5 Money Lessons From Gary Halbert 💰 (The Boron Letters #2)
Part 2 - enthusiasm, studying the markets, and what to do when you are stuck.
Gary Halbert is one of the greatest copywriters of all time.
In 1984, he was convicted of tax fraud and spent time in prison writing letters to his son, teaching him everything he knew.
These letters became a book called The Boron Letters.
The Boron Letters is available online for free, but to be honest, it’s a challenging read.
It has a very bland format, and the letters contain many unimportant topics.
Lucky for you, I’ve read these letters, and I’ll lay down the best lessons here.
This is part 2, where we share Gary’s money lessons. (Check out part 1 below)
1. Gary’s #1 tip for making money 🫰🏽
Gary advocates for doing only what excites you (similar to the well-known “follow your passion” advice).
“Money is a byproduct of enthusiasm.”
“When hiring someone, look for the most enthusiastic person, not the most qualified.
Gary believes that if you don’t like something, you won’t stick with it for long enough to make it work.
2. Become a student of the markets 📈
Gary talks about not focusing on copywriting techniques or specific products to succeed in business.
Instead, prioritize markets.
“The first thing you must learn is ‘what people want to buy.’”
But look at what people buy. Not what they say they buy. People speak better using their wallets.
“Be skeptical of what people say. Be skeptical of surveys. Of questionnaires.
Instead, believe in numbers.
For example, if everybody you talk with says they like plays more than movies, and yet the numbers say that 10,000 times more people buy movie tickets, then you believe the numbers!”
If you do this, you’ll have an easier time finding a product to sell.
3. The only advantage you need in business 🎚️
Gary asked his class once:
“If you and I both owned a hamburger stand and we were in a contest to see who would sell the most hamburgers, what advantages would you most like to have on your side?”
Most students asked for the best meat, best location, or lowest prices.
But Gary believed he could beat all these advantages together using just one advantage:
A starving crowd.
If you find a starving crowd, everything becomes easy.
“look out for groups of people (markets) who have demonstrated that they are starving (or at least hungry!) for some particular product or service.”
4. Three attributes of a starving crowd 👥
When seeking potential customers for your service or product, prioritize the following things:
Recency - The more recently a person has purchased something similar to what you are selling, the more receptive he will be to your offer.
Frequency - The more often a person buys a particular item, the higher his desire for that product.
Unit of sale - a person who paid $100 for diet pills is a hotter prospect for diet-type products than a person who only paid $10 for diet pills.
Recency is the most important.
All you have to do is observe and sell people what they want.
5. How to find your perfect customer 👪
This is an example of how to use the 3 attributes above to find the perfect client.
Let’s say we sell a book on how to invest money. We first choose a mailing list to promote our product to. Which of these lists will be the best?
Random people we find online.
People earning above-average incomes.
People earning above-average incomes who bought any product from emails.
People earning above-average incomes who bought investment books from emails.
People earning above-average incomes who bought investment books from emails several times.
People earning above-average incomes who bought investment books from emails several times and bought a product from you in the last 12 months.
You get the point. The last crowd (6) is the most likely to buy your thing.
Why?
These people give the signals of a starving crowd. They have money, love investment books, want to read more, and even want your stuff specifically.
Aim for people with money, who bought stuff like your product before, multiple times, and did it recently.
Sending 100 emails will take a fixed amount of time. But choosing the right crowd will be the only difference-maker.
🎁 Bonus: do this when you are unmotivated
When you get stuck and don’t know how to continue in your business journey, gary suggest one solution:
Keep moving.
“Run. Walk. Jog. Write. Do the dishes. Or whatever. But don't sit around waiting for a flash from heaven.”
“The key is the moment.”
Gary believes that if you don’t feel like working, you need to start working anyway.
It reminds me of a great motivational video from Jocko Willink:
Tell me you are not motivated to work now 😉
To summarize:
Doing what you are enthusiastic about will make you rich.
Learn markets. Not products.
Sell to people what they actually buy. Not what they say they buy.
A starving crowd is the only advantage you need to look for in business.
3 attributes to look for in a starving crowd: Recency, Frequency, and Unit of Sale.
When you are stuck, just keep moving. Do something, anything.
This is crazy because I was about to write everything I learned from Jim Halpert.