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Gary C. Halbert

Copywriter, Author The Gary Halbert Letter

“I first discovered Gary Halbert in a very strange way. While reading Jay Abraham’s newsletter, ‘Your Marketing Genius at Work’, I read a piece called ‘LETTERS TO MY SON.’ It was written by an unnamed author and was a series of letters from someone in prison writing lessons to his son, Bond. It was brilliant and insightful and contained lots of great information about copywriting and marketing. After reading it, I was determined to find out who wrote it. I wanted to read more of his stuff. So, I planned to call Jay and ask him.”

“But, before I was able to make the call, I received a letter in the mail. It was a promotion for ‘The Gary Halbert Letter’. And in that promotion, Gary talked about his Tova Ad and I remember that story from the ‘LETTERS TO MY SON’ piece in Jay’s newsletter. I knew instantly that the author of that piece was now revealed to me. It was Gary Halbert. I later found out that the piece was part of ‘The Boron Letters.’ I immediately ordered a subscription to Gary’s newsletter ($195 per year – that was September, 1986). I later found out from his office that I was one of the very first people to subscribe. I was a subscriber for the life of the newsletter and every single copy is in my files. And I wouldn’t part with it for any price. It’s that valuable. But today you can get most of the issues on line for free.

Carl Galletti

Copywriter, Entrepreneur, Speaker, Author, Top Internet Marketer

Rather than tell you about Gary Halbert (who, by the way, was a legend in his own time…according to him…and just about everyone else who knew him) I’m going to excerpt from one of his many newsletters. That should give you a good start.

“Pay careful attention. The ability to write ads and/or letters that sell is by far the most wonderful money-making skill you could ever hope to acquire. If you master this skill you should never again have to worry about money. The ability to write copy that brings in orders on a profitable basis is as rare as hen’s teeth. And, if you can do it, I mean really do it, you can virtually write your own ticket.”

     ” Take me, for example. I turn down at least 9 out of 10 people who want to work with me, and my office currently has standing orders for enough work to keep me and my staff busy non-stop for the next two years. I can earn my living virtually anywhere as long as I can get my hands on a piece of paper and a ball point pen or a pencil or a crayon. I can do my thing on a boat, in a prison cell, in a submarine and probably, even on the moon. If I chose to work a regular 40-hour week, I’d probably earn at least 10 to 15 million dollars a year. I do not choose to work that hard. I spend far more hours on my boat than I do at my desk (I don’t even have one anymore — I usually work at my kitchen table) and yet, it would be upsetting to me if I had a month where I earned less than $100,000.00.”

— this is an excerpt from the REAL Art of Writing Copy issue. You can get the full issue, for free by CLICKING HERE…or the link below.

Although Gary has passed, he is survived by his two sons, Kevin and Bond, who keep his business and publications alive. We all owe a great debt of gratitude to Gary for passing on his expertise and knowledge to us…and to his sons for making it available.

Below I’m going to list three of my favorite issues of his newsletters and a link to the entire archive. Enjoy and profit.

Here is the link for the book mentioned in the above issue:

Gary C. Halbert

One of the World’s Best Copywriters

Gary Halbert, Carl Galletti, Joe Polish, John Carlton

During a special reception at the Bencivenga 100 Seminar  at the Hotel St. Regis in New York City. Left to right: Carl Galletti, Gary Halbert, Joe Polish, John Carlton