Was there a method to Gary Halbert's "madness"?
 

Gary Halbert was known - among other things - for his "in-your-face" style, even "vulgar" style, in his newsletters.... (You can see for yourself at http://www.thegaryhalbertletter.com )

Some HATED (and still hate) this "style". (It's not the only thing some people hate about him...)

But... Was there a "method" to the madness? Why turn so many people off with such a style?

Well...

Here's something I've been wanting to relate for a while...

A friend of mine, Tony, is about the most widely educated person I know, at least from a university education. He's probably done the equivalent of about 3 degrees... He's an expert in a variety of sciences - physics, biology, psychology, and tops it off with an expertise in philosophy too... He effectively has degrees in all these topics (from years of over-education at uni)...

Anyway, we were talking a couple months ago about emotional responses. He said - from his knowledge of psychology - that it's been found (in various studies) that people LEARN better if their learning is coupled with an EMOTIONAL response.

I asked him - does it matter what kind of EMOTION it is?

He said No - ANY kind of EMOTIONAL response apparently helps people to remember better. It could be excitement, sadness, anger... and so on...

Now, consider Gary Halbert's style. It may get many people "peeved", crawl under their skin... Or some may respond a different way, and find it refreshing and even funny...

But the thing is - EVERYONE has an EMOTIONAL response!

Think of that in the light of what my friend Tony said... An EMOTIONAL response helps them to remember better!

And it might help to "illuminate" what Gary was doing with his writing (and with his advertising copy!).

Uhhh... and this probably also explains why "stiff as a board" Al Gore lost the 2000 election! He didn't elicit an "emotional" response... Whereas everyone had an "emotional" response to G. W. Bush... People loved him or hated him...

As the saying goes... The opposite of "love" isn't "hate"... it's "indifference"...!

Dien

P.S. Notice that Gordon Alexander is good at this too... He always elicits an EMOTIONAL response! That's one reason why Gordon is in demand as a copywriter, whenever he wants the work, from some of the top companies in the direct-response business...

Yup....the "mold was broken" when Gary appeared...
 

My first contact with the ol' "****Weasel" was by phone in 1986. I had received one of Gary'd initial sales letters for his newsletter (I STILL have the originals and they are MASTERpieces in Marketing)....I introduced myself as a fellow "Marketing guy" and when I told him that I had sold "Grolier Encyclopedias", door-to-door, in my college days...he came UNglued....and we spent the next 2 hrs reminiscing about our "Book" experiences and other "Direct Sales Stuff".

He TOO had sold encyclopedias door-to-door. In fact, when he told me a Technique he had used to sell books....I KNEW I was listening to MARKETING GREATNESS.

In the "Book Biz" we were ALL taught to "knock on doors" in the afternoon, getting housewives (most every house, in THOSE DAYS, had a "housewife" at home in the afternoon)....we would get housewives to agree to let us come back in the evening when their hubby was home.

We'd set an appointment and I (and jillions of other Book Salespeople would show up at the designated appointment time....to sell BOTH, Mom & Pop.

NOT Gary.

He would make appointments in the afternoon....and NOT SHOW! With the result being....ONLY THOSE people who were TRULY INTERESTED in learning more about the product....would CALL GARY'S answering machine and ask, "Hey Gary! Where are you? We were EXPECTING YOU this evening and you didn't show!" Sure...many people who were expecting him and he didn't show...were highly po'd....but...that was OK...if they didn't phone Gary's machine....they weren't QUALIFIED! (In fact...talk about "injecting EMOTION" into a Sales Situation...some of Gary's BEST prospects (as he related to me) were the ones who WERE HIGHLY TICKED that he didn't show BUT...wanted to see him ANYWAY)

Gary would then call THOSE PEOPLE and ReSet an appointment for the NEXT EVENING. And at THESE APPOINTMENTS....where Gary KNEW they were HIGHLY INTERESTED...he would CLOSE a higher percentage than us "regular grunts" who didn't "use our noggin to come up with a POWERFUL Marketing Method as Gary had.

We spoke off and on via phone for the next few yrs and then I met Gary in person at Bill Myer's Seminar in Hot Springs, AR in 1995. And again, the following year in 1996.

At one of these seminars he was asked to write a Classified AD for a guy with a new widget...to be placed on the "New" Internet Marketing thingee called "American On Line.com.

I watched, in awe, as he took the information from the guy....wrote dowm some notes...and within seconds....came up with an Ad he put on the overhead projector.

Gary's "Marketing MIND"was something to behold. We'd be talking on the phone about one of MY projects....and he'd be talking to Theresa (his right hand gal) who had someone else on the phone who he was "instructing" at the same time.

We did a small "Joint Venture" together back in 1997 and I was constantly AMAZED at his "Creativity" AND....POSITIVENESS about what he was doing. He was FULL of "CONFIDENCE". I called him the "BALL-BUSTER". There was no "shyness" about Gary.

When I was back in Colorado....I watched in utter amazement as he helped a Furniture Store client get thru their predicament and not only survive their situation but THRIVE from it.

The City of Denver had decided they needed to tear up the street in front of this furniture store....which meant it was almost impossible for customers to get to the store. They hired Gary to write an Ad Campaign. Gary's full page ads in the Rocky Mountain News were CLASSICS. They were absolutely
remarkable...AND....they helped this furniture store to THRIVE during this period.

Gary's copywriting was LEGENDARY....and a REAL INSPIRATION to me.

Gary was "bigger than life" in many respects. He'd make a bunch of money
one day.....and go out and blow it on a boat the next day (The ol' Sea Hunt from Lloyd Nolan's TV Show of the same name)

He sent me a copy of his "Boron Letters" which I scan through now an then.

They truly "broke the mold" when Gary Halbert appeared. He was ONE-OF-A-KIND....an inspiration to me and I'm sorry that I won't be able to pick up the phone and talk to him....or read some of his latest material.

Take Care Gary. It was a GAS and a PLEASURE to know you.

Don Alm
Roseburg, Oregon

Re: Yup....the "mold was broken" when Gary appeared...
 

Don, thanks for sharing that story... I loved the Gary Halbert door-to-door encyclopedia sales story! He certainly was "thinking outside the box"!!!

By the way, I've been watching part of the documentary "Salesman" - it's a documentary about door-to-door Bible salesmen in the 1960s. You can find out more about it here... http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064921/ You can get it on DVD...

Anyway, if you wanna know how tough it can be selling "door to door" - just watch that documentary...!

Yeah, I think those spending habits sometimes got him into trouble...

He could market (no one can deny that) - but not controlling your finances ain't good business practice...

I'll just point out, if anyone wants to read Gary Halbert's "Boron Letters", you can find them at his newsletter archives...

http://www.thegaryhalbertletter.com/...r-archives.htm

Go to that page, then do a search for "Boron" and you'll find them...

Thanks Don for sharing your memories and experiences...

- Dien

Re: Was there a method to Gary Halbert's "madness"?
 

Not related to Gary Halbert... but related to learning:

Crash Course in Learning Theory - by Kathy Sierra
(Read it twice. Print it. Its one of the best posts you'll ever read)
http://headrush.typepad.com/creating...course_in.html