Almost all the successful direct-response marketers today owe their success to a common person:

Gary Halbert.

If you are unhappy with how much you make as a writer, it may not just be due to your writing skills. You also lack marketing and selling skills.

And that’s why I decided to learn about copywriting.

The Boron Letters is a book not just full of marketing tactics. It has some great life lessons from a father to a son.

Here are my greatest takeaways:

Write, even (and especially) when you don't feel like it. 

"Most of the world's work is done by people who didn't feel much like getting out of bed"

Gary Halbert wrote The Boron Letters (as you may know from the title) in prison. Some days he said it was 100 degrees. Some days he had to squeeze time between his physical training and other chores. Some days he did it when he was feeling down about missing a girl. Some days he wrote when he was feeling miserable because of his lack of freedom.

Yet, he wrote every single day.

He wrote especially when the conditions were not perfect. 

This made me feel both guilty and grateful. There are times when my excuses don’t make sense — lack of time, resources, or tools. 

Writing is simply about writing - anybody should be able to do it anytime. And you should be using what you have to your advantage. Be grateful if you have a comfortable desk. Be grateful if you can write on your phone while waiting in line at a fast-food. Be grateful if you have the chance to reach 1000s of people on the internet. 

And don’t let your warm bed stop you from getting up and writing. 

An easy way to connect with your reader.

Every chapter in the book starts with the date and time it was written. 

Then, Gary would state specific details of:

• Where he is

• What he has just done

• What he can see next to him

Later in the book, he reveals this is how he strengthens the bond with the reader. 

I realized it did the work for me. As he mentions these things, I can clearly see the picture of him writing the letters. I can imagine him writing on a warm weather, with a blue bandanna under his arm so he doesn’t get sweat stains on the paper. 

To me, this is the thing I like most with good writing.

It’s like when I’m reading a fiction book then I can feel the characters come to life because of the clear description. It makes the story alive in your head. 

This is also why it disappoints me when a book is turned into a movie. 

The expectations in my head are not met. 

Let the reader know you better by telling them specific details of your experiences.

This makes them resonate with you. 

The thing that people *say they want, can be different from the thing they *actually want.

This is something I didn’t give much thought to.

I always like to ask my audience on Twitter for their opinions. And although their answers are helpful, they may not be accurate sometimes.

What Gary says in the book is that sometimes, people try to give the correct answer when you ask them. They are not conscious of it but in real life, this is not the choice they would make.

For example, if you ask them how they would spend their money, they can try to give the right answer. In this case it will be to invest in the stock market. But in reality, they could be spending it on a new car.

So how do you fix this?

By observing well.

Observe what people want and give it to them.

Copy by hand and read out loud. 

This one is my favorite and I have implemented it right away.

Gary says that he blocks time to copy the best ads by hand and read them out loud. When you do, you will become more aware of:

• Flow of words

• Sentence structures

• Choice of adjectives

And many more.

This technique has been effective to me including when I was still in school. Every time I write something, I don’t only remember it better. I understand it better. I take it to heart. 

And if you want to learn something, that’s the best way to learn.

It is also a great way for me to wind down at the end of my work day. During this time, I would be too tired to write. I like writing when I have the energy to write and most creative - in the morning. But copying by hand doesn’t take much energy and creativity. 

I can replace my doomscrolling on Twitter with this at night time.

Give the reader a break. 

The hardest part of writing online is unlearning what they taught you in school.

In school, they always taught you to:

• Write long sentences

• Use flowery words

• Add complexity

This is no longer effective in the age of the internet. In today's generation, you are constantly trying to keep the reader's attention. As more and more content is being posted, the attention span gets shorter.

One of the ways Gary keeps attention is by giving the reader’s eyes a break. He does this by breaking down sentences and adding parentheses. 

Example:

This is a technique a lot of digital writers use today.

It gives the reader time to breathe so they can be ready for next sentence. 

Have a list of everything.

Gary Halbert has a swipe file of the best ads.

He has a list of powerful headlines.

He has a list of adjectives to use.

When he needs to improve his writing, he goes through his swipe files to copy them by hand. When he’s done writing, he goes through his list of headlines and modifies it according to the best ones. When he’s done with a draft, he swaps his adjectives with more powerful ones.

Good writing doesn’t only come out of nowhere. It doesn’t come from just sitting and writing. But the best thing is it’s not that complicated if you study the best.

Learn how to catch attention in a classy way.

Gary talked about a letter where there was a dollar bill taped on top.

If you were the one who got the letter, what would be your first reaction? 

“Interesting, why did they put this here? Let me read”

That’s a great way to catch attention.

The problem is some writers can use this tactic the wrong way. They catch your attention only to lose your interest in what they have to say. Because what they say is not related to how they caught your attention.

The best example of this today? Clickbaits.

There’s a reason why they don’t do well.

Yes, you’ll catch attention but they will remember you not for the impact but for the bad stuff.

If you want to catch attention, learn how to

write great hooks and headlines.

Add a video.

Start with a punchy line. 

You can experiment with this on Twitter because it’s easy to iterate and post short content. 

Next Steps

Whenever you’re ready, I can help you start implementing what I share in my weekly newsletter.

Reply “Copy” to this email and I’d be happy to chat.

And if you are serious about launching your online business alongside your 9-5, feel free to Book A Call With Me.

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Happy Sunday!