The original Bullet Man

Whenever I receive two emails on a related subject in one week, from two different people, I feel compelled to write about what connects them.

I consider it the universe telling me I have a duty to do it.

The first was from the greatest living copywriter, Gary Bencivenga…who claims to be “retired” …but he can’t help himself from teaching.

That’s good news for all of us. 🙂

Any time I can soak in Gary’s wisdom, I do…and then I immediately get his permission to share it with you.

I did that with his Bencivenga Bullets, a series of extraordinary emails he produced that I compiled into a priceless PDF and made it available to everyone who buys my book at OverdeliverBook.com.

Gary is at it again, producing all new Marketing Maxims weekly—and I implore you to get on the distribution by clicking here.

He calls them his “…golden rules for maxim-izing [see what he did there?] your response, revenue, and success as a copywriter, marketer, or entrepreneur.”

You need to receive these…trust me.

Click here now.

The second email was from Ben Settle, the king of email marketing, who was recently anointed “The Bullet Man” by Ken McCarthy (a title that is as majestic as any) …because “Bullets” are foundational in copywriting, and it’s a technique that must be mastered to become a master.

And while Ben is worthy of being “A” Bullet Man of epic proportions, this topic deserves a history lesson to track down the origins of the Bullet Men of the past…based on my days wandering in the Jurassic Period of direct mail, among the dinosaurs of copywriting (who will never become extinct).

When talking about the greats in anything—sports, entertainment and yes, even direct marketing—thinking about creating a “Mount Rushmore” is a convenient way to narrow the choices to only four…putting the best of the best on a pedestal…or better yet, etched into the side of a mountain.

Going back to my 34 year run at Boardroom Inc, where I cut my teeth, my Mount Rushmore of copywriters consisted of four legends who paved the way for the next generation(s) of legendary copywriters.

Three of them you have probably heard of if you are a regular reader of these blog posts:

The aforementioned Gary Bencivenga, the wildly unpredictable Jim Rutz, and the Renaissance Man of copywriting, Eugene Schwartz–and all three are icons I have written about many times in the past.

Click on their names to read more about them if you are new to my online family.

The fourth you probably never heard of…his name is Mel Martin…dubbed by some industry historians (like me) “The Master of Fascinations.”

See the P.S. for more from another historian.

“Fascinations” equals “Bullets” for this discussion. 🙂

You’ll need to keep reading to learn about him…and learn what “fascinations” and “bullets” are if those terms are new to you.

Mel was Boardroom’s secret weapon behind the scenes for over two decades beginning in the late 1970’s and until his death.

This is from the eulogy Marty Edelston (founder of Boardroom) gave at Mel’s funeral in 1994:

“We had lunch regularly…to dream about changing stupid systems…which ultimately led to [some of the most famous pieces of copy which were dominated by what we called fascinations] in the history of direct marketing.”

If some of the “fascinations” below that Marty cited in his eulogy sound familiar, it might be because you have been around for a long time and studied them.

But they also might sound familiar because variations of them have been repurposed, re-worded and copied over the decades since the time Mel originally penned them:

• What never to eat on an airplane

• How to collect interest from two different banks at the same time

• The two most forgotten tax deductions

• Bills it’s Okay to pay late

• What credit companies don’t tell you

Regarding this last bullet: I could mention hundreds of other institutions, industries and companies Mel cited as hiding stuff from consumers—i.e., what “‘THEY don’t want you to know or don’t tell you” –and you should know that Mel was an original (or close to it) writing copy like this–which you see and hear regularly today on the Internet, TV and radio.

Mel also pioneered what I call the “bloodhound approach” to writing copy, warning readers who is ripping them off and who is there to save them.

Mel created his own brand of this world, beginning with the most titillating fascinations.

He turned it into an art form.

Fascinations like those above were used as subheads in sales letters, body copy, envelope teasers…anywhere and everywhere they fit into a particular promotion.

Without being too hyperbolic, Mel Martin changed copywriting forever in profound ways…and he understood as much as anyone who has ever written promotion copy how to truly get under the skin of his audience.

Or as Marty liked to say:

“Mel wrote copy that made you vibrate.”

Getting under your skin with vibration…I guess that’s the definition of making your skin crawl?

But in a good way. 🙂

While I thought Mel was most influenced by Gene Schwartz, who was known for his “bullets” (i.e. fascinations), Mel told me it was Ralph Ginzburg who influenced him the most…and Ralph’s story is one worth reading too.

So I don’t go off on a tangent, click here to read Ginzburg’s very colorful Wikipedia page.

Pay particular attention to the “hit” Ralph took for all marketers in 1972…by taking his case for free speech to The Supreme Court…and serving 8 months in prison.

In the words of playwright, essayist and screenwriter Arthur Miller, regarding the sentencing of Ralph Ginzburg:

“After all the legal, moral and psychological arguments are done, the fact remains that a man is going to prison for publishing and advertising stuff a few years ago that today would hardly raise an eyebrow in your dentist’s office. This is the folly, the menace of all censorship—it lays down rules for all time which are ludicrous a short time later.”

This is something that Mel admired…as we all should when someone stands up for principles that change history.

And Mel also admired and emulated Ralph’s writing style…while adding his own personal flair.

Oops…I am always a tangent waiting to happen…sorry about that.

Back to the legend of Mel Martin…

What Mel (and Gene Schwartz) also innovated was to perfect the simple yet powerful technique of adding page numbers after every fascination (referencing a book or premium).

While this technique may have been done before them, no one did it with the same acumen and precision.

What was fascinating (pun intended) was how buyers from those famous packages would call our customer service representatives after receiving the product telling us when the fascination from the promotion didn’t match up (or satisfy them) on page whatever of the book.

They saved the promotion for weeks after ordering to check up on us.

We learned that not everyone threw away their junk mail–especially when they were proud owners of a Mel Martin masterpiece.

I maintain that this was an unintended “stick strategy,” keeping readers and customers in our orbit for a longer period, before, during and after ordering…which translated into higher lifetime value.

We learned the valuable lesson that there are no such things as customer complaints, only engagements, with your family of buyers.

That goes way beyond buyers checking up on the accuracy of our page number references on our fascinations.

Profit begins (and never ends) when there is engagement happening.

My favorite Mel Martin story is the one about The Book of Secrets…which began as a flop…but it became one of the most successful books ever sold via direct mail by us (or anyone else for that matter).

Marty and I loved checklists…I still do…and one of the most therapeutic things we do as humans is cross stuff off our checklists.

We created a “Book of Checklists” for consumers…and we even printed the book in a different shape (longer and narrower than a standard book to mimic a checklist) …and we assumed the book would be a blockbuster success.

Wrong. 🙁

Our incorrect assumption was that the book would “sell itself” (just saying that makes me cringe).

We didn’t invest in an A-List copywriter to write the package.

The thinking was that since WE loved this idea why wouldn’t our customers be in love with it too?

Hence, we hired a B-/C+ copywriter (something we rarely did) because we were so in love with the product.

Did I mention we were wrong?

But we weren’t going to give up so easily…we knew the content was something our audience wanted (based on some limited editorial research) …so maybe the title was the problem?

That is, “checklists” implied there is work involved (despite our premise that everyone loved to cross things off their checklists).

We tested a new title in a follow up mailing:

“The Great Book of Inside Knowledge.”

And lo and behold…

…the results were worse…

…and by a wide margin.

Giving up seemed reasonable, but we believed in the content and assumed it was a creative and copy issue.

We were slow learners at the time.

So rather than kill the project, we called in our secret weapon, Mel Martin.

Mel took that same book– “checklists” that had become “inside knowledge,” all of which no one seemed to want—and he turned it into The Book of Secrets.

He wrote an entirely new package, all fascination driven, with questions and problems answered inside the book…and he took one of the biggest losers we ever had and turned it into one of our biggest winners ever.

We mailed more than 20 million names for that book…and I recall one single mailing of 9 million names which was by far the single biggest mailing Boardroom ever did for any one book.

I remember Marty calling our lettershop who was preparing that 9-million-piece mailing to ask how many trucks it would take to transport 9 million pieces.

The answer was 36 and he loved the mental image of 36 huge trucks driving all over the country to post offices with our direct mail.

The Book of Secrets sold over 500,000 copies over its lifetime.

That translated to almost $20 million in sales which isn’t too shabby for what seemed to be a failure…twice.

Mel wrote some of the most intriguing fascinations for this book and I think more importantly, he hand-picked the 4 fascinations that would go on the outer envelope (which he felt would create “maximum vibration/skin crawl” for readers):

• How to refund airlines’ non-refundable ticket

• How to make your car very, very hard to steal

• Vitamins never to buy in a health food store

• How to know when a slot machine is ready to pay off

Lessons from this story and Mel’s unique writing style:

1. Multiple entry points for a reader or prospect, focusing on universal fears and concerns that consumers need solutions to, is a very effective method to capture a very large audience…or…” fascinations rule” …or as I have said before, quoting venture capitalist Frederick Adler, “Paranoia is not a psychosis, it’s survival.”

2. The outer envelope is your welcome mat to your direct mail package…just as your subject line is your welcome mat to the emails you send…see the P.S. for more about this connection Mel created going from direct mail to email (without ever writing an email in his lifetime).

3. If your product or service is good and you believe in it, there is always more than one way to spin it…and to make it more powerful. As Gary Halbert famously said, “Every business problem can be solved with a great sales letter.”

4. While tweaking a promotion leads to marginal improvements, the idea of blowing up what you have and starting with a brand-new copy platform and approach is where the major breakthroughs happen. I am saying this in contrast to what I talked about previously in “Deeply and Irrevocably Personal” which was the exception, not the rule, regarding a small thing creating a big breakthrough.

5. The concept of the “bloodhound”—someone seeking the truth on your behalf through experts—is an approach we took to the bank for decades without Marty being a true “guru” …but rather being the man behind the secrets, finding the experts to back them up, and becoming the reader’s guardian angel. It was Mel who figured out how powerful this could be for consumers. And if you don’t think the “bloodhound approach” is something that could work for you in today’s world, think again.

6. Did I say fascinations rule? 🙂

There are many more lessons from this humble, behind-the-scenes copywriter.

I learned so much watching Mel “reassemble copy” (deconstructing and reengineering the copy with titillating fascinations) rather than simply write it.

One bullet to the brain after another…with some connecting copy…was his winning formula.

It’s something all the greats can do…and no one did it better than Mel Martin.

He may not have been “THE Bullet Man”…but he was absolutely the “Mad Scientist of Bullets.”

I have this picture hanging on my wall next to my desk:

This is Marty, in his prime, a black belt in karate, splitting a board on a stack of copies of The Book of Secrets.

When Marty passed away, his wife Rita was so generous to give me this photograph and it reminds me every day of the story of The Book of Secrets, and in particular Marty’s marketing stamina and Mel Martin’s creative genius.

It’s a story of “persistent marketing” (i.e., never giving up when you believe in a product that you know there is desire for it the marketplace) while marrying the most appropriate copy with the perfect list.

This is far from being bullheaded or stubborn…and it is never a waste of time.

It’s at the core of being a world class direct marketer…which both Marty (and Mel as his secret weapon) epitomized.

I have such fond memories of Mel…pacing in the office in his white buck shoes, chain smoking (when you could still smoke indoors!), all the while working as that mad scientist figuring out what fascinations would stimulate the largest number of consumers possible.

It’s no coincidence that some of the greatest teachers of copywriting today actually have their students master this technique of writing, whether they call it fascinations or bullets, even before they learn how to write headlines, leads, body copy or anything else.

Mel didn’t look like a trendsetter (or a “professor”) …there’s a picture of him in the link in the P.S….he simply taught by showing rather than telling.

He taught and showed a generation of copywriters and marketers an important subset of the craft…by example….and through an incredible series of successes.

With a lot of sweat and toiling.

And in doing so, he created some of the most successful promotions in the history of direct mail without fanfare or publicity.

Fascinating.

Warmly,

Brian

P.S. I found a wonderful blog post in my archives, all about Mel Martin, written by direct marketing hero and historian, Denny Hatch.

It repeats some of the things I’ve mentioned above (since I was interviewed for the article along with Marty) …but Denny adds even more color to this once-in-a-generation writer…including the link between fascinations and subject lines…despite Mel not being alive to enjoy the fruits of email marketing.

Also included in the piece are a lot more of his most famous fascinations.

I hope you will read it when you get a chance…click here.