maxwell sackhem's billion dollar copywriting course

Maxwell Sackheim’s Billion Dollar

Copywriting Course

Maxwell Sackheim

Jason Hart

Compiled by:

The Copywriting Institute of America Maxwell Sackheim’s personal comments are excerpted from Maxwell Sackheim’s Billion Dollar Marketing ©1995 by Jerry Buchanan and David Reecher and Published by TOWERS Club, USA Press (Out of Print). The ads are from my personal Swipe File and are in the Public Domain.

© 2007 The Copywriting Institute of America

Maxwell Sackheim’s Billon Dollar Direct Marketing Course

T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S

P r e f a c e Who Was Maxwell Sackheim Introduction What You Can Expect From This Course Case Study #1 Sherwin Cody School of English Case Study #2 Little Leather Library Case Study #3 Book-of-the-Month Club Case Study #4 Frank E. Davis – The Gloucester Fisherman Case Study #5 Arthur Murray Dance Studios Case Study #6 Pelton Publishing Company Case Study #7 The Tulloss School of Touch Typing Case Study #8 The Pelman Institute of America Case Study #9 Old Trusty Incubators Miscellaneous Ads Mark Foster Vitasafe Corporation End Notes The Legacy of Maxwell Sackheim

Preface Maxwell B. Sackheim Born: September 25 1890 Died: December 2, 1982

Maxwell Byron Sackheim was born in 1890 in Kovna, Russia, but he came to the United States at an early age with his family. As a little boy, Sackheim did not like school at all; only sports could attract his attention. However, he went through a change and began to appreciate good reading and writing, after he received a set of Shakespeare’s works from his mother on his 16th birthday (Danna, 1994). Sackheim started his career in advertising as an office and errand boy at the Long-Critchfield agency in Chicago. While working at the Long-Critchfield, an agency aimed at agricultural markets, Sackheim had a chance to learn how to write advertising copy. His wrote first advertising copy in 1906 for Kendall Company’s Spavin Cure product for saving horses. Soon he also did some copywriting of mail-order advertising for farm products such as horse collars, manure spreaders, incubators and stump pullers. Sackheim worked as an assistant advertising manager at Sears, Roebuck and Company in 1913, then moved to J. Walter Thompson in 1914, and Ruthrauff and Ryan in 1915, where he met his partner of Sackheim and Scherman advertising agency, Harry Scherman. Sackheim joined Brown Fence and Wire Company in Cleveland, Ohio as advertising manager, after Harry Scherman and he sold their agency. Sackheim stayed in Brown Fence and Wire until 1944 and became president. He founded his own agency, Maxwell Sackheim and Company, in 1945, a year after he moved back to New York. Sackheim retired to Clearwater, Florida in 1960 and died in 1982 at the age of 92. Maxwell Sackheim was a creative thinker who invented many successful advertising concepts in direct response advertising history. Two of his best- known unique selling propositions are the "Book-of-the-Month Club" and the "Negative Option Plan." The "Book-of-the-Month Club" was derived from Little Leather Library, developed by Sackheim and his partner Harry Scherman in 1914. They offered a set of 30 imitation leather-bound books at a price of $2.98 by mail.



In the headline of an ad, it said "SEND NO MONEY! " And they sold 40 million books by mail in 3 years. In 1926, they formed Book-of-the-Month Club to sell books on a subscription basis. However, the business was not doing very well in its infancy; many books were returned or canceled. The partners decided to change the plan, and the "negative option plan" came into play. In his book Billion Dollar Marketing, Sackheim mentioned that the "negative option plan" was started with one thought in mind, "that of removing resistance on the part of the prospect to order merchandise which he wanted but which through normal delay, inertia or whatever you want to call it, was put off until eventually the purchase was missed entirely" (Sackheim, 1982). Thus, they decided that they should notify subscribers in advance about the book selected, giving them a detailed description of it and allowing them two weeks to reply. If subscribers did not tell them "No" within two weeks, they would presume that subscribers were saying "Yes" and sent out the book. This idea has built many mail-order companies into multimillion enterprises.



Introduction Welcome to Maxwell Sackheim’s Billion Dollar Copywriting Course. This course has been specifically designed to enable you to take your copywriting efforts into the stratosphere. You would do well to study this manual in detail, for it contains many subtle copywriting nuggets that are not easily discerned at first glance. What you now hold in your hands is a literal treasure trove of special ads written between 1915 and 1930, an era of marketing which is considered by many to be the Golden Age of advertising. One of the reasons for this, is the fact that the actual cost of advertising was relatively low so that it was possible to use full page ads of long, strong sales copy. It would have been very easy to just gather up some old ads convert them to the digital format and leave it at that. However, as a serious copywriter myself, I wanted to make sure that you received every ounce of value from studying Sackheim’s work. What makes Maxwell Sackheim’s Billion Dollar Copywriting Course so valuable is that I have had access to Sackheim’s personal writings. These writings function as his personal copywriting diary with notes and annotations that directly relate to his copywriting genius. On top of that I have added my own notes and annotations in order to crystallize in your mind the phenomenal concepts and applications that Sackheim used. Don’t just look at these examples of Max’s work as some great old ads. It is much more important that you realize the vast education contained in every single one of them. Take the time to go through each ad carefully and look for each and every component that made them a success. Come with me as we crawl into the private mind of one of the 20th Century’s most extraordinary copywriters.



Case Study #1 - Sherwin Cody School of English

Do You Make These Mistakes In English? (Ads Featured on Pages 7, 9 & 12)

“The best ad I ever wrote was written in 1918 for the Sherwin Cody School of English…the original ad was written very quickly, possibly a couple of days, but changes were made over a period of time…It didn’t run too often and not in too many publications, but it ran for over 40 years.” — Maxwell Sackheim


Maxwell Sackheim’s Billon Dollar Copywriting Course

“…the secret of gaining and retaining the interest of a prospective customer is to transform yourself into a prospect…” “I was the guy who wanted to become a master of English. Old Sherwin Cody, himself would come in to see me time after time about the ad and point out mistakes in English, and it impressed me very much. Each time we had to change the ad. Even after the ad was placed and running. Somebody would point out more mistakes in English, so we had to make more changes…”

- Max Sackheim

— C o m m e n t a r y a n d O v e r v i e w —

This space ad has two effects — it plays on the reader’s insecurity while appealing to his desire to impress people. Sackheim – “Begin where the customer’s thoughts are — on himself, his family, his home, his problems, his hopes and desires.” The headline is one of the most copied headlines in the history of advertising and the subheads almost sell the program all by themselves. By carefully reading this classic ad you will see how the Sackheim does a masterful job of making success sound easy. Sackheim – “That ad was one of the determining factor in putting my name in the all-time Copywriters Hall of Fame…Other copywriters compared its results with a lot of other ads but ‘Do You Make These Mistakes In English’ always came out best”



UNDERSTANDING THE BASICS OF ADVERTISING

…think in terms of words that sell….

1. Concentrate on the consumer…you must know how he thinks.

2. Know your product…the features.

3. Find the symptom or symptoms that your product is qualified to “cure”…the cure is the benefit.

4. Never start to write a sales letter until you have first built up an avalanche of enthusiasm for the task at hand. Your writing must be exciting!

5. Advertising is essentially news. It should inform, enlighten, instruct or promise a reward.

- Max Sackheim

— — C o m m e n t a r y a n d O v e r v i e w —

Here we have a smaller version of the famous full page ad. Let’s take a closer look at the ad as we uncover the reasons for its success as a forty year control. The Headline: Do You Make These Mistakes in English?

1. Notice that it grabs the reader’s attention by focusing on specific mistakes in English. One would have to continue reading to find out what those mistakes are.

2. It is conversational in tone asking you a specific and directed question, and yet in order to be able to answer you must continue reading.

3. It is educational in nature offering you information that may be valuable to you. This is all done with the word ‘these,’ which creates a curiosity in you to read on and find out what it’s all about.



The Body: A powerful sub-head builds upon the incredible value of having a good command of the English language and the fact that you can begin to improve it at once. At this point the English lesson begins as you are pulled into the ad copy. By the time you get to the free book and the 15 minute test, they are just the right components to get you to send for step two (this is a two-step letter). The free book and 15 minute test are all you need to realize that you would benefit greatly from lessons in English.

“My personal test of a headline is always whether or not the reader, in response, gets a ‘so what’ reaction. If he does you can almost gamble that it is not good. If, on the other hand, the reader is compelled to ask; WHAT, WHO, WHERE, WHEN, WHY, or HOW, it is likely to be effective in inducing the reader to read the rest of the ad.” “In broader terms, the acid test is whether or not the headline induces reading the ad.. Cleverness alone may actually be harmful. The best headlines are usually those which incorporate strong, small words. The strongest word is still the word “ ‘FREE.” From this there are many variations such as “without charge – given – yours – accept – take it –for you, etc.’ ”

- Max Sackheim


Source: The New Success magazine – April 1921 Headline: What Does Your English Tell About You? With a minor change to the headline this ad was tested against “Do You Make these Mistakes in English?” Although the exact results are unknown, we do know that it did fall short in producing a significant number of inquiries. This amazing fact proves how vitally important your headline is to the effect of your overall message, and how important it is to test those headlines. Notice the minor and yet significant difference between the two headlines. It is fundamentally important though that you only test one thing at a time. This will enable you to better determine what worked and what didn’t. Several things were changed between the two ads making it difficult if not near impossible to determine with any sense of accuracy what element was to blame. In addition to a change in the headline basically the entire ad was rewritten. Notice the change in the sub-headlines, they now tell a complete story. I like this because, as we all should know, some people never really read the whole ad. They scan through it, mainly by reading the sub-heads. If your sub-headlines fallow a natural flow and tell a complete story…you’ll make sales from those who merely scan through ads. Another major difference in the two ads is that “these mistakes” offered something for FREE, even though it was only a tiny self-test lesson, while



the second ad didn’t and seemed to attempt an appeal to an entirely different class of people. I personally would like to see what the results would have been by combining the best elements of both ads.



Case Study #2 - Little Leather Library

Send No Money (See the Development of These Ads over the Next Several Pages)

“…we borrowed an idea from Walter Field, a large Chicago mail order operator…Practically every Walter Field ad was headed, ‘Send No Money.’ So many of these ads appeared we knew they must be successful.” — Maxwell Sackheim

“In 1914 Harry Scherman and I published Little Leather Library immortal classics bound in genuine leather and sold at 25 cents each…we decided to bind the books in imitation leather and offer them for 10 cents each — by mail order. At the time $2.98 was a popular mail order price so we made up a set of 30 titles and offered them at that piece. What was our clincher — SEND NO MONEY! We sold about 40,000,000 of these classics, practically all by mail.” Part of Sackheim and Scherman’s initial direct mail efforts included a now very rare direct mail letter. The “You don’t know me from Adam” letter. This letter formed the crux of their display ad campaigns asking the reader to guess how much 30 books bound in the enclosed material should sell for to be a sensational bargain. As Max describes, “The letter listed the titles, enclosed a sample of the material, gave some other details and requested the reader to make a note of his guess; then to open the sealed envelope enclosed, and see what the actual price was…” The customer was to write their guess on the enclosed reply card.



354 FOURTH AVENUE NEW YORK, N.Y.

Dear Friend:

You don't know me from Adam, but I have been told that you are a book-lover, that you have bought good books in the past, and that apparently you like to have them around you.

If this is so, you are unquestionably a person of taste and judgment, and you know what good books should sell for--you are able to measure not only their cultural value, but their intrinsic worth in dollars and cents.

What, then, do you think a library of thirty of the world's masterpieces, bound in a rich and beautiful cover like the sample enclosed, should sell for?

How much, in other words, would you personally be willing to pay for thirty such books, each one completes each one an acknowledged masterpiece?

Keep in mind that volumes like these are not only an adornment to the library table; but the size makes them very convenient to carry with you to read while traveling.

I suggest that you compare this binding with other books in your library; estimate what thirty such books should reasonably sell for - AND THEN OPEN THE ENCLOSED SEALED ENVELOPE AND SEE HOW CLOSE YOUR GUESS IS TO THE ACTUAL COST.



I shall be very much interested to know what your first guess was and will appreciate it if you will fill in the card (which is also enclosed in the sealed envelope) giving me this information.

Thanking you in advance for this courtesy. Cordially yours,

As you can see, the reader was asked to make a guess based upon all the information provided in the letter. Imagine the shear impact of the $2.98 price if the reader made a high guess of $10 or $20, even at a $5 or $7 guess $2.98 would seem like an incredible bargain. On the next page you find the ad that capitalized on the customer’s high guesses.



Direct Mail Truths

“…get the right merchandise at the right price, and present it honestly and plainly to your prospective buyers….” “…The public has confidence when you tell the truth…if you want to sell, tell the truth!”

- Max Sackheim


Source: Cosmopolitan Magazine - August 1916 Headline: “Thirty Books Bound in Genuine Limp Leather – Only $5.75 Sackheim – “…realize that sometimes a bargain is better than the word ‘free.’…what was our clincher – SEND NO MONEY!”

— One of Our More Cleaver Offers — “In our direct mail effort we borrowed an idea from an auctioneer…We didn’t do the selling — the prospect sold himself just as patrons of auctions do!” The addition of the free bookcase coupled with the risk free trial created a strong motivation to fill out the coupon.



The 4 Why’s

1. Why Should Anyone Read or Listen To It?

2. Why Should

Anyone Believe It?

3. Why Should Anyone Do Anything About It?

4. Why Should it Be

Acted Upon Immediately?

- Max Sackheim


Source: Hearst Magazine – November 1916

Headline: 60 Books – Bound in Leather –

SHIPPED FREE FOR INSPECTION $1

The structure of this powerful headline hypnotically draws you into the ad before you even realize that it is $1 down after 5 days if you decide to keep the books. At this point the reader would generally do one of two things; they would either drop to the coupon to find out the total cost or they would continue to read the ad. Remember these simple offers enable Sackheim to sell over 40 million books in the span of less than 10 years…from home…part-time! Let’s look at this again… SEND NO MONEY – pay $1 down and the rest in installments. Plus you get a free book rack! Keep in mind that we are talking about 1916, WW ONE was ramping up…husbands had gone off to war and most ladies stayed home. In the days before television and computers spare time was spent reading and what better way to spend your spare time than to read the classics. Sackheim – “…We chose the titles with that in mind…”



The total cost for the books was $19, a significant chunk of change back in 1916. So, the pure genius of this ad is the fact that $1 down with easy and affordable monthly payments made it possible for almost anyone to be able to take advantage of this hard to beat offer.



Direct Mail Truths

“…get the right merchandise at the right price, and present it honestly and plainly to your prospective buyers….” “…The public has confidence when you tell the truth…if you want to sell, tell the truth!”

- Max Sackheim


Source: New Success Magazine – February 1921 Headline: “The Greatest Bargain of My Life” – “My Brother Guessed I Paid $15 For Them”… Now we are 6 years into the promotion and hundreds if not thousands of testimonial letters have been received. Testimonials create credibility...why not establish that credibly right in the headline? Now would be a good time to also focus in on the illustrations that Sackheim used. Notice how the illustration is structured for this ad. Every book is in clear view and the titles are easy to read…they almost jump out at you. Notice also how the books sit right over the $2.98 headline. There is absolutely no wasted space in the structure and layout. The Body: The task of the body of this ad has one job and one job only, to build the sheer value of the books. When you make an offer at an incredibly low price your job is to build the value of the offer to a much higher level than your asking price. Notice also, the strong call to action at the bottom under the now famous SEND NO MONEY and 30 day risk free offer, “…at this price of $2.98 they will be cleaned out quickly. No more will be printed, until paper come s down from present high prices. Mail coupon at once.” This is reason-why advertising at it’s best.



“By anticipating all possible objections and answering them, the copywriter has closed all the corral gates except one, and that one remaining open gate is the one that leads the prospect into the buyer’s chute”

- Max Sackheim

— — C o m m e n t a r y a n d Ov e r v i e w —

Source: New Success Magazine – May 1921 Headline: “I DON’T SEE HOW YOU CAN DO IT”… Continuing with the same theme as the previous ad, there is no denying the power of testimonials in a headline. Let’s now drop down and examine the use of the order coupon. Sackheim uses the coupon as its own little ad all by itself. You could run the coupon as a classified ad even today, and it would be just as effective. It is a know fact of human nature that people drop their eyes right down to the bottom of the ad to see “what’s it gonna cost?” It is extremely important that you make every word count. The structure of your coupon, PS statements, etc. must answer every single concern in the most compelling way possible or you will lose them. Take a real hard look at this ad and compare it to the preceding ads. You will notice, first of all that starting in 1921 the price of the books was lowered to $2.98 from the original $5.98. “After struggling with the idea for five years we decided to bind the books in imitation leather and offer them at 10 cents each – by mail. At the time $2.98 was a popular mail order price so we made up a set of 30 titles and offered them at that price.” Secondly, in the 1921 ads the titles are different from the earlier ads in order to capitalize on repeat business. It’s interesting to note that Sackheim rarely if ever received requests for refunds. Also it is interesting to note take every single title, every single book is a work in the public domain. So, no royalties were ever paid out, no permissions were ever needed in order to publish these works.



“…‘on approval’ merchandise is important. Anything to remove resistance to buying. Anything to prove your merchandise can stand the test of inspection ”

- Max Sackheim


Source: New Success Magazine – October 1921 Headline: “A SENSATION!” Obviously the “Send No Money” concept is working in a SENSATIONAL way. It worked then and it is still an incredibly successful marketing maneuver today. Human nature has not changed in 6000 years and the easiest way to overcome the reluctance to act on impulse is to remove all risk. The more effective you are at risk reversal (taking all the risk upon yourself as opposed to your customer) the more successful your marketing endeavors will be.



“…Your sincerity may be questioned by your language…You have to be honest in your advertising” “…No matter what you say, if it isn’t believable you’ve lost your sale. Believability is born of sincerity.”

- Max Sackheim


Source: Literary Digest – March 11, 1922 Headline: “Is This Offer Too Good To Be True?” This ad is a little different. Notice the editorial style? Different audience…different approach. The focus of the ad is on sincerely building the honesty and credibility of the Little Leather Library. This ad comes right out in the open with strong reason-why copy. Sackheim knew that his offer had been doubted and ridiculed by the public in the past. However he was able to overcome the doubts and get people to try the books. By telling you about this he builds trust. It doesn’t hurt that the name of the Literary Digest is used to enhance the credibility of the offer. Under each sub-head you have excellent example of reason-why copy. As a result, each step of the way, the perceived value of the offer grows and grows in the mind of the prospective customer.



“The word “free” has not lost its lure but a bargain is better. As an example, I’d rather have a one cent sale (one at regular price and another for one cent) than to have one at the regular price and one for free. Make it believable, make it plausible. That is the most important factor in advertising copy. We found in may instances it is better to offer a tremendous bargain than to make a free offer.”

- Max Sackheim


Source: National Geographic – March 1923 As Sackheim and company continued to ride the wave of these successful campaigns, a couple on new elements are added. “FREE! Four Volumes of Kipling - If you will order at once instead of waiting…” Brilliant! Take a great offer and make it even better. Increase the perceived value and you will increase the response. Also, take a look at the coupon once again and notice the upsell. “Note: We have made a special set of Hand Hammered Copper Book Ends to fit this set. Regular $2.00 value our price only 49¢…” About the only thing I would have done differently is indicated that that, only a limited amount of the book ends were available and that they would be snatched up quickly.



“Generally speaking a question is better than a statement. And all headlines definitely should promise information.” “Of course the thought in the headline is more important than any word but the right words make the thought penetrate.”

- Max Sackheim


Source: National Geographic – October 1923

Headline: “How Can This Incredible Offer Be Made?”

Study the effect of the powerful headline along with the sub-headline as curiosity is built. It literally grabs the prospect's attention. Copywriting masters say that up to 90% of the time you spend in composing your ad should be devoted to writing and fine-tuning your headline.

Why?

Because the headline's effectiveness determines whether the prospect will read further or not. After all, there are probably hundreds of other sales messages vying for his attention.

— It is a known fact, that a small change to a headline can affect the response to a given advertisement by as much as 1200 percent. You should never be

satisfied with the response to your ad, because, for instance, one simple change to your headline can make a dramatic difference to your bottom line.



“…you must aim to buy a customer – not merely make a sale.”

- Max Sackheim


Source: National Geographic – March 1924

Headline: “An Offer That May Never Be Made Again”

SCARCITY: The limited time offer has been working wonders for years and years. It is just as effective today as it has always been. The fear of loss is a TREMENDOUS motivator. Telling your reader that when the product or special price is gone, it is gone, tends to build a sense of urgency. If they don't act now they may lose out.

Go ahead and read the copy of this ad…you will find that in a very systematic approach, the reason why the Lincoln bookends are being offered for free is explained in great detail. The reason Sackheim is willing to loss money, is laid out on the table for all to see. It is yet another fine example of convincing reason-why copy.

The main thing to keep in mind is that integrity is of the utmost importance. In other words, the more truthfully tell, the more truthfully you sell.

Those who have made claims backed by empty promises have found out very quickly that it isn’t a formula for success.



Case Study #3 - Book-of-the-Month Club

What’s the “book-of-the-month” this month – and why? (Ads featured on pages)

“We…combined our idea of selling books by subscription, with our experience in selling popular records as against classics; and that was the beginning of Book-of-the-Month Club” — Maxwell Sackheim



“Try to make your illustration mean something. If they are good copy, they are good.” “…Use your IMAGINATION — and imagine what it can do for you!”

- Max Sackheim


Source: Atlantic Monthly – July 1927

Headline: “What’s the ‘book-of-the-month’ this month —and why?”

Notice the illustration becomes a headline above the headline. This is a phenomenal use of illustrations; “The Book-of-the-Month Club News – FREE!”

Any book lover would jump at this offer. This is what is commonly known as the two step approach. The concept is to get those who are interested to raise their hand by opting in for the FREE newsletter. Real book lovers simply can not get enough relevant information about the latest books.

It’s interesting to note that this concept is alive and well and flourishing both on and off line. Barnes and Nobles, Books a Million, Boarders etc. all offer newsletters and many online book sellers do as well.



“I have no idea how many “of-the-month” clubs have started since “Book-of-the-Month Club was launched, but there must have been several hundred.”

- Max Sackheim

—— C o m m e n t a r y a n d O v e r v i e w —

Source: The Review of Reviews – January 1929 Revolutionary in concept and often imitated, the focus is on becoming part of an extremely exclusive group, one that has a Selecting Committee working on your behalf and picking out the absolute best books for you.



“If you can’t say anything else to get action, simply remind the reader of the number of things he intended to do in the past but ‘forgot’…”

- Max Sackheim


It was through the use of IMAGINATION that the Book-of-the-Month Club came into being. Basically it was the process of one thing leading to another. Sackheim – “Now we had four elements to combine out of our experience: Send no money; the subscription method of obtaining automatic resales; the tremendous sale of new popular records as compared with that of the classics, and the importance of establishing worthwhile value. Out of this conglomeration was born ‘Book-of-the-Month Club.’ ” “Imagination came into play. Why not notify subscribers of the book selection, describe it thoroughly, and tell them they need not accept it — but if not they must notify by a given date; otherwise it would be sent.” “So successful has this product of imagination been that during the past 35 years practically every book-of-the-month club has operated on this principle.”



“…it was thought…to be a sales incentive that relieved the subscriber of the job of ordering something he wanted but knew in his heart he would never order if left to his own devices.” “…Instead of getting 5% to 10% repeat orders, we got 50% to 75%. So successful has this plan been during the past years that practically every “of-the-month” club has operated on the same principle.”

- Max Sackheim


In its infancy, the Editorial Board of the “Book-of-the-Month Club merely made its selection and the books were shipped out. As a result boat loads of cancellations poured in. So, a fundamental change was made, going forward all subscribers would be notified in advance of the book selected. The notification would be accompanied by a detailed description of the book. A respectable period of time would be allowed to either refuse the selection or substitute it for another. Sackheim – “The ‘negative option plan’ was started with one thought in mind; that of removing resistance on the part of the prospect to order merchandise which he wanted but through normal delay, inertia or whatever you want to call it, was put off until eventually the purchase was missed entirely.”



Case Study #4 – Frank E. Davis, The Gloucester Fisherman

The Tastiest Ocean Treat from Gloucester (Ad Featured on the Next Page)

In 1923 the agency of Sackheim & Scherman personally took over the Frank E. Davis account. It wasn’t long before his business took off like a rocket. The following ad was personally written by Maxwell Sackheim.



“Advertising must be believable”

- Max Sackheim

C o m m e n t a r y a n d O v e r v i e w —

Headline: The Tastiest Ocean Treat from Gloucester Plump, tender, juicy CHICKEN SALT MACKEREL FILETS In 1923 it was unusual to buy seafood through the mail and yet this one ad helped propel millions of dollars worth of mackerel into homes all across America. This is a fantastic example of REAL personality advertising. Frank E. Davis was a real Gloucester fisherman, and even though he wasn’t a famous person, he was a REAL person. He spoke the language of a fisherman and brought believability and credibly to his claims. The offer inspired confidence. He guaranteed satisfaction. Study how Sackheim wonderfully uses the 5 physical senses to actually make the reader’s mouth water.



Case Study #5 – Arthur Murray Dance Studios

Would You Give $1 for 16 Dancing Lessons If — (Ad Featured on the Next Page)

The success for Arthur Murray Dance Studios can be directly attributed to Maxwell Sackheim.



“The original order is vitally important…That is one reason why magazines can afford to lose money on a trial subscription…Of course, this method of selling requires courage, capital and above all QUALITY and VALUE!”

- Max Sackheim


Source: The New Success Magazine – December, 1922 Headline: “Would You Give A $1 for 16 Dancing Lessons If — .” This is an incredible use of the Attractor Factor. By using the word “If — ” at the end of the headline your are literally left hanging. You have to continue reading to find out what the If — is. It drags you right into the body of the ad. Then Max’s jams the first paragraph chock full of benefits. In fact by the time your finished reading that first paragraph the incredible benefits to be gained far outweigh the cost of the lessons. Next Sackheim builds that critical credibility factor by:

• Explaining that it was Arthur Murray who actually taught the Vanderbilt’s to dance

• Telling you NOT to send any money NOW.

• Establishing a complete, 100% money back, satisfaction guarantee if not absolutely satisfied.

Sackheim - “…use the same methods that have already been successful. Sampling, time payment, and if you can afford it, “on approval” merchandise is important. Anything to remove resistance to buying. Anything to prove your merchandise can stand the test of inspection.”



Case Study #6 - Pelton Publishing Company – The Power of Will

Both Had an Equal Chance (Ads featured on the Next Few Pages)

“The “Power of Will…the title more than the content, sold the book and people were reluctant to send it back because doing so showed weak will power, the very thing the book schooled the reader against” — Maxwell Sackheim



“…it was thought…to be a sales incentive that relieved the subscriber of the job of ordering something he wanted but knew in his heart he would never order if left to his own devices.”

- Max Sackheim


Sackheim was stuck when it came to writing the Pelton ad for Haddock’s “the Power of Will.” Even though the book was extraordinary in its explanation of the use of will power to get what you want, it was very difficult for the common man to read. Then Max came across a prior book published by Harvard Professor William James. Though the book was about psychology it contained a chapter on will power. When Sackheim read this chapter he realized he had his ad for Haddock’s book. And that is how the “Both Had an Equal Chance” ad was crafted.



“The Pelton ads were, in my opinion, the beginning of a copy era at Ruthrauff & Ryann that had a great deal to do with revolutionizing advertising, not only in the mail order field but also other areas.”

- Max Sackheim


Circa 1915 – 1917 during the years Max was employed by Ruthrauff & Ryann. Headline: “How it Feels to Earn $1000 a Week” – By a Young Man Who Four Years Ago Drew a $25 a Week Salary. Tells How He Accomplished it. It is extremely important for every copywriter to study and analyze this incredibly important ad because it ushered in a very special era in advertising, that of Human Interest. You will greatly benefit from reading and studying the human interest approach of the entire ad.



Case Study #7 - The Tulloss School of Touch Typing

The New Way In Typewriting (Ad featured on the Next page)

“Next to the word ‘free’ the best word is ‘NEW’ ” — Maxwell Sackheim



“Use your imagination! Put yourself in your prospective customer’s place…Good advertising is a product of fertile imagination.”

Max Sackheim


Source: Metropolitan – October 1915 Originally sold as the “Tulloss System of Touch Typing” it was a dismal failure. Sackheim’s research uncovered that most touch typist didn’t have much faith in any touch typing courses because, quite frankly the touch typing courses offered in the colleges at the time were not very helpful. Max decided to simply RENAME the course “The New Way in Typewriting.” The resulting ad campaign was a HUGE success. Still as powerful today, the word “NEW” has an incredible ATTRACTION FACTOR.



Case Study #8 - The Pelman Institute of America

Scatter-brained! (Ad Featured on the Next Page)

“Unless an illustration is self-explanatory, or gives meaning to the words, it should not be used. If a picture doesn’t tell a story by itself, or doesn’t complete the story by the headline, it isn’t the right picture….Illustrations are most quickly read. Therefore they must be right…” — Maxwell Sackheim



“If an illustration meets the requirements of copy it’s good. Ask yourself, ‘is it news?’ Does it convey a promise? Does it enlighten or entertain? Is it closely related to the theme of the ad…? Is it being used to…’arouse curiosity?’ ”

Max Sackheim


Maxwell Sackheim wrote this ad in 1927. Pelman was another correspondence school account, this one imported from England. Pay serious attention to the editorial layout. =============== Sidebar =============== I was amazed to find that the Pelman Institute is still alive and going strong. You can visit them at: http://PelmanInstutute.com, when you go there, visit the testimonials page and you will find that all the testimonials are from the same period as the writing of this Sackheim ad. ============== Sidebar ===============



Case Study #9 – Old Trusty Incubators

Let Me Send You My New Book Free (Ad Featured on the Next Page)

The name “Old Trusty” was hatched in 1901 as M.M. Johnson of Clay Center, NE was searching for an appropriate trademark for his newly designed incubator. Johnson contended that “a new incubator, or one with radical changes, should have a different name, even if it was made by the same old company”…. enlisted family and friends to help him select a more suitable name for the new and improved incubator… About that time…, the Johnson's Great Dane dog TRUSTY, came around the corner with a wag of the tail. Johnson's face glowed as he proclaimed, “let's call the incubator OLD TRUSTY! We have an incubator that stands on its record and the name OLD TRUSTY is appropriate.”



“The best offer may be a free sample or a 10¢ sample…in practically every instance an offer of some kind should be considered if it will enable the advertiser to do a more thorough selling job…”

Max Sackheim

— — Comme n t a r y a n d O v e r v i e w —

Maxwell Sackheim did have a part in the crafting of this ad somewhere between the years 1905 and 1912. At the time he was employed by the Long-Critchfield Corpoartion in Chicago.



Misc. Ads

Why I Offer You This New Kind of Pipe For 25¢ (Ad Featured on the Next Page)

“One of our most successful direct mail campaigns was for a smoking pipe which sold for $2.” – Maxwell Sackheim



“Your product is your best copy…Build your sales appeal around those results and then target the right market — qualifies prospects.”

Max Sackheim


Another excellent use of reason-why copy and risk reversal coupled together. Sackheim - “It was a good pipe – so good that money back was offered if it wasn’t completely satisfactory – but the customer was asked to break the pipe and return the pieces if a refund was requested. Very few broken pipes came back.”



He Didn’t Even Kiss Me Good Night! (Ad Featured on the Next Page)

“One of the most successful enterprises I was fortunate enough to be involved in was a company selling vitamins by mail, also on the ‘inertia plan’…” – Maxwell Sackheim



“The plan that produced a $10,000,000 annual volume was the 25¢ introductory price and the automatic shipment of additional packages at the full regular price.”

Max Sackheim


Sackheim - “Many tests were made to discover the most profitable sales policy. They offer the first month supply free; for 10¢, also for 25¢, and also for $1. Every offer specified that an automatic monthly shipment would follow unless cancellation was received within a given time.” Sackheim on Testing: “Testing is important, but even more important, is the necessity for exercising good judgment after making tests…testing does not always tell the whole truth.” “The cure for indiscriminant testing is judgment…confine your test to important changes, not trivial ones.”



Maxwell Sackheim is one in a handful of great copywriters of the twentieth century. A giant of a man who single handedly revolutionized 20th century direct response advertising. Max was literally one of the masters of direct response copywriting. His creative genius was responsible for many of the breakthrough concepts in advertising that are still with us today. His philosophy of over-delivering served him and countless others well during a career spanning more than 75 years.

maxwell sackhem's billion dollar copywriting course

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