the greatest direct mail sales letters of all time

457 Pages·2007·25.84 MB·English

T G
HE REATEST
D M
IRECT AIL

S L
ALES ETTERS
A T
OF LL IME

W T S
HY HEY UCCEED

How T ' C
HEYRE REATED

How You C C G S L , Too!
AN REATE REAT ALES ETTERS

By Richard S. Hodgson

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THE GREATEST DIRECT MAIL SALES LETTERS OF ALL TIME
This publication may not be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in whole or
in part, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or other-
wise, without the prior written permission.
This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the
subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in ren-
dering legal, accounting, or other professional service. If legal advice or other expert assistance is
required, the services of a competent professional should be sought.

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THE GREATEST DIRECT MAIL SALES LETTERS OF ALL TIME
C
ONTENTS

Introduction...................................................................................................................4
About the Author..........................................................................................................6
Special Thanks..............................................................................................................8
How to Use This Book..................................................................................................9
I. Creating Direct Mail Letters ……………………………………………………..10
II. Classic Direct Mail Letters ...........................................................................................30
III. Consumer Mail Order Letters .....................................................................................160

IV Circulation and Book Promotion Letters ......................................................................198
V Fund-Raising Letters .................................................................................................260

VI. Business-to-Business Direct Mail ...............................................................................303
VII. Inquiry and Lead-Getting Letters .................................................................................334
VIII. Retail and Service Letters ..........................................................................................357
IX. Personalized Letters ....................................................................................................385
X. The Light Touch ....................................................................................................... 415
XI. Tips From the Experts....................................................................................................429
Bibliography .............................................................................................................457

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THE GREATEST DIRECT MAIL SALES LETTERS OF ALL TIME
I
NTRODUCTION

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 let-
ters 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 antic-
ipated since a lot of the leading writers naturally gravitate to the publishing field because pub-
lishers 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
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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 dupli-
cated 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 compre-
hensive 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, per-
haps, 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!
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A A
BOUT THE UTHOR

Dick Hodgson got an early start in the direct marketing
field when he began operating his own lettershop, The
Gateway Advertising Agency, at age 14. Since that time he
has worked as a printer, linotype operator, salesman, pho-
tographer, radio announcer and producer, reporter, editor,
college instructor, public relations director, president of a
publishing company, advertising agency account executive,
advertising and sales promotion director, creative director,
corporation executive, and consultant.
Today Hodgson is president of Sargeant House, a Westtown,
Pennsylvania, company that provides direct marketing
consulting and catalog development services to companies
throughout the world. He is a member of the board of
directors of Foster & Gallagher, Inc., a leading U. S. direct
marketing firm, and was a charter member of the board of
directors of QVC Network, Inc.
Before establishing his consulting business in 1975, Hodgson was vice president of The Franklin
Mint, which he joined as creative director in 1972. Before joining The Franklin Mint, he was divi-
sion director of the Creative Graphics Division, R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company. He originally
joined Donnelley in 1962 as advertising and sales promotion manager. Previously he was presi-
dent of American Marketing Services, a Boston publishing company. Prior to moving to Boston,
he was executive editor of Advertising Requirements and Industrial Marketing magazines.
A 25-year veteran of both active and reserve service in the U.S. Marine Corps, Hodgson retired as
a lieutenant colonel. He served as a Marine Corps combat correspondent in North China, and pro-
vided on-the-spot radio and press coverage of four atomic bomb tests, including the famed
Operation Crossroads tests at Bikini in 1946. He later served as radio-TV chief for the Marine
Corps; shows that he produced for network presentation were honored with the Peabody Award.
Between periods of Marine Corps active duty, Hodgson taught journalism and advertising at
North Dakota State School of Science and magazine editing and magazine design at the
University of Chicago. Today he is a frequent visiting lecturer at colleges and universities
throughout the United States, and more than 100 schools and many catalog companies utilize the
"Basics of Direct Marketing" multimedia teaching program and other videotapes he produced
and donated to the Direct Marketing Educational Foundation.
Hodgson is a prolific author on direct marketing subjects. His "Direct Mail & Mail Order
Handbook," published by Dartnell, is the most widely circulated book in the field, and he has
written more than a dozen other books, including "Complete Guide to Catalog Marketing,"
"Successful Catalog Marketing," "The Greatest Direct Mail Sales Letters of All Time," "Direct
Mail in the Political Process," "Direct Mail Showmanship," "How to Work With Mailing Lists,"
"How to Promote Meeting Attendance," and "Encyclopedia of Direct Mail." He has also written
hundreds of magazine articles on direct marketing.

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THE GREATEST DIRECT MAIL SALES LETTERS OE ALL TIME
Hodgson has received numerous honors, including the prestigious Ed Mayer Award in recogni-
tion of his outstanding contribution to direct marketing education; the Jesse H. Neale Editorial
Achievement Award; the Dartnell Gold Medal for excellence in business letter writing; Direct
Marketer of the Year, presented by the Philadelphia Direct Marketing Association; Sales
Promotion Man of the Year, and International Marketing Communicator of the Year. His direct
mail campaigns and catalogs have won numerous awards, including the Direct Marketing
Association's Gold Mailbox.
Long active in organizations serving advertising and marketing fields, Hodgson helped found the
Chicago Association of Direct Marketing and served as one of its early presidents. He also served
as international president of the Sales Promotion Executives Association and served four terms on
the board of directors of the Direct Marketing Association and two terms on the board of direc-
tors of the Direct Marketing Educational Foundation. An active Rotarian, he is a past president of
the Rotary Club of Westtown-Goshen.
A native of Breckenridge, Minnesota, Hodgson is a graduate of the North Dakota State School of
Science and has attended Gustavus Adolphus College, Western Michigan College, and
Northwestern University. He and his wife, Lois, live in Chester County, Pennsylvania, and he
commutes daily to his office "across the driveway."
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THE GREATEST DIRECT MAIL SALES LETTERS OF ALL TIME
S T
PECIAL HANKS

Wherever possible, I've tried to include credit to the skilled writers who created the great letters
featured in this book. Unfortunately, in many cases the identity of the writers were unknown, or
my requests for this information went unanswered. I would welcome hearing from or about any
of the writers who failed to get the credit they deserved so I can add this information to future
editions.
It would take pages to thank everyone who assisted in providing material for this book. I am par-
ticularly indebted to the many experts whose guidelines for better direct mail letters have been
included on these pages.
I'd like to pay special credit to Maxwell Ross, who passed away while this edition was being pre-
pared. Max was a very special friend for many years and was often a source of guidance and
inspiration. Many of yesterday's and today's finest letter writers learned their craft from Max. His
extremely helpful checklists (many of which are included in this book) have guided writers for
the past half century. And I'm sure his words of wisdom will continue to be of value to writers
and editors into the 21st century.
Dick Hodgson 1433 Johnny's Way
Westtown, Pennsylvania 19395
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THE GREATEST DIRECT MAIL SALES LETTERS OF ALL TIME
How U T B
TO SE HIS OOK

If you're like me, you'll find many of the letters in this book great reading. But that's not the pri-
mary purpose of the book. Although I'd never recommend simply adapting any of the letters in
the book to serve your sales letter needs, I'm reminded of a comment that I usually attribute to
Oliver Wendell Holmes:
To take someone else's idea and claim it for your own is stealing. But to take ideas
from two or more sources and combine them — that's creativity.
Whatever direct mail assignment you face, you'll find examples of how today's leading writers
tackled the task of writing letters for a similar assignment. Although you won't duplicate their
exact words, a study of their approach should provide a strong starting point and help stir up
your own creative juices.
This book, then, is best used as an idea source that shows how leading writers handled difficult
writing assignments. Undoubtedly you'll find words and phrases that you can integrate into your
own writing. Beware of trying to fit others' words and phrases into your sentences unless they
truly fit. Good copy has a cohesive flow that can be interrupted by ill-fitting words and phrases
no matter how great they may have been in their original environment.
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THE GREATEST DIRECT MAIL SALES LETTERS OF ALL TIME
SECTION I

C D M L
REATING IRECT AIL ETTERS

THE DIRECT MAIL LETTER

Of all the formats used in direct mail, none has more power to generate action than the letter A
basic rule followed by direct mail advertisers is that any package containing a letter will gener-
ally pull greater response than a package without a letter. Extensive testing has proved this to be
true in most cases.
Perhaps the most important advantage of using letters to communicate through the mail is that
everyone knows how to read a letter. A letter is instantly understood as a message from one per-
son to another And since direct mail is the personal medium of advertising, a person-to-person
form of communication is highly desirable.
Other formats almost automatically wave a flag that says "this is a promotional message." And
that flag has a tendency to put the reader on guard. But the "personal look" of a letter somehow
reduces this guard. There's a friendly quality to a letter that is difficult to duplicate in other for-
mats. Most everyone has grown up with a desire to receive more letters. They remember those
days at summer camp, at college, in the service, or other times when they were separated from
close friends and loved ones. The arrival of a letter from home was an event to be celebrated.
A letter is easy to read. No question of where to start, where to go next, or where it will end. This
is not to say that direct mail letters automatically get attention and readership. However, the odds
of achieving those ends are greatly enhanced with letters — especially well written letters that
have a genuine person-to-person feel.
THE DIRECT MAIL PACKAGE

The best way to visualize the role of each of the elements in a direct mail package is to compare
the mailing with a salesperson making a sales call.
THE ENVELOPE
This is the clothing the salesperson wears. Since it is the first thing a prospect sees, a judgment
will likely be made before a word is spoken. Is this someone I can trust? Should I be on my guard
against being pushed into doing something I don't want to do? Am I going to have to listen to a
high-pressure pitch? Does this look like "someone" who is worthy of my time?
Very little selling is done by the envelope itself, but it can condition the audience to be in the right
mood to receive your message. Too often, advertisers worry about getting their envelopes opened
because they've often heard people claim, "I throw all of my junk mail away unopened." But
research studies have clearly shown few mailings actually go into the wastebasket before the
envelope is opened. As a general rule, nobody throws away an envelope until two questions are
answered:
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