I confess.
I’m addicted to books and book stores!
Now, this has benefits of course.
For a copywriter, bookstores are a great source of ideas and market information.
And while browsing through one of the local bookstores recently I came across a gem of a book by Joe Vitale.
It’s called…
“The Seven Lost Secrets Of Success”
…with the subtitle Million-Dollar Ideas Of Bruce Barton, America’s Forgotten Genius.
Now, I’m not a huge fan of Joe Vitale, but I do admire and appreciate his knowledge of business and marketing history.
So the reference to Bruce Barton was enough to catch my attention.
In his time, Barton was renown as one of the leading advertising men.
But he was also a highly successful author and influential in politics (he was congressman at one time and also a potential presidential candidate).
While I knew the name (and that Barton was one of the founders of the famous ad agency Batten, Barton, Durstine & Osborn) I was keen to find out more about the man.
If for no other reason than to indulge my fascination for business history.
So what’s the book about? In Joe Vitale’s words…
“This book won’t examine Barton’s life. Instead my focus is on Barton’s success strategies and how you can use them today. My belief is that Barton’s success at promotion and marketing – his success in all areas of life – was due to these timeless strategies.”
Joe uncovered 7 key strategies that Barton practiced. Some will be familiar to most direct response copywriters (for example, “Secret #3 Speak In Parables”).
Others will be more surprising.
The book is relatively short, all solid content and little fluff (I read it in a couple of hours this week while I was waiting at a medical centre having some tests done).
Well worth you taking a look.
And on Amazon it’s remarkably cheap. As I write this, it’s available for a mere US$4.99.
If nothing else, it’s worth having in your collection of copywriting resources for a discussion of a famous letter that Barton wrote. The letter was to raise funds for a small college and was sent to 24 wealthy individuals. It achieved a 100% response rate and is justly regarded as a copywriting classic.
The book includes a transcript of a discussion between Joe and Craig Perrine where they identify the elements that made the letter so successful.