Saturday, [6:50] PM
Dear Friend,
I’m not sure if you’ve ever mozied on over to my testimonials page (which I need to update)… but the very first testimonial is from none other than the “Prince of Print”… the late, great Gary Halbert.
He said…
“I lived with Dan for 43 days when he had an apartment in Costa Rica. He’s a good professional copywriter and he learned some things in Costa Rica that hardly any other copywriter knows about. He’s got my seal of approval.”
Actually Gary stayed at my place longer than 43 days. I know because after a while, I started counting them… but that’s a story for a different time.
Notice that he didn’t gush all over and say I was “one of the best copywriters in the world”… or because he mentored me, he expected me be “the best” one day.
Those close to him knew Halbert NEVER said stuff like that about anybody… except for Gary Bencivenga.
I’ll be the first to admit, when it comes to copywriting, I’m definitely not one of the best in the world… nor do I want to be.
My friends David Deutsch and Carline Anglade Cole… and my new acquaintance I interviewed recently, Richard Armstrong… now those folks really ARE some of the best copywriters in the world.
They’re the “Babe Ruths” of copywriting… writing copy for some of the biggest mailers in the world… in the most competitive markets.
It’s really cut-throat. True old west, gunslinger vs. gunslinger.
It takes a very special person to work with the big mailers. I did it once… and never will again.
So I’ll probably never be “the best copywriter in the world”… and I’m OK with that.
You see, I realized a long time ago you don’t have to be the best copywriter in the world to make a LOT of money.
And really, the copy isn’t the most important part of success in direct response.
In fact, you can make a boatload of money with less than world class copy. (I like to call it “half-assed” copy… but I’m crude.)
How do I know?
‘Cuz I’ve done it.
When my back was against the wall… or I just got a crazy idea at [1:30] in the morning I wanted to test… I banged out some copy and put it out there.
And I got results.
Several times the results were ZERO sales and ZERO leads.
Other times the results were sales and money coming in so fast, I couldn’t count it fast enough.
Both are results. I found out what I needed to find out.
That’s why it frustrates me to see so many of my subscribers obsessing over details and wanting to get everything perfect before they put their copy or product out in the market.
You don’t have to get it perfect,
you just have to get it GOING.
So my message today is quit obsessing about every tiny little detail. Just sit down and bang out your copy.
Do what Gary Halbert told John Carlton…
“Just sell the damn thing!”
Then run that puppy up the flag pole and see how many people salute it with their wallets.
Whatever happens, you’re going to get results.
All the best,
P.S. I recently had a spot open up in my Gold Inner Circle.
I don’t really promote it because it’s not for most people.
But if you have an online, direct response or brick & mortar business… and would like to quickly ramp up your sales and profits… without the exorbitant costs of customer acquisition nowadays… you should probably check it out.
