It just wouldn’t sell.
Back in the 90s, Rodale Publishing was promoting a new book called New Choices in Natural Healing, a kind of paperbound Mercola.com.
Rodale had two separate creative teams write copy for it.
One of the copywriters came up with a sales letter.
It bombed.
The other copywriter came up with a magalog.
This also bombed.
So was it time to quit? Of course not. The inning ain’t over until you have three outs, and Rodale only had two ugly strikeouts so far.
But where to go for a pinch hitter at this all-important moment in the game?
Well, the guys at Rodale decided it was time to bring in the biggest hitter of them all:
Gary Bencivenga, then one of the hottest and winningest copywriters in the business — and today a legend who’s often called “America’s greatest copywriter.”
Anyways, Gary took up the challenge.
He did his research. He talked to the guys at Rodale. And — I assume — he looked very carefully at the two failing promotions that preceded him.
And then he stepped up to the plate, dug his cleats into the dirt, and smacked that New Choices in Natural Healing promotion — not just into the bleachers, not even out of the park — but across the adjoining street and through the window of an apartment where an aging bachelor was making a TV dinner for himself.
In plainglish, New Choices in Natural Healing became one of the biggest promotions in Rodale’s history, and one of the biggest successes of Gary Bencivenga’s career.
But before you get carried away, here’s a warning to you:
Not every project actually deserves three outs.
And not every dying or unsellable product deserves ever-more-elite copywriters to go to bat for it.
In other words, there were some unique conditions in the Rodale promotion that made is so Gary + New Choices in Natural Healing could actually be a success.
If you’ve got an offer, and it’s not doing well, and you’re wondering whether to kill it or to try yet another marketing approach, then I might be able to help.
I can share what the “Rodale conditions” for success were, and help you figure out how your offer stacks up to them. There’s only one condition I make for the help I’m offering: You have to sign up for my email newsletter before you contact me and ask me for help. Here’s where you can do that: