Customer Reviews

Breakthrough Advertising

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It's late May 2004 and I'm preparing the final teleseminar for a new copywriting program I'm putting together. As I searched my brain for what to recommend to my students for further study, one book kept coming up: this one.

It takes a lot of sophistication and direct-marketing experience to appreciate the real genius of Gene Schwartz. Don't kid yourself - this book isn't easy. I know easy, because that's what I specialize in.

However, Mastery is not easy. On the other hand, information that will lead you to Mastery in marketing - especially, mastery in copywriting - is rare to the point of being almost non-existent.

But this book contains exactly that information.

Who should get this book? Let's start with who shouldn't. If you want run-of-the-mill yet valuable, money-making information about copywriting, get books by John Caples and by all means, get Vic Schwab's "How to Write a Good Advertisement." They're available on Amazon.

If you want to learn about branding, grand strategies and other B-school versions of marketing, forget this book. It's not for you.

The person who should get this book is the person who would like to create a million-dollar business with an idea, a product, or a division of an existing business. There is simply no other resource that will show you how to do that with marketing.

I recently spent some extremely valuable time with a corporate consultant who bills at $25,000 a day to help companies dominate markets and create new ones. I don't know if he's ever read "Breakthrough Advertising," but I can say that his level of thinking indicates he _owns_ the material in this book.

The re-publisher of "Breakthrough Advertising," according to Schwartz, hired Schwartz to write a sales letter that started his business. Rumor has it that the re-publisher's business now takes in a nine-figure income every year.

What's my point? That Gene Schartz has DONE what I am saying this book can do for you. In this book, you should be warned, he makes distinctions that, frankly, are beyond the understanding level of most business people, even most smart entrepreneurs.

So if you get this book, it's not a handy reference or a quick read. Not if you're going to get anything out of it, that is.

This book is a commitment.

And if you can't understand what's in it when you first get it, there's no need for despair. Because the path of Mastery is about growth of vision, skill and capacity through repetition of basics, ideally under the tutelage of a mentor who is also a Master.

Meaning, read it several times. Take notes. Ponder. Tinker. Look for examples. Try the ideas. Then go back to it again.

Gene Schwartz, I'm sad to say, is no longer with us on this Earth. But he and his wisdom live on in this book.

He can be the mentor who will guide you to your next level of business achievement.

This is a rock solid, if challenging, book about writing ad copy from one of the best copywriters who ever lived. It is NOT an easy read so if you're looking to be entertained by a 'personality,' look elsewhere.

On the other hand, if you want to dig deep into the subject of copywriting and go beyond the 'paint-by-numbers,' training wheels approach that's so widely taught these days, this is a good book to work with.

And 'work with' is the way to look at it.

This book is so packed, one chapter could easily give you enough things to think about for a year.

By the way, there is absolutely nothing dated in this book.

Calling this book dated is like saying Claude Hopkins is dated because he used examples from the turn of the century or that John Caples is dated because he used example from the 30s and 40s.

You don't buy books like these for their examples. You buy them for what a highly experienced and successful ad writer has to say about his craft. That being said, this book will probably be too much for readers who want everything 'quick and easy' and need to be entertained.

Eugene Schwartz is one of copywriting and advertising's legends. His story is well known among copywriters: He started in mail order as a delivery boy in 1949 and became a junior copywriter before the end of that year. By 1951, he was a copy chief and became the president of his own mail order firm in 1954. He skills as a copywriter led him to become one of advertising's highest paid consultants (Rodale Press once paid him a commission of $54,000 for four hours work).

This book is considered by many to be a classic on copywriting in general and mail order copywriting in particular. It is also legendarily reputed to be the "most stolen" book from public libraries and it is claimed that there are only 130 copies to be found in the world. I'm not sure about that claim as my local library came up with a 1966 copy with no problem and the librarian indicated that other copies were available from other libraries. She also had never heard of it as being the "most stolen" book in public libraries.

This is the most recently published edition and it appears to have been published, in part, because of the reputed difficult of finding copies. The price of $95.00 would seem to reflect a pent-up demand for it (more on that later).

"Breakthrough Advertising" is excellent in its analysis of advertising and the marketplace. Schwartz was an advocate of the idea that advertising could not create demand but it could channel it to a certain product. He referred to demand as "Mass Desire" and believed that there had to be some level of desire before a product could be offered and sold profitably. An example he uses is that of weight loss. There is a huge mass desire to lose weight and, as a consequence, a demand for weight loss products. The job of the copywriter, according to Schwartz, is to tap into that demand and channel it to the particular product the copywriter is selling.

Schwartz continues throughout the book to analyze the make-up of a good advertisement, focusing heavily on the headline as being the make-or-break item of any good advertisement. He then continues in a discussion and analysis of the body of an advertisement as well as giving his opinion on some aspects of layout. He admittedly doesn't spend much time on the subject of layout, but his discussion of layout is quite revelatory.

Schwartz's work isn't necessarily a great revelation today. Most other books I have read on the subject of advertising and copywriting recognize many of the same principles he discusses. In fact, you can read on everything he touches upon in other more modern, and cheaper, sources. That being said, the book is still a worthwhile read. Schwartz has an engaging writing style and he does a great job of breaking his chapters down into subtopics and subheadings (a direct mail technique he obviously is employing in his book). Anyone with an interest in copywriting and advertising should take the time to read and learn from Schwartz. You will no doubt learn something about the craft of copywriting that you previously were unaware of.

Now as to the price of the current edition, if you are like I normally am and just have to have a book on your shelf, you might want to go ahead and buy it. I personally found the price prohibitive and did not purchase it. Instead, I checked the library's copy out and took a lot of notes. I would love to add this book to my library, but not at a cost of $95.00. I really think someone is gouging those with any interest in Schwartz's work at that price, but I guess there are more than enough individuals willing to that price for them to offer it at $95.00.

The price seems even more prohibitive given the fact that most of the information is available from other sources and the fact that the writing is somewhat dated.

Eugene Schwartz was a great copywriter. He understood copywriting. He knew that it was salesmanship in print. In this book Schwartz gives us his method of constructing an ad (he calls all copy ads) and he explains who our market really is. He tells us that our ad is directed to a group of people who have one main desire or need.

This is a great book. It's odd that many of the books that sold only a few thousand copies in their day, such as this one, now are in high demand. This is especially true of copywriting books. It seems that everyone thinks he or she can either become a copywriter or at the very least write copy for his own advertising by simply reading a book! I don't think so. Hey --- I've been at it 40 years and I'm still learning.

This is not a book for the person looking for a quick fix. If you're not a serious copywriter, don't buy this book. Only a copywriter can really understand it. If you're an entrepreneur looking for some basic knowledge, buy Bob Bly's latest books. His are the books for the novice. They're good. They're easy to read. They're easy to understand. And Bob is a great copywriter.

But if you are a copywriter and want to read a great book, you must buy this. Is it worth the money? Oh yes. If you're a copywriter it is. If you're not a copywriter, save your money.

This book is not dated. In fact, one could almost feel he's reading a book written today. I applied some of what I read to one of my Web sites and it really works. Gene wrote long copy and many sites are nothing more than long copy. For those sites, this book is a find for the copywriter who writes them. Fact is, I prefer it to the books on the market directed to copywriters who write web copy.

Some of the books we read today are nothing more than recycled stuff. Here we read the real thing. Some authors today will tell you that people are not motivated by the same things as before. Not so. Since the cave man and until the end of time people will be motivated by love, sex, hate, greed, envy, jealousy and all the other emotions that have held us hostage since the beginning of time.

It may be true that people buy differently. It may be true that they don't respond exactly as they used to because of their multi-tasking and other things. But we sell to the same motivators that we've always sold to.

This book will never go out of fashion. It will never be dated.

This is a book you'll want to read once and then read again with a highlighter. You'll probably want to read it yearly. There are a number of old books that I read once a year and refer to often. There's a real market in everything old because, fact is, they had it right and it still applies today. Why fix it if it ain't broke?

Buy the book. It will make you a better copywriter. Tell your prospective clients to buy it too. Why? Because when they get two or three chapters read they'll see how hard it is to be a copywriter and they'll hire you.

The only black book I know of in any field is this one. Everything you discover in any other book on direct response advertising and coywriting is represented in this book. There are several decent books available - about seven in my view -on copywriting but this one is the dog's bollocks as we say down our way. Read Sugarman's first two books, Caples, John Carlton's expensive but illuminating and highly readable Kick-Ass manual, Robert Collier (for letters). Download Gary Halbert's letters. And maybe Schwab. That's all you need. This book genuinely must be read several times to be understood, which may put off some. Oh, and get hold of Schwartz's 1993 speech to Phillips Publishing. Try Michael Senoff's site - it's free from there. This speech is a fabulous adjunct to Breakthrough Advertising.

How many copywriters do you know whose copy sold an estimated 4 BILLION DOLLARS worth of products for their clients while working 4hours a day from home?

Only one comes to mind for me, and that is Gene Schwartz.

It took me years to see the brilliance in this book. At first, I did not appreciate it's value. Now I do.

It is not a "paint by numbers" or "follow theses easy steps" book on how to write copy. But it will teach you how to think like a master copywriter.

It will not provide you with 50 "fill in the blank" template headlines designed to turn your ad or sales letter into an instant control-beater. But it will reveal how to find the breakthrough headline that is right for your product.

It will not guarantee to teach you how to take any product and make it into an instant, overnight success. But it will teach you how to evaluate whether or not your product has adequate market potential to make it worth your while...or if you need to find a new market or market segment to go after.

It will not provide you with samples of contemporary controls. But it will give you insight into the control creation thought process used by one of the greatest copywriters of all time.

This is a book you will come back to time and again, after you have spent hundreds, even thousands of dollars on other "instant success" copywriting courses.

This is not a book for rookies. But it is a book for seasoned professionals who have been practicing for years and now want to go study with the Master.

P.S. - This book provides half a dozen samples of ads written by Gene Schwartz. It is virtually impossible to find other classics he wrote. Here is a little-known resource that will show you how to find most of his famous ads: www.ultimate-online-swipe-file.com

This is more of a psychology book than a book on marketing and selling. But then, I think that marketing and selling are intertwined with psychology. In order to sell effectively, you've got to understand human psychology.

In order to make a profitable life, you've got to understand people at a deeper level than most. Breakthrough Advertising penetrates on a deeper level, the buying psychology.

It also explains to you the life cycle of any product. It explains to you that you've got to figure out the consciousness level of your target and combine that with the life age of your product.

For example, products like Coca Cola and Mcdonalds have a older life age than say a business that just opened yesterday. Therefore you would advertise a product like Coca Cola differently than if you were promoting a small family business.

But one of the main things I appreciate about this book is the fact that Eugene Schwartz talks about unconscious desires of people that always were and always will be. These feelings, thoughts, and desires cannot be created or destroyed. In fact the way Mr. Schwartz writes about these unconscious desires remind me of the laws of physics. Energy cannot be created nor destroyed.

The key of the profitable and lucrative marketer is to harness and channel these desires on to your product or service.

There are many principles in this book that makes this book a "bible" of marketers and copywriters. This book should be in EVERY professional's library.

There is a Gold mine of information in this book. ANY Price you pay is worth it.

I put off writing about this book until I had read it
several times. I put off buying it for awhile because
it's so overpriced.

This shouldn't be the first copywriting book you read.
I would say you should be thoroughly in the mix as a
marketer and hiring copywriters or doing it yourself
to even comprehend this book.

It's position a golden key to advertising mastery is
probably deserved. There are insights here which are
profound in their implications.

Invaluable resource for serious marketers and copywriters.

Not a good investment if you are just starting out. Read
all the copywriting classics first... and more than once.
Then write a lot of copy. Then get this book and you'll
have a point of reference to understand how the information
here can make you better.

I'm not telling you much about what is in the book. Other
reviewers who are stronger writers than I have already
told you what is in it. I'll just say you need a certain
level of maturity in the way you think and do marketing to
grasp the lessons in this book.

Schwartz' "Breakthrough Advertising" is the most important of all the copywriting books I've ever read. I own copies of virtually all copywriting books ever written, going back to the turn of the century. This one is the most important, and most valuable.

It's difficult to read, and definitely not a beginners "how to write advertising copy" type book -- I like to think of it as a graduate-level resource to help develop world-class controls. I reread it regularly, at least once a quarter, to continue to drill the concepts and the overall approach that Gene covers into my copywriting skill set.

If I had just one book to recommend for successful copywriting, this would be it. Of course one also has to memorize and read Caples, Sugarman, Ogilvy, and the rest of the many masters of the craft... but this is the centerpiece, the strongest and most important of all copywriting books.

My copy's sold millions. A lot of what I do is based on the mechanizing and other processes modeled and explained in this critically important copywriting masterpiece. Buy it now!

Ken Calhoun

Gene Schwartz made me a millionaire from a would-be millionaire with just a few breakthrough ideas. Breakthrough Advertising was out of print and I paid a lot of money to buy a copy. I have never regretted my investment.

I share some of his secrets in a video: [...]