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THE GREATEST DIRECT MAIL SALES LETTERS OF ALL TIME INTRODUCTION What makes a great direct mail letter? The most obvious answer is one that produces maximum response. But lots of less-than-great letters produce excellent response thanks to superior lists, a great product, an outstanding offer, or other factors over which the writer has little or no control. Some letters win contests; however, inferior letters have won contests just because the competition was weak. Other letters win the praise of the copywriter's peers — often just because they are clever. To be truly great, however, a sales letter must have more than one dimension. Of course, it must achieve its objectives. Most often it will have won some contest and likely will have won special applause from peers. It must also stand the test of time and be the kind of letter others will turn to time and again to get inspiration and think, "Gee, I wish I had written that." This is a book of such letters. Leading direct marketers from all over America provided samples of what they considered to be the all-time top direct mail letters and passed along the names of today's best direct response copywriters. Interestingly, I received a relatively small handful of names that were repeated time and again as today's top direct mail copywriters. Almost all are leading free-lance writers who have created the "control." Most of these "top names" responded to my request for letter samples; you'll find many of their letters throughout this book. And when they were asked to name those whom they considered today's best direct mail sales letter writers, the same names were repeated once again. All the copywriters were invited to submit samples of their favorite letters — not just those they had written, but also letters written by others they considered truly great. To these were added some selected letters from my personal files. I've been saving samples of direct mail — the good and the bad — since I became involved in the field over 50 years ago and have one of the largest private collections of representative direct mail in the world. Interestingly, however, nearly every letter I culled from my files turned up on the lists of letters recommended by others. When the collection of letters was assembled, there were more than 2,000 examples from which to select "The Greatest Direct Mail Sales Letters of All Time." That created the most difficult task in creating this book. All were excellent letters and each contained some element that could prove useful at that all too present moment when a letter has to be written and the right words remain elusive. But all 2,000 letters, of course, couldn't be included. So I read and reread each of the letters to select the very best. In the end, the selection was strictly personal. The real test was when I caught myself thinking, "Gee, I wish I had written that." At this point, a unique problem presented itself. A high percentage of the truly great direct mail letters turned out to be from just two fields. The first was publishing. This could have been anticipated since a lot of the leading writers naturally gravitate to the publishing field because publishers tend to pay top dollar for a winning letter. The second field was fund-raising. Although the dollars to be earned for copywriting don't come close to those offered by publishers (and quite often the letter copy is a personal contribution of the copywriter to a cause in which he or she is deeply involved), the satisfaction comes in other ways.V www.greatestsalesletters.com - 4 -
THE GREATEST DIRECT MAIL SALES LETTERS OF ALL TIME But to create a volume of nothing but publishers' and fund-raisers' letters would only have duplicated many excellent books already available devoted entirely to these two fields. So once the extra special "great" letters had been selected, 1 tried to find representative samples of other types of direct mail letters in the interest of providing everyone involved in direct mail with a comprehensive reference file to which they could turn for ideas and inspiration when they faced their specific letter writing situations. In many cases, I'm sure, there are dozens of equally good or, perhaps, even better examples that might have been included. But if I had continued to search for the "perfect" letter to fit every situation, this book would still be in the preliminary stages. I'm convinced, in fact, the "perfect" sales letter has yet to be written — at least in modern times. If you want a wonderful collection of the greatest sales letters of all time, I recommend the collected works of Paul the Apostle and his coworkers, which you will find in the New Testament. Now, those were the all-time great letter writers! www.greatestsalesletters.com - 5 -
Page 1 and 2: THE GREATEST DIRECT MAIL SALES LETT
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Page 15 and 16: TABLE 1 100 MOTIVATIONS FOR PEOPLE
Page 17 and 18: BEFORE THE WRITING STARTS Most expe
Page 19 and 20: whoever has that responsibility mus
Page 21 and 22: In my direct mail seminars, I've su
Page 23 and 24: 7. A definite statement of value to
Page 25 and 26: 1. Does the lead sentence get in st
Page 27 and 28: expression that stops your reader a
Page 29 and 30: Strong management will make it a po
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Page 41 and 42: THE READER'S DIGEST "TWO PENNIES" L
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BARRON'S "WIDOW & ORPHANS" LETTER A
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your part. They're our gift to you,
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GAMES MAGAZINE "CONNECT THE DOTS" L
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So we bought 13 of these islands. T
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THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH "ORGAN" LE
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THE FRANKLIN MINT "100 GREATEST BOO
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BRECK'S PERSONALIZED CATALOG WRAPS
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HOMPSON CIGAR COMPANY "15 RIVERS TO
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AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY "YOUR FAITH
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HEWLETT-PACKARD POCKET CALCULATOR L
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DIRECT MARKETING EDUCATIONAL FOUNDA
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probably have made me add some kind
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The big unions had announced that t
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NATIONAL REPUBLICAN SENATORIAL COMM
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JOHN YECK'S "LET'S HAVE BETTER MOTT
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THE GREATEST DIRECT MAIL SALES LETT
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BANKER'S LIFE "ONE WOMAN TO ANOTHER
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there had been independence. Now th
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FRANK LEWIS "MIRACLE GRAPEFRUIT" LE
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BUSINESS WEEK "INVITATION" LETTER I
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BUSINESS WEEK "INVITATION" LETTER I
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QUEST/78 "CHARTER SUBSCRIPTION" LET
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If it's been too long since you've
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Right away, you save a welcome $3.0
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PREVENTION MAGAZINE "MEMORIES OF GR
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FLY FISHERMAN MAGAZINE "TROUT SPOKE
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TIME-LIFE BOOKS "COWBOY" LETTER Whe
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NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY "ZOOFER
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UNITED REPUBLICAN FUND OF ILLINOIS
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THE MIAMI UNIVERSITY FUND "EDDIE RI
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NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND PE
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CHRISTINA L. WOODS MEMORIAL FUND LE
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THE NATIONAL TRUST FOR HISTORIC PRE
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SECTION VI BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS DIR
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XEROX "USED COPIERS" LETTER When yo
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INGHAM HALL, LTD. "LAWYER" LETTER P
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YECK BROTHERS COMPANY "GRANDFATHER'
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R. R. DONNELLEY & SONS COMPANY "FOU
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WESTINGHOUSE SECURITY SYSTEMS "CONS
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TROY-BILT "INQUIRY ANSWERING" LETTE
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GENERAL TELEPHONE COMPANY OF ILLINO
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CHAMPION "HERE IT IS A SECOND TIME"
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SECTION VIII RETAIL AND SERVICE LET
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THE ALLEY DELI "FREE LUNCH" LETTER
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DICK'S SUPERMARKETS "CONGRATULATION
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UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS "YES-NO"
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ROBERT BARTLETT REALTY CO. "JUST SU
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FAIRVIEW MEDICAL RESEARCH SURVEY ON
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THE PRESIDENTIAL CARD "DID I LOSE A
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BACHE FINANCIAL PLANNING "RATING A
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SECTION IX PERSONALIZED LETTERS Som
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READER'S DIGEST LETTERS No one uses
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TIME-LIFE BOOKS NON-COMPUTER PERSON
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QUILL CATALOG "WRAP" LETTERS Two ca
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CANADIAN OFFICE OF TOURISM LETTERS
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SECTION X THE LIGHT TOUCH Direct ma
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Letter No. 2: i am s. mouse of s. r
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PLAZA HOTEL "LETTERS FROM A CHAMBER
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Letter No. 2 The second letter sent
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Letter No. 4 On May 9,1963, still a
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SECTION XIV TIPS FROM THE EXPERTS A
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• Form letters using indented par
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12. Use "carrier" words and phrases
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11. Tie newness to an established b
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Bus REED'S THREE BS A handy formula
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standing. Comic-book copy uses almo
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4. Resist the temptation to display
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4. The sin of being noisy. Everybod
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Does the total package get the read
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1. The best way is the simple way.
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5. Not only is it necessary to star
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By writing and rewriting, you will
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d. splitting infinitives e. repeati
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13. Have unknown, unusual, or forei
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BIBLIOGRAPHY Andrews, Francis S. Bi
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