Recently I was listening to the Ray Edwards Show podcast as he interviewed Brian Kurtz, founder of Titan Marketing (you can find the full episode here: http://rayedwards.com/252/).
The relatively short amount of time required to listen to this podcast is a craazzzy good investment when you consider the vast amount of history and wisdom shared.
Ray, a top-shelf, class A copywriter, copywriting teacher and marketing strategist along with Brian, a multichannel direct response genius with decades of experience at Boardroom – (having worked alongside the best copywriters of all time) – shared a mutual appreciation for learning from copywriting’s greatest legends.
Heroes such as Claude Hopkins, John Caples, and Eugene Schwartz – Giants on whose shoulders we all stand.
Brian Kurtz was also promoting his new book, The Advertising Solution (Entrepreneur Press, 2016), co-authored with Craig Simpson, in which they outline the timeless principles of the three men named above, as well as Robert Collier, David Ogilvy, and Gary Halbert.
These tried and true principles, that never go out of style, are applicable to all media online or off, and are true essentials for the copywriter looking to master their craft.
And while, The Advertising Solution is a great read (review coming soon) and is kind of a summary synthesis of these men’s greatest hits…
I also highly recommend you study these lost classics that ‘they’ don’t want you to know about.
10 Lost Classics ‘They’ Don’t Want You to Read
What it takes to become the Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio, or Jim Carrey of “character” copywriting:
- Method Marketing: How to Make a Fortune by Getting Inside the Heads of Your Customers (Bonus Books, Inc., 1999) by Denny Hatch
What Billions of dollars in advertising and years of research taught household brand names like U.S. Steel, Reader’s Digest, and Johnson & Johnson about effective advertising:
- How to Make Your Advertising Make Money (Prentice Hall, 1983) by John Caples
Why the risky or scandalous will ALWAYS sell, period:
- First Hundred Million: How to Skyrocket Your Book Sales with Slam Dunk Titles, New Edition (Angelican Press, Vancouver, 2008) by E. Haldeman Julius
The miracle of “Dyna-Psyc” and why it matters more than any literary technique for copywriters, direct-response marketers, and ANYONE, ANYWHERE, who wants to be successful in business of ANY KIND:
- The Lazy Man’s Way to Riche$: How to Have Everything in the World You Really Want (Penguin Group, 1993) by Richard G. Nixon ( Based on the book by Joe Karbo)
What the U.K.’s best Bird can teach you about how to make your sales letters soar:
- How to Write Sales Letters that Sell (Kogan Page, 1994) by Drayton Bird
What cargo ship bills of lading, laundry soap powder, and irritational persistence have in common, and why the name Cossman should matter to YOU!:
- How I Made 1,000,000 in Mail Order –and You Can Too! (Touchstone, Revised, 1993) by E. Joseph Cossman
Gene Schwartz’s OTHER “Breakthrough” communications book that bridges the gab between reality AND eternity – the physical AND spiritual:
- “You are not far from the Kingdom of God”: One hundred sayings of Jesus, plus their Hebrew sources, that reveal the Anti-Christianity of Anti-Semitism (Second Creation Press, Inc., 1992) by Eugene Schwartz
Why the step-by-step instruction of a Ph.D. and military veteran will drive your local post office nuts!
- Building a Mail Order Business: A Complete Manual for Success, Fourth Edition (Wiley,1996) by William A. Cohen, Ph.D.
Half-a-dozen and one ways to finally achieve all your financial goals:
- 7 Steps to Freedom II: How to Escape the American Rat Race (The Hanford Press, 1994) by Benjamin D. Suarez
The Paul Harvey rest of the story to ‘Do you make these mistakes in English?:
- Maxwell Sackheim’s Billion Dollar Marketing: Concepts and Applications (Towers Club, 1996) by Maxwell Sackheim, Jerry Buchanan, and David A. Reecher
What about you?
Which of these have you read?
What are you favorite lost classics?
Reply in the comment section below.
Advertising that Ignites Action 