Search

How much difference is there? If there is more than 10
minutes, you are off too much. You should be able to guess
with no more than a 7-minute margin of error either way.

This is one of the ways I check myself. And, if I am more
than 7-minutes off, I take a walk or do something…

You know what got me going on about this? Of course you
don't. Well, what got me going was, I looked at my watch and
realized I was a full hour off!

I Love You and Good Luck!

Dad

# Boron - Chapter 24

The Boron Letters - Chapter 24

Thursday, 7:15 AM

July 5, 1984

Dear Son,

Well, I'm feeling better today. I think these short,
frequent days of fasting are really cleaning me out. I
really feel a need now, more than ever, to shed my excess
weight because it is starting to get really hot here. In…

Anyhow. What I want to tell you this morning is that after
tomorrow I am going to stop writing these letters for a
while. There are several reasons: For example, I need to
review some reference material and take notes and then, more
or less outline, the future letters as my babblings seem to
me to be getting too random…

And, finally, I have a couple of "bankers" who are eager for
me to develop some promotions which they will finance and
then we will split any profits 50/50.

And you know what? I think an excellent way for you to learn
how to make money in this business is to watch over my
shoulder as I begin to…

Here's how I'm going to start: First of all, I am going to
go through the SRDS book and make a note of all the lists
that look like hot markets. Then, I'm going to show Eric
this list of lists and ask for his comments. I'm sure he
will be able to add to my…

In any case, after all that, I will have a page full of list
selections and I will write you a letter telling you what
lists I have selected. After that, I will put on my thinking
cap and develop some product ideas to try and sell to the
various lists. By the way, I would very much appreciate any…

Then I'll talk to my bankers.

Here's the way it works with my bankers. If they see a
project they would like to be involved with, they will have
to come up with a development fee of $5,000.00. (Believe me,
that's peanuts to these guys.) This $5,000.00 will be used
to create a…

O.K. after that, if the response is no good, the banker will
eat his $5,000.00 loss and we will go on to the next
project.

If, however, the results look good, we will then proceed to
a larger mailing of perhaps 50,000 pieces. And then, after
we get our results from the 50,000 pieces, if…

It's a good outline, I think. I intend to keep you informed
every step of the way and I'll let you "live" the
development of these projects with me. And, as a matter of
fact, I think I will let you help me with some of these
projects and give you a small cut of the action.

So, sharpen your driving skills. Do your roadwork and get
cracking on all those other things I told you were good
things to do. I'll join you again on my lunch hour.

Well, kiddo, it's past the lunch hour but better late than
never, eh? Whatever. I'm stuck for a theme again. What do
you suggest? O…

Impact is the impression you or your promotion makes on its
intended target. Someone once said that the average American
is subjected to about 1,500 commercial messages every day.
Probably so. Especially when you count billboards, ads on
TV, ads on radio, ads on the backs of buses, on taxicabs, on
match covers, in newspapers, magazines, direct mail pieces…

However, out of all those ads very very few have any
appreciable impact. And impact is one of the things I strive
for.

And, what I want to talk about right now is my favorite way
in all the world to achieve impact with my DM promotions.
What I'm talking about is attaching things to the top of my…

The best letter ever to use this technique was the
classic "dollar bill" letter featured in "The Robert Collier
Letter Book." (must reread)

This was a first class letter that was designed to raise
funds for a children's hospital. When the recipient opened
the envelope he discovered a personal typed letter with a
real honest-to-goodness dollar bill…

Did it work? Oh my! It was probably the most effective
direct mail promotion ever mailed. It got better than a 90%
response and the people to whom it was mailed eventually
contributed tens of millions of dollars!

That's Impact!

Today, in the mail, I received a copy of my Japanese "Penny"
promotion. This promotion, as you know, has a Japanese
"Penny" attached to the top of the letter and the copy says
that the writer is attaching the penny to the letter for two
important reasons.

The first reason is to get attention. And, secondly, because
what the letter has to talk about was discovered in Japan,
the writer felt that some sort of "Japanese" eyecatcher was
appropriate.

This letter is working like crazy. It has impact.

But, be careful. Whatever you attach to the top of your
letters should tie in with the rest of your letter and what
you are selling. It should make sense and fit into the
promotion in a natural way.

Here is an example of how not to use impact: Some companies
print up advertising that, at first glance, looks like…

What happens is, that the owner of the car comes back to
discover what seems to be a traffic ticket on his windshield
and he, naturally, grabs it forthwith and starts to read it.

It sure gets his attention. It sure achieves impact. The guy
will sure remember that company.

But He Will Remember The

Company With Distaste!

He Will Remember That This

Is A Company That Scared

Him And Made Him Angry!

You know what all that adds up to?

No Sale!

The message is clear: You must not use "cheap tricks". Make
what you attach to the letter "fit in". All it takes is a
little imagination. Let…