The Secrets Behind the Incredible Success of the Lazy Man’s Way to Riches Ad
4 Key lessons from Joe Karbo’s million-dollar ad.
This is the 15th edition of The Essence.
Some sales copy is just so good you can’t ignore it.
Some sales copy compels you to take the action it demands, and it’s like you have no choice.
Some sales copy is so good that it destroys your defenses, convincing you to buy. It’s like Cristiano Ronaldo when he hacks through the defenses to get to the goalkeeper. From there, it’s 90%+ a goal. That’s how powerful sales copy is: You’re compelled to say yes 90%+ of the time.
Some sales copy is so good it pushes you to handwrite it—not once or twice—but tens or hundreds of times. I handwrote the Lazy Man’s Way to Riches ad 50+ times. Almost every time I do, I feel my writing getting sharper.
Joe Karbo’s ad was incredibly successful, running first in 1973, and sold over 2.7 million copies of his book. I believe it is required reading for every writer, copywriter, marketer, and entrepreneur.
The secrets behind the power of the Lazy Man’s Way to Riches ad
You’d be a fool to think there is nothing you can learn from Joe Karbo’s masterful sales copy. You don’t have to be a copywriter or marketer to learn from this ad: You only have to be a person who sells.
All of us sell. It doesn’t have to be your regular product. If you write articles for readers, you have to sell them to readers in the introduction.
These secrets behind Joe Karbo’s ad will help you sell anything:
Joe Karbo already had an established audience before writing the Lazy Man’s Way to Riches ad
Joe Karbo built his audience throughout the years by publishing several how-to books and selling tens of thousands of them through direct mail. The Power of Money Management, for instance, sold 100,000 copies via direct mail. Without an audience, selling is pretty tough.
Joe Karbo knew how to write excellent sales copy
Joe Sugarman wrote that Karbo only wrote a few ads. But the man had a knack for writing words that takes you from the first line to the last, without breaks. Just check out the opening lines of the Lazy Man’s Way to Riches ad:
“I used to work hard. The 18-hour days. The 7-day weeks. But I didn’t start making big money until I did less—a lot less.”
What do you think?
Joe Karbo utilized the psychological principle of social proof
You can barely sell anything without credibility. Social proof gives you credibility.
After trying to establish credibility by bragging about his cool by-the-beach office, his two boats, his Cadillac, and such, Karbo utilized social proof in a unique fashion. He got a sworn statement from his accountant testifying that every statement in the ad was true. And in the updated ad, which ran in 1979, Karbo added many readers’ positive testimonials to showcase social proof.
Joe Karbo added a powerful and unique competitive advantage in the ad
Every good ad leverages a competitive advantage. In the Lazy Man’s Way to Riches ad, Karbo used a unique satisfaction conviction as his competitive advantage. He called it:
“The world’s most unusual guarantee.”
Here is how he presented his unique satisfaction conviction:
“What if I’m so sure that you’ll make money my Lazy Man’s Way that I’ll make you the world’s most unusual guarantee? And here it is: I won’t even cash your check or money order for 31 days after I’ve sent you my material. That’ll give you plenty of time to get it, look it over, try it out. If you don’t agree that it’s worth at least a hundred times what you invested, send it back. Your uncashed check or money order will be put in the return mail.”
This is not the average money-back guarantee, as I’ve written in my article for Better Marketing. Joe Karbo didn’t promise readers a refund: He promised not to even take their money until they are fully satisfied. He offered a 31-days window to try his material essentially for free. It was an edgy competitive advantage, especially in 1973.
A unique and persuasive satisfaction conviction is not the only thing that can give you a competitive advantage. I’ve listed other ways to gain a competitive advantage in the original article where I did a sort of in-depth breakdown of Karbo’s ad. I also showed how to turn these lessons into actionable steps you can take now.
Read the original article if you want to learn how to use social proof to convince the reader, how to learn to write persuasive copy, and how to build or borrow an audience.
After learning the hows, don’t waste time and apply. Actions produce results. Make them count.
Until next time,
Mohammed