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Dear ,
Actually, no hamburgers today -- it's Friday (although Impossible Burgers are totally fine today).
The reason I bring up hamburgers is because it relates to one of the most important marketing lessons ever taught by one of the world's greatest marketers and copywriters who ever lived.
The person of whom I speak is named Gary Halbert.
This man was indeed a legend; he passed away in 2007; however his teachings live on.
I was fortunate enough to have emailed with him several times to get his feedback on some projects.
Shortly before his death, I shared one of my sales letters with him by email to which he replied:
"That's a KILLER sales letter. Unless you say different, I'm going to write about it in my newsletter. Gary"
Unfortunately, Gary passed before he got to write about it; however, Gary's sons, Bond and Kevin, dedicated an entire newsletter to me and my sales letter. If you want to check it out, it's here: https://www.thegaryhalbertletter.com/newsletters/unfinishedbusiness
Anyway, I've always been proud of that Halbert "Seal of Approval" because of how highly-regarded Gary is in the marketing community and because of how bigger than life he was.
This leads me to one of Gary's most famous (and important lessons). It's called the "Starving Crowd" lesson. I'll share it with you so you can hear directly from Gary's mouth (or pen), quoted word for word:
As you may or may not know, every once in a while I give a class on copywriting and/or selling by mail. During these classes, one of the questions I like to ask my students is: "If you and I both owned a hamburger stand and we were in a contest to see who could sell the most hamburgers, what advantages would you most
like to have on your side to help you win?"
The answers vary. Some of the students say they would like to have the advantage of having superior meat from which to make their burgers. Others say they want sesame seed buns. Others mention location. Someone usually wants to be able to offer the lowest prices.
And so on.
Whatever. In any case, after my students are finished telling me what advantages they would most like to have, I usually say to them something like this: "O.K., I'll give you every single advantage you have asked for. I, myself, only want one advantage and, if you will give it to me, I will (when it comes to selling
burgers) whip the pants off all of you!"
"What advantage do you want?" they ask.
"The only advantage I want," I reply...
"Is... A Starving Crowd!"
Think about it. When it comes to direct marketing, the most profitable habit you can cultivate is the habit of constantly being on the lookout for groups of people (markets) who have demonstrated that they are starving (or, at least hungry) for some particular product or service.
So, my question to you is... are you marketing to a starving crowd? To no crowd? To the wrong crowd? To a stuffed crowd?
It makes all the difference. Find yourself a starving crowd and use your skills to pull them in. It's much easier to get someone who's famished to eat your burger...
Until next time.
P.S. That's a photo of Gary Halbert up top.
P.P.S. The burger you see in the photo is called the Fleurburger 5000 served at the Fleur Restaurant in Las Vegas. It's known as the most expensive burger in the world with a $5,000 price tag.
Here’s the recipe:
1 tsp. cornstarch
1 cup brown Chicken Stock
1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 lbs. coarsely ground beef
2 Tbsp. Madeira or port
4 Fleur Buns
3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 oz. black Perigord truffle, very thinly sliced (about 5 slices per person)
8 to 10 oz duck foie gras
Fleur de sel
1 bunch watercress, washed and picked over.
And, remember, K.I.C. (Keep It Coptic).
Your friend,