The Boron Letters: Chapter 1

This man wrote so well, he ended up in jail for it.

Sort of.

Let me explain.

Gary Halbert is on the Mount Rushmore of 20th century copywriters. He’s a first round draft pick. A blue chip stock. 

He writes killer hooks like this.

So how did he end up in jail?

Allegedly...this is what went down. One of his products sold took off. But…they didn’t have the money to fulfill all the orders. And couldn’t do it before the authorities found out.

That’s mail fraud. 

It wasn’t all bad. 18 months in prison. Boron Federal Prison. A lovely minimum security prison in the desert outside Los Angeles.

Now, Gary had a LOT of free time. His writing project was simple - give his son, Bond, some advice. Bond was in his teens at the time and in his own words “was at that age all young men think they are invincible.” 

He saw an amazing opportunity to get some advice to Bond.

What follows are 26 letters from Gary to Bond about everything - life, health, relationships. And, yes, direct marketing copywriting. 

This first letter lays it all out. It’s short, but there’s a lot to learn.

And before you start to look at the takeaways, take out a pen and paper and copy it by hand. It took me about 30 minutes. As you’re doing that, pay attention to his word choice, his sentence structure, and how he keeps you reading. He’s not even selling a product here. But he is selling to the reader.

TL;DR of the letter

Gary’s goal with these letters is to teach Bond everything he’s learned in the past 46 years.

His first lesson - health and fitness. To him, all health and fitness flows through a concept called "road work” where you get out every morning and run, walk, or jog for an hour.

He goes a step further and describes his ideal morning - wake up, brush teeth, eat some fruit, right into an hour of road work.

The benefits are plentiful - clear mind, a settled and glowing body, and an addiction to exercise.

He ends with a call to action for Bond to start doing road work the day after he gets the letter.

Takeaways from Gary Halbert’s first Boron letter

If you want to capture your reader, talk to them as a friend.

Doesn’t it feel nice to read this letter?

That’s not by accident. It’s the tone. It’s genuine - Gary is really trying to take the role of a father giving advice to his son. It's conversational. Raw. Authentic. This ain't your college professor's lecture.

Lots of “you”, “your”, “yours”. He’s talking like he’s sitting next to Bond on the couch.

This is the best (and most engaging) way to talk to your readers. They'll instantly feel connected to you and the message.

The best way to talk to customers is in simple language.

This letter's at about a sixth grade reading level.

Writing at a lower reading level might seem stupid. “But won’t my readers feel insulted? Don’t I want to sound like a braniac?”

Nope. But don't worry - this makes things easier.

Complicated writing is like a set of monkeybars. Getting to the next rung (word) is a lot of effort. You’re grunting and groaning - it’s uncomfortable for everyone involved.

Simple writing is like a beautiful, easy ski slope. Start at the top, let the words guide you across the mountain, right to the bottom.

Strive for simple writing. Aim for a fifth grade reading level. It’s easier for everyone to get to the best part - your call to action.

Write a clear call to action, and put it at the end.

Speaking of that call to action.

Gary spent his career selling stuff. And (you can go check this) each one of his ads had one thing in common. One thing that, whether he was selling hair driers or poker guides, he HAD to include.

An action. Telling the reader to DO something.

Think about it. What’s the point of writing all these words, asking your reader to give you their email, their phone number, or even worse, their hard-earned cash - if you’re just going to leave the room when they’re ready to take out their wallet?

Leave the reader with a firm, stupid easy action. In this case, he wants Bond to start running every morning. He doesn’t say “this could be a good idea for some people” and leave it at that.

No ambiguity there.

Anticipate your reader's concerns, and address them.

He’s selling this “road work” concept HARD. He says it’s “the very best way in the world to start the day.” He calls it addicting - as addicting as the hardest drugs.

“By the way, this addiction is not just psychological. It is a real honest-to-God drug addiction. But don't let that scare you.”

It's hard to spin "addicting drugs" in a good way. He knows this, so he takes the next few sentences to address this concern he KNOWS Bond will have.

He has to do this now - not in five paragraphs, or five sentences. Anticipating the objections (and then soundly addressing them) helps put the reader at ease. 

And a reader at ease will keep drifting down that slippery slope.

Lots to take in, even with the first letter. We’ll be back next week for the next one.