bezan

[bezan]

This Letter Made $2 Billion Dollars for The Wall Street Journal

It's 1975.

A copywriter, Martin Conroy, sits in his kitchen and racks his brain for an idea to use in his next assignment.

His next assignment is for The Wall Street Journal.

And he's tasked to write an advert in the form of a sales letter.

This advert must be so persuasive... That were someone to read it... They'd immediately want to buy a subscription to The Wall Street Journal.

Quite a task, indeed.

He goes to his book of old ads, hoping for inspiration... When he finds exactly what he needs.

It's an ad for The Alexander Hamilton Institute, written in 1919 by copywriter Bruce Barton, which starts…

“From a certain little town in Massachusetts two men went to the Civil War. Each of them had enjoyed the same educational advantage, and so far as anyone could judge, their prospects for success were equally good. One man accumulated a fortune. The other spent his last years almost entirely dependent upon his children for support.”

He's found his angle.

Struck by inspiration - he spends the next couple of hours writing out his 2-page sales letter.

Here it is...

The Wall Street Journal mails it out, and...

And over the next three decades, it generates more than $2 billion in subscription sales!

Still to this day, it's considered one of the best sales letter adverts ever made.

So why was this so successful?

And how can you do this for your own business?

Let's break it down to three key takeaways, and how you can apply it to your own business...

How To Apply This Lesson

1. Immediately Show A Visual Of What Could Be

The letter doesn't start with the features of the product...

Instead, it starts by painting a visual of what could be.

We all have a subconscious portrait in our head of the person we are - AND the person we want to be.

The letter paints both those visuals and lets you imagine it...

Two nearly identical men... Working at a midwestern company... Except one is a manager of a small department, and the other is the president of the whole company!

You can visualise the difference immediately... With the small time manager stuck in a small stuffy office... Whereas the president is in a big airy corner office, flying to meetings in a private jet and so on.

And you probably already know who your customer is... So draw them in by showing them a grand vision of what COULD be.

2. Use The Power Of Contrast To Sell

Notice how the letter doesn't paint a visual of the presidents life only?

It also shows the visual of the somewhat mediocre small department manager.

The letter shows you the big contrast between the two of them DESPITE both men having the same starting conditions in life...

It makes you wonder, where did it diverge? Why did the president reach that level when the small time manager didn't? What was the missing ingredient?

And they answer further down...

"Knowledge. Useful knowledge. And it's application."

And of course, by that they mean their very own product.

The reader now sees the big gap between person A and person B.

But the reader is then shown that the missing ingredient to become person B (the president)... Is actually The Wall Street Journal.

And that's how using simple contrast... The reader associates The Wall Street Journal as the missing ingredient of super success.

Once it dawns on you - you immediately want to buy a subscription!

3. Emphasise One Unique Selling Point

Customers want to know how they'll level up if they buy your product.

But a mistake I often see is that businesses bombard customers with too many selling points. This often leads to customers being overwhelmed and confused about the product.

So find your big, main unique selling point that will help your customer to level up in life... And pitch that ONLY.

In this letter, you can clearly see one unique selling point being pitched about The Wall Street Journal... And that's "Useful Business Knowledge".

The customer immediately gets it... Then they quickly decide whether it's for them or not.

And that's it for today.

But before I go, let me ask a personal favour...

Please join the Player Zero newsletter for more unconventional business lessons - because it really helps us grow!

Till next my friends...

- Bezan

[bezan]

How I Programmed Myself...

I was on another one of those unproductive YouTube binges when I came across it.

The video was a guy talking about using affirmations to 'program reality'. He mentioned that affirmations could directly change the programming of the universe... And more precisely the 'script' the universe runs on...

Much like you would by changing commands in a computer script.

Intriguing, I thought, but not something I believed.

For some reason though, I had an epiphany when he mentioned that.

Forget about 'programming reality' with affirmations...

Can I actually 'program myself'?

When I observed myself, I noticed it was as if I had a 'script' in my own head that made me act out the same habits every day.

And when I observed other people, it was the same.

Everyone following the same habits and routines day in, day out - as if they had a 'script' that programmed them to do so.

So I asked myself...

IF my theory is correct...

That there's an 'autopilot script' in everybody's head...

How can I change my programming at will?

How do I change the commands in my own 'script'?

Well, I found the method.

Being the nerd that I am, I even created an app for it.

And so far after 2 months, here's the changes I've made to my own 'script':

Quit my Twitter/Reddit/Hackernews addiction in 10 minutes of 'self programming'

Finally stuck to the keto diet for a solid month after 'editing my script'

Lost 5.2kg

'Programmed myself' into a daily morning exercise habit. Haven't missed a day in 42 days.

Created and released a SaaS app from scratch, in just a few weeks

Started a newsletter about Copywriting and Startups

Changed my 'procrastination' habits for good, can work for hours with no distractions

I can't believe it was this simple.

And I know having an 'app to program yourself' sounds way too good to be true.

But this has 100% worked for me - and I'm sure it will for you guys too.

In fact, you don't even need the app to try the method.

A pen and paper works too.

Let me show you how it's done...

How it Works

Earlier, I mentioned the epiphany came at a specific point...

When the guy in the video mentioned using affirmations to program the 'script of reality'.

Now I don't really believe it's possible to do that.

But I do think it's possible to program yourself (the same way you would train a pet).

But for years I couldn't figure out a definitive method to 'program myself' that would stick 100%.

Until I found this one.

As we know, computer scripts are made up of commands.

So if my 'script' theory was true, then I could surely change those commands, right?

How do I change the commands in my own script?

The answer is stupidly simple, and you don't even need my app. A pen and paper is fine.

Let's take a Twitter addiction for example. Your current command in your 'script' will be: "I want to use Twitter."

Now your logical mind hates the fact that you use Twitter so much.

But your illogical animal mind...

It runs on autopilot through your 'script' - which overpowers your physical actions.

So to fix this addiction, we reverse the command...

By writing this affirmation: "I NEVER want to use Twitter."

And keep writing this line out for 10 minutes.

10 minutes is all, just to give it a try and see if it works for you.

And make sure to say each word in your head (or aloud) as you write it.

In traditional affirmations, they'll say "I will achieve xyz."

But that's wrong for practical purposes.

You see, your animal brain is addicted to these things because the command is "I want xyz".

It literally desires the thing your addicted to.

Hence, the command always starts with "I want..."

So you need to always reverse that command.

Another example is coffee addiction.

You might notice that your animal mind always wants coffee as soon as it wakes up...

That's because the current command is: "I want coffee as soon as I wake up."

You reverse that command by repeating: "I never want coffee as soon as I wake up." or even "I never want coffee."

Give it a try with a habit you've been struggling with.

10 minutes, a pen and paper is all you need.

Keep an open mind and think of it as an experiment...

If it works, you've just changed your life. If not, you lose 10 minutes.

But before you go, I need to ask a shameless favor...

It's more of a question, actually.

I mentioned that I made an app for this process (and to keep track of my commands)...

And I don't know if it's the visual cues, haptic feedback or that keyboard typing is faster and neater than hand writing...

But the app seems to work even better than pen and paper. Maybe the tactile feedback appeals to the 'animal brain'... And can reinforce the commands into your 'script' better.

Who knows.

Either way, the app was a nerdy way to make the process easier for myself. And I wanted to know...

Do you guys want me to release the app on iOS, Android & Web?

Along with a 'cheat sheet' to change different types of habits you might be struggling with?

(Like a 'command cheat sheet' for common bad habits people want to reverse such as smoking, social media addiction etc.)

If so...

Please sign up to my newsletter email list below. And I'll let you know as soon as it is released.

Enjoy the method and have fun programming yourself!

Cheers, Bezan

[bezan]

The 4-Word Startup

Person A: "So what does your startup do?"

Person B: "Oh we use AI, machine learning and neural networks to gather data so we can form synergistic B2B solutions to the autobot messenger problem by creating great biohacking communities and disrupting the massive B2C platforms, in the cloud of course. We're also planning to add scooters and a delivery service around this idea."

Person A: *Confused look and silence*

Person A: "Oh... Right..."

This scenario is often the case for new founders, including myself.

It's demoralising when you tell someone what your startup does... Only to get a completely confused stare in return.

If you're anything like me, this has happened to you a few times at least... And you've probably seen other founders going through it too.

Our first instinct is to blame other people - but it's our fault.

When you're starting out, it's hard to differentiate a good idea from a confusingly bad idea.

But unfortunately, you need to feel this embarrassing process over and over, to learn what a good idea actually is.

It's what led me to find the 'The 4-Word Startup' method.

I've personally gone through it more than a few times... Sharing an idea with people, only to get demoralised after seeing nothing but looks of confusion on people's faces.

I'm sure you know the look I'm talking about!

The truth is you need to get punched in the face over and over again (proverbially speaking!) until you finally wake up to your mistakes and find a better way forward.

For me, that was 'The 4-Word Startup' method which I want to share with you today...

So how did I go from blank, confused stares on peoples when I told them about my ideas... To consistently receiving that comforting "Aha, I get it! That's very cool." look that we so deeply crave?

Well...

The weird thing I realised is that the best startups (and even big businesses) are quite simple.

So simple, in fact, that they can usually be summed up in 4 words or less.

Here's how it works.

Your startup solves a problem...

But what you need to do is describe the solution, in 4 words or less.

Let's look at some popular examples, to see what I mean...

Uber: Hail taxis from anywhere.

Amazon: The online everything store.

AirBnB: Rent other people's homes.

Paypal: Send money with email.

SpaceX: Reusable rockets.

Snapchat: Send self-destructing photos.

Dropbox: Cloud based file storage.

And you can keep practising this method by describing other companies or ideas this way.

Of course, you can do this with your own ideas too.

One of the best ways to remember and describe this process is through a Peter Thiel quote from Zero to One:

"A superior solution, to a specific problem."

From the examples above, you can see that each startup solved a specific problem. But you can describe their superior solutions in 4 words or less.

So as you get used to practicing this method, you'll notice yourself noticing specific problems around you...

And you should then try to describe the superior solution in 4 words or less.

Suddenly, you'll notice when you share ideas with people - they have that pleasant look of "I get it!" on their faces.

Anyway...

I wanted to share this method so some of you can learn from my many mistakes... And avoid the many embarrassing moments I experienced!

And if you enjoyed this mini-hack, subscribe to my free newsletter to get a couple of these delivered to your inbox every week.

- Bezan