Welcome back to Episode 5 of the ZeitGeist Podcast with Derek and Connor!
In today’s episode, Derek and I breakdown what makes a Gary Halbert sales letter so damn persuasive.
If you’re unfamiliar with Gary, he is a Copywriting legend who sold over one Billion USD of product by mailing letters to people and having them reply with a check or cash. Insane, I know.
But because his letters performed so well, they are one of the best places to learn practical psychology and understand what makes humans tick.
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Thank you!
Why I Changed my Mind about Sales
If you’re a normal person, you probably consider sales as something negative.
Maybe you picture the used car salesman who pushes a lemon onto a struggling working mother.
Or you picture a fat cat banker stuffing his pockets on the backs of working-class Americans.
At least that’s what I used to imagine.
But now I changed my mind.
Everything is sales
You see, I discovered that sales is not taking advantage of people and in fact, practically everything you do is “sales”.
Going on a date?
Have a job interview?
Need a favor?
You’re selling yourself.
Want your friends to watch your movie?
Want to spread your message on social media?
Want to convince your child to eat broccoli?
You’re selling your idea.
Often it’s unethical not to sell
For example,
A Roth IRA is a special retirement account where all future withdrawals are tax-free. (Investopedia)
Opening a Roth IRA is one of the biggest ‘no-brainer’ financial moves for a young person.
So, it would be unethical not to sell your brother on the idea of opening a Roth IRA. (Shoutout to Kurt I hope you have an account)
If you believe in something, it is your ethical obligation to sell it to other people.
In fact, Aristotle believed the same thing:
Those speaking the truth have an obligation to be persuasive.
(from Selected Political Speeches Cicero)
It’s Never Been More important to be Persuasive
Sales and persuasion are the two most essential skills that anyone can have today.
Why is that?
Because if you can write persuasively,
you can write words that sell at scale
I’ll say that one more time
If you can write persuasively,
you can write words that sell at scale
This is the best time ever to be alive
And the people who understand this are providing massive value and reaching financial freedom at a speed previously only available to Vanderbilts, Carneigies, and Rockefellers.
I’m not kidding:
Before the internet, these opportunities were not available. You couldn't reach every person for free and you couldn’t broadcast your unique point of view without permission.
The best you could do was write someone a letter in the mail which was 100x riskier and less effective.
That’s why I respect the legends of direct response mail marketing like Gary Halbert:
If you want to become more persuasive one of the best ways is to study the great direct mail sales letters. (Like this one from the WSJ in our last essay)
The inherent cost of sending a letter via mail created a feedback loop that meant only the most profitable letters could survive.
Studying them will change your life.
Here is one of Gary’s best:
Amazing Money Making Secret of a Desperate Nerd from Ohio
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You can read my notes on the greatest sales letters of all time here:
Principles of Persuasive Writing
(This list will be doubled within the end of the month because I have new notes to transcribe.)
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