Dien,

The biggest reason Halbert was so good at building relationships in print was his use of quick little "transitions". They quickly create and/or convey a closeness between reader & writer that otherwise can take a long, long time to establish.

Anyway, some time back, I went over all his newsletters and pulled out the transitions I thought were effective. I think it's worth any copywriter's time to read this page over every once in awhile, just to put yourself in the right frame of mind. Here it is:

Writing Key

Richard Dennis