The Gary Halbert Letter [Link]
The Boron Letters - Chapter 23
Wednesday, 4:24 PM
July 4, 1984
Dear Bond,
Well, here I am in my room trying to avoid the heat. I heard it is 114
degrees outside right here and 120 in Palm Springs.
Whatever. We must press on. I am fasting today and I did a little bit of
roadwork (just walking) a bit earlier when it wasn't so hot. I also finished
doing some changes in an ad for L. and I am working on a DM letter for him.
In addition, I wrote and mailed a letter to Joanie and I am writing this
letter to you.
There is a reason for telling all this and the reason is I want to give
you some guilt.
I'm serious. I was a little disappointed during our last visit when you
told me you haven't been doing your roadwork. Now, of course, if you have
been sick that's one thing but, if you are goofing off just because you
"feel bad" that's quite another.
Listen up, Bondy: These letters are a labor of love for me and I am trying
to reach you all the important stuff I know. And, one of the most important
things I can teach you is to just do it! KEEP ON PEEPING ON! Everybody else
here has been eating steaks and "celebrating" the 4th. That's OK but, right
now, I've got more important things to do and those are: (1) get my body in
shape (2) educate my youngest son (3) make a lot of money and (4) keep up my
important relationships on the outside.
And I'm doing it all. I am heartsick for my woman, I am living in 114
degree heat I have jerks for roommates, and, above all I AM IN PRISON!
And, I'm still doing it. So, you do it too. You are made out of the same
stuff I am and I am so proud of you, you wouldn't believe it.
But get this. It doesn't matter how much you learn if you don't use what
you learn. So when I tell you to do your roadwork and exercise with weights
and study and read ads aloud and write them out in your own handwriting, I
mean for you to do it and do it now!
So don't mess around with your life. I have messed up enough for both of
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us.
End of sermon.
Now, I'm going to talk to you about a big difference between people who
make it in any field (including crime) and those who do not.
That difference is awareness.
Most people (at least many) walk around with their heads in the sand.
They are lost in a fog. They go whichever way the current of the streams
of their world happens to push them. They are sheep and they are regularly
shorn.
This is a bad way to be in prison. Prison is a microcosm of society and
weak fish are gobbled up fast. So are those who walk around with their heads
in the clouds oblivious to what is going on about them. You can't sulk in
prison. You can't waste time feeling sorry for yourself. You can't stay lost
in fantasies about your woman or what you are going to do when you hit the
streets. No. What you must be here (and it's a good idea wherever you are!)
is alert, on top of things and ready at any time to "catch a break".
Guys in prison take care of themselves. They exercise their bodies, pay
attention to their grooming, read, study and much more. You see, you never
know when opportunity will knock (and it does, even here) and, if you are
smart, you must be ready.
Does all this have anything to do with direct mail and mail order? You bet
it does. Mail order (and all other) fortunes are made by men and women who
know what's going on in their fields. These are the people who stay up to
date. They read the trade journals, they make sure they are on everybody
else's mailing list so they know what the competition is doing, they read
all the "HOT" mail order publications, they keep their "SWIPE FILE" up to
date, they read and reread the classic books written by the best people in
the field, they have idea files that contain newspaper articles, notes of
unusual info, hot new ideas, good layouts, unusual propositions, and so
forth. They also know who the leaders are in their respective fields and
they communicate with these people on a regular basis.
You know, kiddo, quite often I am referred to as an advertising genius,
the "best copywriter in the world" and so forth. Now, as you know, I would
be the 1st person in the world to deny these claims but if I really am so
good, there is at lest one reason for it that everybody misses. It is this:
I Work Like Crazy!
I just came back from the TV area and there is a guy out there who lives
across the hall from me. At first, I didn't recognize him. He's a white guy,
a body builder, and he has long flowing shoulder-length hair. He's been down
for a long time and the reason I had a hard time recognizing him is his hair
is now very short and neat. And, I'm telling you, with his short, neat hair
and his no-nonsense glasses, he looks like Clark Kent. Well, anyway, I heard
him explaining to another inmate that he is getting ready to go before the
parole board and he is going to make sure he doesn't give them any reason to
not turn him loose.
This, my man, is the attitude to have. Always be ready to catch a break.
You know, if you play enough poker, sooner or later, after thousands of
hands, everybody in the game will more or less have been dealt the same
amount of good hands, bad hands and mediocre hands.
What determines the winners? It's how they play the cards that were dealt
them. Were they alert and ready to exploit the good ones? Did they perceive
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that the bad ones were in fact bad in time enough to dump them without huge
losses? Were they ready to exploit or abandon their mediocre hands as the
different situations dictated?
Sweat the details. It's an area I have been remiss in and I am working to
correct this state of affairs.
You do it too.
Man, am I doing a lot of writing! I've even learned to hold the pen
another way when my hand gets tired from holding it the regular way~~
Oops! I lost it.
You know what? It's so hot in this room I have to keep a bandanna (it's
the blue one) under my arm to keep from getting sweat stains on the paper.
And now, we're going to talk about believability. Believability is one of
the top most important ingredients of good MO & DM promotions. One way to
increase believability is to give exact details. Instead of "most car
owners" write "77.6% of all car owners". Instead of "you can lose lots of
weight" write "and the average reported weight loss over a 31-day period was
37.5 pounds for men and 26.3 pounds for women".
And, did you notice up there that when I mentioned my bandanna, I said
"it's the blue one" in parenthesis? Did you wonder why I wrote it like that?
I bet you didn't. I hope not. I hope not because if you did notice, then you
were noticing my writing style instead of my message.
And that's not good. However, I'll bet that little extra detail of info
drew you closer to me and my letter and made this communication "more real"
for you.
And, if you were a stranger, these types of details makes everything that
is written that much more believable.
Now, here's something else that seems to fit in my rather mish mash theme
for today. It has to do with time. You know something? Most people who are
on top of things and "aware" usually know what time it is within a few
minutes without looking at a clock or watch.
Check yourself right now. Don't look up from this page and write down
right here what time you think it is. {time you think it is
_________________}
Now check and see what time it actually is and write it down right here.
{time it actually is _________________}
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 else physical before I have any important
discussions or make any important decisions.
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
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