“As a soldier, Rick Rescorla served in Vietnam, where he earned a Silver Star, a Bronze Star, and also a Purple Heart. When he returned home, Rescorla landed a job as Head of Security for Morgan Stanley. And as you’ll soon see, in many ways, he was the best investment Morgan Stanley ever made.”
I’ve gotten interested in writing financial copy. So as the first step, I started watching financial promos while I eat lunch.
I got going yesterday, with a Stansberry VSL. The hook is the story of a U.S. Army vet named Rick Rescorla… who, the VSL tells you, could end up having an “enormous impact on you, your family, your money, your savings and investments.” And then it leads to the bit about Morgan Stanley and its best investment ever.
“This story sounds familiar,” I said.
“An Army vet… going to work on Wall Street… as Head of Security… where did I read this before?”
I typed a few words into Google. And yep, there it was. First result.
For many decades, the recommended bathroom reading material for copywriters was The National Enquirer. At least so claimed Gene Schwartz, who said:
“That’s why I say that the required medium for you is all the junk magazines in the United States. I would go out tomorrow and get a subscription to The National Enquirer and read every single word in it. That’s your audience. There are your headlines. There are your people and their feelings.”
But the Rick Rescorla story didn’t come from the National Enquirer. So I’d like to give you a different magazine recommendation as new required reading.
I’m talking about The New Yorker.
It’s a snob magazine. If you’re writing sales copy, it’s unlikely to reflect your audience or their feelings.
And yet I recommend it.
Because the New Yorker and its writers manage to dig up obscure stories… find the fascinating implications… and create drama through substance rather than form.
Stansberry’s Rick Rescorla hook came from The New Yorker.
And it’s not the only one.
If you’ve been reading my emails for a while, you know I’ve written about Dan Ferrari’s Genesis sales letter. It tripled response over the control and sold out the entire stock of Green Valley’s telomere supplement.
Dan’s sales letter kicked off with a snapshot. A secret meeting of Hollywood stars and Silicon Valley millionaires… gathered in a Malibu Beach cliffside mansion… to listen to a Nobel-winning scientist reveal her breakthrough research on doing away with death and old age.
That story was true. And it also came from The New Yorker.
“All right Bejako,” I hear you saying. “You almost have me convinced. Two examples is good. But where’s your third example? Don’t know you all copywriting proof comes in threes?”
You got me. I only have the two examples above to give you.
If that’s enough of a pattern for you to work with, then start scanning The New Yorker and checking if some of their stories could be used for your hooks.
And maybe you will be my third example one day… or maybe I will be, because it’s what I’ll start doing.
In any case, if you’d like to read why Rick Rescorla was the best investment Morgan Stanley ever made, follow the link below.
But before you go, consider signing up for my email newsletter, which serves you up with a daily idea or recommendation for improving your marketing or copywriting.
And now, here’s the tight, fascinating, and moving New Yorker article about Rick Rescorla:
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2002/02/11/the-real-heroes-are-dead