Buy this book! I forget how much it is but, it's certainly not overpriced like all my stuff. And, it's great. It truly is a collection of absolutely superb direct mail letters... plus... it has "Tips From The Experts," a collection of "Letter Leads" and another on "Letter Closes." This was all put together by a guy named Richard S. Hodgson who has done one hell of a good job.

My kudos.

However, after having said all that, I must also say it seems to me Mr. Hodgson seems to have inexplicably left out from his excellent compilation, what are, perhaps, the two most successful letters in all of direct mail history.

The first one was written by yours truly and it is the one-pager used to sell the family name, coat-of-arms research report sold by Halbert's Inc. The reason I think Mr. Hodgson should have included this letter is twofold: (1) It is, I believe, the most-widely mailed (140 million, all sent first-class) letter in history and it produced a huge front-end profit and generated...

7,300,000 Cash
With Order Customers!

And the second reason is, that by leaving this letter out, Mr. Hodgson has inadvertently hurt my feelings... a situation I am sure any sensitive truly caring person would be eager to correct.

Oh well, let me wipe the tears from my eyes so I can continue. O.K., more to the point of this month's subject, the second letter Mr. Hodgson left out is the most successful grabber of all time. You'll find it on page 394 in the chapter on "SHOWMANSHIP" of the Robert Collier Letter Book. Here is what it says:

And how much loot did this grabber letter grab? Here's the scoop right from the book:

And, don't forget, we're talking about ten million dollars back when it was worth something because this letter was mailed...

More Than
50 Years Ago!

And guess what else? This same letter was recently tested (with modernized wording) and... once again... got 90%+ results.

Hoo! Haa! Maybe we should look into this idea of attaching grabbers to letters a little closer, you think?

Now, as you probably have already guessed, my favorite type of grabber to attach to a letter is money. I use dollar bills, $2.00 bills, Japanese yens, Mexican pesos or whatever else makes sense. If it's a penny, the copy often starts like this:

In the case of the Japanese yen (a very light weight little aluminum coin) the second reason can be something like:

"... and since what I'm writing about 
      was discovered in Japan, etc., etc."

Or, in the case of the Mexican peso, you start writing about how this once proud currency used to be the standard against how other currencies were measured but now it takes a wheelbarrow full of pesos to buy just one kruggerrand.

And then, of course, you go on to weave into your letter a story about the ravages of inflation and how it really can happen here... and... of course, why if you buy the financial report or newsletter (or whatever) this sales letter is touting, you won't have to worry about such a catastrophe.

You know, once I did a letter for my friend, the late Joe Karbo, that sold a system to beat the horses and I attached a $2.00 bill to the top of each letter which said in part...

"... and since I'm so sure this betting system will work for you, I've even decided to send you the attached two bucks with which to make your first bet..."

And so on. Enough about money. Now, let's see what else we can use for a grabber that has an almost universal application? Well, if you want to know about something else which nearly always works, trying sending what is, or appears to be...

A Genuine Photograph!

Listen: You want to be a marketing hero to yourself, your company and/or one of your clients? Try this: If your DM sales piece currently includes a brochure, eliminate it from the next mailing and, instead, send what appears to be a homemade amateur Polaroid or 35 millimeter photograph. Perhaps you are sending this photo because this is a brand new product and you wanted the reader to be among the first to know about it and you didn't want to delay getting the scoop to him until you had brochures printed up. Maybe the photo is of you or whomever else is signing the letter because, as you explain in your letter, you're an old-fashioned guy who believes people ought to at least be able to know what a person looks like if they are going to do business with him. Maybe the photo is of a special part of the product you are selling that helps you explain (and your reader visualize) why your product works so much better than the products of your competitors.

Whatever. The main thing is by sending a photo (very personal, very human, very warm) instead of a printed brochure (very impersonal, cold and technical) your letter will be humanized and that, my friend, is what catapults direct mail response to levels virtually undreamed of by most "experts."

Want another idea? You do? You're trying a greedy, little mind sucker, aren't you? Well, good for you! Let's see, what could you and I use for a grabber if we were truly to sell beachfront condos in Maui? Hmn? How about attaching a little plastic baggie filled with sand and sending out letters which start like this:

Zowie! I'm truly on a roll now, ain't I? Let's see, what kind of grabber could we use if our brain energy is at an extremely low ebb (a condition very common to advertising people) and we can't think of anything especially applicable but we want to use a grabber anyway? Hey, I know! How about sending a real, live...

First-Class Postage Stamp!

No. No. No. Not the reply envelope. I'm talking about attaching the stamp to the top of the letter so then you can write something like...

Use your imagination. Send a couple of aspirins "because the first part of this letter is going to give you a headache"... and then later... your letter will present another solution for the headache, something more permanent than aspirin. Send a feather... "can you imagine having to use this instead of a word processor to create your next business report?" Send a little lump of coal in a baggie... "ever see a diamond before it was old enough to sparkle?" Send a... oh nuts! If I haven't got your mind in gear by now, you're hopeless.

But, you're not hopeless, are you? No Sir, you're one of my subscribers who are (truly) among the smartest people in the world like, for instance, Don Clifton, a realtor in Spokane, Washington who sends a letter with a $1.00 check attached that has several survey questions printed on the back. Questions which help him qualify people as to whether or not they could use a speaker to inspire and inform people who work as real estate agents. The way it works is, you tick off your answers on the little squares next to the questions on the back of the check and then you deposit the check. And then, when the cancelled check comes back to Don with his bank statement, he'll know some useful stuff about you... and... when he contacts you again...

You'll Damn Sure Remember
Him, Won't You?

So far, he's got 538 back out of less than 1,500 mailed and each of his check statements brings more hot leads.

Isn't that a neat idea? Of course, in the next few months or so, I'll get real "creative" and maybe figure some way I can take credit for this little gem.

Why not? I've always suspected I might be missing some thrills by being an original... instead of a thief.

	Sincerely,
	Gary C. Halbert     A.K.A. "Gary the Grabber"