That’s like camera-ready art and typesetters printing on PMT film unless you still used rub-off letters, white out, clip art and plenty of glue sticks – right before MacWrite and the MacIntosh with it’s monochrome 8 or 9-inch screen – yucky!!

Well written explanation of the “swipe file”…especially explaining the John Caples classic that way.

Top notch stuff.
Joseph Ratliff

P.S. I just copy and paste your best into a Word doc, and it works fine, no need for a print plugin or anything.

I recently got an email from someone letting me know that a guy had ripped off the sales letter on my site and put it on his. I checked it out and sure enough, the guy had copy and pasted 95% of my sales letter to promote a product that I’m assuming may have also been damn near the exact same as mine.

Anyway, I contact the guy and he says something to the effect of, “I don’t consider us to be competitors. I think what you do is great and there’s room for all of us to be selling these products.”

Uh…right… As if paying a compliment to me made it okay to completely rip off my sales letter. And as for not being competitors, I’m not sure what he’d been reading, but I failed to see how two businesses trying to sell similar products to a limited audience were NOT competitors.

Needless to say, I let him know how wrong his assumption was and also contacted his billing company directly to put a stop to it. He did change his page, thankfully. But it goes to show, you never know how somebody might justify stealing.

John, I remember when you first put “jealously guarded secrets” in an ad. I believe it was one of your control martial arts ads from the late 90’s.

Like all copywriters who have known your work for a long time, I have “reticular vision”
for many of your trade-mark originals. Reticular vision is officially defined as:

“It alerts the brain to incoming information from the senses, and from the centers of thought,
memory and feeling. More than that, it adjudicates the relative importance of that information…
In a way, reticular vision is like a vigilant secretary, sorting out the trivia from the incoming messages.”
- Ronald H Bailey, “The Role of the Brain”, 1975

Bottomline, you start to take keen notice of a phrase or word once it makes an impact on your conscious mind. I started seeing “jealously guarded secrets” in everybody’s copy all over the web – no matter what the niche or market!

For one of my first really good ads, I saw a perfect format in one of your golf ads for the copy I was struggling with. As I recall, I got in touch and asked your permission to use the golf ad, as you framed it, an “inspiration”. (A direct rip of the copy wouldn’t have worked anyway).

The ad was my career turning-point and made the client some serious money.

(My profound, eternal thanks for your generous help on that one, John… )

Dude, nice touch you included “Monterey Pop” in your “mini-counter-culture” film festival.
Filmed in 1967- peace, love, groovy. Hendrix, Joplin, the U.S. debut of The Who –
crowd was lightly buzzed and good vibes prevailed everywhere… and the folks that were
interviewed were coherent, a little giddy and having a good time.

I had to peek through my fingers while I re-watched Woodstock last year. It gave me alot of “what were we thinking?” moments (I’m 50 ish). Most of the Woodstock groovsters were so baked they couldn’t put a sentence together when interviewed on camera. Even Grace Slick, 71 (Jefferson Airplane) just admitted most
of the musicians at Woodstock arrived so loaded they talked like cavemen back-stage.

(ahhhhh, far out, man…… aaarrrrghhhhhhhhhh)

It was 1969, and the hippie movement had gone “mainstream”. Gosh, my Dad was growing side-burns!
“Hair”, “Laugh-in” and “Playboy After Dark” hit Broadway and TV. All you have to do to take the teeth and steam out of a new counter-culture movement is commercialize it – poof! the magic is gone.

Once again, far out and solid post, JC!

Mark (don’t take the brown tabs) L

One thing I will start doing, like how in days of yore, where they’d hang pirates’ bodies in Jamaica Bay, or put heads on pikes on castle walls, is to scan in pdfs of court and criminal and legal winning actions and post links on my sites, that’s likely a good deterrent as well. Some of us have teeth and use them. Copying/ripping others’ content is bad, it’s amazing to me that some think they can get away with it. And yes I’ve sent C&Ds to webhosting servers, even had people’s domains pulled w/legal notices and de-registered for infringing bs. Dont’ f— with some of us, is a good message to get out there.
Like the pimp said in “Risky Business”, in a tough economy you don’t screw with another man’s livelihood… :p

-k

Hey John,
Actually over at The Warrior Forum I had someone asking about if these Gary Halbert, Ted Nicholas, etc, downloads and DVD’s, CD’s were legit.

I made it quite clear that (seminar .@@@) isn’t legit.

And told them that Kevin and Bond were probably in the process of tearing this guy a new A Hole. So, I’m trying… as a huge Gary Halbert fan… to spread the word about these pieces of crap stealing Gary’s amazing work.

By the way, I wrote Gary the poem at… http://www.TheGaryHalbertLetter.com/rememberingGary.html
I’ll copy it…
Hi Eric and Bond

My Name is Bill Jeffels. I wanted to let you know your dad really changed my life through his teachings. For special people in my life I write them a poem. I did not have the pleasure to meet your dad in person, but I wanted to do someing since gary did so much for me.

Here is Gary’s poem…

THE EXCITING LIFE OF GARY HALBERT

At all of Gary’s semianr’s
In amazement you would sit
he was definetly a marketing genius
and he’d be the last to deny it

If you were smart enough to hire Gary
your business would go very far
from your family “Coat Of Arms”
to “The Amazing Face Lift In a Jar”

From “How To Collect Social Security…”
his copywriting had pulling power
he’d make you want every product
“How To Burn Off Body Fat Hour-By-Hour”

He made multi-millionaires
there seem to be no end
from George Zangas to Robert Allen
and “Berry-Trims” Marc Kaplan

His amazing copywriting would suck you in
the product you would desire
if you wanted a winner every time
Gary Halbert is who you would hire

7000 at the Century Plaza Hotel
risking fire safety fines
the product did not have “An Illegal Substance”
only millions for the Borgnines

If Gary really liked you
he would be there to the end
just ask the great John Carlton
his buddy and best friend

If you studied Gary Halbert
you had no choice but to get better
from his seminar’s book’s and tape’s
to every Boron Letter

Gary Halbert was a success
there was no goal he could not achieve
from his “Carbonizied Shit Theory”
you are what you believe

Gary had a great sese of humour
he was very intelligent too
“Through Movement, Not Through Meditation”
is the wisdom he would tell you

Gary was known to be very generous
but also a little vain
exciting, thought pervoking and passonite
but never ever tame

The passing of Gary Halbert
made thousands very sad
he was not only a great teacher
but also a loving dad

Gary is gone but not forgotten
his boat may of set sail
but to to me and thousands of others
he will alway’s be the Alpha Male

All The Best

Bill Jeffels
Ontario
Canada

I was talking to Scott Haines via e-mail he said he liked it

Best,

Bill Jeffels
Toronto, Canada