The Great Classics of Direct Marketing

If you read these great classics of direct marketing, you will have the foundation you need to generate unlimited sales.   I read each of these books at least once a year.

1) Scientific Advertising, by the great Claude Hopkins, originally published in 1923, is still essential basic reading for every direct mail and advertising copywriter.

Claude Hopkins was the inventor of modern direct response advertising. In fact, he is the father of modern advertising, period. He wrote some of the most famous, most successful, ads of all time.  David Ogilvy, the builder of the giant advertising agency Ogilvy and Mather, said of this book, "Nobody should be allowed to have anything to do with advertising until he has read this book seven times. It changed the course of my life." This volume also contains Hopkins' memoir, which is well worth reading.

2) The 22 Immutable Law of Marketing, by Al Ries & Jack Trout

This terrific little book is a sobering reminder that the success of your marketing campaign has far less to do with how much money you throw at it than with how your product or service is positioned in the mind of your prospective customer.  Ries and Trout show that marketing is not a battle between products, it's a battle over perceptions, and that it's far less important to be first to market with your product than first into the mind of your prospective buyer. Ries and Trout warn against the temptation to try to be "all things to all people."  Be narrow, focused, specialized -- or your audience will have little idea of what you do.  "Narrow is the gate to paradise" in marketing.  Be known for something.  The ultimate victory is for your name to become synonymous with the product you are offering, like Kleenex is to tissue paper.  Kleenex would confuse its market it started marketing diapers under the Kleenex brand.

3) Successful Direct Marketing Methods, by Bob Stone

This is the classic textbook on direct marketing.  Parts of it can be dry because it's so comprehensive. It's been called "the Bible of direct marketing."  But every direct marketer needs this book on her shelf.  I refer to my copy all the time.

4) Ogilvy on Advertising, by David Ogilvy

David Ogilvy was one of the great pioneers of modern advertising and the builder of the world's most famous advertising agency, Ogilvy and Mather. Ogilvy was also a disciple of the great Claude Hopkins. Almost everything Ogilvy teaches comes from Hopkins, as he readily admits repeatedly.  This is one of the great books on advertising ever written.

5) Confessions of an Advertising Man, by David Ogilvy

You simply must read everything by the 20th Century advertising titan David Ogilvy. This memoir is packed with priceless insights into what makes an advertisement successful.  This book is inspirational for any aspiring advertising copywriter. Ogilvy would flip in his grave over what passes for advertising that we see today on national television - advertising that might get a chuckle, but that often does not even mention the product. "What was that ad about?" I often find myself asking.

6) Tested Advertising Methods, by John Caples

Eighty years ago, John Caples, then two months into his career as a mail order copywriter at Ruthruff & Ryan, wrote the storied headline, "They laughed when I sat down at the piano. But when I started to play..."  Over the next 58 years, Caples established the theory, method and mathematical principles behind all direct response marketing.

7) How to Make Your Advertising Make Money, by John Caples

You simply cannot consider yourself a competent direct marketer without reading everything Caples wrote, including this classic book. I love the "No B.S." title of his book.  The double use of the word "make" would seem to be poor writing, except that the title says exactly what this book is about. The best way to make sure your advertisements make money is to make sure your advertisements are easy to read and understand. Caples could not care less if his ads were eloquent and stylish. He was one of the best ever at writing ads that made money.

8) Secrets of Successful Direct Mail, by Richard V. Benson

This was the first book I ever read on direct mail marketing, and was given to me by direct mail fundraising pioneer Richard Viguerie, who was my first direct mail teacher.  This little book is packed with tips and secrets for successful direct mail marketing and is a must read for every direct mail copywriter.

9) What Makes Direct Mail Successful, by Bob Stone

This is an excellent primer on the principles behind successful direct mail.  Direct marketers should make it a point to read anything and everything by Bob Stone, who is one of the pioneers of direct marketing.  Nothing Stone prescribes is speculation. All his recommendations are the product of scientific testing.

10) Secrets of Closing the Sale, Zig Zigler

Though Zigler's classic book on selling is not specifically about mail order or online marketing, the principles he describes are essential knowledge for anyone engaged in the science of selling, by whatever media.

11) Million Dollar Mailings, by Denison Hatch

Denny Hatch’s book is excellent, excellent, excellent.  It’s also weighty, with 500 pages. His book is packed with examples of successful direct mail campaigns, with scores of complete direct mail packages reprinted with graphics and all.  He then explains why the direct mail effort worked and tells us what the payoff was for the organization that did the mailing.  This might be the most practical book ever written for the novice who is launching their first direct mail marketing effort; but it also provides terrific intelligence and insights for the expert.  Anyone who reads this book from cover to cover can’t help but succeed with their direct mail marketing campaign.

12) How to Write a Good Advertisement, by Victor O. Schwab

This book, by one of the great advertising copywriters in history, Victor O. Schwab, is a short course in writing powerful, hard-hitting ad copy. This remarkable book has turned many novice mail-order entrepreneurs into expert copywriters.  I love the fact that he does not make the common copywriting mistake of over-hyping his own book by calling it "How to Write a Great Advertisement."   I'm sure his publisher screamed and yelled about the understated title, but I guess Victor won the argument.

13) Building a Mail Order Business, by William Cohen

You won't find a better manual for mail order success than this 450-page guide.  Cohen's textbook is packed with case histories.