I love reading Gary Halbert's emails, they are always so entertaining.

I was curious, is anyone else getting his "Fusion" DVD's that he's promoting now.

If you went to his seminar live, how was it?

For the price you paid, I'm sure the $750 that Gary's charging is a drop in the bucket.

Just curious...

Shawn LeBrun

I don't care for him.

Here's what I got to say about Gary Halbert...and I know this opinion isn't popular. I'll start it with an anecdote. My friend showed me a picture of a plumber in his truck. The truck had a painting on the door. It was a picture of a guy's bottom half sitting on a toilet. So when someone was in the driver seat, it looked like he was sitting on the toilet.

Funny huh? I mean there's a buch of guys working in this garage laughing at this great picture (he had found it online somewhere). But as funny as I thought it was, I'd never hire the guy. Sure, it was great branding, but it wouldn't have brought my business. I mean if someone had something so unprofessional on his work truck, why would I expect him to act professionally while I'm paying him?

And that's exactly what I think of Gary Halbert. Maybe there's a portion of the populace who likes him. Obviously, there's an audience for everyone. Just like there's a soul mate for everyone. So a lot of people bought his his style. Rest assured, there's a lot of people who didn't. And there's a lot of people who wouldn't. Why exclude them?

Regarding most direct response marketers, yes - a large portion. There's no maybe about it.

Regarding the general populace - what "they" think about him as a person doesn't really matter. His sales letters to "them" have nothing to do with "Gary Halbert". He'd be the first to say this - though it's obvious if you read any of his letters.

"Gary" only comes into the picture in the role as a teacher to the rest of us knucklebrain copywriters.

Despite Gary's "colorful" expressions (which I personally enjoy very much), it seems to me that many (critics) fail to realize how extremely generous he is.

That alone merits enormous respect and gratitude (at least that's how I see it).

His newsletters have had an enormous impact in developing my copywriting skills. I've read just about every newsletter he has written, and I simply can't imagine a direct response copywriter not getting better if he or she does this with a non-judgemental mind.

Michel, and many others here and elsewhere have also had a strong influence on my control busting skills - and each of these individuals have their own personalities - different than Gary, but so what?

From a personal point of view, I feel much more comfortable with somebody who is simply ok with being him or herself. All the periphery stuff is just "color" and "spice".

It's the two-faced hypocrits, or those that try to hack down others to make themselves appear taller that get under my skin (not accusing anyone here!)

I challenge anyone to name 3 people (out of the billions of humans who walk this earth) who have EVER given more to direct response copywriting aspirants freely than Gary Halbert has given.

Plus, when we read beyond the "colorful" lines (when he's castrating his cat Alfred - or talking about orgasms, etc...) there are VERY clear, and continually repeated messages that affirm the importance of treating our customers with respect.

They aren't hidden messages.

In a sense, I'm really glad he is blunt and talks about life's closet stuff so candidly... it creates a natural barrier to entry, and spins out those who prefer to keep that part of life under the rug... because it is "foul" or "rude" or whatever... and miss a very big opportunity to hone their copy chops to razor sharpness.

Makes my job A LOT easier to beat controls if there are fewer dedicated Gary Halbert copywriting students out there.

My two Italian Lire...

Well I'm not talking so much about how well he helps copywriters...or even if he does help them. What I'm saying is that I would never use his style (or suggest someone use it) when they want to communicate with a customer. I haven't read a whole lot of his work...just enough to know that I would never use his style.

I might learn a great deal if I read more of his stuff. But I'd never be convinced that this is the way to speak (or write) to potential clients.

As you said, it's other marketers who enjoy his work...

You know one of the reasons big companies (the ones who spend money on branding instead of direct response advertising) keep getting bigger? It's because people know what to expect when they deal with employees. I know that if I walk into a McDonalds, what the servers will and will not do. So if I'm in a small town with two restraunts, guess which one I go to (I'm not the adventurous type).

Anyway, I don't mean anything against him personally, I just think it's a poor way to write.

By the way, all that free stuff and advice he gives...I think it's just branding.

Would I talk to my customers the way Gary does? No. But I'm not Gary.

Do I agree 100% with everything Tim has said? Absolutely!

There is no question that I (and my clients, too, although most don't know it) owe a great deal to Gary for the marketing wisdom he has shared over the years.

I'm a much better copywriter because of him, and, as I continually read and reread his stuff, I'm still getting better all the time.

Even Gary himself admits he can be a ****weasel, but he makes no apologies for it. That's the way he is, and frankly, I find it amusing and refreshing.

Does that mean everyone should agree with me? Certainly not.

Does it mean everyone can learn something from Gary? I think so.

Just my .02.

John

Eric

Amen Tim!

I always find it amusing when people’s feathers get ruffled by Gary.
What they don't understand is that 90% of the time he is joking. It's just his warped sense of humor (which I love).

The other 10% is his strong ego/self-confidence, which to be quite honest, is well earned. He produces results.

But, if someone gets a chance to get to meet him in person or get to know the Gary underneath, they will find he is one of the most generous and giving people around.

A simple example of the "true Gary" is the absolutely amazing thing he did recently for an aspiring copywriter struggling with Multiple Sclerosis.

He called in favors (and many people owe Gary favors) from all over the world and flooded this lady with more help and advice than probably any aspiring copywriter in history has received.

You can read the whole story here:

http://www.thegaryhalbertletter.com/07-27-05.htm

So, say what you want about his rough and gruff style, but the Gary I know, is pretty darn good guy...

Eric

Clearly a communication problem - not a good problem for a copywriter to have.

What I found offensive about Gary Halbert was his obvious myopia about who his public actually is, and the apparent adherence to the rather trite philosophy of "oh that's just how he is" in order to excuse any and all bad behaviour.

But rather than go on about it, my sentiments can be summed up thus:

I find the hero-worship of Gary Halbert on this forum cloying.

(Or any hero-worship for that matter.)

Jane

I was thinking the word 'worship' long before I reached Jane's post.

Look, it's all fine and dandy for Gary to use his style with other marketers...but that isn't what I'm talking about. Use his style when John Doe hires you to get more people to his used car sale, and I think you just cheated your client out of a huge chunk of his prospective customers. That's what it all boils down to.

Now, I know I'm going to get an onslaught of success stories after saying this, but I keep hearing about how much Gary helped other copywriters. Apparently, that's his business. It's my business to help my clients find spenders, and I wouldn't touch his style with a ten footer...because I don't think his style would shake a stick at something a little more professional.

I could be wrong, but I'm glad people disagree. Because I get a lot of business from people who were unhappy with the Gary Halbert style...and I'm racking up enough success stories of my own not to worry about what this or that 'world famous copywriter' says.

Here's what I really think. A lot of marketers are attracted to Gary's style because it's "just write it down the way you see it." Oh, I know there are rules, but on the general style, you don't have to consider as much as when you're worried about offending the audience.

So when John Doe wants a sales letter, it's my job to make it sound professional, without loosing the natural, conversational flow. (again, I'm only talking about style now. I know there are rules and formulas to writing copy) Take the professionalism out of the equasion, and you have Gary. And while John Doe might have attracted a lot of copywriters to his car sale, he sure didn't get as many customers.

Perfect, then. 'Cause what he would have attracted by being more generic (I prefer "generic" than "professional") are non-customers, tire-kickers and/or freebie-seekers.

Worse yet, vampires.

I agree with your point. But while Gary is alineating a portion of the market, albeit large, he makes the remainder firmer believers.

As he said (on being too generic or too "clean"), "People avoid selling to the foxes for fear of upsetting the dogs."

But I'm glad you made the distinction between his writing style for teaching (and talking to his audience, and yes, I emphasize "his"), and his writing style as a style to use for copy with our clients.

Of course, we can't write like this for every client and for every market.

There are 4 personality styles in the world, and this has been scientifically researched for ages. (Take behavioral scientist Tony Alessandra's "The Platinum Rule.") In fact, it's been around since Greek philosophers' time. I wrote an article about it here:

http://successdoctor.com/articles/do...ersonality.htm

If we try to be too general or too vague (or too diplomatic), we tend to sell to less (or to undesirables, as I mentioned earlier), for people will not feel we are catering to their needs specifically -- or understand their fears, their lingo, their challenges, their mindsets. Those who do go ahead will always have doubts and will jump on the refund bandwagon with the littlest itch.

If we are too generic or try to appeal to a larger market, it's possible, particularly for a large scale product. But in the case of niches and targeted marketing, being too generic forces us to paint our copy with broad brushstrokes in order to appeal to everyone. But you can't be all things to all people.

A great article by Roy Williams, in the Wizard of Ads, pointed that out well:

http://www.wizardacademy.com/showmemo.asp?id=93

(By the way, Roy discusses the 4 personality types, too.)