Make $1.28 Million Per Word
Thursday, January 11th, 2007
Dear Reader:
On a beautiful late spring afternoon, twenty-five years ago, two young men graduated from the same college. They were very much alike, these two young men. Both had been better than average students, both were personable and both—as young college graduates are—were filled with ambitious dreams for the future.
Recently, these men returned to their college for their 25th reunion.
They were still very much alike. Both were happily married. Both had three children. And both, it turned out, had gone to work for the same Midwestern manufacturing company after graduation, and were still there.
But there was a difference. One of the men was manager of a small department of that company. The other was its president.
That is the start of the direct mail letter for The Wall Street Journal. The letter ran for almost 30 years and is estimated to have returned about $1 billion, or about $1.28 million per word. The author of the letter, Martin Conroy, recently passed away. He was paid $600 for his efforts which was apparently a good rate at the time.
The amazing thing to me, is that the letter never states that the student who went on to become the president of the company read The Wall Street Journal. It’s only implied!
You can read the entire letter, and about the very first direct mail on Denny Hatch’s Business Common Sense.
