The $2 Billion Dollar Sales Letter: This Single Prompt Could Help You Quit Your 9-5 And Retire Early

Ahoy, Digital Writers!

In 1973 year, copywriter Martin Conroy wrote one of the most famous and profitable direct sales letters in history.

For 30 years, this single letter generated $2 billion dollars in revenue for the Wall Street Journal. There are 750 words in the letter. That’s $2.5M per word. Let that soak in for a second. Do you think that’s enough to quit your 9-5?

Crazy, right?!

And today, we are going to unpack the secret to Conroy’s billion dollar ad and give you a ChatGPT prompt to craft a proven letter with the same potential to generate sales in your business for the next 3 decades.

But before we get to the profit generating prompt…

I am going to hand you a 3-step learning process that you can apply for any ad, newsletter, LinkedIn post, email, or piece of writing you want to leverage for driving sales.

Let’s go.

The $10 Million Dollar Binder

When I was first starting out, I invested $2,000 for a leather binder filled with over 500 of Gary Halbert’s old newsletters (which he used to send by mail). I wanted to know what it felt like to write like a legend. They turned out be worth every last penny.

Since buying those letters, I’ve generated over $10M in sales with my copywriting skills.

3-Step Learning Process (I wish I knew this sooner).

When I first started copywriting, I had no clue where to start.

I tried to:

• Read every book

• Take every course

• Research every technique

This was a huge mistake.

There was so much jargon, and I struggled to make sense of it all.

Here's what you should do instead:

Step 1: Pick 1 copywriter and completely immerse yourself in their worldview.

First, find each of the following:

• 10 podcasts they were on.

• 10 sales letters they wrote.

• 10 copywriting presentations they gave.

Now inhale them all.

Step 2: Read up on the craft.

Looking back, there were only 3 books actually worth my time:

• The Boron Letters by Gary Halbert

• Writing That Works by Joel Raphaelson & Kenneth Roman

• The Adweek Copywriting Handbook by Joe Sugarman

Grab the physical copies & make tons of notes.

Step 3: Practice “copywork.”

Here's how you do it:

Take 10 legendary pieces of copy

Write them out, by hand, word-for-word, start-to-finish

“Seriously?”

Yes.

As you write, your brain starts to feel what good copy looks & sounds like.

The results are instant.

The first letter I started with was an ad by Gary Halbert:

Repeat this for 5-10 sales letters over the course of a month.

Trust me, you'll make rapid progress.

What do you say? Do you want to give this a try?

How To Do “CopyWork” With AI

Today, you have access to the most powerful technology for writing since the printing press—AI. What comes next is like pouring gasoline on the 3-steps I outlined above. And there’s no better place to start than with Conroy’s $2B Wall Street Journal Ad.

It’s time to light a match.

Hand Copy The “Tale Of Two Young Men”

"In order to use the Force to your advantage, understand it first, you must.” - Yoda

First I want you to take a look at the Journal Ad so you can soak in it’s brilliance and grasp hold of the sales argument. This will 10X your ability to get a return here. Because you’ll know why it works!

Click here to download copy of the Wall St. Journal Letter by Martin Conroy.

Begin by grabbing a pen and printing out the ad.

Then find a quiet spot and read the letter out loud. As you read, make note of what captures your attention. Highlight the words and phrases that trigger your thoughts.

Then copy it word for word by hand.

Try to identify the structure of the story as you go. Take your time. You will get the most from the letter (and this post) when you give yourself the space to think first.

Quick aside: Legend has it that Conroy himself swiped this letter (just like you are today).

It’s purported that he lifted the structure from an ad written to promote the Alexander Hamilton Institute business education program. You can see those ads, as well as an analysis of Conroy’s ad on Swiped.co here. (Hint: compare your notes to Swiped.co’s to double your impact.) Not only did Conroy’s ad run successfully run for 30 years, but the business institute ads ran in the early 1900’s. Which should tell you, this ad is timeless.

Moving on.

Did you read the letter? Did you hand copy it too?

Good. Let’s keep going.

You are now in the top .05%!

By now you should have a printed copy of the Wall Street Journal Ad plus your handwritten notes.

I’m guessing your mind is already swimming with ideas for your business or your clients. Do you remember what I told you? The results are instant. If you stop here, you are already in the top 1% of writer’s who want to improve their writing.

But if you take the next step, you’ll be in the top .05% of writers—writers who write with AI.