Based on decades of scientific testing, here are my favorite maxims (short, easy-to-remember guiding principles) on how to…
- Create subject lines and headlines that dramatically boost your response.
- Powerfully leverage your odds of success before you launch any new business, product, or marketing campaign.
- Become a master of persuasion in any medium.
- Convert the mental energy you’re now wasting on anxiety, confusion, self-doubt, and frustration into an inner power station of positivity, creativity, excitement, and enthusiasm that will take your copywriting and marketing to a whole new level of satisfaction, career success, and financial reward.
For example, imagine this…
Your deadline looms as you stare at a blank screen. You must write an email so engaging that it immediately persuades legions of strangers to stop what they’re doing, read your message, take out their credit cards, and buy.
But with everyone’s inbox bulging with hype, you can’t conceive of anything that will break through the clutter, engage, and persuade.
No worries! Sign up for my free e-letter, Marketing Maxims, and I’ll tell you precisely how to begin—and succeed!
Or how about this…
You’re scheduled to make an in-person presentation that could be a major stepping stone in your career and income. How do you wow the room and, better yet, persuade the group to take the actions you recommend, which then work out brilliantly?
Sign up for my free e-letter, Marketing Maxims, and I’ll share the simple 12-word sentence that is the foundation of all successful persuasion. It works better than any other approach you’ll ever try. You’ll find it a godsend whenever you face an important presentation and especially in any negotiation.
I’ll share this simple principle and several others that flow directly from this powerful “master key” of persuasion.
Or let’s say…
You yearn to launch your own new business that will bring you lifelong financial independence. But you’ve been hesitating for months, maybe years. That may be because you know that 65% of all new businesses fail in their first 10 years. So you’re worried about giving up your secure job that pays your bills.
How can you shift the odds dramatically in your favor before you take the plunge?
Sign up for Marketing Maxims and you’ll see how to “dig your tunnel at night”—develop your dream business and prove its success before you give up your current job. That’s what I did, and it worked like a charm.
But What’s So Special About Maxims?
A number of years ago, I launched this free e-letter and called it “Bencivenga Bullets.” Based on scientific, split-run tests, it shared many powerful insights about my three favorite subjects—copywriting, marketing, and personal growth.
Now I’m putting these powerful principles—and others I’ve recently discovered—in the form of maxims.
Why maxims? Simple. Think about how you feel at major moments of truth in your life—like when you have to write a great ad, but you’re staring at a blank screen and haven’t a clue about what to say. Or think how you feel right before you’re invited to stand up and give a make-or-break presentation. At those moments when it’s time to produce or fail, you can’t remember thousands or even hundreds of words of advice, let alone entire books!
But you can easily remember a short, simple sentence—the right maxim for that moment—that keeps you focused like a laser on your target and summarizes exactly what you must do to succeed.
Keep practicing any skill you wish to master with the right maxim to guide you, and in time you will become a master of that skill and perform at your best in any situation.
You’ll see what I mean once you start reading Marketing Maxims.
Who Am I to Be Giving Advice?
My name is Gary Bencivenga. I’ve spent the last six decades (and still going strong with our own products) painstakingly collecting and applying every secret I can find to achieve breakthrough response.
I broke into direct marketing working with Hall-of-Fame copywriters John Caples at BBDO and later David Ogilvy at Ogilvy & Mather, both of whom taught me their favorite methods for outperforming other ads.
After them, I was blessed to work with a series of tough-as-sandpaper copy chiefs and smart-as-a-whip clients, including Ted Nicholas and Max Sackheim, who taught me their battle-tested secrets for beating other ads.
Over the years, I’ve supervised literally thousands of split-run tests and collected—like beautiful gems—the most powerful techniques to use in headlines, offers, formats, copy, and design of direct response advertising.
But rather than toot my own horn about the hundreds of breakthrough promotions these techniques have made possible, allow me to quote what others have said about my work.
Greatest Living Copywriter."
"Gary Bencivenga is universally considered the world’s greatest living copywriter."
America's Best Copywriter"
"Gary Bencivenga is America's best copywriter, the gold standard."
World's greatest copywriter."
Best copywriter in the world."
Many people think Gary Bencivenga is the best copywriter on earth. And, believe it or not, it's hard for even me to dispute that."
His Controls Are Nearly Impossible to Beat"
"Hall of Fame copywriter Gary Bencivenga (MarketingMaxims.com) is without question one of the top 3 greatest living direct response copywriters in the world, with decades of monster winners for large mailers like Boardroom, Phillips and Rodale.
"His respect among peers is infinite, and his controls are nearly impossible to beat. I had my first big breakthrough, as a rookie, by deconstructing his letters and carefully transcribing his phrasing and word choices."
More Winners Than Anyone Else"
"Best copywriter we've ever used. He's given us more winners, more consistently, than anyone else."
You can just about count the creative geniuses who revolutionized direct mail on the fingers of two hands ... (They include) Gary Bencivenga."
Has Never Lost a Split-Run Test in Selling Our Books ..."
"His name is the stuff of legend around here ... Against other top creative talent, he has never lost a split-run test in selling any of our books."
Possibly the most respected copywriter in the direct marketing business."
There are, I'd say, only four or five 'A-level' direct response copywriters in the country, the true masters. There are as many as sixty or seventy 'B' and 'B+' writers, but just a tiny handful of 'As'. Gary Bencivenga is on the short list, as am I."
When people ask me to name the best copywriters in the world, I say with a wink and a smile, 'Well, I consider Gary Bencivenga the second best copywriter, after yours truly, of course."
The Michelangelo of direct mail copywriting."
"Gary is the Michelangelo of direct mail copywriting ... the 'low profile' ad writer who Jay Abraham, Gary Halbert, John Carlton and many, many others look up to as the #1 practitioner of the art of direct mail copywriting. Gary is the man who most high level copywriters and mail order publishers acknowledge is the 'top dog' in terms of RESULTS."
The David Ogilvy of Direct Response Copy."
"I thank Gary for helping me start the entrepreneurial life I always wanted and for helping me feel like I won the sweepstakes. When I was working as the Vice President of Marketing for the 'Louis Rukeyser Wall Street' newsletter, I was making more money and had more job security than I could ever imagine. My young family and I were set.
"Why would I risk quitting, giving up my salary to start my own newsletter and if it was successful, I would not take home any money for at least another year? Why? Because Gary Bencivenga truly believed in my Charles Givens Newsletter concept and promised to write the copy. I was more excited to get Gary to write the promotional copy than to have Mr. Givens sign the license agreement!
"Gary's promotion generated over $3 in revenue for every marketing dollar! Gary is the David Ogilvy of direct response copy."
Gary Is the World's Greatest Living Reason-Why Copywriter."
Excellent ad writer."
I am very sorry you left Ogilvy & Mather."
A Genius at Writing Copy"
"When I heard Gary Bencivenga just started his own newsletter, I instantly subscribed to it. Why? He's a genius at writing copy, he's studied under the legends (like John Caples) and his newsletter is free."
I don't see as many of Gary's ads as I used to, maybe because I've largely been living in Asia for the past few years. But when I do, they leap out at me. And often I shake my head in awe and wonder: 'How can anybody write so well?!'"
In writing sales copy, the use of superlatives is discouraged. They're empty and meaningless.The only instance where they're permitted is when you have the evidence to back them up.
"Gary Bencivenga is one of the greatest copywriters the world has ever known and he's got the track record to prove it. Instead of sitting on his laurels, he's dispensing a lifetime of priceless wisdom and experience in Marketing Maxims.
"Ignore them at your peril.They're the best advice you'll find today on how to think and write like a marketing genius. If you read them carefully and commit them to memory, you'll improve instantly and begin to make more money for yourself and your clients.
"You'll also be in the company of a gentleman.There are few e-mail messages I'm dying to open, but Gary Bencivenga's Maxims tops the list. Thank you, Gary."
Hi, Mr. Bencivenga: Yesterday I went to a crash course seminar on marketing put together by Jay Abraham in Los Angeles. I asked Jay if he knew John Carlton, Dan Kennedy and Gary Halbert? He said yes. Then I said, in your opinion who is the best copywriter of the world? He asked me, do you have millions of dollars in your bank account? I said why?
"Then he said, there's a guy who'll only talk to you if you have millions in your pocket. I said, who? He said, Gary Bencivenga. But you simply can't get him even if you have the money. You gotta wait on line. Oh, if he only knew you were on the phone with me a couple days ago!
"Anyway I just wanted to share this with you. Best to you and your family—from me and my family. Have a great weekend."
The Guru's Guru"
"Gary, I am still in deep shock. An email from the world's greatest copywriter. It's like getting a signed Monet from Monet. Yes I am a copywriter. I have every book, every course, every tape. All the gurus—Kennedy, Halbert and Carlton. Everything they ever breathe, I read. They all mention one person. The greatest. The Guru's guru. The one and only Gary Bencivenga.
"Gary, you have never written a book, tape or seminar. Which if you think about it, is unbelievably cool. Gary please, please publish a course. If it is in any way possible, please let me have an advance copy. And don't let anybody else have it! It will be the most valuable copywriting material on earth. Money is no object. Well, nearly no object.
"For 12 long years I have studied all the legends. I have had great success and fortune. But there is a missing link. The ultimate answer. Your stuff! Please let me know the second it is ready. I just can't wait to read it."
World's Greatest Living Copywriter Reveals His Secrets—Yours FREE!"
If Gary Bencivenga is not the world's greatest living copywriter (and I suspect he may be, at times!), he's certainly among the top five. Anything Gary says about sales or marketing is worth paying attention to. And now you can profit from his wisdom and experience at no charge.
"How? By subscribing to his new FREE newsletter, Marketing Maxims. I know you are overloaded with emails and other online marketing material, but this is one you MUST read—a real diamond among the lumps of coal in your e-mail in-box.
"Every piece of advice is a gem! Take a second to subscribe now so you don't miss even a single issue. You will thank me later."
Since I started direct marketing, I've heard of the legendary Gary Bencivenga. His work and his success is the 'gold standard' we who toil in his shadow strive for. Now, finally, he's revealing his priceless secrets in Marketing Maxims. I eagerly devour each one as it arrives and read it again and again to suck out every last ounce of priceless wisdom. I can't imagine any writer or marketer who wouldn't benefit from doing the same."
Gary is the copywriter everyone is in awe of, including me."
About those Maxims! When I read Gary Bencivenga's five word question, it put what I do in a whole new perspective. I realized that this was and still is the question that every marketer and business owner needs to ask ongoingly. It solves the riddle of how to get into the mind of your customer, client or patient. I have since run an entire staff training on just this provocative question. The answer has already created some breakthroughs."
I invite you to discover my favorite Marketing Maxims now.
Simply click the button below.
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And, no, I’m not writing this free newsletter to get new clients. I stopped working for clients years ago and now focus only on my own projects.
I’m at the point in my life where I’d like to share with others the secrets that were shared so generously with me, secrets of persuasion-in-print that have made fortunes for my clients and given Pauline and me a very comfortable life.
Yours for higher response,
Gary Bencivenga
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