or does not happen as your product/service
claimed. "If my sports picks are not at least 9oo/o accurate for the
next 3O days... I11 refund every dime of the money you paid me!"
Now, unless you under-perform and unless your customer actually
calls and takes you up on that guarantee , you don't have to give
money back unconditionally.

Double Your Money Back.

Obviously, this t5rpe of guarantee is conditional; otherwise you're
going to be losing some serious morrey! Entrepreneur Magazine
actually started as a bunch of reports and horne sfudy corrrses on
starting certain gapes of businesses. From what IVe read, when
they first carne out, they were plagued with a large percentage of
refunds. To cr.rt down on these unconditional refunds, they decided
to offer DOUBLE your money back... but it was conditional. The
buyer of these kits had to show some form of proof they acfually
tried stufftaught in the course. Sales soared... refunds dwindled.

A DOUBLE your money back guarantee for a bodybuilding

supplement- Claim in sales letter: Double your money back in 120-
days if this fails to add 2o pounds of rock hard muscle. conditions
explained in literafure included in shipment: 'This product is
guaranteed to add 20 pounds of rock hard-.. granite muscle within
 r06

the next 120 days or we'11give you DOUBLE your rnonelr backl
Simply take 3 photographs, newspaper in hand the very day you
start the prograln and take 3 more photographs, newspaper in
hand on the 120th day. If you cannot honestly say tha.tyou took
this product faithfully, as directed, worked out regularly..- and
didn't see an added 2O pounds of muscle, send the empty bottles
back. Well send you DOUBLE what you paid."

Do you really think they're going to take three before photos, three
after photos... a whopping four months later... and keep ali the
emply bottles? A few will... but not all. And these are not out of
this world conditions. All you're asking the guy to do is docurnent
his success... work out... use the product like directed... and keep
3 or 4 empty bottles. .

Keep The Bonus!

Remember you threw-in some free bonuses in your offer?
Remember, these bonuses were paid for in the shipping and
handling fee you charge your customer? Rernember, you do not
refund shipping and handling fees? Well, you can offer an
unconditional 3o or 6o or l2o or whatever-day guarantee and let
your customer keep the free bonuses you gave them. My mentor
Jay Abraham calls this a "better-than-risk-free-grtarantee". And it
is. Think about it like this: lf you gave a few free reports, maybe a
video... and a cassette tape all as free bonuses, and they had a
"perceived value" of $200 or so. If a customer wants his mone.y
back for the initial product he ordered, you can tell him hell still
come out with $2oo worth of merchandise regardless if he's h.ppy
or not' This is not just "risk-free"... it's BETTER than risk-free.

Here's a great example. I was selling some realy high-end car care
products in 1995. I sold a pint size and a quart size kit. To stir-up
some larger quart size kit sa1es, I found a supplier of some really
high,end iooking orbital polishers. These things looked like they
cost $10o... but I was buying them for under glo in quantity. Now,
the shipping and handling for the all the waxes and the buffer was
$19.95 or something close to it. I covered the cost to ship the
entire kit, the cost to manufacture the waxes, and the cost to buy
the orbital polisher in this $tg.gs. I told my cr.rstomers, if they
weren't blown away with the wax prodr.rcts, they corrld refurn them
 r07

in 30 or 60 days and they can keep the orbita-l polisher for their
time and faith in rny products nor.v. Customers who asked for their
money back acfualiy feit like they were taking advantage of me'..
keeping the polisher that looked iike it cost me $1oo... but a1l the
costs were covered in the shipping and handling fee I charged them
initially. They were not to get back when they requested a refund.
When I made such a powerful guarantee like this one, prospects
knew this polish had to be something special- otherwise I'd be one
crazy (and bankruPt) guY!

Refund Shipping and Handling.

Sometimes you can even go out on a limb and offer to refund not
only the purchase price... but also the shipping and handling fee
as well. I sold 1.4 Million bottles of a supplement and I included a
guarantee like this. The reason for it is simple'.. Sometirnes a
customer wilI not only want his money back from you, but even
after yor.r give it to him- he still disputes the shipping and handling
fee with Visa or Master Card. Sometimes, yotr don't want to have
anything from a dissatisfied customer- even a shipping and
handling fee.

Unconditional iOOYo Money Back Plus i0Yo.

This is a play on numbers. If your product sold for $69.95... and
you ask $6-95 for shipping and handling... you can refund the
entire thing... and instead of saying that you giye shipping fees
back as well... you can say, "You'll receive a l00oh refund of your
purchase price arld I'11even throw-in an extra l0o/o for your time
and trouble!" In realiry, it's just the shipping fee youte refunding...
but it sounds better this wav.

Bottom Of The Jar Guarantee.

This is used in the supplements business. What it means is use
the entire bottle or jar or fube and if by the time it's finished you
are not thrilled, send the jar or fube or bottle back EVEN IF IT'S
EMPTY... and you1l receive a full and complete refund of your
purchase price. It sounds nice to the customer that the entire
supply can be used up and youll still give them their money
back... and it works well for you because you get them to use the
entire supply and you get them to keep the container... and they
have to send back the container to vou. These are all three
 1Ott

hurdles. One, they have to use the entire thing. That takes 30-
days. Maybe results will take this long to manifest... Remember
what i told you about stretching the time frame out in the
'Iwo,
beginning in this chapter. they have to remember to hold onto
the container. Many people throw things away by accident. Of
conrse, if a customer calls you and says they threw the container
away, you're still going to give them a refund.-. but you'd be
surprised how many will not call just to avoid the confrontation.
And three, they have to send the bottle back to you. That takes a
bag... postage.. - and people are lazy . Of course, if a customer calls
and wants their money back".. and they do not want to send the
bottie back to you- by all means give the damn refund. But again,
you d be surprised by how many people will not call.

The Lesson Is On Me.

This is a great way to word a guarantee on a product where theyll
learn something either in a video... a cassette tape... a book... etc.
Say if it was a golf video that taught how to drive the bali further...
the guarantee can say something like this, "Watch the video, and if
John's teachings don't have you driving the golf ball like a
CANNON... adding 5O yards... and hitting as straight as an arrow.,.
as accurate as clockwork... the golf lesson is on me. Send the video
back for a full refund of you purchase price.-."

This is basically a way to state a guarantee that sounds cool.

You're not buying a video... you're buying a lesson that just
happens to come on a DVD or a VHS cassette or whatever. The
information is retained in the customer's head- You're just
requesting the physical product (the video) back.., but the memory
of what he learns remains in his head.

Well Send UPS To Pick It Up For A Refund!

I remember seeing an ad for Malm's wax where t]reir headline said,
'Discover
the liquid ca.rnamba wax that wili make yolr car so shiny,
if you don't think it's the absolute deepest shine you've ever seen,
call us ald well send UPS to pick it up for a refund!" This headline
knocked me on my ass. That's powerful!

But beware; youte going to lose some money here. Call Tags do
cost some money. The shipping charges to corne back to you cost
 i09

money. If you word in your ad or sa-lesletter, the guarantee is for

the purchase price and less S/H, you can keep the initial shipping
fee. You'll just have to pay for the cali tag and the shipping back to
you. So, if you have some money in the initial shipping fee to play
with.,. if it is enough to cover the shipping back to you... maybe
yoll can offer this. Oh, and one more thing- you better have a
remarkable product-.. or yourwarehouse will be full of boxes from
dissatisfied customers. What I like to do with the Call Tag idea, is
just tell the customer he can keep your product or give it to a
friend he thinks may be interested in it. well still give the credit. A
half-used bottle of cream or pills is worth nothing to me.

Some notes on the guarantees listed in these pages: Some of them

may or may not trb you the wrong way. Some are more ethical
than others... and it all depends on what makes you feel good. I do
not promote or deter you from using any particular guarantee,..
but one thing I do demand- you must offer some form of a
satisfaction guarantee!
 110

ChapterThirteen:
Premlums

It's nice to get a free bonus or a free gift when you buy something.
i've taken products that only broke even and added a premium and
saw response greatly lifted.

Premiums must cost you little or nothing out of your profits. Now, I
do not mean premiums should be worthless- they must have some
form of worth in order for them to work.

Ite even increased my selling price to offset a free gift I wanted to

include... and still saw response lift.

I'm going to give you a few examples of free gift offers I've 'used in
the past and how they helped or didn't help.

Many times, youll add a premium and you will not see response to
your sales letter or advertisement increase.

For example, I once had a bodybuilding supplement which gave

two additional bottles of different supplements as grfts. I knew the
two extra bottles cost me an additional $4 or so, so I increased the
shipping and handling cost billed to the customer. Response was
the same with or without the premiums. Go figure.

I once sold a car wax kit and gave away an orbitaf polisher. There
were two versions of the kit... a pint and a quart size kit. I gave the
polisher with the quart size kit. I was able to get the polishers for
under $14 from a manufacturer. To offset the cost of the polisher, I
had to increase the shipping and handling charges... and response
for the quart size kits went up. I recall mostly all of the purchases
were for the larger size kit. I benefited rwo different ways. I first of
all sold a more expensive version of the product... and secondly I
was able to increase overall response. This is what I call win-win.
 ltl

In the information products business, premiums cart be extra

reports... recordings of seminars or inten'iews with experts in the
field... etc.'l'hese types of premiums can have a high-perceived
value and yet cost you nothing to include.

Prerniums can be used to encourage custorners to use yolrr

products for a longer period of time. I remember offering a dietary
supplernent on an auto ship basis. I told customers I'd give them a
free DVD Player if they were able to do a iittle survey for me.

Once the customer got the package, they got a diary they had to fill
out as they used my product, and if they can complete the diary in
its entirefy*... I'd send them a DVD Player for free! I was getting
these DVD Players for $4O or so. My monthly shipment of pills cost
the customer $4O. I got my customers to use the product for an
average of four months. Ttre.survey was a six-month study. If the
customer completed the diary I included with their order, they had
to be on the product for six entire months. Now, I got two extra
months worth of sales... one of the month's revenues, I had to use
to buy the DVD Player- but I still got an entire extra $4O sale as
profit... plus the diary from my customer- which I could use any
way I wished. The customer got a free DVD Player- for using a
product he enjoyed. This was also win-win for all parties involved.

I used this same offer for a CD-ROM club I had a few years back. I
was getting huge quantities of software for $l each from companies
who needed to clear out the warehouse for the next version of the
software. For example, one of the products we had in the CD-ROM
club was a popular typing software. version 4 was on store shelves
for $50... version 5 was coming out in a few months, so the
manufacturer was selling me the entire remaining version 4
software for $1 or so.

I sent the customer's two software titles a month for$2O... and

these prograins were worth $5O or so each, so it was a good deal
for thern. To encourage customer to stay in the club for 6 months...
I gave them a hot software title I was buying for $zo. My custorner
data showed rne members were in my club for four months. If I
could get them to stay until month six... l'd give them the $2O
bonus program-, which was worth $+o+ in stores. Initial response
 l12

from rny mailers was increased because of the free softwai'e,.. and I
got the customer to stay a little longer. I rnade more money on both
ends- increased rnembers... who would stay mernbers longer.

I've also used prerniums to persuade customers to buy a certain

way. If I'm looking for an increase of customers to pay by check or
money order- over a credit card... l'd give bonuses when they paid
with a check or money order. if I wanted customers to pay with
their American Express cards over Visa, Master Card or Discover...
I'd give them the bonus when they used their American Express
'American
card to order. I'd call it the Express Cardholder Bonus".
Customers felt special if they had the American Express card and
used it. In realit5l, I had a cap on rny Visa and MasterCard sales
figures... but no limit for the American Express sales. And since I
was hitting my limit ivery month, I wanted to sway a portion of my
sales to a credit card in which I had no limit as to how much
business I could run through the accor.rnt.

I know of several merchants who use a premium to persuade

customers to buy with a credit card over a check or money order. A
good example of this is Girls Gone Wild. They offer one video for
$9.95 and if you use your credit card, theyll give you an extra
video for free! The real reason behind this is Girls Gone Wild wants
to send you automaticaliy a new video every month and rebill your
credit card. They cannot do this with people who order with checks
and money orders, so theyll give you another video- for no
additional charge... just to get the credit card number.

Many companies will even let you keep the free premium even if
you ask for a refund. And why shouldn't they? The additional cost
to include the premium is usually made up in the shipping and
handling charge they make you pay. And shipping and handling is
usua-lly not a refundable fee.

Magazines like sports Iliustrated are famous for giving away the
football clock... or whatever with your 'paid subscription". They
key word is "paid'. To get a subscription, you just call the BO0# on
the screen or rnail in the order card. Theyll send you an issue with
a bill for the subscription. when and only when you send them a
check or credit cand number is when thevLl send vou the free
 il3

clock...orfootbailphone...orwhateversportsgiftthey'reoffering
that particular Year'

premiums can or cannot be relevant to the product you're selling-

Whatyouhavetodoistesttheofferwithandwithoutthepremium
premium pans out"' by all
o, *iil, several different premiums. lf a
means you should include it'

as it is the Holy Grail of

I11 go more into "testing" in a iater chapter,
the direct response business'
 111

ChapterFourteen:
and Endorsements
Testlmonlals

One of the main four reasons why people won't respond to your
sales letters and your magazine ads or your TV and radio spots...
is they do not believe what you are saying. Testimonials, when
used correctly can take away some of their skepticism.

I said in the last paragraph, testimonials WHBN USED

CORRECTLY can take away some of the fears your prospects have.
When used correctly is the key.

Do you know what I hate? When I see a paragraph from a satisfied

user that goes something like this, "l love this product!"- JA, NY.

This test"imonial is all wrong. First off all, it is a vague statement-

which does nothing for your sales pitch... and second, the person's
name is in initiais as is his location. When I see testimoniais like
this, they say "bullshit".

Testimonials must have a fulI name and a fuli city ald state... and
they must be more in depth than "it's great!"

I like a testimonial like this, "I started using XyZ three months ago.
When I first started using XYZ, my breasts were barely an A cup...
but now, I am a fuIl B and my breasts no longer disappear when I
put a shirt over them!"- Mary Brown, Houston, Texas.

This is a bare bones testimonial- I like to add even more data to

prove they are from a real person. Here's a few things you can add
to make them appear more real and genuine:

1. Use a full narne-

This is not hard to use at all. Nobody is going to track down the
writer and point to them in the street.
 115

2. Use the writer's Profession-

This adds more credibility to the statement they make. If a
testimonial is from a Police Officer, an Attorney, a Doctor' etc., it
just makes the statement even more powerful'

3. Use the writer's age and sex-

Again, adds to the credibilitY.

4. Use the writer's phone number and/or email address-

This is a little trickier, An email address is real easy to r-rse
nowadays... and they're really not a hassle on the writer. Maybe
they'll get a few people writing them and asking them about the
product... but not many. If you're mailing I Million letters, maybe
theyll receive a doze4 people writing them. A phone number can go
dirictly to the writer... or you can set-up a voicemail for them in
their state for $1O a month. The user will put a message on the
voicemail that says something like this, "I've been getting a whole
1ot of calls regarding my use of XYZ, so I hooked up this voicemail.
Now, 1 may not be able to answer everyone's calls, I can attest the
statements I've made regarding KYZ ate my own and are absolutely
true."

5. Use the writer's PhotograPh-

Adds to creditability'

6. Use before and after Photos-

This works in cases where your product will give its user some sort
of altering. Weight loss products, age reduction products,
bodybuilding products, etc.

How to get users to give you testimonials:

You do not have to sit and wait for users of your products to decide
if and when they are going to sit down and write you a nice letter.
Wake up. What I like to do is offer your customer a bomrs if they
can teii you their candid comments about your product. A few days
after they receive their order... or right in their order... include a
letter saying you are looking for testimonials for your next mailing.
Tell them if they send their testimonial in, you will give them a
bonus. The bonus can be whatever you wish. Then go on to tell
 il6

them if you decide to use their story in your ad, you1l give them
$50O or whatever.

I once sold a book and told my custorners if they were to send me a

testimonial about my book, I'd send them a free report. I tvas
amazed when I was receiving letters from 507<rof my customers! I
was sending out lO00's of free reports! The stories I was getting
frorn some of these people were amazing!

Bill Phillips of EAS did something radicai in 1998. BAS was a

company, which made bodybuilding supplements. Bill had a red
Lamborghini he was going to give away to the person who used his
products as recommended and had the greatest transformation
using his products.

He made an entire promotion out of this car giveaway. First of all,

he got more customers to try his products. Second, he got
thousands of before and after photos and stories to r-rse in future
advertisements. Third, he got customers to use his product for a
longer period of time. When you pencil out the numbers, he may
have given away a $15O,OOO car... but he probably sold millions
more in product from people wanting to win the car... got rnillions
more in added sales from people who remained f,aithful to the
regiment of supplernents they had to take to enter the contest...
and finally, he got rnillions more in sales from the amazing
testimonia-ls ald before and after photos.

Well go in deeper detail in a later chapter about building

believability. That's our # 1 priorit5r. If people really believed all
ads... people who send out letters saying they h:ive a "plan" that
will make you a millionaire would be swamped with orders from
99o/o of they people the mail to. But they don,t! What, 99o/o of
people do not want to be rich? Absolutely not. people do want to be
rich... it's just they do not believe what you are telling ihem. people
are getting hammered with sales pitches all day long promising
them the world...you have to gain their trust to getlfieir *o.rey.
Testimonials can help this process.
 il7

llow to get permission to use Testimonia'ls:

Insert a special form for testirnonials. It can ask for all the
information you seek to receive. There should be fields for age,
profession, name, city, state, phone number, etc. Make sure to
include a large box with enough lines for their story- Yor-rdon't
want these people to write you a book-

On the very bottom, ask for a signature allowing you to use their
story in future advertisements if you choose. Also, |'d put a second
box that they have to check off if they will allow you to use their
phone number andlor email address- You cannot have prospects
contact them without their signed permission. Now, including a
phone number in the testimonial is extreme, and not a lot of people
do this... It would be fine for you not to include a contact method
to the user.
i
Celebritv Endorsements.
I once ran commercials on Howard Stern's radio show every
morning. We had a se{F Penthouse Pet do the voice-over and
results were very good. After we ran the commercial for several
months, response dropped and it was no longer proiitable to run.
We told the sales rep at the radio station we were looking to pull
the ads as they were not pulling for us any longer. Howard didn't
want to lose the business we were giving his network, so he did the
voice-over for our commercial for free. He endorsed the product
and said how he's hearing from users how well it works for them,
etc. I agreed to test his commercial for a few weeks and agreed not
to pull the ads until I got the results. We ran Howard's new spot,
and found it didn't add to the response at all- We did pull the ads
in the end... but we did put the commercial on our website and the
link said,'Listen to what Howard Stern Says About Our Product!"

The point of all this- Celebrity endorsements don't always add to

response.

Another time, I was mailing a car stereo magazine's subscriber list,

Results were good. in an attempt to increase response, we received
a letter frorn the Publisher of the magazine saying how great our
product was. I included his letter along with our sales letter, and
response was no better.
 118

Another time, one of our products received a very favorable rvrite-

up in a leading magazine. we included the review in our ads, but
again... no measllrable increase in response'

Don't misunderstand me. Do not confuse endorsements in your

letter with endorsed mailing or "Host Parasite" offers as we spoke
about in a previous chaPter.

Bottom line: Celebrity Endorsements are not cure-alls. They u'i1l

not double your response... but they do add some believability to
your offerings. If you can get them, great' Add them. But don't
think theyll save the promotion from losing money. Testimonials
are a standard-fare to your offer and you should use them-
 il9

ChapterFifteen;
WhyPeopleDon'tBuyFrom
FourReasons
YourSalesLettersand Advertisements

Getting a profitable response from your sales letters and

advertisements can be complicated... but when you break it down,
there are only four reasons why your prospects won't buy from
you. I'li go over each one of them.-. and reveal techniques how to
overcome them.

The Number One Reason-

They Don't Notice Your Sales Pitch.
If you're sending sales letters in the mail, many things can happen
that prevent your prospects from receiving, seeing, and/or reading
your sales letter.

If you're mailing Standard Mail- which 1 advise against... the Post

Oflice may throw your letter in the trash. The Post Office is not
supposed to throw away mail... but time after tirne we all read
stories of some mailman rvho gets caught with ten tons of "Junk
Mail" buried in his backyard. His response when he got busted was
something to the effect that "people didn't want this kind of mail
an5rwaS/.

A few years ago, in the Bronx, there was an abandoned building

Postal Workers used to durnp their advertising mail. Instead of
delivering it, they just dumped it in this building. It urasn't until
the damn building caught on fire that the authorities discovered
what was going on for years! I've dedicated an entire chapter later
in this book on the Post Office and how to ensure your letter gets
delivered.

My Fiance's Father used to work for the Post Oflice" I remember

when he first got the job, asking hirn if he knew of any instances
where Postal Workers were throwing advertising mail in the trash.
He looked at me like I had two heads and was like, 'What are you
crazy? Of course not!" A few years later, do you want to know what
 r2c

his job description at the Post Office was? MAKING SURE NOBODY
THREW ADVERTISING MAIL IN THE TRASFI:

if you re mailing Standard Mail- your prospect may have rnoved

and Standard Mail does not forward to his or her new address'
People move around a lot. When you mail First Class Mail-, which I
advise, mail will be forwarded to the new address as long as the
person put in a Forwarding Order. If you mail Standard Rate-,
which used to be known as "Bulk lvIail"... there is no forwarding. If
the guy moved... the rnail piece goes in the trash!

If you're sales letter screams JUNK MAIL, yotrr prospect may throw
it away before ever giving it a chance to get opened. In later
chapters, l'm going to show you how to make your sales letters get
opened byyour prospects. ILi tell you this right now; if you send
out a sales letter- or worse a FLIER... even worse, with an
ADDRESS LABEL on it... it's not going to get a second of your
prospect's tirne. In the garbage it goes... and you could have been
offering $l Million FREE inside... your prospect will never get to
that point because the letter you sent them looks like trash.

You may have the wrong headline on your sales letter or

advertisement that fails to suck your reader into the body copy.
Again, later in this book, I've dedicated an entire chapter to
Headlines alone! If you are not flagging down the proper prospects
for your offer..- they will never get to read what you say in the body
copy of your sales letter and/or advertisement. you've simply got to
attract the right people your product is purchased by.

If you are running arnagazine ad, your ad may not look appealing
to read, therefore your prospect keeps flipping pages- overlooking
your entire advertisement. I know it sounds like a broken record,
but Ive included an entire chapter on craftin g magazine ads later
in this book. If you've got a bad ad, laid out wrong... and not eye-
appealing... the reader will keep on fiipping and flipping until
something does finally get their attention. If your ad does not go
'against
the grain" as far as what an "ado is supposed to look like,
it won't get all the readers it should be getting.
 121

The Number'fwo Reason*

They Don't Want What You're Seiiing'
Nobody has a product that everyone wants. Even for the rnost
beautiful women in America, there are men who will not have sex
with them. Not every person you mail to will want yo'ur product.
But in this business, we rnake our money from the 2ol>that do. If
you target the wrong iist'.. or if you run your ad in the wrong
magazine... or simply have a product that is not that desirable...
you're going to have a hard time getting enough orders to cover
your advertising costs.

Its sirnpie- You have must have a product that appeals to a large
group of your prospects and you have to make sure you are getting
it in front of the right prospects- and if yor.r're mnning a rnagazine
ad., or a TV or radio sport.-. you have to do this for the right price.
Pay too much for an ad, and you just made it that much harder to
cover your advertising cost. It is irnperative you negotiate the
absolute best media cost when you run an advertisement. lf all ads
were free, every product would be a hit'

There will always be someone who wants your product... the trick
is having enough in your prospect list or magazine readership to
buy and bring back more in sales than it cost to promote.

The Number Three Reason-

They Can't Afford What Youte Selling.
I know tons of people who would love to own a Ferrari. I d bet good
money, if they cost $20,OOO brand-new, 9 out of 1O people would
pick the Ferrari over a Honda Civic. The reason why the streets are
not littered with these ltalian works of art is becarrse onlv the
richest of the rich can afford them.

The same goes for other products. Sometimes they simply cost too
much. I remember when I was first getting started in direct
response; I wanted to go to a seminar that cost $550O. I didn't
have that kind of money... nor did I have any kind of asset I could
"hock" to get the money. If there was a scale of 1 to 1O on how bad
I wanted to go to this serni-nar..- I would have rated my desire a 1O.
I really wanted to go... badly.
 122

Now, there were two other options to purchase the seminar. First,
the seminar offered a payment plan. It was like $5OO a month for
I I months. And the second option was a home sfudy version of the
seminar. It was basically a tape recording of the seminar before the
one being offered. It cost just $2200... and they also offered
payment terms of $2OO a month for a few months'time.

If you're selling something over $1OO... it may be wise to test a

payment plan to attract more customers.

Remember I was saying earlier in this book, if there were no

finance companies to give mortgages to people... no hornes would
se1l. How many people have enough to buy their home in cash?
Maybe 1%? The installment terms makes people pay their home off
over the course of 30'years or so.

Yotr're a smart person. You can figure out other ways to make your
product seem more affordable.

The Number Four Reason-

They Don't Believe You.
I'd probably say this is one of, if not THE most irnportant reason
your prospects will not buy what you are selling. The funny thing
is, when a mailer gets a poor response, they usually think they
didn't sell hard enough, so they inflate their claims and promises
even more. This is counter-productive. The reason why they didn't
order in the first place is because they didn't be$eve your sales
pitch. Making your claims even more hyped-up is only going to
make them even more skeptical. Response may go up a little...
from people who are gullible. But the at the cost of the increased
chance of regulatory attention.

Here's what I believe, There are more people who would buy your
product had you made your pitch more believable than people who
would buy if your offer and/or claims were more powerful and
exaggerated. Give it a shot in your next sal.es letter or ad.

I learned something importalt about believabiliry and I want to

teach it to you. Right before you make a claim for your product...
 | 1,-)

seem more
give a flaw. The admission of a flaw rnakes your claim
believable. It works like this:

,.This is my first major book. 1 am not an accomplished author, so

this book will have some flaws' If you read for st5ile, or for literary
quality, iike I was saying before, this may not be a book for you.

But there are paragraphs in this book- ideas in this book- whole
chapters in this book that I have never had the ba1ls to put down
on p"p"t before! And they will open doors to you- maybe as soon
io*o-ow- that otherwise might have taken a lifetirne of waiting
"*
for you to rvalk through."

Or something like thig:

,,OLtr new wrinkle eraser is not a permanent fix. The results you
achieve with this product will only be ternporary'

But even if the results last eight to ten hortrs, this product will
enable you to hide every fine line and wrinkle on your face. The
results this product provides, even if they are temporary, are
absolutely amazing!"

Or something like this:

"But don't think for a second this product will work if you do not
participate in a healthy diet and exercise progra.m- If you sit on the
couch and continue to eat large portions of the wrong food, this
product will do nothing for You.

But on the other hard, a recent clinical shrdy did show this
product could burn 93O extra calories each and every day when
you eat and exercise properly. That's nearly half your caloric intake
for the day...ZAPPED!'

Do you see how the admission of the truth... or a flaw right before
a claim is made makes the clairn seem more believable? Flere's how
I think of it. If you put a -2 fact right before a +4 claim... that +4
ciaim wi.ll have the believability power of a +8 claim- Understand?
Good.
 I ZL+

Here's a few more ways you can make your sales pitch more
believabie to your prospects:

Increase belief with...

A STRONG GUARANTEE-
When you can offer them a money back guarantee, they feel you
believe in what you're selling and if you were selling crap, you'd go
broke prett5l fast.

DOUBLB YOUR MONBY BACK GUARANTEE-

Even more powerful than the standard money back guarantee-
Even if it is conditional or tied to a performance claim,

TAX RETURN-
If you're selling something on making money... its best to prove
you're not full of shit. Include a tax return showing you made over
$2 Million last year. Also, if you're selling some form of a Tax
Reduction service, include a copy of a few tax returns showing the
best savings you had for your clients... of course with their names
blacked out for privacy!

CPA'S SWORN STATBMENT-

If you're making a claim as to how much money you have or how
much you're worth if you're promoting something of a financial
natltre, like a Business Opporfunity, this can help.

ENDORSEMENT FROM A MUTUAL FRIBND-

This always helps. If you want to go out with Michelle and
Michelle's friend Jessica not only knows you... but thinks you,re
the greatest guy..- how much faster do you think you can get a
date with Michelle- even if she's never seen you- when her trusted
friend endorses you? Pretf5r darn quick.

TESTIMONIALS-
People really do read testimonials.
 125

TESTIMONIALSWIT}'IA PHONE NUMBER-

Even more powerfui and believabie. And the number of people who
acfualiy have the balls to call the testirnonial are small' lt's
included more for the fact that if the reader wanted to ca1l, he
could.

CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT.
Especially when the letter actually comes from the celebrity. People
think they know the celebrity they see on TV. If yog get a letter
from Jennifer Anniston talking about a new product that she uses
to keep looking yol-rnger...you're going to read it... believe it... and
probably buy it.

FREE TRIAL-
Nothing beats a free tiial. The customer can check out what you
are selling for free and only after it lives up to its claims will he
then decide if he's going to buy it or not. This is powerful!

WONT CASH CHECK FOR 3O-DAYS-

Simply hold your customer's check or rnoney order' If he sends
back the product within the 30-day trial period, youll send him
back the same identical check or money order he sent you. This
puts his mind at ease knowing the money is not out of his accolnt
just yet.

WONT CHARGE CREDIT CARD FOR 30 DAYS.

Again, the same benefit as above.-.just with a credit card-

LIST PATENTNUMBER-
If your product is patented, you can include this number and say
something like, "This product is so amazing and unique, the
United States Patent Of1iceeven granted us a Patent. The Patent
Number is 1234565644.'

USE PAYMENTTERMS OVER TIME-

Not only does this help the customer afford what you are seiling, it
tells him you believe in your product or else you d want all of your
money upfront.
 126

USE A REAL STREET ADDRESS AND PHONE NUMBER-

In a sales letter or an ad, the rvorst thing to do is use a PO BOX for
your address. It's so cold, and it a1most looks like you're hiding
where you actually are. Now, there are many private Mailbox
companies that actually offer a street address... or if you wish you
could really use your address and phone number. I've never had
anyone hcfually come to a location from the address listed in a
sales letter. Its there to give the reader the comfort that he knows
just where you're sitting.

TELL HISTORY OF DEVELOPMENT-

All products have a history of development. If yours is
remarkable-.. use it in your sales copy.

USE SPECIFIC INFO iNAT CAN BE CHECKABLE-

If you're the ReMax #3 Realtor of theyear... it could be real simple
for someone to punch this question in Google and see your name.

NOTARIZED STATEMENT-
If you're willing to put your claims under oath... it seems more
believable to your prospects.

USE SPECIFIC TEST RESULTS-

If your product has been clinically tested to burn 93O more calories
over doing nothing... say so... but tell them how you came up with
the data. "In a 60-person, 6o-day, Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled
clinical trial performed by Dr. Johansen at the Universi[z of
Florida, he found that the ingredients found inXYZ burn 93O rnore
caiories than the people taking the placebo!'

USE A PERSONAL STORY-

Joe Karbo's famorrs ad for -t}:e Lazy Man's Way To Riches" starts
something like this: "I used to work hard... real hard. 6O hours a
week... just to barely get by. But I didn't start making real money
until i did less... a lot less...' A personal story about your pains...
your angers-.. your frustrations you had before you discovered
what you are selling... and then how you solved your problems
with this product... and how it can do the same for them.
 121

USE DATA FROM A MAGAZINE ARTICLE.

If a magazine did an article about your product, get permission
and reuse it in your ad. This data does not even have to be about
your specific product. For example, if you're selling a pill that helps
yo1, smoking... you carr go on to tell of an article revealing the
"top
oismoking that was published in Lady's Home Journal, etc'
ii.t
"
A BEFORE AND AFTER PHOTO-
If you're selling some form of weight loss... hair restoration... body
uunaing... etc- product, before and afters are quite powerful. Make
that EXTREMELY POWERFUL.

A COPY OF A LICENSE-
If you,re licensed to practice something, a copy of the license can
add credibility.

PHOTOGRAPHS OF OTHER USERS-

Along with testimonials, it makes it all the more powerful if the
reader can put a face with a story.

REFLECTED GLORY- Past history of successes. If you're revealing

a new product, and you created a huge, popular product in the
'I lirst created XYZ
past, you can say sornething to the effect of
back in 1999 and over 8 million people swea-r by it--. now I'm just
as excited about this new product!" If you did something huge in
the past, free ride on it!

NUMBER OF SATISFIED USERS-

345,342 Satisfied Users Cannot Be Wrong!

AMOUNT OF PRODUCT SOLD-

And be specilic. Don't say "9 Million Sold". Say "9,123,432 SOLD
SO FAR!"
'H.y, I was just
EMPATHY- Push "Me-Too Feeiings'. like you. I was
in my SO's and found it ha,rder and harder to achieve an erection.
It made me feel..."

WRITING IN THE FIRST PERSON-

You and me.
ENCLOSE A FAVORABLE MAGAZINE ARTICLE-
Reprint the entire thing anri enciose :--

BEITER-THAN -RISK-FREE GUARANTEE-

This is where the customer will come out ahead... even if he asks
for a refund. Usually free bonuses they get to keeo for free.

NUMBER OF YEARS IN BUSINESS-

HelpingWomen Lose Weight Since 1983

cv INFO {DDS, ESQ, PhD}-

If you're a PhD, DDS, etc., when signing the sales letter... include
your CV info.

AS SEBN IN...
If your product has been advertised or written about in
Entreprener.rr Magazine.-. you can say, "as seen in Entrepreneur
Magazine"

TELL HIM HOW TO DEMONSTRATE-

If you can describe in writing how the reader can demonstrate
some result right now... do it. *Take three buckets- Put warn water
in one... roorn temperature water in the other... and cold water in
one. Submerge your right hand in the cool one. Your left hand in
the warm one- Then plunge both hands into the room temperature
bucket. One hand will feel cold and one hand will feel warm... and
they're in the same temperature water!"

MEMBERSHIP TO THE BBB OR OTHBR SOCIETY-

Proud member of the NNFA.

COPY OF BANK STATEMENT-

If you're bragging about a financial product, a big fat bank
statement carr be a powerful believability device.

A SAMPLE OF PRODUCT-
Obviously, if a customer can sample the product first... especially if
it is included with the sales letter-.. like a packet of a wrinkie
serum... before she buys... that is powerful! But you better make
 t29

sure you're product is good... or you'll get less results than if you
left well enough alonel

YOU'LL BiLL THEM LATER FOR THE PRODUCT-

Bill Me Later is a powerful believability technique. If your product
is junk... theyte not going to pay up- And make sure you don't
take too much of a beating if they don't pay up. Don't offer this on
a diamond watch. If you're doing some tapes or CDs, maybe you
can ask them to pay the shipping fee upfront--- which will cover
your hard costs to manufacture and ship the product.

PERSONAL EMAIL ADDRESS FOR QUESTIONS-

This comforts prospects that if they have a question, you'd be
there. Now, many may email you; so make sure you keep on top of
the responses!

IN-HOME TRIAL-
This is a powerful technique that practically every infomercial
marketer is using nowadays. I explained how it works in an earlier
chapter. Remember?

ADMISSION OF FLAWS-
I was speaking of this earlier in this chapter. People will think if
you have the balls to tell the flarvs-.. you're not exaggerating or
lying about your positive claims.

PHOTO OF PERSON WRITING LETTER-

Sometimes I advise this.-- sometimes I don't. If youte a slick New
Yorker... the cowboy in Texas may not identiS with you. If you look
too young... the older, wiser man may not believe you. But if you
feel you have the look that may add believabilit3r, use it. I like to
use a photo of my little girl and me sometimes. It makes me appear
to be a family man who you can trust.

FRtrE-STANDING PHOTO-
A replica of a real photo is used sometimes. The way to make fake
photos is to print them and trim them, then on the back, have a
mbber stamp made that says "Acme Photo Labs" or something like
it and stamp each and every fake photo.
 130

DO NOT EVER USE HUMOR-

No two people think the same cornedian is funny. Some people iove
Dice Ciay... and some people hate him. What you think is funny...
someone else may not think is funny. And hey, we're here to sell...
and they're reading to buy. This is serious business. Don't fool
around with hurnor.

WOW! That was one hell of a chapter! My fingers a-re on fire from
typing! Again, sorne of the techniques listed in this chapter, I11 go
into greater detail later in this book.

Your success boils down to your abilify to persuade strangers to

see things your way. Master and overcorne the four reasons why
prospects don't buy. Try to make your offer go with the current and
not get snagged on any ofthe four reasons.

NOTE: Since uriting this book, I haue discouered get another rea.so/L
uthg someone mag not respond to gour offer. You can couer the 4
main reasons whg theg don't buA... but theg still mag not respond
even if theg uant gour product. TheA mau not want it enough to
exchonqe the dollar amount uou're asking for it. Sure, theg can haue
allthe moneA inthe u;orld..- but just because they haue enough
moneg- it does not mean ttteg'll pay wlnteuer gou ask. For
example... I hnd seueral millions of dolLars in the bank, and I
utanted this new Lamborghini- The only thing utas that I did not
want to paA the $50,OOO ouer sticker price the dealer u)as asking for
it becaztse it usas sl"rch a hot car.

Sure... Aoul prospect mag utant Vour nen) diet pilt... but if gou were
asking $1oo a bottle--- some people mag not utont it BAD EN)UGH
to exchange their money for it. You could euen pice the damn thing
at $3o and there may still be people uho utilt not want to exchange
the $3o in the bank.for these pitls. THIS IS WHERE EX1ELLENT
COPYWRITING SKL.LS COME IN. You haue to do a good" job of
conuincing lTtem the orice uoTt're askino is-rust a fraction o-f what he-
or she is to gain in RESUlrs using gour praduct. Make sure to read.
the nert chapter-
 131

Sixteen:
Chapter
Hlrea Gopywrlteror Do lt Yourself?

By this point, you should have an idea of the product or service

vou wish to manufacture and market. You should have a full
Lnderstanding of the mathematics of direct response products.
You should have an understanding of the back end sales your
p.roduct will get. You should know ali about mailing lists and
magazine ads. You should know all about offers, guarantees,
premiums, and the reasons why someone won't buy your idea-

At this point, you hav'e enough data to aclually start crafting a

sales letter or a magazine ad for your product. You can create your
own sales material or you can hire a Professional Copywriter to do
the job for you.

Now, I look back at my first sales letters ald I cringe. No wonder

they didn't work! They were really poorly written... had poor
'sell'.
layout... and just didn't know how to

If course, I didn't have a book like this one to guide me through the
ad creation process..- but you still may or may not be ready to
acfually '\rrrite" your own thing.

I guess only you can be the judge. lf it were up to me, and if you
had a few thousand extra dollars to have even a low-grade
copywriter create your sales letter or ad, I would advise it.

But on the other hand, if you barely have enough money to put out
a 2,500 mail piece test... or if you're sirnply a hands-on type of
person who wants to do the entire thing yourself".. you've got to
sfudy the next live chapters that are all about crafting the sales
letter or magazine advertisement.

If you want to go the safest route and hire a copywriter to do the

deed foryou...you can spend an5rwherefrom $5OO or so... all the
way up to $15,OOO and more for top-shelf copywriters like myself.
 ).)!

If you were to come to me and ask me to craft your sales material...

if our schedules do not conflict..- youte looking at $15,OOOplus a
cut of the gross sales if the letter or ad gets rolled-out.

Too much money? To some, yes. To some, no. l'm not trying to
"sell" you into hiring rne, so do not get the r,vr-ongidea here. But
this is what I think: A full-page ad in Maxim Magazine will cost you
$8O,OOO.Think of this ad as the lot you want to build your dream
home on- it's an oceanfront lot with l80-degree views of the
Pacific. Are you going to ruin it by parking a trailer on it... or do
you want to build yourself a mansion?

The cost you spend on advertising- either in magazines oi in the

mail costs the sarne regardless if your "pitch" pulls 1OO orders... or
1,000 orders. Why not get your advertising dollars to work as hard
as they can for you?

I believe 8O% of cop5rwriters can produce "good'advertising... 15o/o

can create'great'advertising... and 57o can produce absolutely
'PHENO
M BNAL" advertising.

While the guys in the top 5olowill charge the $1O,OOOand more...
you can hire a guy for $5OO to $ 1,0O0 that will create at least a
"good' sales pitch for you... and at this moment in tirne... you may
not even be able to create a "good'sales pitch- Do you know hovq to
find out if you're as good as one of the 8O7" who can create "good"
a.dvertising? Read the next Iive chapters... study them... then write
your own mail piece or advertisement. Afe you confident in it
enough to print it and attach 37 cents postage to it? If so, go for it.
If not, this chapter is for you.

But before you hire a cop5rwriter... there are sorne experts in this
field who will give your sales letter or ad a "critique" for a small fee
or even free.

I know Denny Hatch will give a FREE critique. Denny is a direct

response pro. He's a consultant and freelance copSrwriter, founder
of Inside Direct Mail {a trade newsletter), and he's also the former
editor of TARGET MARKETINC- a trade magazine for direct
 t33

response professionais- like you now are! In a recent ad, Denny

has agreed to give free critiques. You can email him at
DENNYHATCH@AOL.COM arrd find out how you can get him to
give you a critique.

Or even better, get in touch with me- since you bought this book...
111critique your sales letter or advertisement for free as well,

Either way, Vou'll get a iist of the things you're doing right and the
things you're doing wr-ong- so you can fix them before you spend
any money running or mailing an5rthing- My latest contact
information can be found elsewhere in this book-

But even if you do not wal.lt to give "writingl a try- even with a free
professional critique...'you're left with no choice but to shop for a
copywriter.

Writing great copy comes with experience. Even if you have a little
money to invest, a cheapo copywriter can at least produce "good'
copy... otherurise, he'd be working at McDonalds.

Here's what you should do if you're looking for a copywriter-

Search the internet... do a Google search for copywriters... but
make sure they are DIRECT RESPONSE copywriters- ones that
actually have samples of other sales letters and magazine ads they
can send you to revierv and judge their skills.

Make sure to ask the copywriter if he or she has had any

experience writing for products similar to yours. If they have, make
sure you get sampies! If you like what you see, talk price with
them.

After you read the next few chapters, even if you decide not to write
your first sales letter or ad, you can at the very least have enough
skill to "recognize" good, great, or horrible advertising copy.

If you\ze got the money and want the best copy... call on rne.
Maybe if you make me feel bad for you, and if I got some space I
need to fili... mavbe we can work out some'discorrnted" deal.
 t34

ChapterSeventeen:
The Mall plece

Before we even think about writing a word, we have to have a

rough idea of the pieces your sales letter will consist of'

First of all... it's best to start with a standard #10 package that will
weight 1oz. ar under... which will quali$ you for 37 cents First
Class postage which is the standard cost to mail a letter at the
current time.

I have two different # 1O templates I usually use. One is for an offer

that takes orders by way of phone and/or website orders as well as
mail in orders. The second ternplate is for offers that require only a
call in order or a website order. what I rnean by this is, for some
offers, you do not want check orders as your product may be an
auto shipped product where you need only credit cards orders...
and allowing check orders will hurt your back end- Some offers do
not matter if you accept payment in check, money order or credit
card. Anyway... Here they are:

OFFERS THAT REQUIRE PHONE-IN,

WEBSITE, AND MAIL-IN ORDERS:
This package consists of the following parts:

#10 Bnvelope: The envelope in which you're going to sfuff your

marketing material in. I do not like to use'bindow" envelopes'
Window envelopes are the envelopes with the clear plastic window
that allows you to see in. I tike to use a closed-faced, plain-old,
standard size #1O envelope.

l1'x17' Sales Letter: When this sheet is folded down, youll have
enough space to {it a 4-page letter. This is enough copy to sell most
products... and is a standard size I always use.
I
r35

7"x\O" Brochure: This piece can either be a vertica-l brochure or a

simple "Questions and Testimonials" piece. It's usually printed on
the same type of paper as the 11"xl7" sales letter'

8.5" x 3.6" Order Card: This is the card the customer wiil fill out
and mail back to you. It is usually printed on a stiffer cardstock
paper. This sheet will have enough space on it to reseli the oifer,
capture the shipping information, contact information, credit card
number, etc, This card gets inserted by the custorner into the 6
3/4 envelope listed below.

6 3l 4 Response Envelope: This is a smaller envelope that will be

addressed to you- or where you want the orders to go to. Do not
worry about postage being "pre-paid" by you... you should have
your customer apply his or her own postage stamp. Tests have
shown that there is no lift in response by paying for postage. Some
people do not like receiving direct mail sales letters- some people
will tear-up your sales letter, sfuff it in this envelope and mail it
back to you- and youll get stuck paying for the postage!

This mail piece will weigh less than one ounce and it will have
enough space to do the entire selling process. Now, let's talk about
the mail piece youll use when you do not want people to order by
check or money order.

This package consists of the following parts:

# 10 Envelope: This envelope does the sarne as what the envelope

will do in the first template.

11"x17" Sales ktter: This sales letter will do the same as the
11"x17" in the first template.

8.5"x5.5": This is usually where I'd put all the testimonials.

8.5"x5.5": This is where I'd usually list all of the questions and
answers prospects may have.

B.S"xl l": This piece should be a brief version of the sales ietter...
which goes over the top benefits of your product- It can l<iok like a
full-page magazine ad... or an editorial write-up- 1'his piece is
basically for the people who do not go directly into the 71"x17"
sa-iesletter, so it has to "sell'on its own... only qr-ricker than the
main 4-page sales letter.

This mail piece also weighs in less than one ounce- This is a great
template when you do not want mail-in orders. Say you were
selling a pill that you wanted your customers to order with a credit
card for an auto ship program... if you give customers no other
alternative to order... other than the 8OO#, that's what he1l do. If
you give him two options... you're going to get a lot more check
orders... and if you want to rebill automatically, getting check
orders will kill your chances totally.

Folding:
If you have a choice, you want to "Z-Fold', instead of "letter
folding" your sales pieces that need to be folded. It will not alter
your chances of success at a11...but it is easier for the reader to
oZ' technique tlran a
open your sales material when it is folded irt a
"letter fo1d".

Insertion Order:
The order in which your pieces are inserted into your envelope can
actually alter response! This is how I like to have my pieces
inserted in the envelope. All the fronts of the pieces should be
facing the REAR of the # I O envelope. If you are looking at the back
of the #1O envelope, this is the insertion pattern for Teinplate
Letter # I :

From the inside back of the #lO, you should see the lL"xI7" sales
letter facing the rear, behind that, the 7"xlO" facing the rear, then
the order card- facing the rear, then the 6 3/4 envelope- facing the
rear. So if you were to stack these four inserts on top of each other
on a table, the 6 3/4 envelope would be on the bottom, front facing
up, and on top would be the 11"x17" sales letter, facing up... then
this stack would be inserted in the #1O facing the rear of the
envelope, so if you were to look through the rear of the #10
envelope, you should read the headline on the 1l"xl7" sa-lesletter,
and the front of the #lO envelope, where the prospect's name wili
be ink-jetted on, should see the rear of the 6 3/4 envelope.
 r37

Template Letter #2:

From the inside back of the #1O,you should see the 11"x17" sales
letter facing the rear, behind that, the 8.5"x5.5"'facing the rear,
then the next 8.5"x5.5"- facing the rear, then the 8.5"x11"- facing
the rear. So if you were to stack these four inserts on top of each
other on a table, the B.S"xi 1" piece would be on the bottom, front
facing up, and on top would be the 11"x17" sales letter, facing up.-.
then this stackwould be inserted in the #1O iacingthe rear of the
envelope, so if you were to look through the rear of the #10
envelope, you should read the headline on the 1I"xl7" sales letter,
and the front of the #1O envelope, where the prospect's name will
be ink-jetted on, should see the rear of the B-5"x11" piece.

It is a must that your i.,".rt" get inserted the right way. If a

prospect opens your envelope ald sees an order card first... or if
the sales letter is upside down... or if it's backwards.,. it will alter
the experience your prospect will have when he opens the
envelope. Everything in this stage of the game is crucia-I. lnsert the
pieces correctly... and make stlre they are all inserted correctiy!
You'd be surprised how easy it is to screw this up.

Paper Quality:
Don't be fooled into thinking you need to use high-quality paper.
Just plain-old standand white 2O pound pap.qr- Heavier paper... or
glossy paper only adds to the cost to print and the cost to mail, as
it is heavier. Stick with standard sfuff.

Use of Color and Photographs:

Do you want to kirow something? My most successfi:l sales ietters
have been one color fiust black ink), and usually had no
photographs! I ca:l tell you this- rny two most successful sales
letters had no photos and were all printed in just black ink!
Getting too elaborate actually can hurt response. Keep it simple.

Graphics:
We're going to go into graphics and layouts in a iater chapter. But,
I'11give you a preview of what youll learn- KISS. This stands for
Keep It Simple Stupid!
 138

Addressing:
When it comes to addressing your # 10 envelope with your
customer's address and name.., do not use a mailing label. The
trick here is not to make this looklike junk mail. You're goingto
want to print the addresses right onto your # 1O either through
your computer printer... or you want a letter shop to ink-jet the
names on for you.

Postage:
The last thing you want to do is print a bulk mail permit box on
the upper right corner of your envelope. The second to last thing
you want to do is stamp the mail with a postage meter. What you
want to do is apply a real, live, First Class Stamp. The same ones
you use to maii your phone bill. You're NOT going to cio'pre-
sorted" First Class Mail... you're going to pay IIULL PRICE for a
REGULAR First Class Postage Stamp! I1l go more into this in a
later chapter.

Less Is Not Better:

By thinking you can save a few dollars by eliminating certain
pieces of the direct mail package, you're being stupid. If you cut
the sales letter from 4 pages to 2.., you're going to cut your
response as well. If you leave out the order card in Template # 1...
you're going to hurt response. What the Post Office is allowing us
to do is mail up to one ot'rnce for 37 cents.,. and we want our direct
mail piece to weigh-in right at .9 ounces or even one ounce flat.
Maxirnize what you. can send for one ounce!

Before I write even one single word of copy, I have an idea of what
the mail piece is going to look like- meaning its components. Now
that you have an idea of the components, yolt carr start gathering
ideas for headlines... gathering questions and answers you think
prospects may have-.. gathering testimonials... etc-

But before we go on to the use of graphics and typography in the

next chapter... let's talk about the first thing your prospect and
Postal Worker are going to see- YOUR MAILING ENVELOPE.

This is a crucial part of your success in direct mail.

 139

The sole purpose of the #10 carrier envelope is to get it delivered

and get it opened- that's all. It's not there to "sello--- it's not there to
tell your prospect rvhat you're selling'.' it's not there to talk about
price... it's just used to keep the sales material inside from spilling
out in the gutter.

It should not be fancy. It should not be cute. Here's the only two
ways it should look like:

it can look oflicial. It can look like a letter coming from the iRS or a
Government Agency. It can look like it is a credit card bill' It can
iook like a letter from an Attorney... or a Doctor'.. or a Medical Lab-
or it can be vague, with only a return address in the "cornercard"
and no company namc! No other words on the envelope other than
maybe "First Class Mail".

Here are a few great examples of official envelope ideas I've used in
the past with great success. I was selling dietary supplements. I
had the logo of the company in the corner card along with the
address. It said, PharrnaCeutic Laboratories in logotype and under
the logo, it had the address: 4O55 Industrial Blvd. Lyndhurst, New
Jersey, O7O71. I printed tJ'is in Process Blue ink, so it looked
medical. In this sales letter, I had results of a clinical study on the
product I was selling, so on the envelope, in the lower left corner of
the envelope, I added the words: "First Class Mail- Important Test
Results Enclosed"

Now, to the Postal Worker handling several thousands of these

letters, he thought it was results of some testing the addressee
needed as soon as possible. It looked important. Now, there were
test results enclosed... for the product I was selling... but I need
the sales letter to get delivered and opened. if it said, "Lose 23
Pounds By Summer!" Mr. Postman would have took it as junk mail
and treated it as such... and the recipient would have looked at it
as junk mail as well- maybe even throwing the entire thing in the
trash without reading a single word of it- Our only goal right now is
to get the damn thing delivered and opened.
 140

It's funny. Sometimes, when you mail in large numbers, the

sealing machine sometimes n-rns out of water and some envelopes
do not get sealed properly or at all. When this happens, the
contents of the envelope may fall out. I remember some people we
mailed to actually writing us saying they got an empty envelope
and they wanted to see what the test results were! They thought it
might have been about them!

One time, I used an oflicial-iooking envelope. It r,vas supposed to

look like a Government envelope. It had just a return address on
the corner card, and a black line under the address. Under the
line, it said, "For Official Use Only, Penalty For Private lJse, $300".
This is the same wording the IRS uses and I even went as far as to
copy their iayout! I bet this envelope got delivered and opened.

I'm looking for the day when I do some sort of promotion with an
Attorney. Boy am I going to have fun with this one! I know an
Attorney that sells a course on buying Real Estate at Tax Deed
Sales. Wouldn't it be great if he sends out sales letters in his
Attorney envelope? I'rn sure every person who gets one of them will
open it as soon as they get it!

An envelope can look personal. A simple plain envelope with a

refurn address that reveals only the address and not the narne..,
either typed in "courier" font or even handwritten... or simulated
handwritten... with the prospect's name in the center. The postage
will be a regular stamp. This letter lopks like a personal letter you'd
send your Mother or Brother. This is a sirnple envelope and it
always gets opened. Don't worry about not looking "Professional',
but don't get me wrong- certain types of product may not call for
this personal envelope... like a diet pill. But then, I gave you such a
great example of a diet pill envelope before, why would you use
anything else?

As for these persona-l envelopes, I remember mailing a test with

simulated hand-written addressing. I took it even one step further
and had these little green stickers rnade up that looked like
Certified Mail Stickers... except mine said "Verified Delivery" and
had a neat little fake number across them. I stuck them right on
the top center of the # lo envelope with the hald addressing and a
 141

real stamp. It looked as if it was a Certi{ied letter and I was sure it

would get great response. WeIl it did... but unforfunately, the post
Office'rvrote me a letter asking me never to do this again a.s the
Postal workers were getting fooled into thinking it was Certified
Mail and were asking the recipients for signatures! It clearly said
"Verified Delivery'... but Postal Workers are not the smartest I
guess,

My friend Gary Halbert says people sort their mail over a trashcan.
If it looks like junk mail... with advertising copy all over the
envelope screaming claims... with a mailing label affixed instead of
a stamp... sent to them bulk rate... into the trash it goes. So, make
it look personal... or make it look oflicia.l.

Later on in years- once you have a winning sales letter, you can
experiment with teaser copy on the envelopes... but right now, let,s
play ever5rthing on the safe side. Remernber, the # I reason why
people will not buy from you, is they do not receive or they do not
notice your sales material. Personal and oflicial letters always get
delivered by the Post Office- with respect,.. and opened by the
recipient!
l
l.-t L

ChapterEighteen:
Graphlcs...
PhotosandTypography

Many people new to this business waste way too much money
when they are at the graphic artist, at the printer, or when running
a magazine advertisement.

Novices think the prettier a sales message looks... the flashier the
graphics... the more colorful... the giossier the paper... the better
the response. Nothing could be further from the truth.

I remember once my assistant messed up and told my printer to

use a heavy, glossy paper stock for a test mailer. I wanted a
regular 60-pound offset paper- as I always do. I was a little mad.
After all, this paper blunder was going to knock my mail piece over
the one-ounce mark... and that means 23 more cents I'd have to
add on every sa-les letter!

Regardless of that, i mailed the test mailer and it did well. When I
rolled-out the rnailer in a larger quantity, of course I used the
correct paper. I even took away the 2nd color I used for the
headline, and made it all black ink. Did response suddenly go
down? NO. It was the exact same.

Think about it- when you are offered something you waxt, are you
going to care if the sales letter was on fancy paper? If anything, the
fanciness of the paper would take your attention away from the
sales message.

Even with magazine ads. I remember I ran an ad that used a

second color and an artistically written headline. The headline was
something like'Make your car vibrate the asphalt for cheap". This
was for an audio membership club I was mnning. The headline
was al1'vibrated"-looking and the graphic artist was very proud of
herself. This was just a year or two after I got into this business, so
I didn't know any better. The ad broke-even and failed to bring me
arty type of profit.
 143

A few weeks later I rvas reading about headiines and i wrote a great
headline for this ad. I went back to the graphic artist and told her
to remove the fancy lettering on top... knock the colors down to one
{b1ack)... alrd she looked at rne like I was crazy for "uglying" her
beautiful graphics.

The next month when the ad came out... we tripled the results it
got. An ad that broke-even was now bringing in three times its
cost... and it was uglier... less colorful... and cheaper to run as it
used one less colol! I was happy and learned a very valuable
lesson. The secret is in the rnessage and getting the message
noticed and read- not by looking pretty.

Many cop5nwriters say'rrgly works". I believe it. They advise using

ugly color paper stock for inserts and sales letters. I'm not talking
dark, hard to read paper colors... just weird colors, like mango.
They sure stick out from a sea.of white paper. I say you should
worry about getting the sales letter to work first before you start
experimenting with paper colors. Let's keep it safe and use white or
cream-colored paper.

Even with rnagazines. I do not ever pay for color to be added to rny
ad. Acfually, for a magazine to charge for a color ad is a scam, The
osignatures" or groups of pages
entire magazine is printed in large
at a clip. And nowadays, magazines are all full color. So it's costing
the publisher not a single cent more to run your ad in color. They
just want to charge you for it. Its kind of bullshit. But we shouldn't
care, as we never want to worr5r about running color ads- even if
the publisher will give us the coior for free. Now ttris may sound
cratrj, but the secret to successful advertising in magazines is to
get noticed. If the entire magazine were full color... if the publisher
is even giving away color to all the other advertisers... it would be a
great advantage to you to do a black and white ad. You'll have the
"sorest-thumb" in the magazine!

Now as for the acfual graphics and the typography, I have a very
strict set of rrles about the fonts you use, the sentence length, the
paragraph length, etc- I will go into deeper depth below.
 )44

Headline Fonts.
When creating headlines, I like to use Ariel... Helvetica... Franklin
Gothic... Eras... or Times New Roman for the font. Now there's a
difference in fonts- there's Sans Serif... and there's Serif. As you
can see, I wrote Sans Serif in Sans Serif type. This type is missing
the little extender on the ends of letters. There have been studies
that show Serif fonts have a better comprehension level. But for
headlines, where it's just a few simple words, fee free to r-rseSANS
SERIF type. If it were up to me, I'd tell you to stick with Helvetica.

Subhead Fonts:
When creating sub-headline text, you carr use the same font as the
headline... just smaller... not as bold... and maybe in italic type. If
you do not want to use the same font, feel free to use 'firnes New
Rornan.

Body Copy Fonts:

When creating body copy never use a SANS SERIF font. Always use
a serif font such as Times New Roman or Courier. {Courier is to be
used only in sa-lesletters and not in magazines. Magazines should
aiways use Times New Roman.) Courier is a great font that looks
like a typewriter. It's super easy to read... but it does take up more
space than the Tirnes New Roman font. So, if youte got room... go
for Courier. If not, Times New Roman is fine.

Paragraph Headers:
For paragraph headers, if you are using Times New Roman for the
body copy, you can use the sarne font... just BOLD it. If you are
using Courier for the body copy, and you want to use it for the
paragraph headers, youll want to underline it... as bolding Courier
is not too prett5r in my opinion. I sometimes use Helvetica in bold
for my paragraph headers... regardless if I'm using Times New
Roman or Courier for my body copy.

Bottorn line: Keep it safe. Headlines should be Helvetica... or Times

New Roman. Body copy should be Times New Roman or courier.
{courier for sales letters on19. subheads and paragraph Headers
can be any of the three fonts I advise to use.
 I4)

Colors?
I don't know horv many times I should say it-.. but I have never
had a color ad pul1 it's additional cost for color. I've never even had
a color acl where I got the color upgrade for free out pull the very
same ad in black and white. This is the same for sales letters in
the mail... or in magazine ads. I think black and white is a great
advantage in magazines... especially ones with a lot of color ads.
You want to get noticed!

Fancy Graphics?
Now, I do not want you to go and create ugly ads and sales
letters... but they do not need a top-dollar graphic designer either.
I remember I went to a new graphic designer and had hirn create
an ad for me from scratch... just to get a different look than the
ones I've been creating. Do you know what this guy did? First of
all, he used a. scan of brushed alumimrrn and put that behind the
headline- Now the headline cannot be read as easily and it sure
doesn't stick out as well with the background image. Then as a
screen behind the body copy... he ran TEXT! This ad looked like a
train wreck. He thought it was a piece of art. Do you think The
New York Times worries too much about making articles look like
works of art? Hell no* and either should you. The theory you
should have is that you just want to get your test read and noticed.
That's ali. What gets an article read in The New York Times? A
good headline that sucks you into the body copy- Graphic
Designers always want to show-off their skills of making things
look pretty. That's fine. But tell them to use their skill on your
letterheads and business cards- not your advertising!

When it comes to magazines, a trick you should use is to have

your ad "Pub Set". You bring your sales copy to the graphic
designer... if you're using one... and you bring him a copy of the
magazine you are placing your ad in- Replicate the editorial layout
as best as you can- On the bottom of the ad... make sure to put the
words, "Special Advertorial'in ita-lic... maybe even in 6O% black...
so it's there... but not too noticeable. I advise you to put this on
your ad ahead of time because if you leave it up to the magazine...
theyll smack the words ADVBRTISBMENT right in dead center on
top of your ad in huge, bold type. if you beat them to the punch
 l AA
I au

and add these words, but not as boldly as they would... you may
get away with ir.

Why would you want your ads to look like an article in the
magazine? well, a magazine's readers trust the magazine they're
reading. That's why they buy it... subscribe to it... and read it.
They trust it. And trust and believability is one of, if not THE
biggest reason people do not buy your product.

It's been proven that 5oo7o more people notice and read "editorial"
style advertisements than pretty, fancy, graphic*overdosed ads.
You're not here to be prett5l... you're here to get attention. Editorial
formats get more attention.

Photos:
Most of my direct mail never has photos. My magazine ads usually
have a photo of someone's face in the upper right hand corner with
a caption. A photo could be a great grabber in a magazine... not so
much in direct mail sales letters.

Here's rny opinion of photos of products. Unless it,s designed by

Apple Computer... as se)ryas a Powerbook... or an ipod... or a new
G5... I wouldn't include a photo of the product youte selling. why?
chances are it's not going to be as prettjr as the image your reader
wili have of it in his imagination. I once sold a golf driver in a sales
letters. we didn't have the image of the acfual driver ready when
we were printing the sales letter... so we mailed the letter without
the image. The letter pulled good results. when we finally got the
acfual driver from the manufach:rer, we had it photographed and
made a nice,. full-color insert for the sales letter showcasing the
driver- Even though the driver was a good-looking, rather r-rge,
beautiful club... we pulled less orders! we removed the image and
response was back up! We weren,t misleading people by not
including a photo of the product-.. but we did do better when we let
the advertising copy paint the irnage of the product in their
imaginations.

Captions:
In rnagazine ads, the first thing people see is an image, then the
caption r-rnderthe photo.-. sometirnes even before thev read the
 1A1

headline! It is a must to have a killer caption under any photo you

use. The caption is a huge part of an ad and I laugh when I see a
caption and itb the damn photographerb narne! A caption is the
PS: in a sales letter {I11talk about this in a later chaoter)-

Paragraph Length:
I11 speak more about this in the next chapter... but you should
keep your sentences to no more than seven words... and you
shouid keep you paragraphs no more than seven lines long.
Americans read at the 6th Grade level. You've got to keep the
sentences short-..-seven words or less.

Coupons:
I want my rnagazine ads to look like articles.-. I want my sales
ietters to look like actual letters. If my offer does not require a
check or money order payment option and I'm just taking credit
cards, I never cor-rpon. But for some promotions that do take
checks, I use an order card in direct mail.-. and in magazine ads,
it's really your call for order coupons. If youte going for the
editorial look... editorial copy does not have order forms.
 t 4ti

ChapterNineteen:
Gopywrltln$

So youte going to take the challenge and write your own

advertisement or sales letter? Good for you. That's the way I did
it... unforfunately for me... I was unaware there were tons of books
written long ago that could have told me a lot of the things I had to
figure out on my own.

ite only made a few chapters in this book about writing copy. I've
done this for a reason. The last thing the World needed was
another book about copywriting! What the World needed was a
book that would teach you how to conceptualize, strategize, and
implement techniques you need to sell products and services
through direct response. I1l teach as best as I can about writing
copy in this chapter... but if you want to get a super education on
the fine art of writing copy... there are many books that can reaily
go into depth about the subject. I1l list a few of my favorites
towards the end of this book.

The level of yorrr ability to convince people will tell you how rich
you are going to be... not oniy in this business..- but every
business. The entire World goes round on people buying things...
and people selling things. The people who can sell the best, make
the most sales.-. and make the most money. And to sell, you have
to make people see things your way. They have to agree with you.
They have to feel you have their best interest at hand. I'm going to
teach you how to do this.

Before we actualiy start talking about writing copy, here's a great

example of top-notch copywriting for a bodybuilding supplement
that pulled extremeiy well.

***
 t49

AmazingNew Pill...Testedand Clinically

ProvenIn Russia.,.
MAKESEVERYWORKOUTGIVETHE
MUSCLEGAINSOF THREE!
lmagine-Everyrep...Everysquat...Everypress...givingyou the explosive
even the most powerful- and
resultsof three...outperforming
shirt-ripping
illegalAnabolicSteroids!Don'tbelieveit? The popularbodybuilding
magazineslike MuscularDevelopmentdidn'teither...but after they knew
the facts,they'renow saying,"SteroidsAre Obsolete!"

Dear Friend'

Is it true? Has modern science finally created a

p i l l
- B o d y bt h
uai l td e rc- a
. .n m a k e y o u L o o k l i k e a P r o f e s s i o n a l
wi-thout kilLing yourself in t'he gym?

My name is Benjamin Bergin. I'm not a

professional ad w r i t e r . B u t w h a L I have to share with
you is so exlraordinary and so p o w erful.' I decided to
write you myself . So bear with me a littl-e.

The company I work for, MedEx Laborat.ories, is

manufacLuring a new pi}l thal has jusl been c.linically
proven to increase your musc-l-e mass by 310%- without
j"nvesLing the usuaf 3*5 years it take$ the average
bodybuilder to get "burfey".

In fact, I bel-ieve our new pill makes every other

synthetic o r n a t u r a l - a n a b o l i c s t e r o i d o n t h e p l a n e t
literally obsolete! I'm so excited about our new
discovery that I have to get Lhis off my chest before
I E X P L O D E!

,Just imagine this...

Popping a few easy- Lo-swaLlow pil-l.s and

experiencing 3 to 5 years of "gym results" in just a
few short months. You'1,] have arms 3 f ul-l inches
beef ier... Learing your shirtsleeves a t t h e s e a m s-
 i<n

You'l"l add so many inches to your upper body; you'lL

have to give ali your suits Lc Lhe Sa.lvat:-on irrmy
because they just won't fi[ anymorel And as for your
legs... forget about iL. They won't" squeeze into those
jeans you have- no matter how baggy you wear them!

But what may excite you nosL is that women wil-L

be lusting after your "beefcake" body... even if it
currentJy resembles a flabby "cheesecake" or even
worse, a scrawny "cupcake" ! That. would be something...
wouldn't i L?

Can One Sirnpte Pi1l Ready Do All This

I{ithout Spending As Many Eours In The Gym?

Look* I know what you're reading conLradicts

everything you've afways t.houghl about building
muscLes... I know it sounds unbe]ievabl"e. . . I didn't.
believe it at fi-rst either. But afl I want you to do
is read Lhis letter and when you're finished, make
your own wel]-reasoned conclusion. Fair enough?

Scientists at Johns Hopkins University Figure

Out How To I'tanipulate lhe GDFS Gene
(nicknamed the Schwarzeneggfer Gene)

Through research, w€'ve uncovered Lhe primary

gene in your body that controls muscle size. This gene
makes a protein that prevents muscle growth and
increases fat storage. It's cal-Led Growth and
Differentiation Factor B or GDF8 for short..

If You l{ant To Get Ripped-Up and pack-On Muscle,

GDF8 Is Your lforst Enemy!

GDFB is the one protein in your body whose sol,e

purpose is to STOP you from gelting H-U*G-EJ

Everyone's body produces GDF8 natural_Ly and il-'s

the primary reason why it is aLmost irnpossibl-e to make
dramatic increases in muscle size and performance
naturally. That's because every time you do something
 t_st

jt
L h a L s L i m u f a L e s j - r n p r o v e r n e n L ,y o u r b o d y s L o p s with a
burst of GDFSI

If You Were AbLe To Suppress Your Body's GDEB

Production, Your l{uscles Would SWELL So Fast, Your
Friends WiII Swear You're On Steroids!

Like I was saying before, Scientj-sts at Johns

Hopkins university have discovered suppressing GDFB
production in animafs permj-tted them to achieve
STAGGERlNG levels of muscularj-tyl Mice that produced
l-ittfe o r n o G D F 8 w e r e 3 0 0 5 bm o r e m u s c u . l a r t h a n n o r m a l
mice! And of course, the mice didn'L Lif L weighLs t-o
qet 300* more muscufar!

And now, we're bringing lhis amazing GDE'B

suppressor Lo t h e m a r k e t f o r h umans, IL's cal-i,ed
DynaBolics a n d i L s e e m s e v e r y o n e who is usin- i r j <
achieving results thal are hard to believe !

DynaBolics is completely safe and natural. fts

mai-n ingredienL is actually derived from a rare and
exot.ic sea a1gae, which has been shown to bind to the
muscle-fighting GDFBprotein.

f L's pretty simple to understand-., In order for

GDFB t.o perform its function of 1i-miLing muscle
growth, it rnust f irst find it's way Lo your muscl"es,
DynaBolics is desi-gned to bind to the GDFB protein,
preventi,ng it from ever finding its way to your
musc]es. When GDFBis disabfed or reduced, there is no
limj-t to your muscle growth !

In The Past, Bodybuilders and Professional Athletes

Would Have Crawled Across Broken Glass To Get Their
Ilands On Such A Radical Supplement".. But Thanks To
Modern Science, DlmaBolics Is Just A Phone Cal1 Away!

DynaBolics delivers a muscl-e-build.ing advantage

never before avaiLable to the general public. It,s not
j ust. a liLtle betLer than protein powders, growt-h
horrnone, or anaboLic steroids... it makes them OBSOLETE!
 l)/

Look- even if you're Lhe Lypical "hard-oainer" or

even if you're already RIG but- feel like you've "maxed
out" or even iI you never lifLed a weight in your life
and want Lo get. H-U-G-E fast., DynaBolics may transform
your body so radically, nol even your peLs wil-l
recogn j.ze you !

Not Only Has A Reduction In GDFB Shown To Explode

Muscle Size... It Has Al"so Shown To Burn Fat Like
Butter Dropped In A Bot Frying Pan !

In studies, a decrease in GDFBresulEed in fat

loss of 35t to 50t I This means you may shed body fat
so fast and furious, your skin will literal-l-y act as
"Shrink-Wrap" to show-off your bulging muscles.

ls DynaBolics Lhe perfect supplement...you know

the "magic" pill we've aLl dreamed about? Some of the
most popular bodybuilding magazines seem to think so.
But here's how you can decide f or yoursel_f...

EXPERIENCE For Yourself tfhy Muscular Development

Magazine Says "Steroids l,re Obsolete! "

If you're interested in t.rying DynaBolics, you're

in for a pleasant surprise... instead of paying the
retail price of $99.95 per bottle,. your first 30*day
suppJ-yof DynaBolics can be purchased for just $59.95...
but' only during this unusual promotion- (more on that
Later )

Is A New, Muscular, and Eu1k-Like

Body Worth 9S9.95 To you?

T F qrr16
woul-d be worth it if you're single and after
taking DynaBolics, you st.art to attract beautiful
w o m e n/ t w i c e a s h o t a s y o u r p r e v i o u s l o v e r s . C o u l d v o u
imagine the new sex*l_ife that is waiting for vou?

It sure would be worth it if you were ever in a

violent confrontation with one or more men. When your
 153

safeLy is on Lhe line, your bruLe sLrengtli is all- you

have to survive., lf you were H-U-G-E, do you real)y
Lhink ir's going to be easy -ior rnen Lo kick sand in
your face? f dorr'L think so !

It sure vrouLdbe worth it if you were a businessman-

especially if you have to negotiate high-sLakes deals.
Trust me-. ycu'11 always dominate the deal... leaving the
conference room with everythj-nq you want' Those
pencit-neck geeks vrould be too scared Lo te]l you
"no"... They'11- think you'd hit then over the head with
one of your cannons !

JusL imagine how good you'd look 1f you had 15 to

25 more pounds of rock-hard, USDAPrime FiLet' muscle?
And aL Lhe same Lime, was much feaner--. Women will
s w A R Ma r o u n d y o u _ . Y o u ' 1 1 i n s t i l l - FEARand INTTMTDATION
in Lhe hearts of every m a n y o u c o m e in contacL with-
both personal-ly and p r o f e s s l o n a l l y !

DynaBolics was designed to totafly change Lhe way

people "see" you in their eYes!

Itho EIse Wants To Start Experiencing Mind-Boggling

Growth In Just A Few Weeks?

DynaBoli"cs may work so fast, .in just a few weeks,

you may starL noticing your shirt sfeeves and pant
legs geLLing Lighter' and Lhe longer you use
DynaBolics, the BIGGERand B-I-G-G-E-R you may get!
I'd bet you'd wanl to contj.nue takj,ng DynaBolics for
y e a r s . . . I r ' 7 h yw o u l d a n y s a n e m a n w a n t t o d l s c o n t i n u e its
use? DynaBofics is probably t-he most. amazing
innovaLion to ever hj-t the bodybuilding worl-dl

Instant Muscle For Couch Potatoes?

DynaBoJ.ics is designed Lo bind to GDFB, which

k e e p s y o u r m u s c - l e s s m a l - . l " .M o s t u s e r s a . r e n o t
bodybuiiders. BuL like anything in 1ife, the rnore you
put into this, Lhe m o r e r e s u l t s y o u ' l 1 e x p erience. If
y o u a r e " i n L o " w o r k i n g o u L . . .y o u r r e s u l - L s w i l f only be
 r</
I -jt

faster. IL's Possible Lo gain n h : m n i n n v. I :r h 'i

9 | : r y
n
"ize
in

about 72 Lo 16 weeks.. instead of the 3 to 5 vears ir--

usually takes !

Imagine l{hat You May Look Like In Just A Few Months...

' be st andi rtg i n Lhe ml rror /

Week by week... you I I
tape measure in hand- with a smile on your face Lhat
just won't go away. Arms, chest, and stomach so ripped
up, you'lJ- think i L' s not really "your" body... You'f L
have to pi.nch yourself to prove lLs really " A 1 " 1 -Y o u " !

DynaBolics tlas Created To DOUBLE Your Current

Strength... DOUBLE Your Current Size... and Can Make Your
Def inition So I'1e11 Chiseled; You'II Look Like A Greek
Statue !

Take DynaBol-j-cs f or 16 weeks and if you don'L

"FEEL" y o u r a r m s g r o w i n g . , . d o n ' L " F E E L " y o u r strength
j-ncreasing... and don'L 'tSEE, f at- sLarLing Lo evapora Le...
send the empty bottles back for a DOUBLE YOUR I4ONEY
BACK refund of y o u r p u r c hase price- I can offer you
such a no-risk guarantee because I KNOWan
overwhelming number of men who are using this producL
are experiencing results that almost defy belief I I
challenge y o u L o t . e - l. l u s t h e s e p i l l s do not change
your l"ife.

So what you should do ri.ght now i-s order

DynaBolics. V,le're currentl-y having a special- where you
can get your first monLhs supply for just $59-95 a
bottle. So, have your credit card ready and cal-I 1-
800-123-456? or send it i-n the mait-. The add.ress is
7500 West Lake Mead Blvd., Suite 9-482, Las Vegas,
Nevada 89128. Supplies are limiLed, and every day that
goes by is just one more day you'L] have t.o wait to
have that. muscular, sLrong, sexy body you've always
craved! And rememberr !ou'11 get DOUBLE YOUR MONEY
BACK if DynaBol-ics faiLs to impress you after "r20
days.
 i55

But you goL to hurry- I onlv have 2384 boLtles irr

sLock- Lhat's enough of a supply t o l a s t m e ? d a y s o r
(55% of f ) , they'1J' surell' hg
so - Anci aL Lhrs 1cv; price
gone in a week. PLus, so you don't geL stuck p a y l n g
our $99-95 reLail price on future botLfes (if you can
even get your hands on Lhem because our supply is so
I j " m i t e d ) , y o u ' J - 1 r e c e i v e F R E E m e r n b e r s h i p i n t o o u r
Preferred C u s t - o m e r C l u b - u s u a l l y r e s e r v e d f o r
Professional Bodybuilders, where you'11- save $60 on
all your future m o n t h ' s s u p plies- And so you don't go
a day without DynaBolics i n y o u r s y s t e m - e v e n w h e n o ur
supplies are sofd out L o t h e g e n e r a l p u b l i c ' y o u ' r e
G U A R A N T E E Da f r e s h 30-day supply every monLh- senL
automatically and y o u'1I pay just $39-95 plus $7
shipping/handling. Cancel shipmenLs anytime-

Than.< Yc::,

'..f.-"^y^B-*.
Benjam.in Bergin for MedEx Labcratories
To Order Calf: 1 - 800-I23-4557

PS: What man wouldn't wanl DynaBolics? JusL a few.

pills a day and in minimal time you may "OWN" those
muscles that were always too darned hard to build-
wiLhout counLfess hours in the gym! The bottom line-..
if you block the effects of GDFB long enough, you
may literally altain a muscular physique so enormous,
iL was once impossible to obtain- but The Future Has
Arrived !

PPS: The active ingredient in DynaBolics is a rare sea

algae ca.lfed Cystoseria Canariensis, which was first.
r ^ii s r - n r r e r e r i i r v r : e s e a r c h e r s at Las Pal_mas Univers i t v i n
Spain. Production of this ingredj-ent is impossible
wiLhout Lhe use of a p r e c i s e ly ccntrolled, hyciroponic
farm t-o mainLain ideal growing conditions. This means
cnly a small amount of this ingredienL can be prcduced
aL a t.ime. So to guarantee you'l-l be able to reserve
 156

DynaBoI ics, you ' d be LLer order now ' Once rde are sold
out of DynaBolics w e ' . 1 - . 1b e f o r c e d to tllrn away new
cus Lomers unti-l the nexL baLch is avail-abf e which rnay
be I20 days from now- So again, our phone nui'nber.i s 1-
800-123*4567 o r i f y o u c a n s e n d your card info j-n Lhe
mail. Our address is 7 5 0 0 W e s t Lake Mead B . l - v d . , SuiLe
9-582, Las Vegras, Nevada 89128. And don'L forgeL-
you're protected by a fuli 120-Day DOUBLE YOUR MONEY
B A C K G U A R A N T E E . .s. o t h e r e ' s no risk on your partl You
have nothing to l-ose-.. it's that plain and simple-

PPPS: MaKe SuIe Lo Tead The CLINICAL STUDY RESLTLTS

from Zakir Ramazanov/ PhD, Musa Abidov, MD, and t4iguel
Jimenez del Rio, PhD. It's SOLID P R O O F this is REAL.
'-;

Let me ask you a question... after reading this, even if you weren't
a bodybuilder.-. did it stir you up a bit? This was a great example
of some killer copy. You should want all your sales letters to sound
this cornpelling.

There a-re a couple of things I want to cover that are "golden rules"
of writing copy.

YOU... not WE.

I)o you know what pisses me ofP When I get letters in the mail
from a company that sounds iike this,'We're so pleased to
announce our new facility. we pride ourselves on having the best
seryice, best prices, and widest selection. we feel our sustomers
are very important to us, and we treat them like family, v/e, we, we,
we, we, yadda... yadda... yadda... snore..- snore..-"- then in the
trash it goes.

You cannot write copy like this. The reader does not care about
you and your plant-.. or what you feel.-. "we" is as bad as saying
FUCK in your sales letters.

The right way to write copy is from the reader's viewpoint. you're
going to want to say "You' a lot... and for every 5 tjmes yor_rsay
 t51

"you', it's ail right to say "I"' Here's an example from the sales
letter I've reprinted for you eariier:

Is A New, Muscular, and Hulk-Like

Body Worth $59.95 To You?

It sure would be worth it if you're single and after taking

DynaBolics, you start to attract beautiful women, twice as hot as
your previous lovers. Could you imagine the new sex-life that is
waiting for you?

It sure would be worth it if you were ever in a violent confrontation

with one or more men. When your safety is on the line, your brute
strength is ali you have to survive. If you were H-U-G-E, do you
rea-lly think it's going'to be easy for men to kick sand in your face?
I don't think so!

It sure would be worth it if you were a businessman- especially if

you have to negotiate high-stakes deals. Trust me- you'Il always
dominate the deal... leaving the conference room with everything
you want. Those pencil-neck geeks would be too scared to tell you
"no"... They'll think you'd hit them over the head with one of your
cannons!

Do you see how the entire thing was focused on the reader of the
ous'... it's all about
letter? Nowhere does it say'we', or the reader.

Write In The First Person.

This is pretty easy to understand. Write in plain-old conversational
talk as if you were really ta-lking to the person yolt are writing to.
Just as if it were a scriptyou were going to read out loud...you
must write in the first person... the way this entire book was
written... the way the sales letter IVe reprinted was written.

Urgency.
When you get to the "closeo of your letter... you're going to want to
get them to order right now. If you allow them to put the letter
down and think about it later... or even order later... there's a
chance theyll forget to ever order! You want to compel them to
order on the spot.-. as if they are luclgl they received your sales
 t-58

letter or read your ad in enough time to'get-in'on this deal! if you

have a limited quantitSr, say so. if your price is going to go 11p... say
so... lf the special free bonuses are only for the first 25O people to
order... say so. But most importantly, make sure it's believable.
Give them a reason why it's a rare product... and the quantify is
limited.., like I did in the sales letter I've reprinted earlier in this
chapter. Here's it is again for you to review:

The active ingredient in DynaBolics is a rare sea algae calied

Cystoseria Canariensis, which was {irst discovered by researchers
at Las Palmas Universi$ in Spain. Production of this ingredient is
impossible without the use of a precisely controlled, hydroponic
farm to maintain ideal grnwing conditions- This means only a small
amount of this ingredient can be produced at a time. So to
guarantee you'll be able to reserve DynaBoiics, you'd better order
now. Once we are sold out of DynaBolics we'll be forced to turn
away new customers until the next batch is available which may
be 12O days from now.

Do you see how we made it believable that this ingredient was

rare? I had a story behind it. It makes sense to the reader.

Even if you have to "manufactureo your urgency technique... Gary

Ha-lbert told me about a furniture saie promotion he was working
on with a client. He actually went to the warehouse with his client
and put a hole in the roof of the warehouse, then did an ad saying
ali the furniture must be sold- even at a loss, because the store
owner's wife had the truck put a delivery in the wrong warehouse.
since it's going to rain in a few days... and since the warehouse
has a hole in the roof.,. everything has to go- even if they lose
money on the sale... or else the furniture is worthless! Did they
really make a hole in the rooP Who knows... but you get the
"pointo I'm trying to imply.

The "IF/THEN" First Sentence.

A proven way to open a sales letter is to use the IflThen first
sentence. It goes something like this, "If you're looking to pack on
19-7 pounds of rock-hard usDA prime muscle within the next 3o
days..- then this will be the most important letter you1l read aI
week!"
 159

I use all different kinds of opening sentences... but this version is

proven to work... and at this point in your writing career"'you
want to play it on the safe, proven, reliable side--. right?

Captions.
If you are using a photograph.'. you absolutely must use a caption
gnder the image. ln a magazine ad, the first thing a reader sees is
the image... the second thing he does is read the caption"-
sometimes even before he sees or reads the damn headline!
ALWAYS USE A CAPTION UNDER A PHOTO IF YOU ARE USING A
PHOTO!

The "P.S."
The PS is the second most read thing in a sales letter. The first
thing they read is the headline, then they go right for the PS. It
would be wise to restate the entire offer in a nutshell for the PS of
any sales letter. Pretend the PS is being read all by itself- without
the sales letter... you want to get the entire offer across to your
reader.

The Length Of Copy.

The amount of copy to write can be compared to a woman's dress.
Short enough to keep your interest. Long enough to cover ail the
essentials. Usually a full page in a magazine.-. four pages in a sales
letter.., unless yort're selling a product everyone already knows
about- like Microsoft Oflice software. A simple postcard advertising
a price break will out pull a 4-page letter talking all about how
Microsoft created it.

The 6 Parts Of a Sales Pitch In Your Sales Letter or Ad:

1. The Headline or Opening Thn:st.

The headline is the most important part of your sales letter or

advertisement. David Ogilry said it was, "The ticket on the meat",
in his book "Ogilvy On Advertisingn. Five times more people will
read your headiine than will read your body copy. Ile seen a
headline out pull another headline by 3OO% to as much as 1900Yo.
Same copy... Same product... Same price... Same media... the only
 160

difference was the headline" The next chapter is going to teach vou
ail about headlines and how to u,rite them. Eugene Schwartz's
book, "Breakthrough Advertising" spent an entire 5O% of the book-
the entire first half of the book on teaching how to find and write
the headline! It's that important!

2. The Basic Story or Pitch.

This is where you're going to write about your frustration, the

pains of it, how you dissolved it, what you dissolved it with, and
how it works.

3. The Proposition.

This is where you're gbing to go into how the product can help the
reader, and why he or she should use it.

4. The Exact Offer.

This is where you're going to talk about price and what he is going
to get for his money... what does the purchase come with... and
free bonuses... etc.

5. The Guarantee-

This is where you are going to remove arl of the risks your prospect
is scared of. An5rthing that may leave him thinking there's a chance
hell lose his money if this does not furn out to be what you said it
was going to be. You got to get rid of this feeling. you got to assure
him in a powerful way, he is not at any {inancial risk for going with
his gut and ordering this thing through the mail- from a totar
stranger- without even seeing it!

6. The Call To Action.

This is where you tell him how to order. what numbers to ca'ti...
where to send a check or money order. And maybe even a little
push. Here's a version of one I "copied" from a Joe Karbo ad, I love
it to this day...
 161

"Look- 3O-days from now you can be nothing more than a month
older, or you can be on your way to {inancial freedom. You decide.
You have nothing to fear, because you're protected by a fuIl 30-day
DOUBLE YOUR MONEY BACK GUARANTEE. So, have your credit
card handy and call 1 -8O0- 123-4567 right now, before the limited
supply of 327 are sold out forever."

I fit this closing to almost every product I'm selling.

The 5 Components Of a Winning Ad or Sales Letter:

1. Command Attention.

You need a strong visual appeal to your ad or sales letter. A killer

headline... a photograph... an appealing layout that does not
"blend" with other magazine ads in the magazine.

2. Show People The Advantage Of Using Your Product.

The body copy will show the prospect why your product exists.
Why people are buying it. What it is going to do for the person who
uses it.

3. Prove That What You Are Saying Has An Advantage.

There are tons of weight loss aids. But the one yoll are seliing has
been clinically proven to burn as many as 93O calories in a given
day's time. That's nearly half a woman's 2OOO caloric intake for a
day's tirne- This study result has to back up your claims...
otherwise the claim will go in one ear ald out the other as all
direct response product claims automatically get discounted S0%
from your reader- and that's at a minimum.

4. Persuade People To Grasp That Advantage.

You're going to have to tell your prospect why he should grasp the
advantage your product delivers. You already got his attention. you
aJready told him what your product could do for its users. you
then proved it was true. Now you have to persuade him to grasp
 162

this advantage. You can entice him with a great price... a great
guarantee... BOTH. The sky is the limir.

5. Make a Call To Action.

Now you have to close the thing up and get them to reach for their
wallet and call you right now. If you have a poor closing... he may
put the ietter down and go on with his life. you have to ciose
correctly. Here are 4 steps I use to ask for the cash:

A. Create an offer no sane person could refuse.

Pile it on. A11the bonuses you can include. Make it such an

awesome offering; he'd be a total jerk not to grasp it.

B. Erase all the risks from your customer,s mind.

People are scared they're going to lose their money. scammers are
all over the place. You're not the first sales letter or advertisement
he's read in his life. He's seen it all... and read it ail before. He,s
been ripped off in the past. He knows your sares copy is probably
full of hyperbole. hrt him in a position where he "thinksn hed
really fuck you up if he wanted his money back.

C. Light a big, fat fire under his ass.

If your prospect procrastinates... you iost an order. He's got to

order right now! Right this very second! No thinking about it! And
the way to do this is to let hirn know if he snoozr=.- he,s not going
to get the free video... he's not going to get the low price... he,s noi
going to even be able to get his hands on the product.

You see this on infomercials all the time".. .order within the next
14 minutes and youll receive John's euick start video- where
you1l iearn step-by-step...yada... yada... yada... a
$30 value_yours
absoiutely kee!" of course, the order takers are not sitting there
with a sto-owatch...counting the minutes... or co'ntins until the
25oth order comes in..- but it is a technique that works..- as rong
2s Jrou make sure it's believable- obviously, if you're writing thisln
 lbJ

not going to sav "l4

a sales ietter or a magazine ad,yog're
first 250 people"' etc'
."i"","="... you'd say 5 days"'
order'
D. Make it as simple as possible to

Somepeoplelovetomakethingscomplicated.Drrmbpeoplemake
people makg complicated
simple things complicated' And smart
do... but
;;ilg; simfre. plaiing an order should not be hard ro
marketers really mess it up'
t;;'; be amazedby how many
days a
Simple. Simple- Simple. An 8O0#"',24 hours a day"' 7
.n! A simple order
*..i.... even if you have an answering rnachine
to stick the
form to fil1 out... an easy to use response envelope
order card in and mail' SIMPLE' Keep it SIMPLE'

I go to websites, that before I can view anything, they want me to

t.gi"t.t... or tJrey want me to download some sort of software I do
.roi h",r"... or do not have the latest version of. Stupid. Stupid.
Stupid. I go to another website'
 ChapterTwenty:
Headlines

in his book, "Breakthrough Advertising", Eugene Schwartz

dedicated the full lirst half of his book... an entire 50% of it'.. tc
creating the most powerful headline for your advertisement'

Why wouid he do this? The answer is simpie. When you pick up a

newspaper and you're browsing through the pages..- the only thing
that makes you read a particular article is the headline. If the
headline does not do it's job of attracting the proper audience..' the
ad will fail.

Do you know what's even fi.rnnier than having the wrong headline?
Having NO HEADLINE. Most advertisers use either a poor
headline... or no headline at all. This is why they fail. This is why
they say, "Advertising Don't Work".

Now, you don't always have to re-invent the wheel when it comes
to creating headlines. Once you get better at direct response
writing, you may want to explore creating more original
headlines... but like I keep saying throughout this book- let's keep
it safe. We're going to mold orlr new headlines off old headlines
that have been proven to work... time and time again over the past
decades- selling millions of products and serrrices.

I have a few guidelines when creating headlines-

1. Try not to use negatives...

2. Avoid humor at a-11

costs...

3. Avoid trying to be cute...

4. Always try to have the reader's seif-interest in the headline...

5. State your products most valuable benefit.."

 r65

One headline tested against another can result in increased orders

by many, many multiples- Here's an example Jay Abraham tells
about a simple headline swa,p that tripled an ad's pulling power.

Jay was doing consultation work for a financing company for gold
and silver. This company was offering 2/3rds bank financing on
gold and silver as long as they got to hold the acfual gold or silver.

They were running huge ads in newspapers and their headline

was...

"2/3rds Bank Financing On A11Silver and Gold"

Now, their ads were breaking even at this point. The ad was
brining in enough saies to cover running the ads... paying the
commissions to the salespeople... and basically keeping the lights
on. This company called upon Jay and within a few minutes he
changed the headline to this:

"If Gold Is Selling For $3OO An Ounce, Send Us Just $lOO and
Well Buy You All The Gold You Want

This simple headline swap resutted in an immediate 3OO7o increase

in the selling power of their advertisements. And this company had
another headline for Silver...

'If Silver Is Selling

For $6 An Ounce, Send Us Just $2 and Well
Buy You All The Silver You Want"

Jay's new headlines were saying the same things.-. it was just
making it more clear and telling the reader how the 2/3rds
financing benefited him.

I swapped a headline and saw an ad increase in pulling power by

300%. others claim they have seen as rnuch as a l9ooyo increase
in sales from one headline to another.
 166

The point of this chapter right now is not to talk about testing
headlines against each other... but how to create the best headiine
for your ad or sales letter off the bat.

I'm going to list over one hundred of my favorite headlines. When

you go to write your headline... sirnply insert you.r product and/or
offer into them. Here's an example:

The old, classic headline:

"They All Laughed When I Sat At The Piano... But When I Started
To Play!'

Your new version:

"They All Laughed When I Said I Was Going To Lose 37 Pounds in
30-Days... But When.They Saw Me Four Weeks Later!"

This was just a quick, off the cuff example... but for you to insert
your own product is not too hard to do- even for a beginner.

Here's this list of my favorite headlines you can adapt to fit your
own products or seruices:

1. THE SECRET OF MAKING PEOPLE LIKE YOU

2. A LITTLE MISTAKE THAT COST A FARMER $3,OOO A YEAR

3. ADVICE TO WIVES WHOSE HUSBANDS DON'I'SAVE MONEY --

BY A WIFE

4. THE CHILD WHO WON THE HEARTS OF ALL

5. ARE YOU EVER TONGUE-TIED AT A PARTY

6. HOW A NEW DISCOVERY MADE A PI-AIN GIRL BEAUTIFUL

7. HOW TO WtN FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE

8. THE LAST TWO HOURS ARE THE LONGEST -- AND THOSE

ARE THE TWO HOURS YOU SAVB
 i67

9. WHO ELSE WANTS A SCREEN STAR F']GURE?

10. DO YOU MAKE TI{ESE MISTAKESIN trNGLISH?

'EXPLODE" IN YOUR STOMACH
i i. WHY SOME FOODS

12. HANDS TF{ATLOOK LOVELIER IN 24 HOURS -- OR YOUR

MONEY BACK

13. YOU CAN LAUGH AT MONEY WORRIES -- IF YOU FOLLOW

THIS SIMPLE PLAN

14. WHY SOMB PEOPLE ALMOST ALWAYS MAKE MONEY IN THE

STOCK MARKET

15. WHEN DOCTORS "FEEL ROTTEN" THIS IS WHAT THEY DO

16. IT SEEMS INCREDIBLE THAT YOU CAN OFFER THESE

S]GNED ORICINAL ETCHINGS .- FOR ONLY S5 BACH

17. FIVE FAMILIAR SKIN TROUBLES -- WHICH DO YOU WANT TO

OVERCOME?

18. WHICH OF THESE $2.50 TO $5 BEST SELLERS DO YOU

WANT -- FOR ONLY $ 1 EACH?

19. WHO EVER HEARD OF A WOMAN LOSING WEIGHT -- AND

ENJOY]NG 3 DELICIOUS MEALS AT THB SAME TIME?

20. HOW I IMPROVED MY MEMORY IN ONE EVBNING

21. DISCOVERTHE FORTUNETHAT LIES HIDDEN IN YOUR

SALARY

22. DOCTORSPROVE TWO OUT OF THREE WOMEN CAN HAVE

MORE BEAUTIFUL SKIN IN 14 DAYS

23. HOW I MADE A FORTUNE WITH A'FOOL IDEA"

 r68

24. HOW OFTEN DO YO HEAR YOURSELFSAYING,"NO, ]

HAVENT READ IT: IVE BEEN MEANING TOI"

25. THOUSANDSHAVE THIS PRICELESSGIFT -- BUT NEVER

DISCOVER IT!

26. WHOSE FAULT WHEN CHILDREN DISOBBY?

27, }{.OWA "FOOL STUNT" MADE ME A STAR SALESPERSON:

28. HAVB YOU THESE SYMFr|OMS OF NERVE EXHAUSTION?

29. GUARANTEEDTO GO THROUGH ICE, MUD, OR SNOW -- OR

WE PAY THE TOW!

30. HAVB YOU A "WORRY' STOCK?

3 i. HOW A NEW KIND OF CLAY IMPROVED MY COMPLEX]ON IN

30 MINUTES

32. 16I NEW WAYS TO A MAN'S HBART -- IN THIS FASCINATING

BOOK FOR COOKS.

33. PROFITSTHAT LIE HIDDEN IN YOUR FARM

34. IS THE LIFE OF A CHILD WORTH $1 TO YOU?

35. EVERYWHERE WOMEN ARE RAVING ABOUT THIS AMAZING

NBW SHAMPOO!

36. DO YOU DO ANY OF THESE TEN BMBARRASSINGTHINGS?

37. SIX TYPES OF INVESTORS _- WHICH TYPE ARE YOU?

38. HOW TO TAKE OUT STAINS... USE (product name) AND

FOLLOW THESE EASY DIRECTIONS

TO YOUR ESTATE -- FOR THE PRICE

39. TODAY...ADD $TO,OOO
OF A NEW HAT
 169

40. DOES YOUR CHILD trVER EMBARRASSYOU?

4 1 . I S Y O U RH O M E P I C T U R E - P O O R ?

42. I-iOWTO GIVE YOUR CHILDREN EXTRA IRON -- THESE 3

DELICIOUSWAYS

43. TO PEOPLEWHO WANT TO WRITE -. BUT CANT GET

STARTED

44. THIS ALMOST-MAGICALT.AMPLIGHTS HALLWAY TURNS

BEFORE YOU MAKE THEM

45. THB CRIMES WB,COMMIT AGAINSTOUR STOMACHS

46. THE MAN WITH THE "GRASSHOPPERMIND'

47. THEY LAUGHED WHEN I SAT DOWN AT THE PIANO _- BUT

WHEN I STARTED TO PL.AY!

48. THROW AWAY YOUR OARS!

49. HOW TO DO WONDERS WITH A LITTLB LAND

50, WFIO ELSE WANTS LIGHTER CAKE -- IN HALF THE MIXING

TIME?

51. LIT:|LE LEAKS THAT KEEP MEN POOR

52. PIERCED BY 30I NAILS..- RETAINS FULL AIR PRESSURE

53. NO MORE BACK_BREAKINGGARDEN CHORES FOR MB --

YET OURS IS NOW THE SHOWPLACE OF THB NEIGHBORHOOD!

54. OF"|ENA BzuDESMAID. NEVBR A BRIDE

55. HOW MUCH IS "WORKERTENSION" COSTINGYOUR

COMPANY?

56. TO MEN WHO WANT TO QUIT WORK SOMEDAY

 t?0

57, HOW TO PLAY YOUR HOUSE TO SUIT YOURSELF

58, BUY NO DESK -- UNTIL YOUI/E SEEN TH]S SENSATIONOF

THE BUSINESS SFIOW

59. CALL BACK THESE GREAT MOMENTS AT THE OPERA

60. "I LOST MY BULGES... AND SAVED MONEY TOO!"

61. WHY (brand name) BULBS GIVE MORE LIGHT THIS YEAR

62. RIGHT AND WRONG FARMING METHODS .- AND LITTLE

POINTERSTHAT WILL INCREASE YOUR PROFITS

63. NEW CAKE-IMPROVER GBTS YOU COMPLIMENTS GALORE!

64. IMAGINE M8,.. HOLDING AN AUDIENCE SPELLBOUNDFOR

30 MINUTES

65. THIS IS MARItr ANTOINETTE -- RIDING TO HER DEATH

66. DID YOU EVER SEE A "TELEGRAM'FROM YOUR HEART?

67- HOW ANY AUTO REPAIR JOB CAN BE 'DUCK SOUP" FOR
YOU

68. NEW SHAMPOO LEAVES YOUR HAIR SMOOTHER -- EASIER

TO MANAGE

69. IT'S A SHAME FOR YOU NOT TO MAKE GOOD MONBY -.

WHEN THESE MEN DO IT SO EASILY

70. YOU NEVER SAW SUCH LET'|ERS AS HARRY AND I GOT

ABOUT OUT PEARS

71. THOUSANDS NOW PLAY WHO NEVER THOUGHT THEY

COULD
 t7l

72. GRtrAT NEW DISCOVERYKILLS KITCHEN ODORS QUICK! --

MAKES iNDOOR AIR "COUNTRY_IIRESH"

73. MAKE THIS ONE.MINUTE TEST -- OF AN AMAZING NEW

KIND OF SHAVING CREATVI

74. ANNOUNCING...TTIE NEW EDITION OF THE ENCYCLOPBDIA

THAT MAKES IT FUN TO LEARN THINGS

75. ACAIN SHE ORDERS..."A CHICKEN SALAD, PLEASB"

76. FOR THE WOMAN WHO IS OLDER THAN SHE LOOKS

77. WHERE CAN YOU GO IN A GOOD USED CAR

78. CHBCK THE KIND OF BODY YOU WANT

79. "YOU KILL THAT STORE -- OR I'I-L RUN YOU OUT OF THE
STATE!

80. HERE',SA QUiCK WAY TO BRBAK-UP A COLD

81. THBRE'S ANOTHER WOMAN WAITING FOR BVERY MAN --

AND SHE'S TOO SMART TO HAVE "MORNING MOUTH"

82. THIS PEN "BURPS" BBFORE IT DRINKS -- BUT NEVER

AF"TERWARDS!

83. IF YOU WERE GIVEN $2O,OOO TO SPEND -- ISNT THIS THE

/tyr_oe
of oroduct. but not oroduct name) YOUD BUILD?

84. "LAST FRIDAY... I WAS SCARED! -- MY BOSS ALMOST FIRBD

].{E'!'

85. 76 REASONSWHY IT WOULD HAVE PAID YOU TO ANSWER

OUR AD A FEW MONTHS ACO

86. SUPPOSETHIS HAPPENED ON YOUR WEDDING DAY

87. DON'T LET ATHLETE'S FOOT "LAY YOU UP'

 172

88. ARE THBY BEING PROMOTEDRIGHT OVER YOUR HEAD?

89. ARE WE A NATION OF LOIV-BROWS?

90. A WONDERFULTWO YEARS'TRIP AT FULL PAY -- BUT ONLY

MEN WITH IMAGINATION CAN TAKE IT

91. WHAT EVERYBODYOUCHT TO KNOW ABOUT THE STOCK

AND BOND BUSINESS

92. MONEY-SAVING BARGAINS FROM AMERICA'S OLDEST

DIAMOND DISCOUNT STORE

93. FORMER BARBER EARNS$8,OOOiN FOUR MONTHS AS A

REAL ESTATE SPECIALIST

94. FREB BOOK -- TELLS YOU TWELVE SECRETS OF BETTER

LAWN CARE

95. GREATBST GOLD-MINE OF EASY "THINGS TO MAKE" EVER

CRAMMED INTO ONE BOOK

IN PRIZES! HELP US FIND THE NAME FOR THESE

96. $8O,OOO
NEW KITCHENS

97. NOW! OWN FLORIDA I-ANDTHE EASY WAY... $1O DOWN AND
$1O A MONTH

98. ?AKB ANY THRBE OF THESE KITCHEN APPLIANCBS -- FOR

oNLY $8.9s (VALUESUP TO $ls.4s)

99. SAVE TWENTY CENTS ON TWO CANS OF CRANBERRY

SAUCE -. LIMITED OFFER

1OO.ONE PLACE-SETTINGFREE FOR EVERY THRBE YOU BUY!

101. IT SHOULD BB ILLEGAL TO MAKE MONEY THIS EASILY!

 \1J

102. IF YOUI/E PURCHASEDA NEW CAR IN TLIE PAST 12

MONTHS...DONT READ THIS. IT'LL BREAK YOUR HEARTI

1O3.WHERE THE MONEY IS, AND HOW TO GET IT

IO4. WHO ELSE WANTSTO MAKE BIG MONEY IN

ELECTRONICS?

105. THE AIVIAZINGDIET SECRET OF A FRUSTRATED

CLEVELAND HOUSEWIFE

106. HOW TO BURN-OFF BODY FAT... HOUR BY HOUR

107. AN OPEN LETTBR TO EVERY OVERWEIGHT PBRSON IN

PORTLAND

1OB.FINANCIALCOLUMNISTMAKES UNIQUE DISCOVBRY

1O9. HOW TFItr EXPERTS BUY GOLD AND SILVBR

1 10. THB AMAZING FACELIFT IN A JAR USED BY HOLLYWOOD

STARS WHO DON'I WANT PLASTIC SURGERY

1 11. WHICH OF THESE 5 SKIN TROUBLES WOULD YOU LIKE TO

END?

r 12. THE MACHINE THAT PEELS-OFFPOUNDS WHILE YOU SIT

BACK AND BNJOY IT

1I3. HOW TO WAKE_UPTHE FINANCIALGENIUS INSIDE YOU

114. HERE'S HOW TO FIND OUT IF YOUR BANK IS ABOUT TO GO

BANKRUFrf

115. THE AMAZING BEVERLY HILLS WRINKLE ERASER

DISCOVERED BY TOP ORIBNTAL CHEMIST.

116. IS NOT HAVING YOUR HIGH-SCHOOL DIPLOMA KEBPING

YOU FROM MAKING THE MONEY YOU WANT?
 174

117. IS YOUR HAIR-LOSS PREVENTINGWOMtrN FROM

DISCOVERINGWHAI'A GREAT GI'Y YOU ARE?

118. WHAT DO WOMEN SECRETLYSAY BEH]ND THEIR LOVER'S

BACK?

119. IMPORTANTNEWS FOR WOMAN WITH SMALL BREASTS

120. RECENT FDA STUDY ON BREAST IMPLANTS REVEALS

SHOCKING INFORMATION

121. MtrN- BE TALLER!

122. AMAZING NEW DIET PILL BURNS MORE CALORIES THAN

RUNNING 3 HOURS ON A TREADMILL!

123. HOW TO WIPE 10 YEARS OFF YOUR FACE IN 60 SECONDS

OR LESS:

124. WER.E LOOKING FOR PEOPLE TO WRITE CHILDREN'S

BOOKS

125. THIS IS THE AD WE HAD TO CANCEL LAST MONTH

BECAUSE WE SOLD-OUT SO FAST

Quotation Marks.
When vou add quotation marks around a headline..- it increases
its pulling power. so when you get the opporfunity..- use the quote
marks-

"They All Laughed when I said I created a pill rhat Burned 93o
Calories a Day... But Now Theyte All Asking Me For Samples!"

Johnson Box.
A Johnson Box is a box placed around a headline to make it stand
out more. Give it a try in your sales letters and see how it looks. I
wouidn't use one in magazine ads.
 i75

Proven Starters.
"HOW TO" headiines:

Horv to make S2,OOOa rveek..' without leaving the house:

How to win friends and influence people:
How to rnal<e everv rvork-out eive the results of three:

"WHO ELSE" headlines:

Who else wants a whiter wash... without hard work?

Who else wants a screen start figure?
Who else wants to drive a Ferrari... for $34O a month?

Two Most Powerful Words In a Headline.

FREE and NEW

Questions In Headlines.
I really do not like to ask questions-.. unless they are 997" sure
going to get me the answer I want-

How Many Words To A Headline?

The New York University School of Retailing did a test and found
that headlines with over lO words usually sold more product than
headlines with less than 1O words. Basically, there is not limit. I've
seen headlines with 3 or 4 words work... Ile seen 1O words work...
IVe seen 17 words work.

Grabbers.
Grabbers are a specialty of my friend and direct response guru,
Gary Halbert. Instead of a headline... he'll stick a dollar bill to the
top of a sales letter. The letter will open like this...

'Dear Friend,

Why did I attach a genuine, US Currency $ 1 bill to the top of this

letter? The answer is simple.

What I'rn writing to you about concerns a lot of additional money

l'.ur reotauralt can start making as soon as today... and I thought
a little financibl eye-catcher would get your attention.'
 tt6

And the sales letter will go into the sales pitch.

Grabbers can be almost anything...

Band-Aids...

Photos...

Currency From Another Country...

A Sample Packet of a Wrinkle Cream'..

Here's how the'packet" grabber would work...

"Dear Friend,

Why did I attach a little packet to the top of this letter? The answer
is simple. Enclosed in that packet is $3 worth of our most
advanced 2-Minute Fine Line and Wrinkle Filler.

If you've been noticing a few fines lines and rvrinkles... and want to
keep them a secret- I believe this product can help you in less than
2 minutes time.

Here's what you should do right now. Remove the packet from this
letter. Tear it open and apply a small drop of the clear serum to
your index finger. Go to the nearest mirror and apply a small
amount of the serum to the right side of your face where you want
to hide a wrinkle or fine 1ine. DO NOT APPLY TO THE LEFT SIDE!
Leave the mirror,

Now, remain still and give this amazing formula 6O seconds to dry.
Then go back to the mirror... Amazing isn't it? Wrinkles and fine
lines are gone!"

Now you'd go on to your sales copy and sell a ton of this stuff.

Sometimes a grabber can be a great visual attractant... even better

than a wordy headline..- but it does cause other problems such as
 177

how are you going to attach thousands of these things when you
are rolling-out? lf you're using $i bills...you almost tripled ytur
mailing costs... are you sure it's worth it? you got to test different
ideas as you gt:.

There are rnany books on copywriting and headline writing...

tr
think you should read them a-il. I've done a pretty good job
here...
but there are tons of other books that are dedicated on\z
to writing
copy and headlines.
 l?!J

ChapterTwentyOne:
Prlnters

If you're going to be in the direct response business and if you were

going to be using direct mail... you'd better get familiar with using
printers. After all, this is a "paper" business.

All direct rnail pro's should have a network of printers to submit

their printing needs to for bids. Printers are usua-lly broken down
into two different categories... Big Roll-Outs and Small Testers.

The big printers you're going to worry about only after you have a
winner in the mail. The larger print houses usualiy cannot do
srnaller jobs at a good price- nor do they want to. They're all about
large multi-hundred-thousand piece print runs.

The smaller guys could never handle the largerjobs... even if they
say they can-.. but they are needed when you have to print small
test jobs of 2,OOO-1O,OOO sales letters.

Since I usually trse the sa.me format for my mailers, I do not have
to go and get it re-quoted every time I do a nerv letter. But if i do
something different for a particular mailer... I always get it quoted
out from three or four different printers. youd be amazed how
different their prices are-.. sometimes 5o% cheaper than their
competitors!

Even if I have my favorite printer, I still get quotes- even from a

printer I do not iike... because if the guy I don't like is cheaper, I1l
make my guy bring his price down- And theyll usually do it for me.

To get bids, simply prepare a simple one-page sheet and put across
the top of it, "Quote Needed A.S.A.P" and fax it to each pii.rter.
within a few days, I1l start getting phone calls with the prices.

one thing I like to do is tell the printer how much I'm looking to
spend on a particular print job on the fax. Of course, it,s a piice
 119

I'm looking to pay... minus a few bucks- just in case I'm a littie
high and can ssueeze a few bucks out of thern.

In my area, I pay about $70O to $BOOto print 2,OOOcomplete sales

packages and $1,2O0 for 4,0O0... and $2,000 for 8,OOO.Now, this
is for the complete "mail-in" package as I described earlier. If I'm
just doing the "phone-in" mail package, my price will be a few
hundred dollars less as the 6 3/4 return envelopes eire quite
expensive. This is the ballpark of prices in crrrrent day. This price
does include the folding.". but not the inserting.

When you are looking for printers, do not go tJlrough your graphic
designer. If you're using a graphic artist, hell try to get you to get
your printing done through him. AII he's doing is bidding out your
job and tacking on uhnecessary rnoney. Do it yourself... but if you
want to... you can 1et him quote the job if he asks. Who knows?
Maybe he can get a lower or at least an equal price and it's easier
to keep ever;rthing under one roof-

But if you contract your own printing... make sure the designer
doesn't try to hit you for some bullshit pre-press charge or some
kind of massive "collect for output" and "disc burning" charges.
People will try to get money out of you in some of the craziest ways
when they feel you don't know what you're talking about. And
youll soon learn not too many people even know what they're
talking about!

Anylvay, here are some terms you're going to need to understand

when dealing with printers...

The standard paper weight is 20-pound. Basically, you want the

plain old "photocopy-grade' paper.

Printing is described in 'overs'. What I rnean by this is if you were

printing a single-sided sheet with one color ink... it would be called
I /0. if you were printing on both sides, it would be 1 | 1. If you
were printing2 colors on the front and one color on the back... it
would be 2/1" Four color on one side and one color on the other
wouldbe4/1.
 180

One coior= I
Two colors= 2
Three colors= 3
Four colors= 4

Here are some common terms:

Bleed: This is when the ink goes right over the edge of the paper.
Most of my pieces do not have bleeds.

Screen: This is when a solid color is screened over a white sheet of

paper. For exarnple, if you're doing the 7'x1O" brochure I talked
about in an earlier chapter and you want the inside of it to be blue
ink on the white paper... and the outside you walt full covered in
biue ink..- with black words... it would be a 2/ 1 sheet..- with the 2-
color side screened blue. Most of my jobs do not involve screens...
but they do look cool on the brochure.

Monarch: This is the terrn for a7"xlO" sheet.

Lift Note: This is a little folded note that sometimes gets included
in a sales package. It basically says something like "Read This Only
If You're Skeptical" on the outside and then the reader would lift it
open and read the inside... which would be additional text, usually
going over the guarantee or another free bonus on top of the sfuff
you offered in the main sales letter. I usually do not use lift notes.

Buck Slip: This is an 8.5'x3.66" sheet that is basically a | /3" sheet

of regular size paper- I used to use a lot of these slips as you can fit
three of these sheets in a sales package and itll take up no rnore
than one single sheet in weight... yet you can have three totally
separate sa-les messages on them, I really do not use them any
longer now that I have two templates.

Here's some things that add to the price of printing that you do not
really need...

You do not need glossy paper stock.

You do not need flashy 4-color photos.

 I t{l

You do not need custom-sized envelopes or paper.

When you are looking for a printer, here is the quote you need to
send to them for each of the packages I spoke about in an earlier
chapter:

Template for offers that require mail-in orders as well as phone-in

:i*?l:;*******
{Your Name)
(Your Address)
(Your Phone Number)

QUOTB NEEDED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!

Dear (name),

Please quote this job and get back to me no later than (insert date
here). When you are finished with the quote, or if you have any
questions... my number to call is (O0O)00O-OOOO.If you have the
quote and you get rny voice mail, please leave the breakdown on
my voice mail... or fax the entire thing to me at (OOO)OOO-O0OO.

Thank You,

fiiour name)

QUANTITY OF EACH: (insert quantity)

1. I lx17 std. white stock- 1/ l, z-fald to fit # 1O

2. Txl0 std. white stock, white stock, 1/ 1, letter fold

3. #10 std. envelope, l/O

4 . 6 3 / 4 e n v e l o p e ,1 / O

5. 8.5x6 order card, 1/O (on decent grade cardstock)

 182

li#;.:" *" o,u sheet-voull use for the "phone-in' only mail
package, that will not permit the mail-in check orders as described
in an earlier chapter.

{Your Name)
(Your Address)
(Your Phone Number)

QUOTE NBEDED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!

Dear (name),

Please quote this job and get back to rne no later than (insert date
here). When you are finished with the quote, or if you have any
questions... my number to call is (0OO) OOO-OOOO. If you have the
quote and you get my voice mail, please leave the brea-kdown on
my voice mail... or fax the entire thing to me at {OOO)OOO-OOOO.

Thank You,

{your name}

QUAN?ITY OF EACH: (insert quantity)

1. 1 1x17 std. white stock. L/ l, z-fold to fit #1O

2. 8.5x5-5 std. white stock, I/O, letter fold

3. 8.5x5.5 std. white stock, 1/0 letter fold

4. 8.5x11 std. 60ib. offset, white stock, l/O, letter fold

o
"
:..:i.:.:::..::"''"o''
Maybe your sales letter will need to have one or more of the
8-5x5.5 sheets printed on both sides...or maybe the g.5x1i will be
printed on both sides... as I have stated above, it's just for one-
 183

of them printed on two

sided printing. If You were to irave any
1 to 1 / 1 in the
sides...You1l sirnPlYchange them from lO
description above.

Anotherthingyourprintermaybeconcernedwithishowtheyare
it on a CD-ROM in a
to receivethe graphics' Most printers prefer
standard' Check
progr"* caileJ Quark Xpress' That's the industry
be providing the
*ltt tn. graphic designer as to what format he'l1
printer as well as the designer have the
artwork on. Make suie the
same formats for easy transferring'

We spoke more than enough on printers'

 r84

ChapterTwentyTwo:
Lettershops

Letter shops... or mail houses are very important to large mailers-,

which you will hopefully be very soon.

What a letter shop is, is a separate company that's job is to stuff,

seal, address, apply postage... and acfually deliver your letters to
the Post Oflice.

Sure, you can do all this work yourself... but when you're mailing
1OO,00Opieces each and every week... you're probably not going to
be able to handle it. And for the price a letter shop charges... it's
worth it.

Letter shops usually charge one cent or less for each time they
have to "touch" your sales material. For example, if they have to
sfuff four pieces in your envelope, that's four cents... then apply
the address of your prospect... that's another penny. One more
penny to seal the thing. If you're going to have thern apply the
postage... that's another penny.

Here's what i like to do. I like to get a quote from several elderships
making thern think they are going to do everything for me- even
drop the letters at the Post oflice after they've applied the postage
Ill provide thern with. I1l rnake sure to have them breakdown each
and every fee... the insertion... the addressing.-. the postage
application... etc-

Then, I'll back out the fee to apply the postage.

Why do I do this? Simple. To avoid getting ripped-off.

If you let them think they're doing the entire job, theyll sometimes
quote the job low, just to get the job... and then theyll 'stea.l' a
little of my postage on every iob. That's where theyll rnake the
 r85

clifference of the money they had to lose to get the job in the first
place.

You see, it's next to impossible to prove in a court of law that a

letter shop stole a percentage of your postage. When the letter gets
mailed, and you get 30% less response than you thought you were
going to get from the initial test results..' there's so many things it
can be blamed on, yott can never prove the ietter shop did it.

And that's a huge scam letter shops do' It's just too tempting to
stea-l some of the Postage-

And if you iet the letter shop know ahead of time that they are not
going to be applying postage, your quote will be much higher
because they know they can't steal any of it-

so I let them think they're going to get the entire job. After I get the
quote, only then do I tell them I'm going to be applying the postage
and dropping ofl at the post oflice. If they do not want to honor the
quoted price... tind another letter shop because this one is a bunch
of scumbags.

One person can apply 1O,O0Ostamps in a given eight-hour shift if

he's quick. What I like to do is have the letter shop deliver to me
the stuffed, sealed, and addressed letters. Ill then have one of my
guys apply the postage that I bought and well stick it all in the
'back of a pick-up truck and drop it at the Post Oflice or-rrselves.
Trust me- this is the way you want to do this.

You may be thinking how can the letter shop rip you off if they
have to show you a postage receipt directly frorn the Post OfTice?
Tn:st me... to dummy a postage receipt is easy... and they have
numerous ways of doing it.

If your sa-lesletter is a standard # 1O envelope and it is under one

ounce, the letter shop can mail 75,O0O of your letters instead of
the 1OO,0OOyou paid them to do... and stick another company's
25,O0O pieces in your mail trays. The Post Oflice guy on the
loading dock is not going to look through every tray and make sure
all the envelopes areyours... and even if he did notice there are
 r86

two or three different types of enveiopes... he's not going to know if

there's any funny business going on.

I can tell you numerous horror stories about acts iike this
happening.

I remember back when I first started in direct mail, I trusted a

letter shop to do the entire job for me- including applying the
postage. Before I did the large letter shop roll-or.rt, I did test the
letter in smaller quantities in-house and got 2oh... then when I did
the roil-out using the letter shop... I got just r.so/o and sometimes
even less.

I thought this was normal because a roll-out's response will be

slightly different from the test resuits. I suspected the list broker
sold me better narnes for the test to reel-me-in... and then fed me
the real names on the roll-outs. I assumed that was the case and
left it at that.

But, when I noticed this little letter shop's owner had a nice, shiny,
new Mercedes Benz... I got thinking there was something going on.

I had hirn then do everything for me-except apply the postage. He

got squirmy but dropped the letters off at my office without the
postage. I applied the postage and dropped the letters off at the
Post office myself... and wouldn't you know... back to 2o/olonce I
found this out, I called the letter shop's owner and told him what I
thought was going on. of course, he denied it. I did owe him about
$30'000 from past letter shop jobs... and I didnt pay hirn. Did he
sue me? No. Why not? He knew I knew what he was doing- If he
were honestly applying all the postage I bought for him to appty, he
would have sued my ass for the 3o-large.

Ever since then, I1l have the letter shops do all the work, except
the postage appiication-

I do this not only for the stolen postage... but also for the simple
fact that I can drop all the pieces myself in the s€une day. It is
important to drop all the letters the same day... I,lt tell you why
in
a later chapter... but they all have to drop in the *^** d.y.
 il17

Many letter shops are lazy and take their time dropping your
letters at the Post Office in small quantities over a few days'time...
even when they tell you they are afl sent.

T h e y l l d r o p 1 2 , 0 O Oo n e d a y . - . l 5 , O O Ot h e n e x t d a y ' . . a n d s o o n - I t ' s
easier for them to do it this way...ald they do not understand why
you want to drop all in one day. But trust me, you have to drop in
one single day.

I think on top of the 1azryfactor, letter shops do not want to drop in

one single day, because your response will be staggered all over the
place and you will not be able to gauge the "flow" of orders a few
days later.

Another reason why I like to have everything delivered to me, is

that I get to see all the pieces one last time, before I apply 37 cents
to each one. You'd be amazed how many letters are not stuffed
properly... how many are missing important pieces- sometimes
even the main sales letter! You want to be the "final {ilter" before
they are actually sent off to your prospects.

One time I dropped 2OO,OOOletters and I had the letter shop drop
off the letters to me. I was looking at the envelope and noticed all
the pieces were inserted upside down and backwards. It was too
late to reprint the entire thing... nor would they eat the cost to redo
it... all they would do is credit me the few thousand dollars they
charged to do the inserting.

Had I not inspected the pieces, I would have never known of this
error.

lf you're dead set against applying postage to thousands of

letters... what you can do is have the letter shop apply all the
postage... but you better make sure you are on the loading dock at
the Post Oflice when they are delivering the letters. Inspect each
and every tray. Make sure i1's all your sales letters... make sure
they are inserted correctly... make sure the drop is complete and
has all the total count being dropped in the one singular day.
 r88

Let me tell you about a horror I had with a letter shop in 1997. I
was doing a 5OO,OOOletter mailing. I was doing 25O,OOOone
week... and 25O,0OOthe next week. Mailing one went out, and
initial response was great- just as the test told me. Then came
week two and the next drop was getting no orders- What the hell
was going on?

Then, some of the people who were ordering were asking why we
sent them two sales ietters a few weeks apart. I let the first few
calls go- thinking there were a few duplicate names on the mailing
list we got from the broker. Then we started getting more and more
calis. By this point, I knew something was horribly wrong.

In one of t}le back rooms I had unoccupied in my office, I started

playing a match game of sales letters. What we were doing was
getting all the letters that came back to us for not having a valid
address-, which is normal. As we got new letters back, we started
laying them on the floor. A few days later, we were getting the same
bad addressed sales letter again. In the end, we had two bad
addresses for almost each of the letters that came back.

The first thing we did was look at the disk of names the list broker
sent us. They were frne. No duplicates at all.

What happened was the letter shop fucked up big time. The guy
they had addressing the envelopes, who probably couldn,t speak
English....did the lirst 25O,OOO envelopes week one... and then on
week two, instead of remembering where he left off (at 25O,OOO)
and starting at 25O,OO1...he addresses the same 250,OOO names
again!

Multiply 60 cents by 25O,OOO pieces. That,s what we lost- just in

our hard costs... forget about the 2o/oin orders we never got...
which rvas about $1.2O for every letter. This mess-up cost us
$150,OOO right out of or-rr pockets and $3OO,OOOin lost sales!

Do you wa't to know the funniest thing? The damn letter shop
thought they'were going to get paid the $40,0oo we owed. them for
the sfuffing the 5OO,0OOpieces at B cents each!
 189

If you know me by now, I surely didn't pay them a cent. I ate the
ioss, and never used thern again. What real1y sucked was the saies
rep I used at this letter shop was a friend of rnine. We went out to
dinner... to the movies.-. and to the bars a few times. It was a
shame they didn't want to make good for their error... but they
knew they couldn't... it would take literally miliions of letters they
would have to stuff for me for free to make the loss back to me.

Unfortunately, it would be really hard for this not to happen again.

What I now do is send the letter shop only the names they are to
mail that particular drop. if I got a list of 5O0,OOOnames and I was
going to mail 25O,OOOthis week... and the rest next week. Theyll
get just the 250,00O we're going to mail now... and the next
250,000 when I'm ready to mail again.

This letter shop error would bury most businessmen... I pray

nothing like this ever happens to you. I guess a good rule, is to
make sure you're using a professional letter shop... and not the
guy in his garage with an inserting machine.
 190

ChapterTwentyThree:
Postage

Do we really need an entire chapter on postage? Yes we do.

As a friend, I always advise yon to use a straight First Class stamp.

The same stamp you apply to your mortgage payment... your credit
card bill... your Birthday card to your Mother.

I do not like Pre-Sorted First Class... I do not like metered

postage... I do not like Standard Rate postage... I only use a real,
genuine First Class stamp.

This is what I've learned. If I'm getting $t.ZO in sales back from a
mailer that cost me 6O cents to mail out with a First Class stamp...
Id get backjust $1-OO in sales if I Pre-Sort my postage and save a
dime... payrng 50 cents-

You get what you put into this. If you're going to double your
money... youle still going to double it when you Pre-Sort your
postage... but you're going to get less orders.

I laugh when I hear novice direct mailers think they're going to

save a ton of rnoney by mailing their sales letter Standard Rate or
even Pre-Sorted First Class. Sure, yor:'re going to save money...
maybe even a lot of money if you are going to use Standard Rate
postage... but you're aiso going to get a lot less orders. It's just not
worth it.

Let me tell you a funny story about a Pre-Sorted rnniler I once.did.

What Pre-Sorted postage is is when the letter shop puts the zip
codes in order by carrier route for the Post Oflice. The letter shop
will do a little of the Post Oflice's work and in refurn the Post Office
will give you a few cents off the postage.

First off all, letter shops will not do this for free... theyll charge a
few cents to Pre-Sort. You mav save 7 cents or so... but vou're
 r91

payingthe letter shop 2 cents to do it... andyou're not goingto get

as many orders as yoll rvould if you were mailing First Class with a
First Class stamp.

Weil, the letter shop Pre-Sorted my letter and then combined my

mailing with a few other mailer's jobs... effectively sorting the mail
even further- saving a few more cents which they like to keep for
themselves. There's entire businesses that do nothing rnore than
compile manJi business's mail and Pre-Sort them ald put them in
order for the Post Office as one very large group of sales letters.
They charge money for this and save businesses a few cents per
letter they mail.

I acfually had a letter shop who had enough balls to offer me the
first level of Pre-Sort postage pricing... only to Pre-Sort it deeper
with other mailers... and where they were charging me 27 cents
postage, they were a"srually paying sornething like 22 cents! Oh
sllre, you can have a nickel for every letter I want to mail. I don't
think so.

I told you before; I did save a few pennies by Pre-Sorting my mail.

But when the orders carne in, I got less orders.

if you can put 6O cents into something and make $1.2O.-. would
you rather put 5O cents into it instead to recoup $ 1.OO? I sure
wouldn't.

This is the same as getting good results from your sa"les letter and
thinking you can save money by cramming the entire offer on a
post card and mailing it instead of the costly sales letter. It's not
going to happen. If you're doubling-over on 6O cents mailing the
letter... you may double over the 4O cents itll cost to mail the post
card- if you're luclry- Don't do it.

If you got a sales letter to pull good response... dont think of

cheapening the cost to mail.it- either in postage costs... or in the
actual letter's size. What you should test is this. If a # 10 sales
package is gettingyou $1.2o in orders for every 6o cents it costs to
mail... you should try turning the sales letter into a 9"x12,
package... adding a few extra sales pieces as your letter can now
 1())

weigh more- See if you can get a $1.00 sales letter to getvou back
$2.00 in orders. You should always try to go up the ladder..,
spending more and not going down the ladder,-thinking you could
save money.

Now don't get confused. I do not rnean increase the sales letter's
paper quality or color or graphics...I mean keep the postage
always at the best it can be- a straight First-Class stamp. I also
mean, if you are gettinga2OAo/" financial return on a standard #1O
package,.. up it to a 9"x12" package and see if you can retain the
2OOohreturn on your investment. Do not try to go down to a post
card in an effort to save money. That's a prescription for disaster.

I remember in a past chapter- the one about mail pieces... I told

you to keep your initial test package to a standard # 1O size
envelope and I told you to keep it at or under one ounce. This is
absolutely tlre. Once and only once this # 1O, one ounce package
pulls great numbers... like doubling its cost to me... then and only
then should you experiment with testing upping the package to a
9"xI2" package and seeing if your profit percentage remains the
same as it did for the #10 package.

But until this happens, keep the package in a # lO envelope... and

keep it at or under one ounce. Period.

Why should all of your mailers have a real, live First Class stamp
'
on them? You need the respect of the Post Oflice for one. When
Po6tal workers see bulk, or Standard Rate mail, they know its junk
mail and they treat it as that. They feel they do not need to rrsh it
out as fast as First class mai1. You do not need this unnecessary
headache.

of course, this is only my opinion. I do not know for a fact or have

solid proof the Post oflice respects real stamps rnore than metered
mail... or printed permit nurnber boxes.

I have never, ever had a mailer's response go up or even stay the

same when I thought I could save a few pennies using a pre-sort
technique-.- or using Standard Rate postage.
l
193

I hate standard Rate postage for severa-lreasons-

one, is it takes
longer to arrive in your prospect's mailbox.
And twq standard Rate
postage does not get forwarded to your prospect
if they move. sure,
fhe qroslect can put in a change or with trr. po"t office,
but standard Rate postage goeJ in the"0a..**
garbag.- .;;; if the post
ofTice has a new address foi the prospect.
Tmst me, there,s a
trade-off for a savings when it cornes to postage,
and you don,t
want any of them.
 194

ChapterTwentyFour:
The Post Offlce

One of your main business partners in direct response is the Post

Office. Unfortunateiy, they are not the most pleasant of people to
deal with. This chapter is going to teach you to get the most out of
the Post Oflice and how to avoid potential problems.

First offall, the Postal worker on the loading docks is not your
friend. FIe usually hates his job... hates his life... and surely hates
you when he see all the ucrap" you're bringing him to sort and
mail.

When I'm doing a drop, if it's a test or if it's a roll-out, I always

drop the mailsls at the main hub. If you drop the mailers at a
smaller sub-station, you may be adding an entire day tili your
prospect gets your offer.

When you drop it off at the main hub, make sure a Postal worker
sees what you're dropping off, so it doesn't sit out on the dock.

I tell you many tirnes in this book, your biggest priority is getting
you're mailer's envelope respected and delivered by the Post office.
You do not earn any respect with teaser copy printed all over the
front of the envelope. You do not get any respect with mailing
labels instead of typed or hand-written addresses.

Your envelope must look either oflicial or personar. It cannot look

like junk mail. If it does, it loses any respect as a First Class
document... and thus loses First Class treatment.

Another thing you absolutely have to do is .seed" your drops.

You've got to mail a few letters to your friends in different states..,
the same state... and mail even yonrselfl rhis will prove the post
office is actually mailing the stuff. If you do a drop and seed the
mailing with {ive 'seed" names and you do not get any of them...
there's a big problem.
 19-5

I clicl a 40,000 piece test a few months ago where I seeded the drop
with four dummy names..' three friends-'. and my own home
address. Wouldn't you know,.. the three seeds got their letters and
I never received my letter in the mail! My own seed!

You absolutely have to keep a few seeds in the mailings- I'd say at
least one seed letter for every 1O,O0Oyou mail'-. and if you're
testing a few thousand... like 5,000- and it is a test, stick five or so
seeds in there. Tests are important. The last thing you want to
have is a winning sales letter- but you'll never discover it because
your letters were never mailed'

My Fiance's Father is a retired Professor who now works for the

Post Oflice. When I firSt rnet him, I was jokingly asking him if he
and his co-workers throw direct mail in the garbage. He looked at
me like I was crazy and goes into some speech saying every piece of
mail has to go out by the end of the day and how every piece gets
delivered.

If this were true... where was my seed I mailed to myself-?

A few years after I joked about this with him, guess what his job
dut5r now is at the Post Office? To make sure nobody throws the
damn mail in the garbage!

Seriously-.. it happens! That is whyyou need to have a smart

envelope... a real First Class stamp... addressed correctly.-. and
deiivered at the main station and not a local sub-station that's
closer to your home. Everything else is out of your hands... so you
have to then seed the mailing.

Another thing I cannot figure out to this day... after ten years in
this business... is how I get better response mailing from certain
states and worse from others.

What I mean is this. I had a business in Nevada. I was mailing a

sales letter and I was getting 1.6Yo.This was very good. It was a
promotion that was getting me six-times my mailing cost. I then
 r96

moved the company to Arizona, and when I mailed the same letter,
just in Arizona this time... I got just 1.29o response.

I lost .4% just mailing it from a different state. And it wasn't just
one time... it was every time I mailed this letter. I had to hire a
letter shop in Nevada and have friends see the drops at the Post
Office for me. Response went back to I.60/o in no time.

I mailed out of California with great results... Upstate New York

with great results... but mailing from Arizona always pulled less
results. I can't figure it out.

Also, the Post Office can change their mind at any time. Once I was
mailing my IRS-Style 6nvelope successfully 2 million times. I was
sending out 4OO,OOOpieces every few weeks and they never gave
rne a problem... t1en all of a sudden, I was dropping off 25O,OOO
pieces and the jerk on the loading dock gave me a problem.

They were actually refusing to deliver the 25O,OOO sales letters

because of the envelope! I had 6O cents tied into every one of these
250,O0O pieces. That's $15O,O0Ojust in paper, printing, mailing
list, and postage! And tl:rat was just the cost for me to mail the
sfuff. If we were talking about how much money it was to bring my
company, we'd be talking over $3OO,OOO-

The 25O;OOOletters had to sit on the loading dock until we came to

some form of a resolution. I finally got them to understand this
was $15O,0OO worth of rnailers they were messing around with and
I did in fact maii it over 2 million times before- without problems.
Why now?

An5nvay, they made me agree in writing that I was never going to

use that particular envelope design ever again and they agreed to
deiiver the 25o,ooo pieces. I simply signed their letter and used a
different Post oflice and mailed the letters with the lRS-stvle
envelope for mary, many years.
 i9l

who had a fight with his 300-

I probably got some guy on the dock
wanted to give a hassle to
potna, ball wife thal morning and he
to'
.uaryon" and anyone who gave him a reason

Ormaybeitwasbecanrsemyenvelopeactuallytrickedtheminto
their
doing ih"irior" and they didn't want to be tricked into doing
my direct rnail envelopes look like junk mail,
ioOsltf t cle-arly made
'rrr.v wouldn't have to
.""ra iaentiry it easier as junk mail so they
deiiver it... or deliver it with such priority!

to see the Post

If you have an envelope in question"' rnake sure
know wha't may
MLster and get him to approve it' You never
happen.
 t 9ti

ChapterTwentyFive:
HowToTest

Testing is the Holy Grail of the direct response business.

Testing is needed to find the most powerful version of your sales

messageor media selection.

You can test prices-

I once did a three-way test of three different prices for a software
prograrn I was selling..I used the same mailing iist... I used the
sarne graphics and wording. I mailed the three different sa-les
letters at the same time at the same Post Office. The only different
between these three different priced offers was the part in the letter
where it revealed the price to pay. Everything else was the same.

I t e s t e dt h e s ep r i c e s - $ 1 4 9 . 9 5 . . .$ 1 6 9 . 9 5 a n d $ 1 7 9 . 9 5 . T h e l o w e s t
price pulled 3O orders. The middle price pulled 3O orders as well.
The high price pulled just 15 orders. Had I not tested the different
prices... and went with the $179.95 price... I would have left a lot
of money on the table I could have harvested had I iust not been so
greedy.

Now, the higher price may pull more orders sometimes. This is a
win-win for.you! More orders and at a higher price, How could you
go wrong there? You can't.

sometimes people measure a product's quality and performance by

its price- when this is the case, maybe a higher pricl will out pull'a
cheaper price.

other times, when you test price, you may pull 3o ord.ers at
$10
and 10 orders at $3O.

sometimes, the lower you can sell something for, the more orders
you get. Sometimes, it's the middle price like I experienced with
the
software program I price tested.
 199

Seriously, if you got an offer to work for you.., wouldn't it be great

if you can double your orders by sirnply taking $1O less.'. or $10
more? Yr:u bet it would. And that's why after you get a mailer to at
least break even in sales response...you have to do a fwo oI three
w'ay price test.

Simply change the price in the three different versions of the

letter... code them somehow... mail them to the same list all at the
same time... and see what you get. It's crazJr and almost magical...
but if you get more orders at a higher price... youll be grateful you
tested,

I've heard stories about people selling financial newsletters. They

tested $69.95 versus $79.95 and the higher price doubled the
response.

You can test media selections-

This is especially trre in direct maii. An offer on a list can be a
smash rvinner and on another iist be a total bornb... even if the
description of the mailing list on the data card is practically
identical!

Magazines will varSi only a little in pound*for-pound response as

long as they are ail quality publications that rneet or exceed what I
toid you to look for in the chapter on magazine ads. Mailing lists
are a totally different story.

I once tested al herbal supplement for male potency. It did great

on one company's customer file. It was a list of adult video buyers.
I figured this product I was seiling would do great on alt adult
video-buyer lists- I was wrong. where one video mailing list would
yield a 27" response... others would get a half a percent to one
percent... and one list even got three percent. They were all
basically the same in description... but their quality and
responsiveness was worlds apart.

Why is this? Many list owners fabricate the actual numbers of

customers on his list to sell more names and tJ.e names you're
mailing are fake. Maybe the qua-lity of the names or the way they
 200

are handled and compiled are different. Maybe the buyer of each of
the companies is different. Who knorvs? The answer to 9 out of 1O
questions in the direct maii business is "TEST".

You can test offers-

A different offer can make huge differences in response. I was once
mailing a sales letter for a consumer electronics membership club.
I was seliing the membership for $4O or so and was breaking even.
I then upped the cost of the membership to $60 and included a
realiy killer free bonus. I irnmediately quadrupled response...
yielding a fat profit- even at the higher price I had to charge to
cover the free bonus-

Yor.r can test headlines-

As we spoke all about in the chapter on headlines..- a headline is
the ticket on the meat. A headline is the singie most important
item used to flag down yoltr prospect. If the headline is wrong.-. or
if it doesn't attract enough prospects... or it attracts the wrong
prospects for what the copy is saying... you will fail.

But, on the other hand, if you have a killer headiine, one modeled
afterthe 125 or so Ite listed foryou in the headlines chapter...you
can triple... quadruple... or increase yorrr orders even more. you'd
sirnply mail one group of letters with the one headline and one
group of equal quantity with the other. what you experience may
arnaze you.

In 1995, I ran a magazine ad and it broke even. I swapped out the

headline and it tripled its results. The only difference was the
headline. I never saw such dramatic results from one simple
change.

You can test enveiopes-

one envelope can be an oflicial-looking one and the other
can be a
hand -addressed personal-lookin g erru*lop". Mail equal quantitie
s
and see which one works best. Maybe you ..r.ri experiment
with some teaser copy once you get a little "..,
better at writing
advertising copy.
 t01

You can test guarantees-

Sometimes offering a DOUBLE YOUR MONEY BACK guarantee
that is conditional will increaseresponse.

Testing variables is what makes us professiona-lscome up with an

absolute killer sales letter or advertisement- sometirnes 3007o or
4OOo/omore responsive than the one we first came up with-

There are several main rules you have to abide by when testing-

Test only one thing at a time...

Make sure test quantities are equal.'.
Make sure test mailings are mailed all at the same time...
Test only profound things like prices and headlines and lists. Do
not waste your time tesling blue paper vs. white paper.

And here's how to obtain valid results from testing:

1. You can use a different phone number and have the prospects
for each different variation call a unique phone number.

2. You can use different extension numbers on your phone. Did

you ever see ads that say, "Call I-8OO-OOO-OO0ald ask for
extension 45"? The extension number is the way they are testing a
variabie.

3. You can code coupons customers have to mail in. If I'm doing a
price test... I sornetirnesleave the main sales letter alone and
simply insert coupons for different amounts of money off. The sales
letter will say to include this coupon to receive $X off their
purchase. For phone orders, you can put a bogus code number on
your coupon and ask the caller for the coupon code. If it's
CJ2O81... than can mean it's a coupon for the $2O offpromotion.

4. You can have different printed color 6 3/4 response envelopes. I

usually print the return address in black ink for my response
envelopes...but you can print one red... and one blue and one
black for a three-rvay test.
 242

5. You can have the caller ask for a certain Promotion Number.
You can say something in the letter like, "Just call 1-BO0-00O-O00
and tell the operator you're ca-lling for Promotion #23 and he'il...".
Even if the customer does not mention the promotion number.-.
you can ask him for it. Just make it easy for him to find... like
where the letter was signed by the author of it.

6. If a customer cannot give you alything to tell you what offer or

list he is responding from... keep your database of mailing names
on your computer close by. Ask the caller how his or her name
appears on his envelope and look him up in each file. If you're
testing two different lists... youll find him 9 times out of 1O by
simply plugging his name in and hitting the "find" key.

The great thing about testing variables in your sales efforts... is

once you find the winning headline... you can then find the
winning price... then the winning offer... etc. You can keep
perfecting your offering and the more you test, the more responsive
it is going to be. If you better the response with a new headline by
2oo/o^..then another 2oo/owith a better offer... then another 2oo/o
with a better guarantee... and on and on. The difference between a
package that was breaking even may now be doing triple its
advertising cost!

I've gotten to the point where the only things I can test with radical
differences in results are prices and mailing lists. I don,t know
what it is- I can do two totally different sales letters... or two totally
different headlines... or two totally different offers... I always ...*-
to pull the same amount of orders +/- a few orders. I guess this
means I have gotten so good at crafting copy and sales letters, I
suck out all the people who would buy my product- The only way
I
ca,n entice more people to buy is by using a better mailing list oi a
different price.

In the next chapter, we're going to talk about differences in your

offers that either whisper and ones that scream. you,re oniygoing
to want to really test tJ.e ones that scream.
 _03

ChapterTwentySix;
WhispersandScrearns

There are many factors, which wi1l affect the response of your saies
letters or advertisements. Some whisper... and some scream. I:-
this chapter, youll learn what these response factors are... and if
they're worth testing or not.

Screams
I would classify a scream as something that will make a huge
difference in the response of your sales letters or advertisements.
These screams-which are listed in no particular order of
importance... are the first things you should test to increase the
pulling power of your sales letter or advertisements.

copy:
The copy in your sales letter will make a huge differencein the
pulling power of your promotions. My friend Gary Halbert makes
all his seminar attendees perform this exercise before they get
going. He makes his attendees write two different letters to their
Mothers- One starts off saying how great she is, and how she has
been so good to them... and the second letter says how she is a
wrinkled old bitch, agrd how she rnakes them miserable.-. and that
she should drop dead!

Now, the attendee gets nervous when Gary makes them actually
address and apply postage to these trvo letters. He makes them
actually send them out.,. but to their own homes {not their
Mother's)... and tJley are to serve as reminders as to how powerful
copy can be and how a letter that costs the same to mail and the
same to produce, can have such a radically different effect on its
reader.

The sales copy in your ads and sales letters can have wildly
different effects on its readers. One approach can make you
millions and one approach can make you go out of business. It is
 1r\A

the copywriter's job to find the right approach and get the seliing
job done.

Mailing Lists:
If I had to say what the strongest, most powerful part of your direct
mail success is, I would say it was the mailing list or lists you are
going to mail to. I've had offers that made me over $8 Million in a
rnonth's time flop on many, many mailing lists. Seriously, I couid
be rolling-in 60O% returns from certain direct mail lists... then I'd
go to test another list- even a list that appears to be identical-
absolutely flop. Sometimes not even getting more than three orders
on a 5,0O0 piece test!

I look back at many of my successes, and if I didn't test a certain

list, I would have never found out I had a winner. For example, I
did a three-way test... three lists... three thousand pieces each.
Two lost money and one profited. If i didn't get luclry and test that
particular third list... I rnay have deemed the product a failure and
dropped it- This very same product later went on to make me $5
Million in sales a year-

I1l say it now... I11 say it later... I11 say it one hundred times; the
mailing list is the most powerful variable to your success in this
business.

If I had a choice to have a great product with great copy or a

decent list... or a marginal product, with so-so copy on a hot list...
I? choose the latter every time!

Prices:
Aside from mailing lists, once an offer shows some form of life...
meaning it brings in at least close to break even... the next most
important thing to do is test pricing. I remember a few years back,
I was waiting for a new software program to market and when it
first came out... my price was a little high, so I had to offer the
product at $199.95. My results we not too great- I simply broke
even.

I then put this offer on the shelf and forgot about it for six months
or so. A few months later, I re-tested the offer with three different
 205

prices. I was a iittle too high on the initial offer price... so I came
in*., a bit. I ended up turning this promotion into a $2,000,000 a
year paycheck. I would have never discovered this had I not priced
iestea. This $2 Million bought me a new Bentley.-. a second home
in the Desert... and a shiny, new $1OO,O0ORolex- Good thing I
price tested.

Headlines:
Headlines are pretty powerful as well. I'd say they are the thirC
most important factor to your direct marketing success. l'm sure
many direct marketers would disagree with me and say the
headline is more important than prices and mailing lists... but I
haven't had this proven to me. That's what this book is all about-
not what I learned in other marketing books-.' it's about what I
learned doing this business myself for over 1O years-

I'd say that headline testing is more important in magazine

advertisements where a headline needs to flag down prospects
from the millions of people flipping past it. It's not so much true
with direct mail sales letters. I have honestly never had one
headline out pull another headline in a direct response sales ietter,
If some pro wants to argue this with me, it's probably because he
cannot create powerful headlines.

If you're running rnagazine ads, the headline test is a must... but

not so much so for a direct mail sales letter. Now this does not
mean use a weak headline in your sales letters. Always shoot for
the best possible.

Magazines and Magazines CPM:

You carnot always assume a magazine publisher is totally honest.
They rnay lie about the number of readers or subscribers... or
newsstand sales etc. I know Ite placed ads in 25O,OOO circulation
magazines and got phenomenal results--. then I'd place an ad in a
similar magazine with similar readership... and even pay the same
price... only to get 1/3rd the results. Why? Many reasons. The
magazine may have a different kind of reader- one may be a casual
reader and one may be a hardcore reader. The magazine's
subscribers can be compiled differently and thus their qualit5r is
worlds apart. Most of the time, the publishers are lyrng about their
 r06

readership numbers. This is why I like to have ABC auciit

information before placing ads and I like to deal only with
magazines I've heard of for at ieast a year's time.

Offers:
What you're offering can also make a huge difference with
response. Many direct mail pros would say, if you want to increase
your response... increase your offer! It's true. I always like to offer
as much as I can without upping the shipping fees too much.
Remember, I like the shipping and handling fees I charge my
customer to cover the entire cost of the package and the postage.
How much can you get the shipping up to before the customer
starts to balk? I had 4 bottles of pills and it rvas $15. Some people
complained, but it is.not really as steep as Carlton Sheet's Real
Estate course.

They have a $9.95 30-day trial offer plus shipping and handling.
They conceal the shipping and handling fee until the prospect calls
and orders. Do you know how much this grry is charging to deliver
13 CDs... 4 or 5 VHS cassettes and a few booklets and plastic CD
case?

He gets $24.95! And then he goes on to say itll take 2 to 4 weeks

to get the course. And of course those callers are hot to get their
hands on this course as soon as possible, so when they hear 4
weeks-.. they want it quicker- The company then pitches their rush
delivery service, where you can get the course in ibout a v,'eek,s
time.'. for an additional $ts! so, if you want to get this course
within a week... you'll have to pay $40 on top of the $9.95 tria_l
price. Now if you have learned anything from this book, you know
carlton is covering his cost to manufaJtr.. the cDs, the videos,
the shipping, etc- in his shipping and handling fee oi
$Z+-gS to'
$+0.
You can increase your offer's pulling power by adding bonuses
to
it. To cover the added expense, add a few bucks to the shipping
and handling fee you charge.
 )07

Premiurns:
'lhis goes back to the offer. This is not rocket science. The better
the offer... the better the gifts... the more compelling the reason to
order... the better your results will be. I had promotions that broke
even when I tested them, only to pull thousands in profits once I
added a killer Premilrm-

I did this with my car wax company- I included a free orbital

polisher with a quart size purchase.

I did this with a car stereo membership club- the custorner got a
free car alarm when he joined the club-

Postage:
Now, your offer will riot profit or fail based on the type of postage
you use... whether it be Pre-Sorted... or straight First-Class... or
even Standard Rate. But your results wili be greatly different. I find
the better the quality of postage... the better the quality of the
delivery. The better the delivery, the better the results. In my
experience, if you think you're going to get a deal with the Post
Office... you're going to pay for it on another end.

Product:
The product is king. If you have a great product mailed to the right
people... even if it has bad copy...you wiil pull in orders- This is
why the opportunit5r for knockoff-artists is so lucrative. They do
not have to know how to create the best ads... hell; they can copy
and borrow a lot from yours. It's the product that makes them
survive: If they didn't have a hot product to steal from someone..
they d be out of business. I genuinely believe.,. no matter how well
you know how to create advertising... if you have a bad product...
your results will be bad. I snicker when i hear a lot of direct mail
pros saying that the product really doesn't even matter. They iike
to sell some story that their cop5rwriting will make anything sell. I
don't believe this to be true. I do believe you need a product that
has some use to its users... and the amount of users has to be
large.
 208

Back End:
This is huge. lf I didn't add my auto ship paragraph to the end of
one of my sales letters... it would have cost me over $5 Million a
month. Can it be true that a paragraph that costs absolutely
nothing to add can be worth $S Vtillion a month? The answer is
ABSOLUTELY!

Many, many direct mail professiona-ls are thrilled to break even on

their sales letter and ads because they know they are going to sell
these customers a shitload of goods in the months and years to
come. They know, from past experience that these customers may
buy $10O or $5OO or $l,OOO worth of goods and services from
them.

Businesses that simply break even cannot survive in this world

without having a back end business. And having a back end
should just not be used for businesses that break even. A1l
businesses, even if they are making 5 times their advertising cost
back on the initial purchase should still have a strong back end
business.

Guarantees:
Your prospects want to be assured they are not going to be at any
financial risk buying your product or service. You have to take
away any risk of loss they may have in their minds. Some
guarantees will add or take from your response. Sometimes yotl
may find that a conditional, double-the-money-back guarantee will
out puil a traditional guarantee. Test this shrff out when the time
is right.

Who's Answering The Phones?:

This is something a lot of business-owners don't even think about.
Yeah, srlre, the prospect may call the toll-free number and look to
order... but if youve got some illiterate answer the calls... vou mav
lose sorne orders.

This happened to me on two different occasions. I1l tell you about

both off them. First, I was selling a dietar5r supplement. These
r}?es of products are naturally more comprex than people ordering
a book or a video. After all, the people buying these pilis achrally
 209

have to ingest them and there may be side effects or allergic

reactions... so they are going to want to have some of their
questions and concerns answered before they buy.

I hired a huge call center in Omaha, Nebraska called West. These

guys are huge and employ tens of thousands of people and they
actually answer about 9A%oof the infomercial 8O0#s you see on TV
a1l night.

But their size killed the sales for us. Sure, this company has
created elaborate scripts the order takers can read from, but when
a customer is ordering a complex product, he does not want
important a:rswers to be read off a screen! If he was ordering a
pasta maker... mayb.e he'd be fine... but for an ingestible product...
or even any complicated product for that matter, he may need an
experienced order taker to assist him.

When my calls were at West, I'd look at the sheer volume of calls
my advertisements would bring in... but the ratio of sales they
acfually rvere able to capture from all these ca1ls was shit.

I'm serious. I was running TV spots and West was answering the
cails for me. I was getting2SO to 5OO calls per 60-second spot.
How many orders did they get frorn these callers? Maybe three or
four! I pulled my account as soon as possible and brought the calls
in house. Response went up immediately.

I think about all the TV infornetcial companies that can make

2ooo/o...30o%... or more in added sales by just taking their calls in
house. order takers that do not know you... do not care about your
product... and do not care about you, are not going to project a
positive attifude to your callers. It's that simple.

When you are testing a sal.es letter or a_nadvertisement... make

sure you arlswer the phones yourself,,. or at least have someone
you know answer the phones you can trust... but alwavs make
sure you are right there watching over everything.
 210

Whispers
I would classif,r a whisper as something not really worth too much
of your time when it comes to testing variables. i'd advise you to
test some whispers only after you got a successful ad or sales letter
and you have tested all the factors that scream.

Paper Color:
Don't waste time thinking your sales letter can pull more orders if
you use a fancy, colorful paper you've had your eye on. Fancy
paper... glossy paper... color printing and the like will have
absoiutely no effect on your sales letter's response. Your prospects
do not care if an offer was or was not on a good quality paper. Do
you ever remember yourself saying, "I was going to order this
product, but since they printed their sales letter on regular paper...
I'rn not going to go for it." or "I was not really interested in their
product... but since they printed it on such a nice paper stock...
and since it was such a nice color... I'm compelled to buy right
now!" This does not happen- Period.

Toll-Free vs. Toll Lines:

A toll-free order line for your customers to order from is nice... and
it may increase your response a little... but it's not something that
will turn a loser into a winner. I think you should test a toll-free
line at first, then and only then, if the response is good andyou
want to continue... maybe you can test using a toll line and seeing
if response stays the same. with the advent of cellular phones...
there is no such thing as long distance anyrnore for a lot of people.
If you can prove through testing that customers wili still order in
the same quantity, even if you have a toll line... you just saved
yourself a huge phone bill every month. some direct marketers
actually think the use of an Boo# makes you look like some large
corporation and that is not a good thing. whatever. I'd first go *itt,
the toll-free and then if your letter is even worth anything to you,
then test a toll line to see if you can save a few bucks.

Additional Order Forms:

I've heard this from several direct mail pros but have yet to see it
pan out for me. These direct 6ait pros seem to think ihat if your
sales letter had 2 or 3 or 4 order coupons instead of just one, youTl
pull more orders. I guess they figure the customer wluld hand out
 :il

order forms to others and encourage them to order as we1l. I don't

know. I know many magazines do not include just one
subscription card in their magazines- they usually stuff five or six
into each issue. Does this work in direct mail? Some say it does' I
have yet to have it pan out for me and I've tested it twice. Again-
once you get a successful sales letter and if it is a promotion that
takes mail-in sa1es, and if you can afford the extra weight in your
piece and still remain under or at one ounce... give it a shot and
see if it helps you.

Z-Folding vs. Letter-foiding:

This is when your letter shop folds your sales letters. I like to have
them fold them in a z-pattern so it is easy to come open to full size.
When you fold in letter-fold style, the one fold is tucked and has to
be un-rolled to unfold completely. The difference is not going to
make a whole world of difference between each other. I sure
wouldn't test fnlds... but since you have your choice... z-fold the
sales letter. It costs no more.

Fancy Art vs, Plain Art:

Fancy artwork will actually take away from your offer and actually
get you fewer orders! Graphic artists are huge on showing off their
talents. Don't let them do this. Plain old artwork will alwavs out
pull fancy, slick artwork.

Now, there is a difference between looking appealing and being

fancy. I always advise your artwork to look appealing to the eye.
Short paragraphs. Short sentences. Paragraphs broken-up to make
it look easier to read"

In closing: This is my opinion. Make the best sales letter or ad you

can rnake right offthe bat. If you get promising results... or
successful results,,, then test a few screarners. Every question can
be answered quickly, and inexpensively by a simple split-run test.
If you're wondering what the best price to sell your product at is...
test a few prices. If you're wondering what the best mailing rist is
for your sales letters... test a few lists. If you're wondering if you
can get rnore orders by using a premium...you have to test it.
 )12

Testing is what makes direct response the best business in the

World. Once you find the best price foryour product"' you can
then take this increased response and test offers. once you then
have an increase in orders from the better price... and then again a
boost frorn finding thc best offer. You can just keep adding to the
profitability week bY week.

Even when I'm rolling-ogt a successfgl sales letter or magazine ad,

ucontrol" package while I am testing in the
I11 keep running the
back room. As soon as I get a better answer as to how to do
ocontrol" package-
something, Ill update the

The "control" package is the best package you have. As you test
variables, and find better ways to do things that add to rnore
money for you, updat'e the "control" package with the new price...
or the new offer... or the new guarantee.
 113

ChapterTwentySeven:
Costsand Steps

One of the iirst questions I'm always asked by people iirst getting
started in this business is, What's it gonna cost to start up?"- iVe
got the answers for You right here-

The cost to Incorporate- OPTIONAL FOR TBSTING

$40CI-$s00

It's wise to incorporate in Nevada or Delaware for tax reasons. I am

not a financial advisor, so I think you should contact one of the
many corporation companies to get your business official. Do not
use an Attorney! Google search "incorporating in Nevada or
Delaware" and find who can do it for the lowest price.

Getting an EIN Number and Resale License-

Under $1OO (only if you incorporate now)

Once you get your corporation formed, youll have the paperwork
needed to get an EIN# and resale license {if you need one). The
corporation company will have all the info you need to obtain these
two items. You need the EIN number to open a bank accor.rnt.

Opening a Bank Account- OPTIONAL FOR TESTING

Usually a $tOO opening deposit
You're going to need a business banking account. Once you get
your EIN Number you cart go and open one.

The cost for the phone line and 8OO#

Varies
Get the phone company to hook up a phone line and add an 800#
to it. You rnay just rvant to add an 8O0# to your home phone and
take the order cails that way. Just make sllre, if you have any
"privacy block" on your phone... remove it.
 114

Printing Cost to print test qr-rantities

$700 for 2.0OOsales letters
You're going to need to print your sales letters. The letters should
cost about $7OOfor 2,OO0.

The Letter shop fees to stuff the test mailers

$140 0r so per 2,0O0
{you can do this yourself and save the money)
I like to stuff tny own sales letters for the test quantity. You may
need the letter shop to address your envelopes if you cannot do it
yourself from your home computer.

Postage to mail your letters

$gZOper 1,OO0letters
This is the current prlce the Post Office charges for First Class
postage.

Start-Up Supply of Product

This may or may not be needed
You may want to "dry test" your initial sales letters. This means
you take the orders as if you are going to ship the product, but if
you do not get a good response or enough orders to justify acfually
producing the product, you simply send the customer,s check
back..' or send them a letter saying you are not going to charge
their credit card as the product is no longer availabre or not
availabie at this time. If you get three orders from your sales letter,
I'm sure you'd rather send the three people back their money than
create a test batch of product. If you have an info product, and you
can produce them in quantities of fewer than 1o, go for it. But if
your product is a dietary supplement where you hive to rnake
2,OOObottles... you may want to .dry tesf .

Graphic Design
Under $20O
If you are handy with euark Xpress...you may be able to ray out
your own sales letters or ad. If not, go see a graphic artist- but
rnake sure you keep them in your control. wotrring fancy. Give him
a few examples of what other winning sales letters and ads look
like.
 ]l5

List Renta-l
$550-$650 per iist in test qttantities
Mailing lists have to be rented in rninimum quantities of 5,O0O
names- even if you are going to rnail just I,OOO to 2,OOO letters'

Website Creation- OP"IIONAL FOR TESTING

$500 to $1,000
I usually add a website to my sales letters once the letter proves to
be responsive. The entire point of websites is to take some of the
load off the telephones. Testing does not get much phone call
traffic. Test without a website. Roll-out with a website added.

Magazine Advertisement- OPTIONAL

$ 2,0 0 0 -$ 7 5 ,o o o +
I advisemost peopleto start in this businesswith either a 2-step
ad and a direct mail follow-up or a direct mail test to a few lists.
Magazine ads to sell from can get expensive- so I wouldn't advise
it... unless youte financially able to risk it.

Merchant Account- OPTIONALFOR TESTING

$200-$700
Depending on your offer, you may or may not want to actually
ful{lll on your initial test orders. If you are simply "buying
information', you're probably not going to need a merchant
account. But if you do want to get the merchant account hooked
up, I've inch.rded a fufure chapter on merchant accounts.

Most people can get this thing started for $2,OO0 to mail 2,OOO
letters to $3,5OOto mail 4,OO0letters. You can get away with just
printing the sales letter, stuf{ing it yourself and mailing it yourself.
You can answer your own calls- A mailing list or two needs to be
rented. The sales letter can be "dry tested".

Step-By-Step
From An ldea To A Test Mailing

STEP ONE- EVALUATE PRODUCT iDEA:

Is the product a valid product? Would people really want to buy it?
Does this product really serve a need or {ill a desire? Are there
other people marketing it? How many? If so, how long has the
 216

product been out on the market? Does this product lead itself to
back end sales and maybe even automatic deliveries?

STEPTWO- EVALUATE COST TO PRODUCT AND SHIP: Can the

product be produced and shipped in the shipping and handling fee
you can charge your customer? If not, how much will I cost to ship
and make? is it small and easy to warehouse? Can it be produced
in smali quantities?

STEP THREE- EVALUATE LISTS AND MAGAZINES: Are there

many magazines and mailing lists out there you can test?

STBP FOUR- PUT TOGETHBR OVERALL "OFFER": put together on

paper the price, the guarantee, the premiurn, the back end sales
offers, etc.

(if you are hiring a professional copywriter, skip STEp FIVB)

STEP FIVE- CRAFT SALES MATERIAL: Get out your pen and pad...
or go to your computer and give it your best. Then 1et it simmer
and cool-off for a few days. Go back to the letter and edit and make
changes.

srBP sIX- MAKE A SMALL TEST supply: If you ptan on tulfilling

on your test quantill orders, you have to make a small test supply
ofyour product.

srEP SEVEN- BUILD A WEBSITE: If you wa-nt,you can create a

website for your product and insert the web address in your sales
letter, but I really do not a.dvisethe additional cost to create the
web site. The only reason why I use websites is to take some of the
stress off my toll-free order lines. when testing, you,re luclry to get
three or four orders a day.

srEP EIGHT- LAY our SALBS LETTER: Bring a copy of a winning

sale-sletter layout to your graphic designer. oo not allow him to g-et
all fancy on you and do not be afraid to tett him what you wanr.
sometimes these people think they are the .designer" Lo they can
do what they want. They sure can- but with theii own monev and
with their own projects.
 211

STtrP NINE- PRINT SALES LETTER: Shop around for the lowest
price you can get for printing your sales letters. There are many
variables from printer to printer and their prices reflect this. We're
trying to get the lnwest Price.

STEP TEN- OBTAIN MAILING LIST: Order the maiiing list last. The
iast thing you need is a list getting stale sitting on your computer's
hard drive waiting for the damn printer to get you the test sales
letters.

S'I'EP TWELVE- MAIL 2,5OO-5,OOOLETTERS: If you're going to do

the sfuffing, sealing, addressing axd mailing, great. If you want to
hire sorneone... that's also line. Just make sure they are inserting
the pieces properly. Make sure the envelopes are sealed properly.
Make sure the sales.letters are addressed properly. And remember,
even if it is a 2,OOOquantif5r test- always apply your own postage
and drop off at the Post oflice yourself. Or at worst case, have the
letter shop affix the postage, but have them deliver the ietters to
you so you can drop them offyourself at the Post Office.

STBP THIRTEEN- MEASURE RESPONSB: This is the way I

evaluate results. I give rny sales letters 3O days from the first day
they brought in an order. That 30th day is my cut-off day. The
percentage I get on this 3oth day of response is the results you're
going to get. Here's a little tip that is worth the entire cost of this
book. Drop your sales letters. Wait for a few days to get the first
order. If it takes you three days to get your first order, make a ngte
of this. Then count 7 days from the first order. By this 7th day, if
you broke even by this date... it's safe to assr.rme you're going to do
double over by the 3oth day- This is a winning sales letter! And if
you use this techniqr-re, you can get a good idea if you,re holding a
winner just 7 days into this... instead of waiting the entire month.

When you are mailing thousands of sales letters every week, you
do not have the ability to wait the entire month to see if the last
week's mailers are doing well and keeping their response
percentage. You need to use this 7-day trick. Drop 10O,O0O sales
letters, by day 7 as long as you broke even, drop the next
100,000,.. then wait another 7 days... you should have doubre the
 t1f3

amountyouhadontheTthday"'ifso,dropthethirdlOO'OOOand
so on.
even and
STEP FOURTEEN- EVALUATE RESULTS: If you broke
wanttobettertheresults..'youneedtotestthethingsthat
start rolling-
scream. If the thing is a smash hit... you may want to
on the side. If results are horrible,
o.rt ,igt^rt now and iest variables
you rnay want to see if there is another reason why the letter failed'
A few
was the phone hooked up? were the letters delivered?
chapters ahead, I did an entire thing about bettering response'
 )19

ChapterTwentyEi$ht;
BumpingUpTheUnitSale

When a customer calls you and buys your product, he is in the

"buy" mode... and that's a perfect time to see if he wants to buy
something else from You'

Let me tell you a funny littie story. A few years back, I was doing a
large-scale promotion that was beginning to lose its pulling power
at the cash register. I was getting less and less response- This
happens at the end of a product's life cycle-

I had tons of employees and didn't want to lay anyone off, so i had
to {igure ways to get more money out of the advertisements and
sales letters I spent money on'

My average unit of sale was originally $69.95. This is the straight

cost of the product I was selling, and of course, all $69.95 was
CTO (contribution to overhead). By writing a few up sell scripts... I
was able to boost the $69.95 average sale price all the way up to
$100 without spending a cent on more advertising. Here's how I
did it:

The customers were calling to join an annual club f<rr $69.95 or a

two-year club for $129.95. We asked the caller his name, address,
phone number, credit card info, and then we'd ask him if he
*two' that was fine...
wanted to join for two years or one? If he said
'one'... we'd then offer him the two year
but if he said at a
discounted price of $ I 19.95. Many would take us up on this- just
to save $1O. An additional year cost us nothing to give the
customer,

Regardless of what they said, we then went on to the next up sell.

We then asked them if they wanted to use their membership status
today and purchase a $5OO piece of software we were selling for
just $5O. We paid just $5 for this program. A large amount said
"yes'.
 t20

Regardless of what they said, we then rvent on to the third offer, a

CD-ROM that had an entire set of encyclopedias on them. This was
back in 1996, so this was an amazing thing to imagine... and
encyclopedias cost several hundreds if not thousands of doliars.
We were selling it for $40. It cost us $2. n large percentage took us
up on this deal.

We then went on to offer the customer mernbership into a different

annual club where they were able to buy a different lpe of product
at severe discounts. It sold for $39.95... cost r-rs a few quarters for
a catalog, and lots of people joined this club as well.

This was four up sells. Did some customers get annoyed? Yes. Did
a lot buy? Oh yes... More than enough in added sa-les to put up
with the occasional guy we annoyed.

A few things to rernember:

Test out your bumps and up sells one at a time on groups of 20 to

30 calis all with the same order taker and see what offers are the
most powerful. You will then put the scripts in the pattern from
the best selling to the least selling.

You want to use the same order taker for this test.

You're going to need to commission the sales people- or else you're

not going to get a high percentage of 'sells"... unless your
employees really like you. I've seen things sell at a2ooh rate go to
BO% with a commission added.

Another thing is to make sure you get the customer's name.

address, phone number and credit card information before you
start selling additional sfuff For one, you have to seil what they
were calling for first... and second, if you hammer the customer
without having his information first, he may be more prone to
hang-up. If you have a lot of his info... like ALL of it... he,s not
going to hang up in the middle of your sales pitch.
 ?.21

And after you sr:id him a few additional things, yol-l can then say,
"OK, you wiil receive yoltr order in about l0-14 working days' Do
you want to upgrade to express shipping for $5 extra to receive
everything in 5 claYs or less?"

You can make the rush delivery charge anything you want.
Regardless of what the delivery costs from the shipping company."
you still have to pull his na:ne out of the regular line up of orders
and give it special treatment. This means you have every right to
charge whatever you wish to do this'

Carlton Sheets charges an additional $15 for rush shipping and it

still takes a week to get to you! FIe's making $12O Million and more
every year- these techniques work.

Anyway, I was able to save my compai'Iy for a period of time. I was

able to keep employees happy with the commissions. The customer
got a good deal on other products and services.

And it's a:inazing how much the sales percentage will vary
depending on the person answering the phone. Our night order-
taking service couldn't up sell for their lives. Maybe IO%.

Ordinary order-takers could sell at a percentage of 3O% to 4Ao/oof

the orders they took.

My fianc6 and Mother (who both worked for me) could up sell 9O7o
and 960/" of their orders respectively. They liked me the most, so
they did the best.

Also, if you are not going to give the order-takers a little prize for
selling people... you're going to feel it in lost sales. Give them
something. i gave rny order takers $2.5O for each up sell they could
sell. If they got a customer to take a 2-year at the reduced price...
they'd get $2.50. If they got the customer to buy the CD-ROM,for
$5O... they got $2.50. If they got the customer to buy the
encyclopedia CD for $+O... they got $2.5O. If they got the customer
to enroll in the second discount buying club for $39.95... the order
taker got another $2.5O. In the end, if they could sell everything...
they got $1O in commissions. If they were only able to sell two
 222

things... they got $5. This rvas in addition to their hourly pay of
$tO or $t t... ancl they could sell $2O rvorth of up sells {8 up sells}
in an hour easily. Order-takers off the street were making $12OO
and more a week in paY.

I even had the phones ring in a row. Line one... and if line one was
busy... line two... and so on. I put the #1 up seiler in position one...
the second in position number two. This way, I was abie to extract
the maximum out of all our callers by using the best performing
reps tirst. If you couldn't up sell... you got the last phone on the
list. And they didn't care... they took a lot less calis. They got paid
to sit there and do nothing!

J'd limit the up sells to three or four at a time. More will annoy the
callers. But trust me... none will tellyou to forget their entire
order. That's a fear most marketers have.

Just recentiy, I did a 4-pack up sell to customers. Callers would

call in for a bottie of pills at $6O. I knew I'd make $taO off them in
the months to come with the automatic shipments... but we were
in a little cash crunch, so I offered 4 full month bottles for $139.95
plus $15 shipping and handling. We were able to up sell 4O% to
507u and get some much-needed cash in the door.

When up selling, it has to be done by a well-crafted script.

 aaa
-L-t

ChapterTwentyNine:
Response Rates

i giggle rvhen I hear novice marketers say something like this, "This
magazine has 2 million readers... I think I can get 4o/oof the
readers to buy from seeing my ad!'or... "When I mail my sales
letter, I think I can get 2Ao/oof the people to buy off my sales
letter!"... If it were onlv that easv-

Here's the dea-I. In direct mail... I do not like to go by percentages. I

like to gauge success of a promotion in a "times-cost" ratio. For
example... if a letter costs me 60 cents to mail... of $600 per
thousand... I want to get $1,20O in CTO when I mail 1,0OO sales
letters.., or 2-times my cost.

Depending on the price of your product, this can mean a2o/o

response- if the product was $60... of it can mean .2Vo if the
product you are selling is $600. Response rate rea-lly means
nothing... its the multiple of your cost to mail.

As for magazine ads, we do not ltse percentages either_ We go by

"tirnes-cost". If a magazine ad costs $2,O0O... and you get $+,OOO
in CTO... you did "double-over'.

You can still make a forfune if liou bring back just what you spent
as long as you have a huge back end.

You can make millions of dollars when you double your initial
advertising cost as long as you have a strong back end. I did.

I had a pill that I was selling for $60. I needed loh in orders from
my sales letters to break even. I got 2a/o. So, I was proliting 6O
cents from each letter I mailed. This is good. But the real profits
came in when the automatic shipments kicked in a few months
later- I got an average of 4 bottles.sold to each customer. This
brought my gross CTO to $ t gO. Remember, it cost me just $:O in
advertising costs to attract a nerv custorner- That's six-times cost! I
 114

was able to do this to 40,000 new customers a month... I got rich

reai quick,

The same for magazines. I knew I could double my money if I

bought magazine advertisements for $20 CPM. This CPM figure
represents the COST PER ONE THOUSAND PAID READERS. If a
magazine had I million actual, paid readers... l'd gladly pay the
publisher $20,000 for a full-page advertisement in his magazine.

If I bought my ads right... I was able to maintain this 6-times cost

ratio even on my print ads. Which I did.

Here's how to figure out the cost to acquire a customer: If you're

mailing l,OOO sales letters or 2,O00 sales letters, measure how
many orders you get: If you get 4O orders mailing 2,OO0 sales
letters, you'd divide the cost to mail the 2,0OO letters by 40 and
come up with $30.

To mail 2,OOOletters, itli cost $1,2OO ($0OOper thousand). As long

as your product has a $3O or higher CTO, you're going to make a
profit.

The same thing with magazines. If a magazine costs $20,000 to

piace an ad in and you get 2,OOOorders... divide $2O,O0O b_v2,OOO
and get $1O. As long as you have a higher CTO from each sale that
exceeds $1O... you're going to make a profit.

Good initial response rates should be lx- if you have a killer back
end-..

Response of 2x cost can make you rich if you have a strong back
end.

Response of 3x cost is even better... especially if your back end is

strong.

when all is said and done with back end sares... you're rooking to
achieve 3x to 6x cost. I made $lOO Million with 6x cost.
 225

If you mail a sales letter and it breaks even, you should be happy.
Now resell the shit out of these customers with other offers! Mail
these customer every freakin'week if you can. Mail and mail and
mail until the list is no longer bringing more back in sales than it
costs to mail.

Here's how I gauge if I'm going to be successfr:l within a few days._.

where others wait for weeks:

I only mail First Class, as you should. When I mail First Class, I
wait for two or three days to get my first order, then I count how
many days it takes me to break even and make back the money I
just spent mailing the sales letters. Let's say, it cost me $1,20O to
mail 2,000 letters. lr{y product sells for $OO plus S/H. I need 20
sales to recoup the initial mailing cost. If I can get these 20 orders
by the 7th day ofresponse, I1l do 2x cost by the 3oth day of
response. This has proven itself to rne rnany, many times and is
what I go by to see within 7 days what takes others 30 davs to
figure out,

As for magazines.., if I can break even within one week of it being

on the racks..- I1l do 2x over by the time the next issue comes out.
Magazines are printed way in advance, so you don,t get enough
time to evaluate your first issue... as a second one comes out when
you just get your 3o day results. If you break even within the first
week of seeing the book on the news racks... you'Ll double over by
the time the next issue comes out.

House File.
Your house hle or house list is the list of customers you sold your
products to. This is the most powerful maiiing list you will ever
possess. No other group of names will be more responsive than
the
list you compile.

would you believe, I sometimes hear from marketers that they

do
not retain the names of the customers who buy from them? Are
they cra4l? My house file can prdl sx cost for new products i'd
be
testing while an outside list would set lx cost.
 !lo

lf you want to be smart in the direct response

business... -v.ouhave
to build a customer fiie. This is a gold mine
for adcritionar saies.

My friend and mentor, Jay Abraham used to

make a fortune bv
simply going to businesses that did not know
anything about
mailing their customer list. He'd say to them,
for every dollar I
bring you in sales, I want a quarter. I knew
he got very rich doing
this.

The bottom line is this: you want to gage how well you
are doing in
this.businessby a times-cost ratio, liyiu re puffi"g
2x cost...
you're doing well. Anything more than that...
and insider yourself
King!
 )21

ChapterThirty:
RefundRates

No matter how great your product or service is... you have to offer
your customers a money-back guarantee... and no matter hou'
good your product or service is... people will take you up on your
guarantee.

'You
Don't take it personal. You know the saying, can please all of
the people sornetimes... or some of the people all the time... but
never all of the people ali of the tirne." I think that's how it goes.
But an5rway..-

Youll always have people... some correct... and some insane... who
feit your corporation and your product have wronged them. I,m
sure there will be people who bought this book that will absolutely
love it- probably 95%'. And there's going to be 57n who think I,m
wasting trees. You cannot take it personal.

I remember back in 1995 when I published my first book, Direct

Mail rrade secrets... I got one reader to write me and demand his
money back as he said he found better information in his librarv.
You can never satisfy everyone- and you don,t.

That's right... You Do Nor WANTTo SATISFY EVERYONE! If you

satisfiz every one... e'en if you could... it means you,re not selling
hard enough in your ads and sales letters.

You actually want Sa/oor 7o/" of your custorners to ask for their
money back. And this 5oloto TVo is what you can expect in refunds.
Ite been involved with products that have had lozo ask for a
refund and we still made millions of dollars..- so as long as you're
not giving back over loolo... you're probably doing a great job
at
selling-.. and you're still satis$ring 90% of your custJmers-
which
is a lot more people than the s0% the president of the united
States satisfies.
 228

Here's rny rule of thumb: If you're getting less than 107o to ask for
're not selling hard enough- If vou're
their rnoney back... you
getiing more than 1O7o,you're overselling your product. Try to
keep it around 7o/" and youll be {ine.

You'll get five times more credit card buyers to ask for a refund
than people who ordered with a check or money order. I've noticed
this for the past few years. I guess the credit card buyers see their
credit card bill later and feel the money'gone' a few weeks after
the check orders. The check orders feel the money gone the instant
they mail their order to you. Also, credit card buyers know they
have certain levels of protection with Visa or Master Card or
whatever they used.

When you do get a refr:nd request, make sure you resolve all
legitimate refund requests within 3O days... or as soon as you can.
I rvas mnning a $ 1OOMillion company with a half of a million
customers... and I was just 5 to 7 days behind on consumer
credits. You should have no problem offering credits the same day
they are requested. But do make sure the credits are legitimate.

Customers can cause you some real headaches. If a guy is 15 days

over his refund period... still give him the refund. If a customer has
4 bottles of your product he's received over the past few months
and didn't call and stop his automatic deliveries... and now he
wants all his money back-.. I'd give him the damn money back. It's
your cal1, you can do as you wish... but if you're making thousands
of sales each and every month... you can afford to lose a dozen or
so unreasonable requests.

If you're linding that you have a lot of refund requests but you
want to continr.re to sell the product as you are because response is
so good... or the people who are returning the product are losers...
here's some sfuffyou can do:

In the last paragraph, I said, "lf the customer is a.loser"... yeS,

customers can be losers. When the founder of Entrepreneur
Magazine was first getting started in the publishing business... he
soid these "kits" on how to open certain types of businesses. They
stili have these kits in the back pages of Entrepreneur Magazine.
 229

Anyr,vay, opportunity seekers purchased these kits. And

opportunity seekers are usually money-for-nothing..^ get-rich-
quick.."lazy people. At least a good majority of them are.

That's why get-rich ads selling books or courses should hide the
"money-making-technique" in the ad. The secret has to be in the
course or book. You'l-l sell more by conc€aling the acfual "task,' as
it's sure to turr some people off, as opportunit5r seekers hate to do
"worko.

Anyway, the founder of Entrepreneur Magazine was selling these

kits before he started the magazine and these kits were plagued by
high percentages of refunds.

To keep promoting these kits, as they were profitable... he

introduced a "conditional guarantee". He offered to give the
customer double their money back if the kits he sold thern could
not get hirn in the business he wanted to be in and do well at it or
whatever.

Now, the customer had to prove he actually tried doing something

taught in the kit to get double his money back... or any of his
money back for that matter.

They ended up selling more kits, as the guarantee was super

strong... and they got less people to ask for their money back, as
they had to prove to the publisher that they actually did something
with the information in the kit.

The people who were killing this company earlier with the high
refund requests were lazy and they didn't even want to read the
information in the kit. The info in the kit was of quality and could
help someone looking to get in that particurar business. If they
wanted their money back, they had to prove the publisher was
selling junk- which they couldn't. And those that could... were so
littie, he'd gratefully give them 2OAo/otheir money back.

There are tons of hurdles you can put refund requesters through...
you can tell them to call and ask for a RA# (return authorization
number) before sending back any product. some companies wili
 -JU

refllse shipments without this RA# on them! you can make

customers send back the empty bottle if it is a supplernenr you are
selling. Not so much because people throrv away empty botiles...
but because people are lazy to ship back an empty bottle. It's
pointless for the marketer to have an empfy bottle... but there,s a
reason for it.

Your customer service reps can have some kind of retention script
can use to try to get your customer to keep the product. I
Jhey
know dietary supplements sometimes do not go to work on the
body within the 30 day guarantee period... so, I used to have mv
reps offer to extend the guarantee for another 3o days to go to oo
days and a minimum of Soyo of the people who wouid have asked
for a refund would agree. Their resurts would come in the next
few
weeks and they were'glad they gave the pills more time to
work for
them.
 l-t I

ChapterThirtyOne:
Response
Increaslng

Sn you mailed out your sales letters or you placed your

advertisement and you got your results. Were they better than you
expected? Worse then you expected? Right where you expected?
Regardless- you're going to want to improve them, right? And
here's how:

If your results were poor:

1. Make sure you.r ad or sales letter had a correct phone number

and address for customers to respond to-

2. Make sure your sales letters got delivered to your prospects.

3. Make sure the mailing list broker sent you the right list and
didn't send you another one in error.

this checked out. trv these tactics:

lf a-11

1. You can lower the price you're charging.

2. You can raise the price you're charging.

3. You can add a prernium.

4. You can add an expensive premium and raise the price.

5. Test a different mailing list, as tjris would be the #l reason whv

a direct mail promotion would fail.

6. if you ran a magazine ad and you rvant it to make rtore money,

you can call the publisher and renegotiate your ad cost. Tell them
you cannot run the ad every month if the price cannot be lowered.
If they want to keep you in their mag azine every month . . . theyll
find it in their hearts to eat a little less.
 .L-)I

7- Test a different magazine to lrn your ad in.

B' Maybe your product is just a poor idea that

nobody wants. Don,t
take this too personal- you cannot find winners
and you cannot
create breakthrough pr.ducts unless you gamble
a litile. I try
brand-new products a-lr the time that either
fail miserably... or
become huge national successes. lf I played
it safe atl the time... Id
be a lot poorer.

Now this does not mean market anvthing you

can think of. youte
just starting out. ret's try to stick
with rvirlning fypes of products,

And always remember; fix only one thing

at a time- you cannot try
to test a different price with a difrerent
mailing rist. one at a time!
Otherwise the test is useless.
 233

ChapterThirtyTwo:
WhatI KnowAboutWebsites

Websites are great to assist my order takers.

If I'm taking 1,5O0 orders a day... for one, I've got to hire an
employee, which costs money. Two, I have to have the phone lines
and pay for the 800#. Three, with each callg1 there is a chance of
human error and a loss of a sale.

when orders are being taken over my website, I do not have to hire
an employee to take fhe order. I can take orders a1l day long... all
night long..- in any weather. I do not have to worry about phone
lines being busy... and I don't have to worry about employees
saying the wrong sfuff to the prospects and losing the order.

But of colrrse, you cannot have just a website to prace orders. And
you cannot handle all of the orders yourself if you get large
enough.

People seem to think the Internet is a cure-all that totally replaces

direct response ordering through the mail or through the phone.
That's not trre. Websites are an aid.

Before websites, I used to take orders through the phone and

through the fax. I used to have customers fax us their orders. But
since the introduction of the web... I got rid. of the fax-in option and
replaced it with a website.

And as for the website itself... it's nothing more than a sales letter
on a screen. Graphics that take forever to load... forget them.
special Flash Players or other software that is requiied to see the
site... get rid of them. people are not going to go and download
software to view your site.

I usually breakdown the site to five pages or so. This helps in the
search engines as well. The pages are as foliows:
 -)1

1. Home page-, which is basically a teaser- It usuallv states ihe

headline to my offer with a click here to continue button

2. More lnfo page- this is the page the home page will go to when
the viewer clicks on it. It rviil have the entire body copy of my sales
letter.

3. Frequently Asked Questions page- this is a carbon copy of the

questions I'll include in my sales letter.

4. Testimonial/Validation page- this page will have results of

sfudies... articies... testimonials... any kind of proof the viewer can
click on to heip him make his decision to try my product.

5. Order page- this is a page that asks for al1 the informalion
needed to place an order. This can all be inputted into a shopping
cart for processing.

These five pages and what they are to have on them is all you need
to know about websites. The fonts... the headlines-.. the paragraph
lengths... the sentence lengths... everything I taught you about
writing copy is the sarne on the screen of a computer.

Here's ways to promote your website:

Web banners... forget about them. Enough said.

Spam-.. forget about it. It got us sued three times from people we
sent it to!

Paid seanch... do it. It works best for the trademarked name of your
product.". or of your competitors. If you're selling a product that
has a huge competitor... free ride off his trademark. Try to buy
search terms that have your competitor's product name in them.
Everyone that clicks on his trade name... you can get your
product's n€une in front of hirn or her as well. Free advertising!

I remember I was having a huge knock-off problem. These guys

were free riding off my trademark on paid search engines like
Overfure and the like.
 235

I complained to Overture. They carne up with some loophole that

permitted these knock-offs to still buy my trademarked product
name... but they had to say "Compare XYZ to Product Narne" in
their headline.

XYZ was their product narne and Product Name was our product's
name. This trick allowed the knock-offs to piggrback on my $1.2
Million I spent a month in print, radio and TV advertising. When
people forgot my domain name... or wanted to do a little research
on my product... they were bombarded with people saying their
product was better and cheaper than mine. Some custorners were
fooled... but many were brand loyal and wanted the real thing.

i hateci these knock-offs when they free rode like this... but If I was
the sma-ll guy... like you are going to be... free ride your ass off
buddy!

i think paid search is a great idea. People have to bid on certain

search terms. the highest bidder gets the top positions... and thus,
gets more clicks. I know there are guys paying $6 per click for
search terms like Viagrat Crazy! But they are not going to be
paying $6 each and every time a different cornouter clicks on their
search result.-. they've got to be making -o.t.y.

I remember with one of the products I created, I used. to bid on

search terms. I rvas paying 7 cents for my product,s trademarked
name. once I got up and going and rnaking millions of doliars...
people were paying $3.5O to $4.O0 for each and every time
someone entered my tradernark and they clicked on trr.i,lirrk.

I never really had any success with affrliate programs. There

are
thousands of people that say these programs work... and
I,m sure
what their r.'ision of "works" is different than mine. Mine
is making
$t0,00o,ooo a year... theirs is making $600 a week. Do affiliate
programs work? I'm sure they male several hundred
bucks for
their owners-.- but are they going to make you
$5 Million next
year? I don't think so.
 iJo

Websites are also great for keeping in touch with custorners and
prospects. If you can find a way to capfure an email address and a
name...you can send offers to these people, as many times as you
wish and you pay nothing.

Web marketers are doing this with newsletters" You go to their site
and subscribe to a newsletter. You write a few pages of text and
send it to them every week... or month... or whenever. You can also
send them offers for other products as you see fit.

I remember back in 1998 or !999,I was selling computer software

and I had a pretty big email list of my custorners. Every time a
custorner would order over the web, I'd ask his email address. I
had something like 2O,00O addresses. I went to Office Max and
bought a program that wouid send an email to rny email list at the
rate ofone every 5 or 1O seconds.

This program cost me $1O. I sent out the emails offering a great
deai on a new software program I was selling. I recall getting phone
calis to place orders within 3O minutes of emailing. I don't even
know if you can do this anymore. But the point is, websites are
great as tools for direct response- they are not the be-all, end-all as
many wished they would become,

NOTE: Here's something I mag haue forgot to include in this chapter-

When yau are designing a website... especiallg the Home Page.'.
make sre Aau do not make gour body mpy in HTML and gour
headline in a JPEG.

The reason for th:is is sfmple.. . if gour atstomer has a dia!-up

connection-.. Aour bodg copg tuillload before gour headline- ?his is
BAD. Make gour headline HTML...Just like the bodg copg.
 ).31

ThirtyThree:
Chapter
MerchantAccounts

In order to sulive in direct response mail order in this day and

age, you have to be able to accept credit cards as payment for your
goods or services.

I think you need to take credit cards in any business. Just

yesterday, I stumbled upon an Italian bakery I wanted to check
out. I had the girl behind the counter put together a one-pound
box of cookies, but when I handed her my credit card, she said
they didn't accept th6m.

I usually dont carry cash, so I asked her where was an ATM. She
pointed to a Wal-Mart across the parking lost. I got in my car and
went over to the crowded Wal-Mart. I got so disgusted; I just drove
away- leaving the cookies behind.

There's two different ways to get a merchant account. One is the

traditional way going through companies like Cardservice
International. They claim theyLl approve 99o/oof their appiicants,
Look in your phonebook to find a local branch office.

The second way is through third parry payment Solution

companies like PayPaJ... or CCBi11,..or Multicards International.

These companies are easier to get set-up than a traditional

merchant account. The only thing that is different is that they
usually charge a higher percentage of your sa-les, and your
cornpany name will not appear on the'descriptor"-.. which is what
appears on the customer's credit card statement. Itll say for
example, if you were using Multicards... Buy Secure, LLC.

This is fine. I'd just let my customer know when you're getting off
the phone with him that he will see a charge on his credit card
billed as "whatever". This will eliminate anv confusion.
 I3r3

I've used both $pes of merchant accounts in the past. The ones
directly from the bank are great... but they take longer to get... and
they are a iittle harder to get- You have to show them some good
paperwork... tax returns... and other stuff-

The third party guys don't really care for all of that. Guys like
Multicards will hoid your money for three weeks where regular
banks deposit daily into your bank.

What I would do is try to get a merchant account through

Cardservice international or another traditiona-l credit card
processor. If they are taking too long... or if you are denied service,
go to one of the third party people. Anyone selling something on
eBay can get themselves a merchant accor.lnt through Paypal...
and they can get set up in a few minutes. Hopefully traditional
credit card processors will loosen-up their procedures and make it
easier for entreprenellrs to process credit cards.

Here's some terminolory you need to know dealing with merchant

accounts:

Discount Rate:
This is the fee the credit card company will charge for you to
process your orders. I wouidn't pay anything over 37o if you were
dealing witJ: a traditional bank. Fees for the third party providers
can be 5.9%... all the way up to 157o. Dont pay anything more
than 67o. On rnany businesses, the owners are iuclry to make 1O%o
of gross sales... and they got to bust their Asses for it! Why would
anyone give this much to some guy who is doing nothing but
processing your credit card order?

Reserve:
This is a fee the merchant may or may not want to collect. This is
an insurance policy the bank will hold in case your company goes
belly-up. This fee is refundable 1BO days after you terminate your
account with that bank. This reserve can be collected as a "rolling'
reserve, which is usually 5o/" or worse, lO%. This means the bank
will collect an additional 5oloof your gross sales and put thern in a
non-interest bearing account in case they are ever financially
harmed by your company-
 239

I think of it as a forced savings. These accounts can sometimes

add up to big bucks... i had $2 Million in one oncel

Sometimes you can get away without having a reserve on your

account... but if the bank wants one... what are you to do?
Negotiate. Try to get it down- Try to make it a six-month reserve,
where they collect the money only for six months... or until a
certain dollar value is reached... instead of being a forever rolling
reserve. This reserve fee is also known as a holdback.

Charge backs:
A charge back is when a custorner contests the charge you put on
his or her credit card. This usually happens when a custorner does
not recognize the chdrge or what he ordered... sometimes the
customer was not happy with the product and it is easier for them
to call the 8oo# on their credit card statement than it is to dig-up
your phone number. Maybe you placed a charge on yollr
customer's credit card without their permission and they are
pissed off. Maybe the customer knows you sent him your product
without requiring him to sign for it at the door. All he haslo do is
say to the credit card company that he never received the product.
The merchant account will ask for you to provide them with proof
the customer got the order... and ytu don;t have an5rthing... yo,
have to give them back their rnoney. A very few people will do"othis,
so it may not be worth getting signatures for every package you
deliver. To obtain signatures, it may cost an extra $3 or SS
i.,
order. If you got one person out of lO0 ripping you off... it,s
cheaper than adding $3 to $5 on top of every order to get
signatures.

You can fight a lot of charge back requests with the credit card
company. Before they acfually suck the money out of your
account, they usually give you the opportunity to speak your
end.
of the story- This is called a 'retrievaL". Ill talk about them
next.

Retrieva"ls:
This is when a customer contests a charge on his credit
card and
before the credit card company charges back the purchase,
they
sometimes give ynu the opporfunity to fight the charge back.
 240

let them go, sometimes

I advise you to contest each one. as if _\,'ou
the bank will take this as some forrn of guilt. And you d be
surprised, you can 'uvin many of them.

lf you got a signature at the door from your customer... make sure
you show this to the bank. As soon as they see you got a signature,
theyll usually rule in your favor. But like I was saying beftrre, it
may not be financially smart to get a signature from every
customer. And you a-lso run the risk of the customer not signing
for the order and it comes back to you and you have to credit the
purchase.

TMF.
This is the black list. You're dead if vou're on this list. TMF stands
for Terminated Merchant File. You're supposed to get listed on this
list when you commit sorne kind of fraud or if a bank gets beat' By
fraud, I mean you went crazy with your customer's credit card
numbers and took-off never to be heard from again. But this is not
always the case, if your charge back percentages exceed 1o4 for
more than three months..- the bank can and will terminate your
merchant account and you may even get placed on the TMF.

lf you're a business owner and get placed on the TMF... you have
to have a partner or silent partner in order to get merchant
accounts ever again. So be careful and make sure you do not
exceed 1% in charge backs.

In certain circumstances, you're going to hit 17o charge backs. Say

you get .75Vo and in December you get 257o iess orders, you're
going to hit the l7o mark for tJ.at month. What you need io do is
make sure you bump a lot of your sales that month to a higher
unit of sale. You need to send out sales letters to your customer
base and get additional sales that month. The added revenue that
month will offset the less sales you'll get and you will not hit the
lYo.

I've heard that a merchant account hooked-up through a Canadian

bank... like Surefire... gives a 2Yo charge back limit... which is
double the American banks. This is something to look at. If I had
 ),4 I
-5 I

my choice, I'd go thiough a Canadian bank. Everything is

processed through your computer nowada1,rs,..so the damn bank
can be in the Bahamas and you'd never know-.

Limits.
Sometimes, especially on new accounts, the bank will put a cap or
a limit on how much you can charge. This is usually fine when you
are just starting up. I rernember many times when we had an $8
Million limit and we \rv'erebumping it every month! We had to put
more money in reserve to get the limit increased.

Look- if you get a bad deal from a traditional "bank" rnerchant

account, you can take their deal and work with them for three
months. Once you have three months worth of charging
statements, you can go to any bank and you'll have a much easier
time and a much better deal. So, if you have to take a high
discount percentage fee, take the damn thing and shop for a new
one in three months.

Discover and American Bxpress credit card processing will not

come from the same place youll get your Visa and Mastercard
account. For the Discover and American Express, youl.l have to go
through them directly. And these guys are a lot easier tr: work
with. I know American Express does not give you a limit on how
much you can charge like Visa and Mastercard may. If I had a
$100,000 charging capability with Visa and Ma.stercard and I was
getting $ I 5O,OOOin sales... I used to give my customer a free
bonus for usins his American Exoress card to swav some
customers to use that card if the-y had one.

I'm sure this rvill probably be the first chapter to get outdated in
ihis book. So this information is current at the time of writing,
which is June 2OO4.
 )41

ChapterThirtyFour:
CallCenters

When you finaily get a winning sales letter or advertisement you

have to make the decision to use caller centers or not.

I'm going to tell you what I feel about these services, my

experiences with them, and how to decide if you want to use one or
not.

First of ali, there are large caller centers like West in Omaha,
Nebraska...and then there are srnaller ones yor-r can find in your
local phone book. Let's talk about large ca-ll centers first.

I once tried to outsource the headache of employees and hired a

huge call center in Nebraska. I went to visit them and they were
huge. It looked iike they employed most of the town.

As I walked around one of the phone rooms, I saw they were

handling calls for most of the infomercials on TV at the time. They
were doing Carlton Sheets... Ronco... The Ab Rocker. Their client
roster was impressive.

I figured if this call center can handle these company's order calls,
they could sure handle ours- an herbal supplement I was doing
some consulting work for. I was wrong.

This large cornpany had over lO,0O0 people answering the phone.
With all order takers, they get better the more familiar they get
with the product. When there are 10,OOOpeople answering the
phones... in order for a rep to get their second call for your
product, you'd have to sell 10,000 people! The reps at these large
companies will never get familiar with your product. So if it's a
high-tech product or a supplement, where customers may have a
lot of questions, a large call center may not be the best fit for you.
 :!+ )

Another thing that bothers me about cafl centers is that they are
horrible on theirup sell percentages. If you can up sell 40% of your
customers rvhen you're using your own employees... chances are
you'li get just 59t frorn a call center. The reps just don't caie. And
they sound too obvious they are reading a script. Again- because
they cannot get familiar with your products.

Another thing that annoys me about large call centers is that you
cannot "see" the people answering your calls. I want to see with my
own eyes what they are doing right and what they are doing tvrong.
You cannot do this rvith a large call center where the client is not
allowed in the call roorns-

I remember getting several hundred calls when wed run a TV spot

and I d be so mad when we got under five orders from all those
calls!

Now there are some pros about using a call center. They have reps
ready to answer your calls 24 hours a day 7 days a week. you
don't have to rvorry about who cannot lind a baby sitter... who is
sick... whose Mother just died. That's the ca-llcenter's problem.

Another thing that is good is that if the phone lines are not busy,
you don't have to pay an hourly wage. If you were to take calis in-
house, youll have to pay for your employees even if they are sitting
doing nothing.

Also, if you are running TV spots, it's pretty costly for you to get
100 phone lines in your building. That's how many pebple call in at
once when a TV spot hits the air. when you are u"i"g ilarge call
center, they have thousands of lines. They can take l,0oo..ll" for.
your product at the same time.

You could never take 1,ooo calls at once. And even if you
did, what
happens for the next half hour until the next comrnercial
comes
on? Nothing- your people just sit and get paid for
aoi"g nothing.
Large call centers rike WEST actuary pay for
the tolr-charges
through the Boo# theylr give you. Ari y.; rr"u.
to f"y them is Bo
 'aA
_-a

cents or so a rninr-rte.For some it will work out cheaper than hirins

your own emplovees.., for some itll cost a few doltars mori

Something WEST did for us was credit us $2 for every order call
that came in. Rernember, they were charging us around 8O cents a
minute. And if we would allow them to "Ditch" our callers with 3-
issue trial magazine subscriptions, they'd pay Lrs $2 per pitch
regardless if they sold the customer or not. This worked out OK
and offset some of the costs.

Then there is smaller, local call centers- usually known as

Answering Services.

They are a little smaller, so their reps can and will get used to what
your product does and what the up sell script is going to read like.
Theyll get more of the ca-llers to buy and they'll get a higher
percentage of callers to up sell to something else. Again- because
they are going to get more familiar with your offer.

Then there's a flip side to the smaller call centers. They usually are
understaffed. The owners want to maximize their profit margins
and if they run lean, theyll do better. What they don't realize is
that a call may now sit on hold until the order rep gets off the
phone with his last order. A lot of people will just hang up... even if
it an 8O0# they are calling-

If I had to give you my honest advise, here it is:

Large call centers are great if you are running ads, letters, or
commercials that are capturing caller's addresses to send them
information... like a free report or info package. They kind of suck
when it comes time to sell something. And they really suck when
the product you are selling is complicated and may lead to many
questions being asked by the caller.

I remember calling the large call center and asking them a

question about my own product- i was pretending I was a
customer, They gave me another 800#- this tjme for my customer
service department. It was acfually still the call center as they
handled rny customer service as well- The cu.stomer service rep
I
l4-5

couldn't answer my generic qlrestions either- They gave me the

':uilding.
phone number of our acb d.. The question I asked was an
easy, no-brainer question... and they iost the order.

I could only imagine how many orders they rvere losing-

Like I was saying trefore, if you are just having customers ask for
an info kit or a free report, a large call center should work just fine.

If you're mnning national TV spots, a large call center may be

needed as well to handle all the call volurne.

This is what I used to do. I used to have a small call center answer
my calls over night and on the weekends. During regular business
hours, we'd answer our calls in-house. Once our company grew,
we took our calls a1lday and all night... we'd open at 5am and
ciose at 1am.

If you are looking to build a list using TV spots to request

information... you can use a large call center, as they do not have
to actually "seil" for you.
 746

ChapterThirtyFive:
Telemarketing

Telemarketing is when a marketer calls his prospects and verbally

pitches his offering... instead of soliciting through the maii... or in
a magazine... or on TV or radio.

In these days, there's "do not call" lists where consumers add their
names and numbers to national lists and if a marketer calls these
people, he can be in some serious problems.

In certain states like Arizona, telemarketing is practically illegal. I

know of a lady who works at a mortgage company in Arizona that
offers mortgages through telemarketing. The sales people are
working on cell phones from different locations every few weeks.

While telemarketing is annoying to its prospects... is it really a

crime? Now, this does not mean I like telemarketing. Actually I
hate it. I tried it once to a cold prospect list a few years ago and the
results were horrible.

The only way you may be able to get telemarketing to work for you
is if you have an offer and you want to call your customer iist and
offer it to them. That's line. Trying to get cold prospects that are
not your customers to buy though the phone has never worked for
me- ever.

But what has worked for me was outbound ca-lls to my existing

customers offering thern something related to the product or
products theyte bought from me in the past.

Probably the rnost profound revelation I've ever had with

telemarketing was when I did follow-up cails to my new customers,
Let me explain how this works.

For a while we were using an answering service to take our order

calls overnight and on weekends. Now', since they were so bad at
 "\ A1

up seiling products, I asked them not to offer my customers any

more up sells. So the answering se:-vicesimply took the straight
orders.

what I then did the next morning was have my best up selier call
each and every new customer from the previous night and say they
were calling to "verify" their information. My up seller would go
over their namer the spelling, their address,their phone number,
their credit card information, etc. The customer was impressed to
think we \,l'eretaking the time to call him and verify all his
information, And right before our up seller was going to hang up...
they d say, 'let me tell you about a few of our specials we have
going on right now...'and they'd go right into the scripts.

Guess what. callers that could not have been sold anything if I iet
the answering service do it the night before, were now buying like
crazed animals when we'd simply "verify' their information.

Other than these two ways... Ite never had any form of
telernarketing actually produce profitable results for me. I,m sure
there's millions of businesses making telernarketing work...
otherwise the Feds wouldn't make "do not call" lists. I never was
able to figure it out.
 148

ChapterThirtySix:
ng
TeIevisionAdvertisi

I create 6o-second TV spots the same way I create 60-second radio

spots. I write a script, which sells the product as hard as I can.

I make sure to add an BOO# and website address early enough in

the spot to make sure the prospect has enough time to get the
number.

What I've been noticing now is that companies are using a wide-
screen format commercial, where they have black space on the top
of the commercial and biack space on the bottom.

This is the perfect piace to place an 8OO# and website address

throughout the entire 60-second spot. I keep referring to 6O-
second spots because I have never felt a 3o-second spot gives you
enough time to do some form of a selling job.

In a 60-second spot, you want to have the phone number and/or

website address displayed for at least IS-seconds before the end.

Now, TV spots are just salesmanship which came to life where a

sales letter or advertisement is salesmanship in print. They are
really the same.

The commercial has to open up with a headline... or an opening

thrust. Then once the opening statement or statement is said and
gets the attention of the watchers who are prospects, you'd go into
your body copy- but instead of it being in paragraph form... it's
read to them.

TV is a very powerful medium. Put it this way... I was bringing in

40,000 new customers a month. To get this volume, I was
advertising in dozens of magazines. But u'hen I advertised on the
l-loward Stern Show on the E! channel I took in 1O,OOOof those
 )49

40,000 monthly or(lers in just one hour a night... six nights a

weekl

TV is very, very powerful. I was selling a really hot product a few

years back. i remember my commercial was to appear on the
Howard Stern Show on a Tuesday for the first time. I was so
nervous to see how TV would do for me. It just so happens the
Tuesday my commercial was to break... two cra-zy terrorists
smashed two 767s into the Word Trade Center towers.

Thinking of the company was the last thing on my mind... I was

wondering if this rvas the end of the world- as most of Arnerica was
thinking. But wouldn't you know... when the Howard stern show
aired that night... and my commercial was run two times... I
actualiy broke even. Lwas thinking, "Are these people crazy?
They're won1,-ing about buying my damn supplement when we
suffered the attacks this morning?!"

TV advertising is powerful..- very powerful. you just want to make

sure you are not advertising with loca_lcable... and you are
advertising Nationally with channels like Spike... cNN... comedy
central... E!... etc. It's not as expensive as you think. A 6o-second
spot on the Howard stern show ran Nationaliy was running us
$2500 each spot- maybe even less.

And then there are infomercia_ls.

Infomercials are 28.5 minutes long. They are long-form

cornmercials that are basically little "showso selling different
products.

infomercials usually run on cable channels starting at midnight or

so. They are not as expensive as you think. I know of peopie paying
$2,000 - $+,0o0 for the entire half-hour.

A good infomercial with a good product should get 1,ooo people to

call on average. The order takers should be able to sell abouihalf
of these people.
 250

An infomercial can bring in 5O0 orders. If you're running one every

night.., on four or five different channels... that's 2,0OO to 2,500
orders. i broughtin on average 1,5OOorders a day at a measly
$59.95 and had an auto-delivery program every customer was
enrolled into. I made $1OO Million a year.

TV is powerful. Very powerful.

One thing that is different about TV is that it takes a week or so to

get the spots fully ramped up... where they need a little repetition.
That is not true with print ads or sales letter. The more you run
them, the response does not get better.

With TV spots this is true... and not so much as true with

infomercials, Infomeriials bring in a lot of their response the first
time they are ran. The short form 60-second spots need to run a
few times for the watcher to get his pen handy and acfually get the
phone number down.

Producing the spot or infomercial is where some big biils come in.
I've shot 60-second spots for $14,O0O and I've shot 60-second
spots for $114,000. The differences in response were no different.

One commercial, I shot in video {which is cheaper than filrn), and it

was a wornan on a lounge chair at poolside reciting a script.

The expensive commercia-l was a western. We rented the

Paramount S|udios western town set for fwo days- this was the set
Dr. Quinn and Bonanza were lilmed on and we sure spent sorne
serious rnoney on production... we had carneras attached to cranes
for overhead shots... we had genuine corvboy actors that appeared
in Tornbstone and the Wild Bunch.

The commercial looked great... but did it pull more orders for me
than the cheap $14,000 spot did? Nope.

This business, whether it be in print... or in the mail... or on TV

does not depend on how fancy your message is. This business is
not about having the prettiest letterhead or brochure. Hell, I didn't
 25r

get businesscards made until I was making $50 Miilioir and felt
stupicl r,vhenpeople were asking me for a card'

If I hacl my choice when producing a short form cornmercial, I'd

made it a script read by an attractive man or woman' That's it.

lnfomercials are a different story and way beyond the scope of this
book and surely this chapter. There are mariy formats for
infomercials... there's talk show format, which is the cheapest to
produce and may cost $25,OO0'.. then there's the high-dollar
productions that can cost as much as $2OO,OOO!

Do you know what is funniest? when the infornercial appears to be

a live talk show when they clearly are not... and they are taking
callersl "Bob from Dallas is on line one. Hi Bob, what can we do for
you?'and Bob actually asks a question about the product!
 t57

ChapterThirtySeven:
RadioAdvertising

Radio advertising is the same as TV advertising- just without the

images. The way I create radio and rV advertising is basically the
same... the same script... the same offer... the sarne wording...
everything is the sarne-

I like my TV spots to actually be radio spots just with a visual

added. If the watcher is not in front of the TV, he can stiil get the
entire offer. I laugh when I see TV commercials with no voice ... just
music.

If you place radio spots... do not getupsetwith the results from the
first three or four days. Radio spots do take a few days to get up to
full speed. They need repetition to start generating the orders.

I remember when I first started a radio carnpaign and the first few
days the results we less than impressive. I had to go on a trip to
New York and a day or two after I left, I got a call from one of our
rnanagers saying the radio spots were generating orders like crazy.

I'm talking aOO orders in a single day from a single radio show!

Now, when it comes time for radio spots... I like to adverti". o., tJk
shows and not so much music stations. If I'm having great success
on certain talk show stations, then I can try some music stations...
but the last time I tried the music stations, I did not do so well.

In radio, a vanity Boo# may be good, so listeners can remember my

number easily. "Simply call l-BOO-ABCDEFG", Simply call, l-g0O-
MATTRESS and leave the last S off for savings!"

You want to advertise during drive times... this is when most of the
listeners are in their cars. That's when peopre really listen to the
radio... not so much at work or at home.
 t_53

Radio stations are tough to hold to particular time slots. I

remember bickering with stations that wanted to give me 5 spots a
day on rotation- Some spots wouid run a Sam and my office was
not fully staffed until 7am. Scheduling was a pain in the ass. This
is why I like to stick to certain shows that I know run at a certain
tirne on certain days.

usually the radio station will do the voice-over comrnercial for you.
They already have the personalities with great radio voices and
they have the fuIl-blown studio to record the thing in. But if you,re
looking to run commercials on different stations, the one station is
not going to give you a copy of the spot to rr:n on a competitor,s
station.

I did very little radio advertising in rny heyday... and while I was
successful..- I'm not a know-it-all as I am with direct mail and
print..So, if you're looking to place advertisements on the radio... It
may be wise for you to go and seek further education on this topic
in other books or consultants.
 !)q

ChapterThirtyEight;
The"SuckOut"

Before I attempt to tell you what the "suck out" is, I want to
illustrate two different stories for you.

Both stories deal with running magazine advertisements... but they

can just as easily be TV ads or radio ads.

i was once running ads in large magazines selling some expensive

car waxes. I was advertising in leading automotive magazines and
was doing quite well-

The first time I ran the ad... it did great... the second time... it did
well... the third time I ran the ad... it did okay... the fourth time, it
broke even. Any ad piaced after that lost money.

A few years later I was running an ad in a bodybuilding magazine,

which had l5O,OOOpaid copies, sold every month.

i had three pages of advertisements in that magazine and they

were bringing me l,5OO orders! That's Io/oof the magazine,s
readership ordering my product every issue. Trrst me- a
percentage this high will never happen for any other direct
marketer. But this cannot last forever. If I were to get this ro/oto
respond each and every month, after a year, Id have l2yo of the
magazine as customers. That's prett5r darn near to impossible.

After five or six rnonths of advertising in this bodybuilding

magazine the ad that bought me l,5oo orders was now brining me
25O order. What happened?

My advertising was too good.

what happened was the rnagazine delivered only a certain amount

of 'new' readers a month... and my rr.agazine ads were pulling
more in orders than they were generating new customers. So in
 5
2_5

other words, my ads would go great for a few months... but once i
sr.rckedout a1l the hot buyers... if the magazine didn't repienish
thcir readership with fresh names iast enough- my ads rvould soolr
be worthless.

Gary Halbert says the same thing. He makes ads that were so
powerful; they'd only work once or twice- Sure, they worked great
on." ,rr twice... but they pulled every potential customer out of the
readership in one or two insertions. This is not a bad problem.

Many ads have to be run month after month for a customer to

finalty decide to buy from it- But when excellent advertising is
created, it may suck out more customers than the magazine can
replenish.

This happens especially when you run large multi-page

advertisernents. Sure a 1/8th page ad, if it is profitable in alarge
magazine can pull orders forever and never lose it's pulling power.
After all, a small ad like this is not sucking out as many new
readers as the rnagazine is generating'

And then you have grys like me who, once their one page ad puils
like mad... I then go to 3 or even 4 page ads and suck out every
single freaking prospect interested in my product.

Of course, if you say you wouldn't mind making the steady orders
for years placing small ads instead of larger ads that suck out too
fast... you may get knocked-offby a larger competitor and he'l1
place larger one page ads and steal all your profits... or even run
you out of business.

But on the other hand, if you got a winning advertisement, and

you place full page and multi-page advertisements, you may take
orders like crazy and profit like mad... only to burn-out your ad in
three or four insertions-

Obviously if you asked me what you should do- run the smaller
ads that rnay last longer or run the larger ads that may burn-out
quicker... i'm going to teli you to run the larger ads.
 256

Flere's what to do when your ad starts to lose its rnagnetic

cus tomer-pulling abilitv:

First, you can you run your main ad for a few months and once it
starts to decline, you can run an alternative ad that sells its
customers from a different point of view to attract different
customers. When you are creating this new ad with a new slant,
make sure you do not borrow much from your first ad.

Now, run this new slant ad and it should bring in new customers
that are furned on by different claims and different desires. Run
this ad one month; run your first ad the next month, and so on. Or
you can run your {irst ad until it pulls no more then run the
second ad until it pulis no more and then go back to the {irst ad. If
the response is restored, great. If it's not..- you have to create a
third ad with another slant.

If you can get away with this and keep recharging your product
with new ads, you're in a great position.

The second thing you can do is instead of running your ad each

and every month (which I advise you to do when you have a
winner); you can place your ad every other month.

If your ad is a break even when you mn it every 3o-days... what

would it do if you ran it every 6o days? your ads will always have
"rag"- which is sales that come in after the ad is stopped. if you
were getting l,5OO orders a month from your ad when it was
fresh.'. and after three inserrions, it was pulling just 5oo... and
you needed that 5OO orders to break even... and if you,re not
making a killing on the back end... maybe you can putl the ad and
run it every other month. Now, youll get 5O0 ord.ers when this
issue is still out... and once the next issue comes out- without vou
in it.-. you may get 25O or 3OO orders.

I d rather have the first situation work for me, when I just recreate
the ad with a new slant... instead of the advertisement running
every other month.
 257

Obviously, if you are running radio spots or TV spots or

infomercials and they start to slide in response... the techniques in
this chapter ai'e to be used the sarne- re-do the commercial with a
new slant to attract new customers... or r-un it less often hoping
some fresh prospects will grow in the time you take off, so when
you refurn, you reap all of them again until they,re all gone. Then
repeat again... and again...

There are other ways to boost the sares of an old or worn ad... look
in the past chapter that ta-lks about improving your response by
improving your offer. Maybe you can do a new ad with a
premium... or a glft...or adding some up sells... or increasingyour
back end.

what a marketer does when his ads no longer pull as well as they
did shows his true character. you have to be innovative. you *u"t
get the response back to where it was. In this business, you're
either growing or dying,
 l_s8

ChapterThirtyNine:
Employees

once your cornpany grows you're going to need some employees.

You may need some help immediately... right after you get positive
results from your tests.

The thing I'd tell you to do is first find some family members that
can help you out- I'm sure you're nervous to acfually hire a
stranger and be someone's "boss" so quickly. And another thing is
you probably dont want to go and rent office space just yet. Itll be
kind of uncomfortable for strangers to come and work from vour
kitchen with you.

when I first got started in this business in 1994, my uncle was a

partner with me. We handled our own calls, shipped our own
product, basically did everything ourselves.

It was easy, because we weren't all that good at this business at

the tirne, so the business remained small.

In 1995, we moved into our first o{Iice complex- It was a srna_ll

office- 3,OO0 square feet, 2,OOOof it was office, the other 1,OOOwas
warehouse. I remember I didnt have anything to put in the
warehouse, so that's where I parked rny car!

our first employee was a lady named Joyce and we hired her from
a temp. agency. I remember getting my hrst employee... boy was it
strange... especially since she was in her mid-4os and I was a 21-
year-old high-school drop out!

As I got better at writing direct rnail sales letters and magaaine ads,
we hired Leah... our second employee... then Marcia... our third
employee. I had two of these three ladies working for me until
1999, when I was doing several millions in revenue and had 25
employees.
 259

Here's all I lei:.rned about ernployees in rrry 10 years'.. employing

and firing over 500 peoole:

i. Keep It Professiona,l.
I <ion't mean you have to be a robot- But try to keep the wall there
between employee and employer. Do not go to happy hour with
them. Do not ask them to go to the movies with you. They cannot
be your friends outside of the office.

I remember there was a kid working for me named Tom. I went to

the clubs with Tom on the weekends. I always told him, if he
fucked up at the office or ever embarrassed me, I'd stili fire him,
and he understood. Things were fine until he showed up once late
and 1 guess he wanted to show-off to a pretty girl sitting next to
him. She said, "You're late again? You're going to get fired!" and he
said to her, "l'm friends with the boss I can show up late and he
won't lire me." Now this put me in a very compromising position.
The rrmor of what he said flew around the customer service
department in a few hours. Everyone was looking at what I was
going to do. FIad I kept him, nobody would have respected me and
the office would slowly tum into Anarchy. But if I fired him, I may
have lost a friend... and even if we were still to hang out... it would
never be the same. I remember my Grandmother's words, "You
don't shit where you eat." I fired him and while we still did hang
out, it was never the same and he always asked me if he could
come back. I never rehired him.

Another time, one of the mairied women in the office was asking
me what bar I hung ou.t at on the weekends. Remember, I was in
my early 2O's! I told her, and she said, 'Oh! My friends and me are
going there tonight! Maybe well see you!" I thought nothing of it.
What she was really doing was stalking me. I saw her at the club
that night... I didn't see any of her friends. I had a couple of drinks
in me and was fairly loose. A few moments later, she came and sat
at my table... and was talking in my ear because the music was so
loud. would you believe this girl started kissing me? I pulled back-
even though she wasn't bad looking... and the next day around the
office.-. I heard the mrnor... "she ald vince u'ere at a club making
out! And she says he's a good kisser!" Talk about embarrassing.
 t60

Just remember this: There's a rvail between you and -vour

employees. It's invisible and you set it as high or as low as yor_r
choose when you first hire them. How you treat them is how they'll
treat you. Treat them professional- and theyl1 be professiona-l. Be
friendly, and theyll be friendly- r,vhich is {ine... but if you get to be
chums... theyll be chums... and when you need to go back to
professional mode... they won't be able to. once the wa-Il is broken
down... it never goes back up.

2. Don't Show Off:

Sure, once you get successful, it's hard to keep .new money" quiet.
I was once onew money" and I wore the diamond Rolex to the office
and I drove my Rolls Royce to the office- it was a mistake.

The people working for you may become seriously jea.lous. Jearous
employees are cancer, and they affect the entire work force. Look-
the people working for you, unless you are commissioning them in
some way, are stuck at the job they are in. They are there to either
answer your orders or take your customer service calls or ship
your orders. The key word they see is YOURS. They think
everything is yours. They think if you get 3OO orders a day at
$1O0... all the $3O,O0O is yours to keep and you're at home in
some mansion lighting up cigars with some of those hundreds.

Trust me- they are not happy for you. They are happy they have a
job to pay their bills. And if you ever fire them, ail theylr remember
is how rich you are and how they can destroy you.

3. Make Them Sign Non-Disclosures and Non-Competes.

This is if you have a product that can be knocked-off or if the
employees see a lot of intellectual propert5r that they can either
stea-l from you and start their own business or bring to a
competitor. I usually have all the employees sign an agreement
saying they cannot go into a business or work for a business
dealing with a related product for a period of years after their
termination or the demise of the company.

I've had one employee quit and his friend still worked for me. His
friend was working overtime one night and made a copy of our
entire database of customers. They stole 5oo,ooo customers and
 26r

we knew it when our clrstomers were calling us and asking r,vhy we

soid their names to a competing cornpany- When we asked the
customer to fax us a copy of the sales materierl they received, we
traced it down and saw it was the former ernployees! The sales
ietter had an address on it that was just a few moments from the
ofTice, so I had sorneone sit at the Mail Boxes Etc. and see if they
saw any former employees going into the place... sllre enough-.. the
one who quit went in there and got his mail! we fired his friend
immediately and made all employees sign non-competes and non-
disclosures.

4. Fire Cancer At Once:

I was saying a few paragraphs ago, when you have a bad employee,
they are like cancer. A.nd when a body has cancer what do we do
with it? We cut it out before it spreads and if we leave it unnoticed
too long, we're dead. I think of my business as a finely tuned
engine. If I had a bad piston ring on that engine... what arn I going
to do... drive around with poor performance because I like the bad
piston... or arn I going to go to the dealership and have a new
piston replaced at once? I'm going to get the engine fixed" What
makes your business any different? Fix the damn thing and cut
out the cancer because it does spread." and if you wait too long,
you may be {iring three or four peopie or even more. I once had to
fire an entire night shift of people. The supervisor was a friend with
alt the workers before she worked for us. She kept it a secret.
When we fired three or four of the workers..- the entire room had
an attitude because they were all friends- including the supervisor.
'10 people on that night shift and re-
I had to literally fire 9 out of
hire everyone-

And if you keep cancer working for you- theyU cause you huge
problems the longer you wait. What they do is wait and wait for
you to slip up and once they have something on you... you're dead.
I remember I had a woman who was begging for additional hours
to work, as she needed money. Our company did not offer overtime
because I'd have to pay them time and a hall She went on to say
that she would forfeit any rights to time and a half and she just
wanted straight pay. I was not involved in this decision. We ended
up giving her the extra hours at her flat pay. A few months went by
and tiis lady turned into cancer. She must have been on drugs.
 262

Her performance was slipping. And when she was fired evenhraliy,
she was vindictive and went to the Labor Board and complained
she was working past 4O hours and never got overtirne pay. All
those hours we gave her out of the kindness of our hearts, we had
to go back and pa.y her the half tirne. It was like $2,OOO.

5. Don't Favor Anyone!

We had a rather large shipping room. Fourteen employees
dedicated to just shipping out orders to customers. We were
shipping 7,OOOorders a day. We were getting behind. For some
reason, they could not get the orders out in a day's time. And I
knew this was bullshit because I knew one person could easily get
out 1,00O orders as l didn't hire my 2nd shipping room employee
until after I hit 1,000 orders a day.

Fourteen people should be able to ship 14,0OO orders... and they

couldn't even get out 7,OOO... and were realistically shipping just
5,0OO or less! What was going on?

Well as it turns out, my partner had an affinity for one of the

employees in the shipping room. He had him doing personal tasks
for him... like going to the pharmacy for him... putting up
Christmas trees for him at his home and at the oflice..- ald other
things- like picking up lunch for the owners. He was obviously
favored. While my partner just saw the shipping room as one rnan
down... which was already bad as we were backed up on getting
the orders out..- but the entire room had an attitude.

They felt why were they going to work hard or work fast when this
guy is getting everyone's lunch and doing personal favors?
Remember, this was the shipping room... not the laboratory... to
the ernployees in this department; this was a big deai to them.

What made it worse was this favored kid would go and show-off to
his co-workers. When my partner made him pick up a prescription
from the drugstore, tre gave him his debit card to pay. We1l, this
kid went to all his co-workers and showed them the credit card
and told them that my partner actually gave him a credit card and
he can buy anything he wishes. Of course, these workers saw the
na-me on the credit card and became iealous.
 263

Perforrnance just suffered..- and suffered... and suffered. We were

getting further and further behind on shipping. I wanted to fire this
kid but he was my partner's fi'iend. It rvas just a wreck. Don't favor
any'Jne- even your girlfriend if she works for you'

6. Check References:
We had to hire people so fast; we didn't get to check their
references a1l the time. You've got to do this. Most of the references
on what turned out to be bad employees were bogus' And a simple
phone call or two to the references would have helped us before we
hired this employee. I even wanted to give my new hires drug
tests.,. but so many people were on drugs, we'd have no
employees.

7. Avoid Hiring Friends and Family Members:

I mean this two different rvays. First, I have no problem hiring your
own family members. Sometimes they're the only people you can
trust and you can cuss thern out when they fuck up and not worry
about them suing you.

I advise against hiring your persnnal friends, because their

employrnent may last just a few months... and he won't be your
employee and he won't be your friend any longer. Trust me.

But what I mostly mean by this #7 entry is not to hire employees

that are friends or family members prior to working foryou. If you
hired Jim and Jim is a good Worker and he wants you to hire Jack,
his brother... and if you hire Jack and his work ethic is shit and
Srou fire him, Jim, that once great employee will resent you.

Also, if you hire Paul who refers three or four of his friends to come
and apply, if they tel1 you they are friends of Panrl, you shouid not
hire them. When Paul is with his friends, he thinks he's rolling
deep and is more prone to becoming a bad employee. When you
fire Paul...you lose the three friends as well a:rd nobody is there to
arf swer your orders! And even if his three friends stick around,
their performance will be shit because every day they'l1 be hearing
it from Pai,rl, saying I gotyou that job... it's a shit job... fuck them...
 264

you should quit. Even if he doesn't quit, hell think it is a bad thine
to come to rvork for -vou. You don't need this.

say if you hired Paul's Mother and she messed something up. It's
going to be weird bringing it to her attention, and what's worse, if
she's a disaster, and you lire her, paul's feelings will be hurt.

One time I had an employee Al. He was an all right guy. He said
his brother-in-law needed a job badly and we hired him. This was
way back in 1998 before I had my "rules", Al turned into a bad
seed and was looking to attempt to take-over the company by
steaiing its clients along with another employee. We fired him
irnmediately as we did his friend. Now, Eddy, Al,s brother-in-law
still worked for us because he was a good worker and he did need
the money- he had a lit'tle girl to take care of. But his sister, A1's
wife was giving him shit... and Al was giving him shit... and I saw it
in Eddy's eyes... it was killing him. He didn't want to quit. He
needed the money. But his famiiy forced him to quit. It was a
InCSS.

Make it clear up front. WE DO NOT HIRE FRIENDS AND

RELATIVES OF CURRENT EMPLOYBESI

B. Never'Ialk About Personal or Important

Business News In Front Of Them:
I remember I once had a problem with a merchant processor and
they were cutting off our service. My partner and I were speaking of
this too loudly and it got out to the workers. wrrle this was no big
deal to rls, we got a new processor in a day or two; the employees
were in a panic. This panic carne through on their voices as we got
less orders for a few days and we got a lot iower up sell
percentages. ordinary workers cannot be privy to core business
news and issues. They cannot handle it. And they should not be
privy to anSrthingoutside the scope of their job. They are hired to
answer order calls- that's all they should know about.

9. Let Thern Think You're Poor or Just Getting By:

I never like my employees to think I am wearthy. I like them to
think I arn a hard worker and I work so hard, that they donit even
want my life. They'd rather work by the hour and get paid by the
 265

hour because at Sp.n, they don't have to think about work until
tom0rrow.

If an ernployee ever makes a comment about how you must be

rolling in money, make sure to defuse it. Make sure to say
something like, "Yeah, once I pay back my investors, I'm left with
iess than you make in a week." or something like that. If they say,
"Wow, that's a nice Mercedes.', Yolt say something like, "Yeah, and
the lease payment is more than my rent!" or something like, "I live
in a dump so I can have a decent car.'

10. Respect Your Product or Service-

If you Don't, They Won't:
Always make sure you never speak down about your products or
service in front of your'employees. Even if you think the product is
bad, keep it quiet. The second they hear you mocking your
product; theyll think it's okay to think less of it. If they are
answering your order calls, this will show through to the callers
and you're going to get less and less orders. Your product is the
best for the price you ask.

1 1. Monitor Your Phone Orders:

I remember I was selling a product on an auto ship basis. I was
checking the orders from the previous day and I was noticing a
large percentage of the customers were not being placed on the
auto-delivery club. I looked deeper and found all the non-auto ship
orders were coming from our TV spots. I called the Supervisor in
that department and asked him why his department was having a
hard time keeping TV callers on the auto-delivery package. He was
like, "What Auto-Delivery Package'? Now, this was the new
Supervisor and the new crew I hired after I cleared house as I
spoke about a few pages back. It turns out, the Office Manager
who trained him forgot to tell hirn about a script to read to the
people who placed orders off our TV ad. This script was the auto-
delivery script. He knew nothing about it, so he didn't have his
ernployees read it. It was the oflice manager's fault. Had I not kept
an eye on more than just how many orders catne in the previous
day... but how many of them came from each source and how
many opted-out of the automatic-deliveries... I would have never
discovered this costly mistake.
 /no

Aiways make sure your or"der takers are reading their scripts
properly and monitor every thing they cio.

When companies get to a certain size they need employees. I once

had over 1OO at one time. It's sometimes frustrating- especially
when you have partners- like I did who wanted to voice their own
opinions {which will usualiy be wrong) and you have to fight him
on firing certain 'bad seeds" because he liked them as friends.

Kill cancer before it spreads. Check references and make sure

you're not hiring any axe murders. Do not hire friends of
employees or their Mother's... and make sure thev cannot rip off
what you created.

trmployees can be a much-needed asset as long as you know how

to train them right and keep them in line. They are like rvild
animals in a way. If you're a poor trainer, theyll run wild and fuck
up your entire place. If you have a friendly, but firm hand... and
treat people right... and try not to be an asshole... theyll work hard
for you.

If you treat them badly. If you treat them unfairly. If you make
jealous of you... theyll look for any way to bring down your
lhern
business... with either hate websites slamming your company...
complaints to government agencies... or even worse.

This is why many business owners go to call centers, so they don't

have to put up with this shit. These business owners ship their
products through mail houses so they don't have shipping rooms.
while this is all nice in theory, the quality of your response and the
quality of your customer service will suffer.
 z6i

ChapterForty:
TheOnly3 WaysTo GrowYourBusiness

l'm not gonna take credit for this chapter. My Mentor Jay Abraham
broke it down so beautifully- There's just three and only three
ways to grow any business. We're going to go over the three
rnethods and dig deeper into different tactics in each of the three
methods.

First, YoU can get more new customers to buy.

Second, You can get customers to buy at a higher price'

Third, You can get customers to buy more often.

That's it! Go ahead; think of another one as hard as you can..'

you're not going to discover another rnethod,

Here's some ways you can get more new customers in the door to
buy your product or service:

l. Referral Systerns:
You can put into play referral systems where your existing
customers can refer new customers to you for a bonus. Let's say if
you send a letter in your orders... or if you send a letter to all your
existing customers and tell them for every customer they can refer
to you, you'll send them $3O or so. All they have to do is have their
friend call this special 8O0# to order. When the guy ca-lls to place
an order, you ask him who referred hirn to you. You take note and
send the guy the $3O or whatever you promised him.

2. Acquire Customers at
Break-Even and Profit On The Back-End:
I was selling a pill a few years back that rnade money on some lists
and broke-even on some larger lists. Sure, I could make some good
money maiiing the srnaller lists and actually make a decent profit
on the frontend... butthe sheervolume I needed was if I used the
 l6ft

iists that broke-even. These lists were rnuch larger... but I was not
able to make a profit on the initial sale. But since I knew
customers would buy a certain amount of times on the back-end, I
was able to acquire these new customers at break-even and bank
onthe fact they1l buy a lot of product from rne on the back-end.

Jay Abraham teils a story about a company that was selling "fluid
transmission" goods- like PVC. The company would have sales
people calling on others to mal<e sales. The initial sale had a profit
of $25O or so and they gave the sales people lAo/o of that. The
company owners knew that these new customers would buy a lot
more over the course of the year and they would be worth about
$ 1,OOOmore in profit over the next year. What Jay advised this
owner to do is instead gf commissioning just 10% to his
salespeople... he should give them 100% of the profit on the first
purchase. The company owner wor-rld really fire-up the sales staff
and the owner would make 3 or 4 times the profit on the back end
sales becamse he'd have 3 or 4 times as many new cr:stomers!

3. Guaranteeing Purchases With Money-Back Guarantees:

I've told yolr numerous times in this book, you cannot sell
anything direct response mail order without offering your customer
a money back guarantee. It's the industry standard and people are
expecting some form of a satisfaction promise nowadays. But if you
insist you do not want to offer a money back guarantee... and
you're looking for a way to grow your new customer intake... this is
one method to help.

4. Host Relationships:
I talked about this is in a past chapter. A Host-Parasite
Relationship is where you can have other businesses solicit their
customers on your behalf and split the proceeds. Let's say you
owned a film company and you knew of a guy who owned a camera
company. What you can set up is a deal where he solicits his
customers and tells them all about how great your fiim company
is. And since his customers need film, as they are all camera
customers... it's a shoe-in and response should be great. Now, you
would normally pay postage and printing in circumstances like
this, and you'd probably split the profits SO/5O. Nothing is set in
stone... you can alter this offer any way you and your host wish.
 269

sure, you may be able to rent his customer list... but the response
will be many, many times more powerful when the sales letter is
coming from the camera guy to his customers endorsing you.
There's a big difference than you mailing them yourself.

5. Advertising in Magazine, on TV, on Radio:

If you,re mailing sales letters only and if they are profitable, maybe
you should look into doing some space ads... or radio or TV spots.
Maybe even an infomercial!

6. Doing Direct Maii:

The sarne as above... if youte placing ads in magazines, on TV, or
on the Radio..- you can increase the amount of new customers by
doing some direct maii'

7. Increase Perceived Value of Your Product By Educating:

I'm so tired of telling this story, because every direct marketer tells
it. But its example is so powerful, I1l tell the story to you. Many
years ago, advertising pioneer Claude Hopkins was hired by Schlitz
beer to increase their sales. We're talking the 192O's. Claude
Hopkins went to the Schlita beer factory and saw some remarkable
things. First, the bottles had to be stea"m cleaned several times
before beer was to be inserted in them. They had several
techniques they had to do before their beer was bottled. Claude
asked the beer maker why don't they talk about all these steps in
their advertisements. And they replied, they're nothing special... all
beer makers have to do the same things. But the customer didn't
'
know this. So what Claude did was create new advertisements for
Schiitz explaining al1 the amazing steps their beer had to go
through before it reached the lips of the consumer. Even though
these steps were all standard-practice amongst all beer
mamrfacturers, the consumer didn't know this. So, when the
consumer read all about these arnazing triple-cleaned bottles and
the such, they had a higher value of the Schlitz product- Saies
skyrocketed.

Rolls Royce, for exarnple can do this by explaining how their

Connelly Leather Hides inside the car are nothing like the leather
the consumer would find in Mercedes or BMW. The Connelly
leather is actuaily raised without being fenced in by barbed wire
 270

like other cattle. The end result is flawless hides that do not have
markings in them from when the cattie bump against the barbed
wire.

If your dietary supplcment uses a super-potent extract that is

above and beyond the ordinary ingredients you can use... tell them
all about how the ingredients you use are better.

B. Increasing Your Offer:

This is as simple as adding a better premium... adding more
bonuses... basically giving the customer more when he places an
order. Just make sure it does not cut too much into your CTO.
(contribution to overhead).

Here's some ways you can get your

customers to buy rnore on average:

1. Up sells:
We just talked about up sells and bumps a few chapters ago, so
this should all still be fresh on your mind. I was able to jump the
average unit of sale from $7O to over $ 100 just by adding some up
sells and commissioning my salespeople to sell, sell, sell! Going
from $7O to $10O on an initial average unit of sa-leis an over 4O7o
increase in average unit of sa-le. Later, I'm going to show you how
to explode your business, just getting a 2OYoincrease on each of
the three growth methods.

2. lmprove Your'Iea,m's Up selling Skill:

Up seils are great, but if you have bad or un-motivated salespeople
answering the calls and doing the script reading... it's useless. Bad
salespeople are bad for business. You would not have a business if
it were not for "selling" sfuff. I get a kick out of people who say they
want to be in business, but are bad at selling shrff. Even if you are
writing sales letters, you are selling! A way to increase the up seil
percentages, is to cornmission your saJespeople... if that only
produces a few superstars... fire the deadbeats or give them non-
sales positions in your business and have nottring but up sell
superstars on the phones!
 271

3, Offer Larger or Greater Units:

When rve sold or-tr car waxes, we offered a pint size kit and we
offered a quart size kii. Same product... just more of it at a
discount. Companies like Costco and other warehouse clubs make
a biliion-dollar business olrt of selling consu.mers larger quantities
for a better pound-for-pound price' Think of it this way, you rnay
never seil the customer again... so get as much as you can on the
first sale.

4. Raise Your Price:

Even a small bump in shipping and handling fees. Sometimes you
can raise your price and not effect the order quantity. If youte
selling a $60 product--. you may try to get $3 extra' That's 57o.
This is probably the last and least popular method I've used in the
past.

Here's some ways you can get Your

existing customers to b-uy more often:

1. Have a Strong Back-End So You Can Go Back and Re-Sell:

I was teaching you from the first chapter in this book... if you do
not have a strong back-end to go and re-sell over and over and over
again... I'd look at different products. I've had a strong back-end
make the difference berween a $2.4 Million a month company and
a $7 -2 Million a month company. And all of the added millions over
$2.4 were basically all profit, as I did not need to spend a dollar on
additional advertising- $4.8 Million in pr:re profit a month from
simply having a kick-ass bdck-end is what makes tl.is the best
business in the world.

2. Endorse Other People's Products To Your List:

This is the same as the Host-Parasite Relationship I was speaking
of earlier... but on the flip side. Instead of getting businesses to
endorse your products to their list... you're going to endorse other
people's products to your customer list.

What you1l have to do is go to other companies and see if they

want to do a deal like this. Obviously, if companies are coming to
yorl, you can get them to pay the entire postage and printing fees
to solicit your database--. but if you're looking for them, you're
 zi2

iucky to get a 50150... and maybe youll encl up paying the entire
postage and printing. If this is the case, don't cut them in on the
profits... See what they want to sell their product to you on a
wholesale basis for. You'11know what it needs to be. If it's lower to
get the product at wholesale than it is to split profits... go the most
profitabie route. This is a powerful marketing concept and win-win
for the other business... but you'd be surprised how many
businesses will not be interested in doing this with you!

3. Program Custorners To Buy At Certain Time Intervals:

Before all this Free Scheduled Maintenance carmakers are offering
these days... remember when they wanted you to come in every 3
months or 3,OOOmiles for an oil change? Now, you really may not
have needed an oil change that often... but they were programming
you to come in every 3 months or 3,OOOmi-les. Dentists have
check-ups that may be annua-I... or quarterly... or whatever. lf
there's some way you can try to prograrn customers to buy again...
that's always a plus... unless it's less often than they would re-buy
on their own.

4. Offer Price or Bonus inducements For Frequency:

The Smoothie store by my house does this excellently. When you
buy a smoothie they stamp a card with 1O boxes on it. Every time
I go in with this card, they stamp it once. If I forget the card, I get a
fresh card stamped, as they1l accept 1O stamps even if theyare on
numerous cards. An5rway, once the card has lO stamps on it, you
get a free smoothie. Ite seen this done at carwashes... coffee
houses.,. and a few other places. If there is some way you c€ut use
this on your direct sales... you're doing well.

You can also offer a free bonus with a certain purchase frequency.
Remember I was saying about the free DVD players when a
customer stayed on my product for six months? I was making $4O
each and every month they took my herbal supplement..- I was
getting four months on average. I could buy DVD players for $40...
and I would give one to the cu.stomer once they took the product
for 6 months. Now, the 6th month's revenue paid for the DVD
player in full..- and I got the fifth month's revenue, when I wouldn't
have gotten it as I had a 4 month er:stomer life- When you.'re
selling 4O,OOOpeople a month, that extra 4O,OOOpeople buying at
 213

$40 for the fifth month is $1.6 Million in free cash every month.
The sixth month's revenue of $1.6 Million went right to bu5zingthe
DVD player. And I clidn't just.send the DVD player automatically to
the customer- They had to remember they were on the product for
6 months and they had to call and request it. A good 307o never
took us up on the DVD player because that was not the reason
they wbre taking our product. Had they requested it, it was theirs.
If they didn't, we profited even more.

Now if you can get a 2O7oincrease on the first method.' - a2Oo/"

increase on your second method... and a 2O7oincrease on the third
method... you're going to blow the door off your business.

Lets go back to mY last comPanY.

I was bringing in 4O,OOOcustomers at $6O. Then each customer

bought three more times at $40 each time. That was it. This
brought-in $7.2 Mitlion a month. $Z'+ Million from new
customers-.. then $4.8 Miliion from the back-end sales over the
next 3 months.

Now, if 1 was to increase the 40,OO0 orders by a humble 20o/o and

bring-in 48,OO0 and instead of the $60 unit of sale... if I was able
to up sell them 2Oo/ota a $72 unit of sale.., I'm not looking at $2.4
Million anymore. I'm now looking at $3,456,OOO in sales. Then
instead of these customers buying three more times.at $4O... lets
say they're brrying 2Oo/orrl:are at the sarne $+0. tlow we've got
$6,912,OO0 instead of the $+.9 n4iilion. When you add up the 20%
increase in sales.-. at a 20o/ohigher unit of sale... and the customer
buys 2Oo/omore often on the back end... we're looking at
$10,368,00O in monthly sales versus $7,2OO,OOO.And we d get
this extra $S. t0 Million by increasing each of the three growlh
methods by a humble 2oo/o.
 a1A

ChapterFortyOne:
KeepingOut of Jail

If you do not know what yoll are doing... you can end up pissing off
an Attorney General... the Federal Trade Commission... the Postal
Inspectors... or any of the other numerous Government "alphabet"
agencies. Here's how to avoid the most common business mistakes
that get direct marketers in trouble:

Rule One:
Ship Products Within 30 Days Or Sooner!

From the very day you charge the customer's credit card, or from
the very day their personal check clears the bank... you have 3O-
days to get them their order. Most cttstomers will call and bicker
within two weeks if they have yet to receive their order. So if the
product is going to take the full 30-days to get to your customer,
make sure to tell them when they are on the phone placing an
order.

Now, you can ship products later than 3O days as long as you let
the customer know. That's why you see some commercials saying,
"allow 3 to 6 weeks for delivery"... and sometimes even longer! If
you cannot deliver the product within 30 days, make sure you tell
the customer when they order. I like to ship my orders within 4 or
5 days max. Sometimes things are out of your control, like when
you have a spike in orders and n:.n out of pi1ls or whatever, and
the manufacturer says they're going to need 4 weeks to fill your
purchase order.

If this happens and it is after you spoke to a customer on the

phone... what you're supposed to do is send your customers a post
card letting them know their order is going to be delayed a iittle bit
and tell them youll give them a free bonus or something for their
patience once you ship their order. This will keep many people
from canceling. And on this post card, you have to give the
customer the option to cancel his or her order.
This oost card is to be used for what we call "back orders". It'll
read something like i-nr:-
"l'm sorrv, but it's going to take a little longer than I anticipate to
ship your order of {product name) . It seems we've had a massive
sales spike, and we sold out faster than we thought. our supplier
is telling us the earliest he can have more product to us is (date)'
so, to *at . up for this delay, once we ship your order on (date),
I'm going to include a free bonus worth (price). Here's what it is:
you simply cannot wait
lpaigrapn about free bonus). Of course, if
untl Jaate) to get your order, yoL1 can cali us at (phone) and we'll
issue a credit immediately' Again, I'm sorry for the delay' I
und.erstand you're anxious to get (product name)-"

Sounds good? You can'use those words if you ever need to'

Rule Two:
Give All Legitimate Credits Within 15 Days!

Now, the key word is "legitimate". lf someone is trying to rip you

off, you can make your own judgment call. Most of the time, it's
better just to give the money back- even if it's past the guarantee
period by a few daYs.

Trust me- if you're being too strict with credits and most of your
customers place their order with credit cards, you're only asking
for charge backs from the credit card company. And remember, if
you jump over 17" in charge backs, there's a good chance you can
lose the merchant account and where are you going to then
process your orders?

My advice... Don't be a dick... but don't be a fool.

Rule Three:
Don't Lie To Yor,rr Prospects!

lf you hype your product in your ad- that's fine. If you use
h5rperbo1e...that's fine. if you lie... you're screwed.
 )76

Sure, you may be able to get awalr' with it for a little while... but
once an alphabet agency is sticking their nose a-li in voi-rr
business... it's nothing but a headache.

Sometimes you may just be enthusiastic or over-enthusiastic when

writing your ad... and that's sornething all direct marketers do.
Just don't push it too far.

I got a new rule for myself. Unless I can get an expert such as a
Doctor to say my product can do what I said it can... and unless
this Doctor can be a total stranger..- and would be able to go on a
stand in a courtroom and tell the prosecution what I say is true...
I'11refrain from saying it.

And if you want to mai<e some crazy claims, make sure you get the
back-up proof ahead of time. If you're saying this cream reduces
cellulite by 360/o...you'd better find some scientific data to prove
this... and keep copies of it in a safe place other than your home or
office.

Key word.s to remember: An Ounce Of Prevention is Worth a Pound

Of Cure. Get it ahead of time... it's so much easier to get proof
earlier than it is to get it later.

Rule Four:
Sell Products You Know Will Work As Claimed!

Or at least real ciose to ho'w you claim. I once read a story in a

book by Joe Sugarman about a very popular infomercial marketer
who once wanted to sell one of his products through Sugraman's
company.

Joe said fine but wanted to achrally try the product to see how
good it works. The popular infornercial marketer didn't want Joe to
test the product and he told Joe about a story that I found funny:

It was about this father and son. The father had a-il these cans of
tuna and they were trying to sell the funa- the only thing rvas the
tuna was expired- They bought the funa from someone else, and
now they were trying to "unload" it on someone else. The kid said
 )71

to his father, why don't we just eat the tuna?.. and the father told
the son. that an't eatin' tuna... that's sellin' tuna-

Joe declined to sell the product... but the story is funny. Carlton
Sheet's Real Estate program is sellin'funa... not eatin'tuna. If it
were eatin'tuna... he would not be seiling the information... he'd
be using it to buy real estate. Most product I see on the market are
rvhat I call "sellin'tuna". Try to sell only what you feel at least
works somewhat. Remember, your opinion of the product is your
opinion. What matter is can you get in trouble for selling what
you're selling? And do more than l07o of your customers ask for
their money back. If you can honestly answer NO to those two
questions, you should be fine.

Of course, I'm no Attorney and in no shape to give you any legal

advise, so I'd advise you to have an Attorney iook at anything you
may have questions or concerns about doing or se1ling.

Also, if there are any "skeletons' in your closet... make sure no

employee, vendor, or customer ever knows of them... because if
there comes a time when you piss them off... or even if you don't...
they can and will use this "skeleton" against you- and in some
cases... it can ruin You.
 278

ChapterFortyTwo:
BlundersThatCostMe Millions

in this chapter, I'm going to teil you some of the top blunders that
we've had over the past l0 years... some which cost me MILLIONS
of dollars. You'll make the same mistakes if you're not care{\rl, so
read this chapter and make sure you do not mess-up like I did.

Having the wrong 8OO# on a direct maiier or ad:

I remember once I was coming off a bad business, which lost me

much of rny fortune, and I tested a new sales letter than brought in
great results. When I went to roll it out in a large quantity of
150,OOOletters, either I misunderstood... or my partner gave me
the wrong 8OO# to put on these sales letters.

We printed and mailed the letters and were wondering rvhy four
days after we dropped, we had just a few orders. It wasn't until one
of the order takers came to me and said a lot of people were saying
the 80O# on the letter was wrong, so they had to call the 800#
directory to get our correct number!

When she came to me and said that, l knew that was what's
wrong. I called the 80O# in the sales letter and it went to some
carpet cleaner's answering machine.

Now you got to understand, if this rnailer lost me rnoney, I would

be finished and out of business at least for a little while. I had to
get it to work.

One of the guys who worked for me got the carpet cleaner's 8OO# to
forward to our lines. We were getting orders. What did he do? Did
he cut some kind of a deal with these carpet cleaners?

T\-rrns out he called the phone company and sirnply forwarded the
800# to our number. This was wrong, and I'rn not even sure if that
was what he did... but it got the orders,coming back to my phones
and while results were not as great as they should have been... at
 )79

back and piay

least we made a little money and were able to come
another ciay. we fixed the 800# and my partner and I used to joke
about this Lvery time he was to give me a new phone nurnber to
add to a sales letter or advertisement'

was
The carpet cleaner ended up finding out we took his 8oo# and
tcind of pissed off. we made him feel better when we gave him
$5.oo0 ior the 30-day usage of his nurnber plus pay his phone bill-
which we did. We also gave him a bunch of software to donate to
the church he was a member of. Turns out the carpet cleaning
business was out of business... so we were lucky' Had it have been
a thriving business, he would have told us to screw-off'

when you have an BOO#, or phone sei-vice, or electric cornpany

for your buiiness... make sure to add a password, which
"""orr.rt*
is needed in order to make any changes. Competitors can call the
phone cornpany and pretend they're you. Theyll shut the phone
lines off and you'll be wondering where all the orders went.

Can this reaily happen? Yes. I even once had a competitor cut into
the phone junction box in front of our building complex and pull
our phone wires out of the connector! lt took the phone company
hours to figure out what was going on! We lost a ton of calls!

Website Down:

When we started using a website to aid in order taking, I had a big

fear of these large companies offering hosting. I thought we'd have
better up time hosting the site with our computer programmer. But
was I wrong. There wer€ many times the site would go down and
I'd have to call him to reboot the server. One time, he lost power
and instead of having a generator, he thought the server would be
okay on the back-up battery. When that went dead a few hours
later, I insisted he go and get a generator. He did, but not without
cursing me out behind my back.

I really didn't understand too much about web hosting back then...
and I wanted a single server to handle my website alone... so i had
my programmer put just my site on it's own server with it's own T1
line. So here we are paying $t,OOO to host a simple S-page site...
 280

and we had so much down time, this guy lost me easiiy $200.000
in sales. Bottom line- only deal with professionals. If some one
sucks, either a vendor or a customer... take the lesson and get rid
of them.

Phone Lines and/or Phone System Down:

When you get large, you're not going to simply have a few phone
lines in an oflice. You're going to have a major phone system. Ours
c o s t o v e r $ I O O , O O O . . .c l o s e r t o $ 1 5 0 , O O O .N o w , I r e m e m b e r a f e w
times when this big black box went on the fritz and no seryicemen
were available to come immediately. I'd have 5O order takers and
3O customer service reps looking at me with nothing to do...
knowing every second that went by l was losing money.

Seriously, I could take an easy$lB0,O0O in one day's time frorn

phone orders only.

Call g.tr1"rs'fhat Don't Care:

I once hired a call center in New Jersey. They promised me they

were fully staffed and were able to handle my order calls overnight
while we were closed.

The iirst night they had the phones forwarded to them ,I got I /2
the orders I usually get. They were telling us that's all that called
and I just remember thinking to rnyself, "Don't these assholes
know how many orders I get? The next night I calied and some
"ignant" woman hung up on rne after ringing the phone 8 or 9
times... then when I went to call back, it was off the hook for at
least an hour. I never saw anything like it. we imrnediately took
our ca-lls away from these jokers and they actually wanted to get
paid for their time!

Make Sure The Cal1 Center is Hooked Up Right!

I remember I once tested a golf club and left all the calls at the call
center. I was wondering why we didn't get any orders a rveek later.
I called the number listed on my letter and nobody answered the
phone! I called the catl center and nobody in my office alerted them
 281

to look for calls on this number i used in the sales letter. My office
s c r e w e dt h i s u p .

You have to nip bh.rndersin the bud. If you don,t catch them fast
enough... they can run you out of business. If your phone lines are
down... the customers are not going to call you back. If y'ute
luclgl, you'Il get 40%. The same with the website. If it's down...
you're losing orders forever. Do not deai with unprofessional call
centers or website hosting companies. The first sign of shit with
them... get rid of them.

Also beware of these computer people. They like to put passwords

on things in the system and they like to hold those passv/ords as
a
sense ofjob securit5r.Fuck this. If they want to get p"ia... they
have to hand over all the passwords.
 282

ChapterFortyThree:
Knock-Offs

Once you run an advertisement a few times or run an infomercial a

few times-.. it's a sign to other marketers that you have a winner.

Many direct marketers do not come up with their own ideas... they
steal other's winning ideas.

One direct marketing pro told me once you see an infomercial run
two weekends in a row... it's a sign that it's a profitable show and
other direct marketers will soon steal the idea.

Now, I've had about a half dozen huge successes in direct

marketing over the last 1O years. IVe been knocked-off at least four
times. One guy who stole one of my products makes over $2OO
Million and even is the majority sponsor of a Nascar!

Another knock-off brags in his infomercial that he's sold a quarter

of a billion dollars worth of "his" product. Good for him. May he
choke and die.

But I really cannot hate them for what theyVe done. My fianc€e
Suzanne gets so mad when she sees one of the knock-offs TV
commercial on TV. I tell her this:

Say we were broke or doing poorly. If we saw this product that

someone else was marketing that was making him millions. If we
can copy that identical product and market it ourselves and make
ourselves rnillions, so we can buy the mansions... the Ferraris...
the drearn vacations.,. would her morality keep her from doing it?

It ta.kes her about a second to say she'd do it. I then say, well how
can we be mad at someone who'd do the same thing wed do?
 283

Maybe I'm fooling myself with this bullshit... but it does sure work
to calm rne down. It's a form of a compliment right? We1l, lets not
push it.

If you,re selling a dietary supplement, it can be knocked-off in a

few minutes. A book on a particular subject? Sure, you can
copyright the book, but if I know the "topic" is hot, I can just create
my own book.

But while it may be impossible to prevent knock-offs from stealing

your ideas on most products, you can try to prevent them from
succeeding. This chapter is going to tell you how I held some of
these copycats on the ground, while I rocketed to the moon'

Direct Mail Is Most Secret:

When you advertise in magazines or run TV commercia-ls, they are
for everyone's eyes to see. When you have letters in the mail, it is
very secretive. But, if you have a hot promotion in direct mail, why
should you hold yourself back and not rLrn magazine ads? You
shouldn,'t. What I like to do is build-up enough money in direct
mail that I can roll-out on a big scale in magazines. It would take a
knock-off months to catch up and gain the market-share I have
estabiished- This of cortrse comes with some risks. You'd better
pick quality rnagazines and you better not pay too much. Direct
Mail is much harder to get to work than magazine advertisements.
So, if you're rnaking money on direct mail, it's prett5r safe to
assume you can make money in print ads as long as they are in
quality magazines and you do not pay too much. Remember,
$2O/M to $3O/M for fuIl-page advertisements- that's all. And if you
can get them cheaper- do so!

Magazine Ads Awake Knock-Offs In 3 to 4 Issues:

As soon as I see an advertisement running in a publication 3 or 4
times, especially if it is a full page ad... and especially if it is an
expensive magazine... l'1.1know the damn thing is working for
them. Your competitors will come to the same assumption. What
they don't know is how much you are paying for the ad... so you've
got to get ads for the lowest price you can. i'm sure there are direct
marketing pros reading this book who think I'rn crazg to buy space
for $20 per thousand paid readers. If they can buy space for
 .lB4

cheaper, maybe they should contact rne and bccome m-v media
buyer because I can't get it anY less'

EXCLUSIVES:
This is a tactic I've used for years and it's worked like a charm. I
pissed offall my knock-offs with this tactic... and I loved every
second of it. what I do once I know I have a winner in direct mail
and want to expand into magazines is get exclusives'

An exclusive is when you go to a magazine and first negotiate a

price. Then tell them you want to be the only marketer of whatever
in that magazine. Now, this
lro.r'r. selling to be aliowed to advertise
is not going to work if the magazine already has advertisers selling
similar products. This is meant for original products'

The magazine may have no problem with this because they are not
being flooded with marketers wanting to place ads for the same
prodircts you're selling at the time. But the key words are "at the
time". once you get going and the knock-offs come out of the
woodwork... they'Il be hounding every magazine you advertise in.
You've already done the research and proved that magazine works'

If you wait to try to get exclusives until after knock-offs are

flooding t:ne rnagazine, it's going to be a lot harder... a lot more
expensive... or damn near impossible. Why would the publisher cut
revenue from his business just to help you? He's not'

So, if youte got a hit and want to expand to magazine ads, get
exciusives right after you negotiate price. If the magazine wants
you to pay $21 ,000 and you want to pay $2O,0O0... the dealmaker
for thern could be the exclusive.

I remember I placed ads in Maxim Magazine a few years track.

Maybe you remember me... I was giving away a Lamborghini?
An5rway, I got Maxim down to $5o,o0o per page in black and white.
They had 2.5 Million paid copies sold... so that's $2O per thousand
paid copies sold. Good!

Then I wanted an exclusive to keep knock-offs from coming in the

same pages I ran. They said they wanted $ l O,OOOextra per page.
 28.t

That,s a200k premium... but since I was getting the pages for
fuli
$20/M or $20 cPM... I budged... but made them throrv-in
color... which I used sparingly just to mimic their layout'

Did competitors hate it? You betcha! Did I keep them out? Yup.
sure, they could have copied my product very easily... but if they
couldn't solicit large volumes of customers like i could'.- they stood
no chance.

Some magazines would not offer me an exclusive and I found out I

really didn't need them in some situations. Like FHM... They would
not offer an exclusive to me, and let 3 or 4 of my competitors in the
pages with me.

Month after month, they all fell out. within three months, they
were no longer advertising in FttM. But this would have not been
the case if these marketers were good at creating advertisements.
Lucky for me, they weren't. The publisher should have taken the
exclusive.

You Can Negotiate Position When Renting Lists:

Say you're renting a certain mailing list and it's working good for
you. Let's say there are four other marketers mailing this list with
similar offers as you have. You can increase your response by
going to the mailing iist manager and telling them you'lI pay a
premium to get the monthly hotline names before anyone else.
Check this out... if someone stole or "copied' my sales letter and
got their hands on the lists I rent before I do... I1l get horrible
response when I go to mail my letter to this list. If you want to try
to get the list first, get a relationship with the manager and ask
them if they can cali you the very day the list is updated... and see
if they can rent you first- without paying. If they want to make a
little extra money... grease them... as long as it's more profitabie to
you.

In magazines, if you do not get an exclusive, do you know what the

publisher or advertising rep is going to do as soon as he gets your
ad? If there's a iot of peopie selling similar products as yours...
He's going to call all your competitors and tell them, "Look, Vince
just gave us 4 pages! You should get in here as well. We can offer
 286

you a better deal!". The deal is no better you can be sure of that...
but they will call your competitors and try to egg-them-on to run
ads. Keep in mind, they're a business'

Remember... the answer to 9 out of 1O questions is MONEY' you

can always get what you want for enough money.

2-Steps vs. 1-Steps:

If you run 2-step advertisements in magazines instead of 1-steps...
you can keep a iot of the "workings" to your offer in the dark.
Remember like I was saying in a previous chapter, knock-offs are
usually lazy. They do not have it in them to go through all the
steps of your advertisements to see if there is something behind it
all. A 2-step ad can keep your "secret' a secret a little longer.

Sue If You Have a Case:

If you have a case, like when solneone totally violates your
bgsinesses advertisements, trademarks, etc., try to resolve your
differences between yourselves before you hire an Attorney. But if
that goes nowhere, and it usually wili not go anywhere, go and see
an Attorney. But make sure the Attorney is not telling you that
there is a case there just to create some work for himself.
Attorneys are scumbags and I haven't met one I like' Milking
money from misery scumbags. But if you need to use one'.' you
need to use one. Just make sure you don't get milked too rnuch.

Dont Slump To The Knock-Offs Level In Print:

Do you know what's funny? Knock-Offs steal your idea and
probably 5O%oof your ad... just hyping the claims a little' You say
66%,.. theyll say 67Vo. But what's worse than anything, is that
theyll acfually tatk shit about you and your product in their ad!
Maybe they1l even cafl themselves the original! To the new reader
of the magazine... lvhat does he know? He didn't see your ad frrst.
What I usually do is go to the publisher and teli them I was an
advertiser for a long time and see if they can get the advertiser to
refrain from talking shit in their ads. If the publisher helps, great.
If he doesn't, what are you going to do... pull your ad and leave all
the revenue to this knock-ofP If you do, he's got everything he
wanted!
 281

Now, an inexperienced direct rnarketer may look to immediately

slam the other advertiser back in his ads. Don't do this. The
consumer does not care about your pissing fight with this knock-
off. Take the higher road. Seriously. When the consumer sees this
guy slamming you and ta-lking all this shit, while your ad piles on
creditability... the customer is going to cali you'

Maybe the knock-off comes in with a lower price. That's their

specialty. Who cares? Do not lower your price to meet theirs. What
ybu need to do is add creditability to your ad. More testimonials...
a larger ad... favorable magazine articles... better guarantees... a
free bonus... an endorsement... etc. You rvant to be more creditable
and youU win.

Dont Let Web Marketers Free Ridc On Your Trademark!:

Keep an inteliectual property person on this- If your product is
com, they'll re gister www- Skinceu tical s.net. .'
www. Skincer-rtica-1s.
and www.buySkinceuticals.com. These pages will just forward to
their pages with their products. Once you get large enough.'. if
you're lucky enough to get large enough... fighting off scum will be
a full time job. Just dont make it yours. Hire someone. You must
keep focused!
 288

ChapterFortyFour:
ln Closing

I cannot believe I was able to squeeze this book out in l7 short

daysl I sure hope it doesn't read like it took 17 days. I hope it was
arexperience you'll never forget for the rest of your life'

I hope I was able to alter your life at least in a small way. Hopefully
you become a multi-millionaire! I sure gave you all the tools I used
to get there 48-tirnes over!

This book may take a few times to read for everything to absorb
into your brain. I1l tell you one thing". it's easier for this
information to be understood if you have an idea for a product in
mind while you are reading it'

Trust me. People have copied what I've done and made themselves
were in
$2OO Million empires... and they were not taught like you
this book.

There's no reason why you cannot make your dreams come to

reality with this book. If you're having a hard time changing the
way you think... go and get Napoleon Hill or Bob Proctor's book as
I talk about in the epilogue. What they teach, You cannot put a
price on, The basis of their work is this: '

Your mind has two parts. The conscious and the sub-conscious-
'dream" life. No matter how
Ask yourself to create all idea of your
crazy some of the things sound, write them down in bullet-form. I
don't care if you'd wish you'd own a Rolls Royce and a $20 Million
Estate... and you're famous and you're going out with a beautiful
celebrity... whatever you dream- write it down. Pretend you stili
have the wild imagination of a child. That imagination we used to
have was God's greatest gift to us and our teachers, otlr pai-ents,
our friends all told us to "kili" it. How sfupid they were!
 289

in
Now, vou have this list of 2o things or so you wish you'd have
yo.,rlif.. Norv, write them down in present tense as if you aiready
"have
them. so, it lvon't be, "l want a Rolis Royce Phantom"". it'i1 be
.,1own a Rolls Royce Phantom. It's black with a red leather
interior."

Now make a list of the good things in life you want and write them
in present tense. This is called your list of affirmations.

Now, write down your perfect life..., which would include many, if
not ai1 of the things you've listed, you already "had"'

It should take a Page or two.

On the top of this pagb, write the date in which you want the goal
to materia-1ize.I)on't set it too close... but don't set it 1O years away
either. Maybe six months away... maybe a year away like this
book's title, "The 12-Month Millionaire".

Now, everyday... sometimes twice a day... sometimes three times a

day, rewrite the perfect life over and over again. The more
"impressions" you make on your sub-conscious mind, the quicker
these results will materialize for you.

I'm being serious.

This is the "secret" of the rich and famous. This is the "secret"
they've used to build their fortunes. Now you can use it yourself.

Does it work? Let me tell you a personal story of what I wanted

back in 1994, when I w'as just 2O years old,.. without a business...
or riches of any kind. Look at what I dreamed... and look what I
got-

I wanted a black Rolls Royce. Black with a black Everflex roof and
a cream interior- under 2O.0OOmiles and it had to be a 1991 or
newer.

I ended up with a 1991 , black Rolls Royce, Cream interior, Black

Everflex roof. 17,000 miles, 1991 model year.
 29i)

I wanted a bpsiness that was clean and long lasting that grossed
over $20,000 a week in gross sales.

Within 60 days of doing this, I had a $2O,OOOa week business that

was clean and long lasting. It evenhrally made me $4O,OOOa week.

I wanted to have a funny personaliry and be a "good talker". I

:urrentiy was out of the loop for a few years studying and lost my
"personali$1".

I was immediately funny, outgoing and was meeting women almost

instantly, where I had a dry spell for three years while I studied.

I wanted my Mother who has a termina-l disease to be healthier.

She used to live in New Jersey and always calied me telling me how
she didn't feel so good.

She ended up moving out west with us a few years later and her
health is good.

I wanted a $SOO,O0Ohome with a maid to take care of me.

When I wrote this, I lived with my Uncle. A few years later, i had a
$+ l,tillion Home and a $2 Million Home at the same time and I had
full time maids that kept the place clean ald picked up my child
from school and even babysitted on the weekends if we needed her.

I could go on... I listed a few more things that all came true. And
while they may not seern like big deals to me right now, they were
written in 1994... and in i994 I didn't have too much. This shrff
was HUGE for me to be thinking about back then. But they all
came true.

Trust me HILL... PROCTOR... KARBO. You need to read these

books.

This sfuff sounds freaky... and it is. But this is the way we were
'Ihis
wired as humans. is how we get ahead in life. When we have a
sllccess, we do some of the stuff these Eluys teach... it's just we
 2q1

clidn,tknowwewerecloingit.onceyouknowhorvtodoitatwii]''.
the World is voursl
your mind"' the mind
Once you plant the stuff you want-into
And everything you want in
makes your body change its vibrations'
of vibration'
life is aitracted to you through the law
the best book that
You've got the best book on rlirect response"'
canteachyouhowpeoplemakemillionsofdollars-fast..'now
youtegottogoout^andgetone,two,orallthreeoftheseself-heip
tooks IVe listed in this book'

ifyoueverneedtocontactme'mycontactinformationislistedin
this book. Feel free to email me'
within the next year"'
Let,s get going! You've got to be a millionaire
my friend'
or else I'rn a fraud. Get cracking! Good fuck'

THE BEGINNING
 )92

BONUSCHAPTER ONE;
Fishing

I am a fisherman. But not in the ordinary way, I do not go on a

boat with a fishing rod. I send direct mail sales letters to pools of
prospects and wait to see how many "bites" I get.

Now, the "product" I'rn selling is just a means to an end' lt's the
"bait" on my hook, so to speak.

i really do not care what I'm selling as long as it makes the fish
bite... and bite we1l.

You'd never hear a Professional fisherman saying, I'm not using a

particular type of bait because I'm not "interested' in it... or it's
"gross'... or I'm "embarrassed" by it. NO. As long as the bait
makes the damn fish bite..- it could be anything.

I feel the same way about products. You shouldn't care so much
about what they are, as long as they pull in the orders.

And that's what this entire business revolves around... you having
strong enough bait to pull more revenue in orders than what it cost
you to mail the sa-lesletters in the first place.

You also have to make sure you're fishing in the right pool of
water. If you're looking for a certain type of ftsh, and they are not
known to be in the stream you're fishing in... get the he1l out of it!

I11 repeat it again. Forget everything about copy... guarantees...

headlines... etc. These are just things that make your selling job
more porverful. What it's all about is having the right product, with
the right appeal... to the right group of people.

You could be the greatest copywriter in the world, and that is not
going to guarantee youll make rnillions every time you mail a new
 293

letter for a nerv product. If that were true, I sure as hell wouldn't
waste rny time writing this book, I'd be rvriting sales lettersl

You just have to keep your eyes

The right product wiil come to yo'1"1.
and ears open. Listen to everyone. By listening to other people...
you'd be amazed what you pick up. Read everything. A1l types of
magazines.-. ail types of books... newspapers, etc.

Try to find a huge wave and ride the damn thing. lf you're seeing
that iow-carb stuff is in, make some sort of product that
pigrybacks off the demand for low carb stuff... a low carb diet
newsletter... a carb-biocker diet pill... etc.

Look for these waves and ride thern. Look at the ipod from Apple.
Do you see how much money these after market accessories
manufacturers are making?

You want the best bait. In order to find it... find a huge need or
desire or pain and make it all better for your prospect. you can
find and create hot products by riding the waves.
 294

BONUSCHAPTER TWO:
In a Day
HowTo Lose$48,OOO,OOO

In the first paragraph of this book, I asked you if learning a new

business from a guy who pleads guilty to horrible crimes, lost
millions of dollars, and was even facing jail time was a bad idea.
Remember?

Well, I knew you wouldn't let me finish off this book without
explaining what the hell I was talking about'

I,m sure a lot of people reading this book said, "why the hetl would
this nut start his book with a paragraph iike that?" The answer is
simpie.

I don't fucking care.

I'm not embarrassed by anything that has happened to me in the

past, Why? Because i was a victim of corrupt Government'

Look- I wouldn't want to learn anything from a guy rvho has lived
the pampered life. I want to learn from the guy who has seen the
top of thl mountain... as well as the basement of the jail. That's
the guy who has the "right" information for me.

You see... I was pretty darned successful. I had over $1O Million in
my checking account alone. t had mansions ali over the place'
Dream cars. Everything.

what people do not realize is that once a product is successful and

you're mailing letters or running ads in large quantity... you have
io keep an eye on every aspect to make sure you keep your aircraft
"floating".

For some, running the business and keeping it "floating" is a huge

responsibilitY. As it was for me.
 295

Anyway, here I'm worried oniy about running the business and
keeping the nurnbers right. I',m not focused on being a "target".

My business partner had some sort of an altercation with one of

the employees- a iirno driver. Anyway, I knew nothing about any
friction between these two guys until it was too late'

So, the limo driver ended up getting fired or quitting- I don't know'
He was so pissed at my partner for whatever reason, and instead of
just letting it go, he went to the local Police Department and said
my partner fondled his son!

Yes.

So, the Detective had to investigate this serious allegation, and he

did. And it went nowhere. The Detective toid the limo driver to buzz
off.

was the ex-limo driver satisfied yet? Not in a million years.

what this guy then did, was go to the Attorney General of the state
I was operating my business in- He went in and told the
prosecutors a story about how my partner and I were in the mob
and how we were paytng off tl.e mob.., and how we la.ughed at the
customers who bought our products, because they were bogus..-
and horv we never gave customers credits, etc'

Nice guy.

I thought the saying was a'woman" scorned... not a limo driver' So

anJrway...

Instead of the state doing a iittle research into this guy, his false
"fondling" story and maybe even giving us arr opportunity to
respond to these allegations... they created Forfeifure for Seizure
Warrant and got a Judge to acfually "help" them polish it!

So, one day my partner and I was at the bank and the Manager of
the branch (rvho rvanted to work for us) comes over and asks, "Why
are all vour accounts frozen?" We looked at hirn like he was crazy,
 296

so we rushed back to the office to call our Attorney. Well, wouldn't

you know... as we were pr-rlling up, tons of men with shields and
guns blazing were storrning our building. I kept driving. I had to
get to the Attorney to see what the hell was going on.

Turns out, the State with their "witness" are suing us for fraud and
money laundering and a list of other horrible things. That was fine.
But what they did was forfeiture. A forfeifure is when the State
comes in and takes a1l your assets- your cars- your homes- your
bank accounts- even the engagement ring off my Fianc€'s finger!

Now, how the hell can yoll fight a case with no resources? In a
way, I wish I were doing something wrong when they seized
everything. If I were doing something wrong, I would have stashed
millions of dollars and had Passports ready to flee. But I had just
$2000 in my pocket and a Rolex on my arm.

I got a friend to lend me $lO0,0OO for the Attorney. The Attorney

ate through this in two or three months. Gary Halbert says it
best... You're innocent until oroven broke-

The State locked up all our records so we cor.rldn't review Merchant

Statements that would have shown we fully gave credits. They
withheld so much information, and fought so unfairlY, mY Jewish
friend said, "It's Nazi GermanY!"

On top of taking all your monev and assets, thev also stack
Criminal charges sky-high. But they never file them... they just
threaten you with them.

why rticl they do this?'lhey wanted the $48 Million my partner and
I had.

Let me tell you, when 3rou're being threatened rvith lO or 20 years

in prison... even if you are 1oo7o innocent, there's stiil some
element of risk. Especially, when vou have no money to hire a good
Attorney.

Not only that, but who's going to pa-v for all those experts you have
io hire? They do nor rvork for iree.
 !'J !

'lhe State knows ii,vou ca.nnot aiiorci to ileht iire case, alci if thev
stack the threat of Criminal charges deep enough. youli probabiy
iust torieit ali your assets to them anci gr; away. A rvindl-ail-

You see, rvhen the_Vseize ali _vour aSSetS!the onlv wa-v the,v can
,'keep' thern is to have you sign them over (usuaiiy in
actually
some sori r:i a piea bargain cieaii... or ii-vou get convicted at trial.
And then of course, your ass is going to jaii as well'

I aiwavs haci the beiief vou can make rrlorlelf ' and vou cannot make
time. But I was not reariy to give up just yet'

But maybe I shouid have... because the staie started iooping in

other peopie into the criminal charges. My Fianc€, who was
nothing more than a giri who handleci payroii and Human
Resources. l'he State was looking frrr me to buck-ie. They couid
charge whomever thev wanted. anci the charges may or malv not
stick... but the punishmeni is in the process'

Ail the pressure iook its toli a Jiear into this. fuly partner and I
stmck a piea deal where we'd forfeit $47 Miilion in cash and assets
and piead guiit_v to monev laundering anci tiaud schemes. ln
refuin, we d put ihis behind us, and keep famiiy mernbers oui of
'I'he
the hot seat 1vewere in. State just wanteci the money'

So, the iesson to be learned here: iiyou make a ton ointoney in

this business.., or in any business... keep it protected. Do noi have
visible, seizabie assets.

l'he Government will rob Your ass'

What to know something funny? After we entered our pleas. that

ex-limo driver calied our Attorney and toici him he wanted to talk.

Turns out the investigators told him when they tirst met him that
they would give him as much as lo?i, of what they seize from us-
That wor.rld have been iike $4.8 tvliliion. Fleli, I know people wholi
make up shit atrout peopie they iike ior the chance at $4.8
Ir{illion... let alons scme guy';rho hates us!
 LY'

'l'he
reason whv he carnc iorward? The State ncver pi:ici irirni rinci
he was pisseci anci wanteci io get back ai them the same way he
wantecl io get back at us.

But it was ioo l:rte. We entereci the plea aireativ anci tne .jr-rcige
wouicin't iet us oui of ihe Piea!

I'm not goingio reveaj ihe state I was in... but t wiil tcii vou that it
is a "good oid boy" siate anci it is very corrupt.

i ended up getl"ing sente:nceci to b rnonths

former Dartner.

The $48 Miiiion ihe State seizeri was suDposeri to go to aii the
victims we createcj with or:r products. While I was in the joint, I
',rrasre.ading a ne',r,'spapergrticle about us. The Sts*'c clairned thei'
received just over- SOOOreqrlests for refunds from o1.rrc1'lstomers.

Our products sold for $5O. I)o the math. That'*e $25O,OOOin
reflr,nds... which is just a.\'hat 1'eelvot-lld ha.ve given back in tti/c'
r,veeli,stiine. But lr.itat is tlre state goi;rg to do rvitlr the othe;'
$47,7SO,OOCthey seized from us? Windfall profits!

Heil, even the builciing our busincss was in... it was sutrposed tg be
liquidared for the "victims". Well, The US Customs Office is in it.
They just decided, "He3r,we iike this building.-. iets iake it'"

It's realiy that easv for these guys.

Don't have seizable assets. lf you have nothing for them to terlse.
they do not care about purting you in jail- Ail they are afier is rhe
rl1oney.

And -your Lawyer r,vili make back oifice trades with yor-rr lllolleyi
They1l make deais with the state where theyll make sure you give
the staie ail your seized a.ssets in exchange for thc State going
iight on one of their "Vioient" criminal clients. Beiieve me..' li's
true ,
 L>'

trne oi our i\iiortrevs has a iriend, rvho hrad a son' This son sot inio
an arg11mentrvith someone anci while the grly was waikii-rg awav'
the kici shor ihe qtrv irt rhe backi

i\ow, twt_rbzrcitirirrgs here: One- the gr.-ivr,vaswaiking awat,v...anci

'i'he guv was aimost dead.'.
iwo, the gunshot was abcrvethe wasiei
bur pulied tirrough.

Somehorv, or-rrAitorney got tiris kid got ofl with -iust six ,vears of
probation! Hnd i went to jail! Go figure.

ii i couiri go back in time . this is how I would have nrepareci for

ihis better:

1. i wouici have had tu,tr rrriiiion doilars in cash burietl somewhere

other ihan mY house or mY ofijce'

2. i would frave i:ad ciinicai studies f<rr anv dietary suppiernent I

soid. i wouid have had aii ihe experts saying horv weii it worked,
before it rertuired them to sav ii in a collrt' rlf law'

3. lwoulci have neverhad any of mv assets seizable. My house, rnv

cars, rny bank accouni.s. My bank accounts rvould have had a iittie
*pot of gold" woulci irave been
rloney in them... br-ri all the real
protecteci- probabiy in some other country.

4. i wouia have had Passports tor all my familv involved. li's easier
ior you to negotiate when you are not under US iaw.

5. I would have looked over each one of m-v acls with a magnifying
glass. i wouid have had the ads critiqued by an r\ttorney. i wouid
have made sure I have soiid proof of everv claim, and I would have
kept all ihis soiid proof off site- Not in my home or office-
Sornervliere hiciderr.

6. This rvas out oi rnv control, bui I wouid never make an employee
quit or ger iired mad. Now, when this guy cannot get a new job and
is having financiitl problerns, the iirst ttring he wants to do is make
you have iinanciai Probiems-
 i tiiJ

7. iiave a back-up cop-voi -vour colnprete oaiabeise on orte of thost:

nerv fiash memory key chains. ii things gei horribie. vou can
aiwa-vs count on making a ton of rnortc,vwith yuur nouse fiie. lf i
had mine, i couid have reaped an easy $4 iviiliion. Keep the
ciatabase on your key chain.
'i'r_v
B. to ieasc at ieast onc of yorlr cars and make surc ,vou have
enough money hiciden away to pay the eniire iime of the iease. For
exarnpie, a $ilOOl) a month iease for rhree years- Have $i3b.O(lC,
burieci. Anri don't forget about insurance! The Government cannot
seize "leasedo assets. lfaybe Co the sa.rne fcr your horne.

i mention the guy who createti Giris Gone Wild a i'ew tirncs in this
book. He recentiy ran inio a problem in Fioriiia. Agents seized his
Ferrerri and his private jet. But they had to return the jet as it was
ieased! in ihe iong run, he beai ihe case and ali charges were
dropped. But the.iet riid corle back to him immeciiateiv.

9. I wouid have Lrad copies oi aii ivlerchant Statements and oiher

important docurnenis in a iocarion other ihan my home or my
ofiice. important intorrnation you need to prove vour irrrtocence wili
be "iost" by Prosecutors. Aiways havc your own copies.

These 9 things are worth a rnillion bucks. Over a rniilion bucks. If

yor.l see yourseif geiiing huge... make sure to iisren to ihem' Don'i
learn the hard rvav like i had to.

Poiiticians, Prosecutors, and ALMOST trVERY GOVEIINMEi'iT

ENIPLOYEE are scumbags. You have io be a certain type of person
io do these jobs. You have to be a scumbag.

Seriousiy, haci I obeyed these 9 things I had to learn the hard

way... I'd be sitting on an extra $40,OOO,OOO and more.

'l'here
are probably oniy a handfui of direct markelers tirat carr tell
you as much as I can. I've seen it ali. The good... the bad... the
ugiy. When vou make,vour miliions, make sure to protect them.
 -lt) I

E niinor
Lrrrrrbr.v' ro'

Tiie lViillionaire'stibrary

'fcsieci
Acivertising lvlethods- John Caples

'ihis is a great ancl classic book that reaiiv taugnt me about testing
adverr.ising.i think this book is a mrrst-read!
'l'o
T]ne l,azv ivlan's Wa-v R.iches- Joe Karocr

Joe is the man. His book was one of the l-irst books lve read on
direct response. The first half of the book teaches about Dyna-
'l'ire first few chapiers of this book changeci my life for the
Ps-r'ch.
betrer anri a more porveriul anri proforrnci level than just iearning
how to cio maii orcir:r. ll taught rne how I can rely on m1ust:if to get
anything in iife i need or want' Once you're finished with my book
you shoulci go and reacl ieie's as soon as vou can!

Breakt hro ugh Aciverti sin g- B u gerre Sc hrva rtz

i lookecr lor this book lbr over eight years! lt was lirst published in
1966 anci then again in i9B4- And finally again in 20O4. When it
w-as i-irsi publisi:eci irr i966, the author clairns it sold only a few
thousand copies! The new pubiisher of it said he broughi ihis book
track io the marker because he iolrnd an oider copv selling for $90O
on the Internetl Was this book worth the eight years it took me to
finally find it? Ycs. Eugene taught rne many things. One of them is
that if I prrt a potential drawback or negative clairns before a
positive clainr, it ttrerkes tire positive claim fuul to ten times as
por','erfui .:s the cl.::im presented by itself. And n'here most
marketers add hype to their ads and sales letter-s when they do not
r.voik... and get i:o bettet'iesults... wheti the i'ea-l l'eason r,vhy tlte ad
failed is that thc prospect didn't believe the clairns. Hyping the
claims in the seconci aitempt does not make it better. lvlavbe going
in ihe opposiie cjirection will produce better results... water down
some ciaims-.. or acid some negative facts about the product to
make the eood stuff seem more beiievabie. This book was written
 i\) /

bv a scientist rnore than a copr,'rvriter.Schwariz rvils both. it's n(Jt a

iighr read anci requires two or three readings or moi-e to grasp what
ne is sa-ving.

Scientific Advertising/iviy Life in rtdvertising- Ciaude Ftopkins

This is the crassic book rvhich Davici Ogiirry said that nr.>bod1'
shouici have anyihing to do with advertising untii he has reaci this
book 7 times. I believe ii. Hopkins was one of the ilrst gu,vs to
teach aboui advertising techniques being scientiiic- meaning they
can be baseri on scientific princ:inies. This is an old book... Lrut it is
a must reaci.

Ogilv;r On Advertising- David Ogiiv-y

i like Davio Ogilvy. i rvas upset when right after ire dieci a few v<:ars
ago, I saw his most recent book on ihe "deep-discouni" table in
Barnes and Nobie. You can iearn a iot about his two lavout
formuias- which i have borrorved many times.

22'39 Tesi Secrets For Direct Marketing Sur:cess- liennv Hatch and
Don iackson

ii i haci_iust one book to advise vou buv regarriing direct urarketing

success... i'ci say for you to bu-v this one' it's reaiiy not a "book".-.
but more a lisi.ing oi many, manv expert's opinions regarding
different aspecis of direct marketing success' Wani info on
envelopes? Fiip to the envelope chapter and read what a felv ciozen
professionals have to say. It lists aii their opinions. Seriously-
Dennv Hatch anci IJr;n iackson put together one hell of a book
here. ive had a copy sitting on my coffee table since 1999 anci I
refer to it almost weekly. I'ou've got to get this book now!

Think anri Grow Rick- ltlapoleon Hitl

I env-v people who do noi know about Hiii's teachings and are
about to learn it ior the first time. Hill changed my life. i u'as abie
to ligure out how peopie are successiul. This is a ciassic i:or;k. A
rnusi read!
 ,\\r-)

ivionev wiaking lJt:crt:ls i)iJav Abrahant anrj t)iher fuiarkctiriu

vVizarcis-iav i\bra nat;r

l first gr'lt ihis Ierrge400'page book in 1995. I siiil have it rvithin five
feet of me right as i'm t54pingthis. Jay Abraham was probabiy one
'I'FIE
of, if not biggest consultants rvho inspired rne the most. I
i-emember firsi iearning some of the sltlif in this book anci i was
: a c k a i e w h r : n c i r e d . . .i r h i n k i i k e $ 4 o o - - - b r r t i f
f l o o r e r J -i r ' i i s e i S r o r b
you have it ten years later atrd can still refer to it, it's a gr:od
investment.

]'he ltobert Uollier Letter Bcrok- Robert Coliier

'i'WI
i looked ior this bor:k ipr vears. I finally sot a copv frr:m Press
when they re-issued it. A great book that realiy expiains how to
write coplz anci how to make cop,v seern "rea-l". Your copyr,vriting
abiiity wiii be greatiy improved after you read ihis rather large
book. a golci mine!

How to Win Friencis and lnfiuence Fcopie- Dale Carnegie

'i'his
ciassic teaches vou how to get wirai vou want by giving others
what they want. i.ior reaily about mail order, or direct response
selling.". but it is a must read for any one looking to "sell" either in
person or through Print media.

You Were Born Rich Seminar'l'apes- Bob Proctor

I iove Boo. Seriousi-v,when i'm ieeiing ciown or in a bad place, I

aiways pop on Bob's VHS cassetres of this seminar from the late
1980's and it tlrrns rny iife around every time! Bob basica-llv
teaches rvhat guys like Karbo and Hill teach, but he does ii in a
current-riay way. Bob Proctor has worked with many iamous
corporarions and to iearn what he has to teach is a blessing to the
wav -vou think for the rest of your life. Youve got to understand,
once you learn what Proctor teaches... you can never be the same.
'l'hese
You'li have the "blueprint" for success. tapes are priced
around $5OO... but again, worth every penny.
 i t.,..f

You Were ij<;rn iiich- Bob Proctor

i i t h e s e m i n a r i a p e s c o s t i o o m u r : h , you can se I iris book rirat

inspireci the seminar. The book will run u n d e r $ 2 O a n d i t ' s a
powerhouse!

1'he Gary Fiaibcrt Lciter- www.thegarr,vhaibertietier.corri

This is a iree site of m_vpa1 anci rnentor Uary Halbert. i-ie's the seif-
prociaimed "Best Copywriter In The Worid" who's made huncireds
of millions ior the peopie he's rvorkeci with over the years. 'fhis site
is basicaliy copies of his famous nervsierrer dating back to 1986.
it's free and itt a must reaci. You're eoing to want to get on his iist
so you can get aierted every time he posts a fresh newsietier.

Acivertising Secrets of the Written worci- Joe Sugarnan

fuiarketing Secrets of a Maii-Order Maverick- Joe Sugarman
Triegers- Joe Sugarman
'['he
Al-i three oi these books are greai. in mv opinion, Sharper
image would nor exist ioday if it were not for Joe . Joe also created
Biutslocker sungiasses. You ve got to read a-ll three of these br:oks.
Joe is a fabuious marketer for 30 vears!

How To Write A Good Advertisemeni- Vic Sclrwab

This book is published by Wiisirire Bcloks. fulan-vciirect response

professionais say if there is just one book to read... this is the one.
l'd definiteiy say this book is MUST R.EAD and you will be smerrter
after reading it.
 ui-iowYouean i'ilreMg a One'Miiiicn-Dciiar-
Expert(to PERSONALLY
i{lar}<etlng
Per-Year
coachl-outhrougheverystep towards
massivesuccess)..'ForJust$13.7Oa Day:"
'.r..,r-rr.iir.! (--(-rllf{:'
fLrr r-r-rr-'tt-r
ttr-rs-:.t-
i:clrpie a-sk ,,.e a-11thr-- t-inrl:- hr.,r',rlmt-rr-'h i1
andr,vork for iheir company and heip them see their way to
" i r r s S i t r i S l " i:(( : e s s .

i {-'!erl c(-rrlsidcr it x-ll-,ir-{-'enl LLnci-'ia miiirtln

i r.:ii ihern I wr-r1r.!r;Ji
clollars per yeurr...anci that may siill not be enor:ghi

1n:-r11rjr'/{-'rl-l!.nis hr:lrr'- -- ::-n<i !!'tjr-rl-1t='1':eaii'='i'ta-ci

Y,-rt.t'vg s!-1eji!! gr-:<-rr-'i,
ihe thingancl got this iar... you know I am one of (if not) "The" best
ti.irr-'r-'t ruit-ri;.f r<-'ls: trt : i risl: i rl(lr'1='

grobleru:
Srrt ::s] :.ne-tter ii+t+ goAd- I ar31,.=I b*ve a- -t5r3-iI

Ive kinel-r-rfreiliizeii 5r-rnrt:ihinga-f,:w vtal's agr:. i rea-ii'.'rill nt:i can-e

for ,,running" a business. The day-to-day shit is not for me. whai i
kiiit:r^ (-:crcl/...
,-ir-rieive tt-r{ir-rrs thinx. t.lr} new gtrofit stl-iitegirs.-. (-'rt'?-ltc
and maximize profits.

oi rniiii,-lns <-rfrir-rilz.rrsin
Als<-r-ive rlzrrle m(-)re thAn m,., rail sner-r-e
this business. For me, i now gei my kicks helping ot.her marketers
i nc m.St: i r-'s a. i r:li r-tnc:.
t r-rm ZLk-r-'
"'

Sr-'r-r-'r-rnsic{eringwh;Lt i'vc cLiscc,vcr-er-l abor-rt rnyseii... zritri

considering how much of a value i could be to an Entrepreneur -Lrltr-'xs
Iik-e -vor-rrsalf v,ri11rr-'?rnnt-rtr<.rrtnd-Ltn an extra- miilit-rn tLr Pa-v
rne... i ihink i have created a solution ihat can add miilions to your
nr-rttr-rmiir:e and stiii kel:Fr m-e inierestect in heigring even
-tj(.]!-t-
considering iis reaiiy small doilar arnollnt.

, i'd dema-nr! zLmiilitn bucr<-sin annua-l

a-br-rt,e.
L.rke i wzls sa-a.,ing
pay to sit under -vour roof... in an office... and to be there for every
 :'.i{t

(-lr-resti._)ItrJr'{-y-)n.-'r]I'i) .r'LrLt"t
-\'f-}Lt,iLrruit,'!'l:tt-.lc n-rtrre.iJfti.{',,it z'Lv,;:1i-,.-1,-r!
business.

ln reaiit.v- el.'en ii.,'r-rr,rnlr.ill rnq Iha-t tniilrr-rn hr-tr*:ks...1.'or-l'L{

orr-rha-l-rl-v
spcak rvith me maybe once a week... twice iops. So I got thinking.

\-Uh:-rtI ,-ririu,a-s(--orft(jr-rpru.'iti:i.t nr-Itni-;fr. This nLlrnllcr was the

amount of ciients or projects i can handle if i were a consuiiant for
hire, I'ii Cr-dlm..,,seifa:-"Hir-erl-(_irLn'. The nnmber i r_ri.r-me r-rprvith rvir-s
'zUU.

Scr rharl ll.telr,rjs] r-'a-nira:rr,i-ir:2i,t{-}riitrcrr:nt- r:iienLs a-t a tirnr: a-nci stiii

be able io ansrver every phone cail... every emaii.., anci every ietter
w rt-h m in r-l-b crggi i n s, n r(-)t i t - s h ir t t erin c an swers .
-_ - _O€- _-u,
:

l i h a i i r h e n d i r i r * , ' a sd i v i r i e S l , f i ( ) O . O 0 i )h 1 . t h a t : 2 O 0 . i . . a m e r p \ . r - / i r h
$5,000, That would be the fee I w-oulcineed to be paid by 2OO
-rc in ar:::uC pa;'.
ciie::is iiialic lfl!' iji-:e ;;lilitrcrt ii;liat-s

r-'<-rn5!rJ-er
F-ive gra-nr: is a piftant-:e- e sner-:ially wtren yr-rr-1 mi,rrk"eting
experts such as .Jay,Abraham charge $5OOOfor one single hour...
a-nd j think ]'r-)Llma-v E1ar.'e ttl irook irim in 2-h,-,r-r-r That's
bir-rr;5-3.
TEN GRAND ior 2 hours,

Erren a nq]vice rjirer:t rnari":erin51expell r','nlllrl ch:rr-se $5OO rc $iO0t-i

an hour to tell yor: stuff yoll may already know... or even worse.'-
rl- ., r * -'.
rllqt
1U -U- . ' 1 - . . . ' . 1 r ' I r - 1 r r Ii li \\ lv ul -^ f ' \ I f
AUgi,rULLri
F Irt.- T!
L^iUL

I "pant Jr-IST $5OOO for the whole iriggin' Year.

a "sne ciai' htrsiness carcl...

F'or rhis $5O(!O...lior,r-ii rer:e,ir-re

i{erc's u.ha-t tnis ca-rd ha-s listecl on it..

! -r1t)ltright intrt nty oJfr-'e Ohoru:

My ofjice n:ilnbqr., ^ r:rtrurr?r:!.s

/) t\{r-! ltcrtnr: rn-t-rnber... t-'on-!rrJLlsi1c)l{ it|ift inttt rnt-! re.sicienc:e

-1. &,Itt c:eliu,lct-rntsrtber tr-t or:'t o nr-:/ci t-ri m.e uLh-ereler I ur,... rt-rtr-i
4. !,iyl nr,:rst-tile,i Iui.rirr:SS rr.:Sr!rt:€d.t:rr:[t-tSi-r.:::i'.t,t'rtr
r:rrt-r,t-ii. tttr:20i.)
ciienrs... ?'his u)alj .-. befi:re ute actuaiiy spr,ait- Llolt can shoot me ap
t!r-t-'rt)
r-'iir-tr-:5;t't-t-tr(i
{:'rnilii.ii,'sf ii Ltt.ii.i. <-ut'rr-
itl<tk- at)€r ?!-t€:rytti:tg u'nei
think abou: ii for o second antl tnen i can ccil Aou bQck LDiih the
(:,liLS [r(i r'..-t.

i'tris en-tirr: thine- is a tesi gr'od igea'-'

yCrr-t g,et Ii_) L-rCSt(_,r!rC- .!:rir-rl--rai-rivlhe i-rr:sf ciir-c-'r']trrterrkejter rn thr,'

counry right norv- rvith aii oiyour qrlestions. I can help you guicle
i,he :tratospncrei
-vour b,-,-sines:sanri i!n2r-nrr'is l'-l

r-'cr,tici.vr-rr,t
Scricrr-ts!-v-- irtage vL)r-lwL)LLir-lt-re wrth NlE
itow sr-tct-:essl'r,.rl
in YOUR corncr? Whar about if i found a way to guide you to a i0O
Mi11ir-ln Dr-rilir-r iririt,r i\,rq: 1-iq-rp1r
it t-rt:itlre'

The rhis
i:est c:=r.ri ir-i_:r.tr_lr gr:ing;1
is.r.L.tr_r'!-,j get ir,ii:, in Y(jl-lii c(-rl1l{:'li
for under $i4 a ciay. FOURTEEN FUCKii'iG DOLI-ARSi

thir-t is 6s'3 s111:h crf a

right tncre.,. br-r-t-
i don't lTICainit: <.rt-tss
opporiuniiy ihis is ior yorl. You can have me as your personai
mirketing sia\rs... :rs i,-tnq as i'm not cr-trrentl..'*'otktt g witn 2t-)0
clienis airead-y.if i am, you'il be piaced on a waiting iisi'

E':*ry y+"-r'.- you ea!! re!!e$r if you- wish'

Now here's how this thing \torksi

',rr rteeri acl-r'iserrgarding ern-vthing for Yout-

!f yor-rhar:e r-rr-rt--qtions
irusiness.,. r,vheiher is be a direct mail leiter... an ad... a script... a
heaclline... priclng... str-:..j,,rst ca-lIcrr ema-il me ?!nc1I'11give vcrll m-v
personal opinion and consuit you on what i would do.

Ir's.lii<e harlr'nga $r O0-l'-.'iiliion-Daliarmarketing grrnr bv yc'-ri-side-

guiciing yor.rali the way to slrccess... basicaliy getting a million
dcilar-s-r:.icrihcf e;,ipcliise etch an'd e'.'eryycer.-. and ycil.'t-epaling
iust $13.70 a dav. I snend rnore on mv daiiv cisar.

H o l d - v o u r h o r s e s - , . t h e r - e e r e f o u : t e r r n s . 1 1 6 1 11 6 . , ' 6 1t r : a g r e e t o :
!", P+-""':i4rrt is sir-t-eir: i:ril r:::fr+:rt-
The fee i'm asking ior is so smaii considering r''rhat you are to gain
r",.'ith,.vannil.i-rfs.
a-n11 ai::r-r i riei nr-rt-',-';a-nt t-r--'r.jr-te; i rio n[,rt.-.,iani','olii
rnortgage money... or ihe money your famiiSzneeds io use for
r-linner tr-rnigirt. I m gtring tr-rneerl real plir-vers whr-) r--a-na-ffi-rrrla-11
the
money upfroni.

2. There is *.o *1{-!!1e}iLra-ekgrle-rantee c,!i m}'Z ser-'rices-

if you are siiii skepticai even aiter reading this 3OO+ page book."
cio nrrl qven (-:onsicielr--onta-Ciingmr:. !f 1's1r-dr,rn't-k-n,-tu,,
tJ\j nr-rlvtnat
i can be r,vorth my lveighi on golci to you... you're too srupici of a
Lrers(-rnfr-lrme f1r ,,r7s11q
r,vith. This l-rr-lokis the r.rjtima-te r(:sr-lr-rrr.

.3. Yorr-r vah!-!!!e of *al!s ir-nd-1cr ema-ils tc xre rr:ust Lre-':rit-hin

reason and not border on harassment-
r-rn
i'm talking 5 czrils i'r ertlzr-ilsa, uieek tops, li'-r.'e're 1'71r11'.!ng
something... obviousiy rve ma1/ exceed 5 calis andTor emaiis-,
whir-:h is ilne, ilrrt ii-voll'I-i s(-)mewrirclo tvnrl is going to c-:i1llme 1[t
times a day anci wake me oui oi bed ai night to taik aboui some
h8-i1--(iolrksdiciea.^. et-gr-linrio nr:t consicier {-r(-rnta-cti-ng
me.

4. Ycu- ea-rrenlv auaiit'rl fr:r a slot if vou'te

- ---- -'--J one of the {irst 2OQ
astute business oreners to grasp this opportunity-
I t'eel200 peopic j1rjust en(-)Ligh
tr,rkeep me hris-vzrnd art ih.e sa-me
time- make me the miilion bucks I need to keep "inieresicd".

2tl0 is the limit! if i tr-'c'ki::r r:rr-rretha-n 2OU r-:lirnts. I ma_vbe ,-:iting

off more than I can cherv... anci I cion'i want to do rhai'

So.., if yor-i feei it is urorth 5i-a.7fi a da5,'to ha..,eiv.fEar vOUR bee.]';

and cail... shoot me an email at:

Nk-Vi n r--:
ent-] a m r:s:arv a h oo . co rr

ithis emeril a-dclress is diifert-:nt tna-t the onc fr-rr r-:r-rmments

regarding ihis br:ok ive iisted on page iwo.
 ',-'i-rli
\.:,'hcifrc Sclil ri-rr:chctit fc:- $50OCt
Whar I.*ill |c is iirelr tr'll
anci r,vhoto mai<e it or:t to. fu[a-vbei1i asi< a ferv questions aboui
'"'cur busints:: 3:-i''1 :,'tr-ii ;'Jal3'

yr-lLir r-'ner-'k
i i I ' f n r - y f C 1 t : r ; ) t - l t - itL n . - i -i . . r t - r . , , 'ifl e r 0 ( . 1 m . . . i l n . - i : l S i r - r n q a - S
ciears the banl<... i'ii send you out the secret business card wiih aii
ccntilct iniorm:.'.tirrn tr: ir:ir-r-'hrne '
i[r; qyjtlr-':-r-i

Another thinc rhzr-tvor-rmay like.,. rs that ior a-il 2(-){lclients lvho

join this "ciub'... -Vou can receive SOoZir ofi any cop,Wvriting work you
rler-:ide
mur-,ti to i:ire me for in lhe tr_tture'

i ' m c t r r - T f n r l rcr h ^ r c ' ' t r g$ l 5 . O O 0 t b r I f i : l i - h l r - r r , r s, 'ani e s n a c l t a g e o r

advertisement {inciuding artwork in Quark on cD-RoM). You can
Co the naih a;-i':is.eei-ou; :rc{''"ii-:gs'

Aiso- ml' ?UU clients wiii receivr: em.aii r-rFr:iateslor F-R-EFIACCESS

whenevcr i'm doing a Teie-seminar with other experts I feel Szoucan
ir-;r r:r srrrn cthin r: t:-rtr]

In case vcrlr'i-enot lamiiia-r r'vlth Te ie-Seminars. thi'q is thcv.'

"r'ha-t
are: basicajly you'ii cali a nrrmber and input a speciai "code' that'li
patch J/on into a c3-ii betrveen mJ"seif an'i one or two of-her
markeiingexperis. You (and 199 oihersi wiii be able to listen in on
rvery rvcrr-d\tr,cszlv. Sometimes I'li e';en do qr-lgg1i'1nsand a-nswers
with listeners.

I-,ike I 1ve-ssa-ving Lreiore- a-tler reading this bor*rft.Ltnless vor*l're

brain dead... yor-rcan see that I am weli worrh the $i3.7O a day I
a.sk,

Tc, siqn uE,- send me a.n email at llrVincent.larnes/a)vahoo.com and

lli send you ihe address ior you to send your $50OO check or
monev orcler'. Remember- more than 20C treople at:e sma,rt enor-rgh
ro pay me $i3.70 a day ior my expertise. Wiil one oi them be you?

l'hanks!

Vincent,Ia-mes
.tlu th or, i) irect iviarke te r, Con sul tant, C opywriter
 . !il

'*rnt-1h;r-r-'qi1
Sr: there

'io 4O8'2iO
scme... this book is nothing mor{: rhan 92'625 !'?orcis"'
o t 5 , 5 6 4 s e n t e n c e s ' T o s o me' this
c h a r a c t e r s. . . 2 , 4 7 3 p a r a g r a p h i " '
wiii i:e a iiie-changlng e;<perience'

iT ALL flEPSi\iI)S (:)i-\i-l(lW YOil tjSE tT'

a-ssome of
Don'! discor-rntfor a- second- the teaching in this hook-
and women
them are reaiiy simpie- They have made many men
- J-LiC)NAIRES. EVD N BILLIU NAIRES'
ii,iIi.i-iON AIRE AN [) ivii_II .TT i''I_i
*borrowec!." one oi rnv prodticr
A man trcrm ohio na-r-necisteve h-as
buiir a
ideas, appiied my ieachings, and in iess ihan 35-molths'
rlt_tAR'l.ER{lF A LTILLION bOt-.l.nn business with 9{-){lern'!:lovees'

HOWB]GT\NEN,iPiRtrT\REYOIJGOi}JGTf)BLIILD?

Good Li-rck.

Vincent.lames
Ir'iarch 29tb, 2OOs
8:59 PIvl
Las Vegas, Nevada