Hi Greg,

I'm a big fan of Gary Halbert's stuff, and did read his latest newsletter.... (You can read it here)....

One thing Gary says in the latest newsletter is, he gives three options on how to be a "world-class" anything.... And he says the best way, is to work for a world-class someone for free as their assistant! As Gary says, this is what John Carlton did....

I agree with this advice completely! I've done it myself.... When I was focusing on a physics career, I spent 5 months in Berkeley, and worked with some of the world's top physicists there. My office was just a few doors down the hall from the office of Prof. Charles Townes, the Nobel-Prizewinning physicist who was the inventor of the maser, the pre-cursor to the laser. (I wasn't working with him, but I did have access to his private library while I was there.... We were on the 6th floor, and Prof. Townes always took the stairs, never the elevator, which is perhaps how he was in such good shape, even though back then he was about 80, yet still very active....)

Anyhow, I financed my own trip from my savings.... I figured it was money well spent, because I got to learn from some of the most intelligent people in the world.... I spent a couple thousand bucks on a ticket to Berkeley. (Luckily, I was also on an Australian Ph.D. scholarship, which could pay my daily living expenses, but it still cost me a couple thousand bucks to go there to work with some of the world's top physicists.)

As some of you may know, I also spent my own money to go to Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, to visit Gordon Alexander, just before we created Sowpub. I felt it was money well spent - Gordon is someone I admired (and still admire).... He is a great promoter, and I wanted to learn from a master. It was money very well spent, and I'm grateful to Gordon for the opportunity to work with him....

Anyhow, I completely agree with that advice!

I don't know anything about John Carlton's course.... But it can't hurt to learn good copywriting skills! I have a lot of books on copywriting, and they've all helped me.... Whether it's Gordon Alexander's Remote Influence (probably the easiest method to learn, by the way, since you learn by drawing pictures!), plus various "classics" (like John Caples, David Ogilvy), more recent "masters" (like Joe Sugarman, or Gary Halbert's newsletters - I have a big stack of his back issues)....

I don't know if that helps, but I hope so! I think having a successful business is more than copywriting, though.... I personally (now) think the most important part is to put together a good "deal" for your customers, something which is so obviously good, that they would be crazy NOT to buy. I would put copywriting after that in importance....

- Dien Rice