The Lost Swipe File The Correspondence Course Ads that Helped Martin Conroy Create The Most Successful Sales Letter of All Time 2010 Christopher Tomasulo All Rights Reserved
INTRODUCTION In 1975 a sales letter began mailing to sell the Wall Street Journal. This letter began: Dear Reader: On a beautiful late spring afternoon, twenty five years ago, two young men graduated from the same college. They were very much alike, these two young men. Both had been better than average students, both were personable and both as young college graduates are were filled with ambitious dreams for the future. Recently, these men returned to their college for their 25th reunion. They were still very much alike. Both were happily married. Both had three children. And both, it turned out, had gone to work for the same Midwestern manufacturing company after graduation, and were still there. But there was a difference. One of the men was manager of a small department of that company. The other was its president. What Made The Difference Have you ever wondered, as I have, what makes this kind of difference in people s lives? It isn t always a native intelligence or talent or dedication. It isn t that one person wants success and the other doesn t. The difference lies in what each person knows and how he or she makes use of that knowledge. The letter was written by Martin Conroy a freelance copywriter. The letter ran continuously from 1975 to 2003. 28 years. Making it, according to direct mail experts like Denny Hatch, the most successful sales letter of all time. It is estimated that it has generated nearly $2 billion in revenue for the Wall Street Journal. In other words it's a great sales letter. Where did Martin Conroy get his inspiration for this letter? Did he come up with the story of the two young men from thin air or did get the idea from previous stories of a similar nature? Martin Conroy died in 2006 so we can't ask him these questions, but I think after you read through this small swipe file that you too will be convinced that several of the ads in this PDF book were the source of the story line used in the most successful ad of all time. The ad that Conroy most definitely saw is the one found on page 5 of this PDF. The ad is a 1919 Civil War ad and it was featured in several editions of Advertising Copy by George Burton Hotchkiss starting in 1924. It's certain that Conroy read this book either when he was learning the copy writing trade or later. The ad appears in the book in the section on Story and Dramatic Copy. This ad and the others you find in this PDF were all written for the Alexander Hamilton Institute and they were all written to sell a free
book called Forging Ahead In Business which then sold the reader on a business course. The Alexander Hamilton Institute was one of the better correspondence schools of the early 20th century and had some of the best copywriters working for them to create ads. George Hotchkiss knew this and used several Alexander Hamilton Institute ads as examples in the book Advertising Copy. In the Story and Dramatic Copy section he has this to say: Story copy used for a correspondence school course is of an entirely different character. Instead of omitting the conclusion, it stresses the conclusion; it may even begin with it. The man who lacked a good memory or personality or the advantage of a college education is pictured at the pinnacle of his success, and then we are shown how he arrived there. One of the most effective varieties of this kind of story advertisement is that in which two characters appear, one of whom succeeded and the other failed. This supplies us with the element of contrast, and emphasizes the point that the necessary ingredient is the advertised product or service. (Emphasis mine) This seems almost like a personal instruction to Martin Conroy for his Wall Street Journal ad and I'm assuming it was. You'll also find several other ads in this PDF that Martin Conroy could have seen or used to swipe for the Wall Street Journal letter. He may have used bits and pieces from them all. We'll never know for sure. You'll find the two men ads on the following pages: 5, 6, 9, 10 I've also included several other ads used by the Alexander Hamilton Institute. These aren't necessarily ads that were used by Conroy but they are good ads and demonstrate other ways to tell stories to sell. They also demonstrate various ways to overcome objections, use proof and testimonials along with other useful sales techniques. I created this PDF swipe file for myself first so there are some notes below each of the ads. These notes are not meant to be tomes of wisdom and are just notes for my use. I suggest you make your own notes on each ad that interests you. The ads are in date order and the dates and (if available) magazine they were originally found in are listed. If you have any questions, suggestions, additions or just want to say hi feel free to e mail me at docsulo@gmail.com. Now let's get on with the ads...
THE ADS The Rotarian Feb 1914 Above ad uses testimonial at the top making it look like part of a letter is pasted at the top of the ad. Ad uses the better to be a success in 30's rather than 60's angle. 1
1916 Ad 2
The above ad appeared in Popular Science Monthly in September 1917 3
1917 Proof Ad. 4
Original "Two Men" Ad on page 3 of Popular Science March 1919 5
June 1919 Two Men ad with an age twist. Both men succeed in this ad story but one succeeds when he is young and the other when he reaches 60. The reason success comes so late for most, says the ad, is knowledge. The reason why success comes so late for most men is that there is so much to learn. Here's a quote from the Conroy Wall Street Journal Letter: Have you ever wondered, as I have, what makes this kind of difference in people's lives? It isn't a native intelligence or talent or dedication. It isn't that one person wants success and the other doesn't. The difference lies in what each person knows and how he or she makes use of that knowledge. 6
1919 From an Alumni Magazine. 7
Rotarian April 1920. Great example of what Dan Kennedy does in getting over the objection My business is different. 8
1922 ad Two Young Men in The Atlantic Monthly. Unlike the Civil War ad which uses two men. This ad uses Two Young Men just like the Conroy ad. This ad is interesting because it appeals to a beat the Joneses type of person. In the second column (bottom) we read: It came to him as a shock when his friend was promoted to be assistant general superintendent of the railroad. He was full of congratulations and good wishes, but he could not quite conceal his envy. It seemed a little unfair that good luck should come to one and not to both. Nice appeal to those that are young and want to one up their neighbors. 9
The Rotarian Oct 1939 The above is another "Two Men" ad. It starts off "In the Fall of 1949 two business men will be sitting in a mid town restaurant. "I wonder what's going to happen next year," one of them will say. "My business is fine now but the next few years are going to be hard ones, and we may as well face the facts..." 10