This Letter Made $2 Billion Dollars for The Wall Street Journal

It's 1975.

A copywriter, Martin Conroy, sits in his kitchen and racks his brain for an idea to use in his next assignment.

His next assignment is for The Wall Street Journal.

And he's tasked to write an advert in the form of a sales letter.

This advert must be so persuasive... That were someone to read it... They'd immediately want to buy a subscription to The Wall Street Journal.

Quite a task, indeed.

He goes to his book of old ads, hoping for inspiration... When he finds exactly what he needs.

It's an ad for The Alexander Hamilton Institute, written in 1919 by copywriter Bruce Barton, which starts…

“From a certain little town in Massachusetts two men went to the Civil War. Each of them had enjoyed the same educational advantage, and so far as anyone could judge, their prospects for success were equally good. One man accumulated a fortune. The other spent his last years almost entirely dependent upon his children for support.”

He's found his angle.

Struck by inspiration - he spends the next couple of hours writing out his 2-page sales letter.

Here it is...

The Wall Street Journal mails it out, and...

And over the next three decades, it generates more than $2 billion in subscription sales!

Still to this day, it's considered one of the best sales letter adverts ever made.

So why was this so successful?

And how can you do this for your own business?

Let's break it down to three key takeaways, and how you can apply it to your own business...

How To Apply This Lesson

1. Immediately Show A Visual Of What Could Be

The letter doesn't start with the features of the product...

Instead, it starts by painting a visual of what could be.

We all have a subconscious portrait in our head of the person we are - AND the person we want to be.

The letter paints both those visuals and lets you imagine it...

Two nearly identical men... Working at a midwestern company... Except one is a manager of a small department, and the other is the president of the whole company!

You can visualise the difference immediately... With the small time manager stuck in a small stuffy office... Whereas the president is in a big airy corner office, flying to meetings in a private jet and so on.

And you probably already know who your customer is... So draw them in by showing them a grand vision of what COULD be.

2. Use The Power Of Contrast To Sell

Notice how the letter doesn't paint a visual of the presidents life only?

It also shows the visual of the somewhat mediocre small department manager.

The letter shows you the big contrast between the two of them DESPITE both men having the same starting conditions in life...

It makes you wonder, where did it diverge? Why did the president reach that level when the small time manager didn't? What was the missing ingredient?

And they answer further down...

"Knowledge. Useful knowledge. And it's application."

And of course, by that they mean their very own product.

The reader now sees the big gap between person A and person B.

But the reader is then shown that the missing ingredient to become person B (the president)... Is actually The Wall Street Journal.

And that's how using simple contrast... The reader associates The Wall Street Journal as the missing ingredient of super success.

Once it dawns on you - you immediately want to buy a subscription!

3. Emphasise One Unique Selling Point

Customers want to know how they'll level up if they buy your product.

But a mistake I often see is that businesses bombard customers with too many selling points. This often leads to customers being overwhelmed and confused about the product.

So find your big, main unique selling point that will help your customer to level up in life... And pitch that ONLY.

In this letter, you can clearly see one unique selling point being pitched about The Wall Street Journal... And that's "Useful Business Knowledge".

The customer immediately gets it... Then they quickly decide whether it's for them or not.

And that's it for today.

But before I go, let me ask a personal favour...

Please share the Player Zero newsletter with your friends and family - because it really helps us grow!

Till next my friends...

- Bezan