The Boron Letters Paperback – June 11, 2013

In 1998, with a lot of hard work, and quite a bit of serendipity, I got the chance to move to Miami Beach, Florida to meet and work with Gary Halbert.I have written about how all that came about elsewhere, so I am not going to repeat it here.In any case, I drove from where I lived at the time (Oklahoma) to Florida. And along the way, Gary had me stop in Ocala, Florida to pick up some of his information products from his longtime assistant Theresa.Basically, she had pre-selected some things and put them in a box for me. Long story short, I got to Miami Beach, opened up the box and one of the first things I saw was an original hard copy of The Boron Letters.WOW!You see, I already knew about The Boron Letters... because... I had previously read about them in Gary's newsletter.Gary wrote the letters to his son Bond (whom I'll talk about in a minute) under very trying circumstances while in Boron Federal Prison Camp in California. Gary's intent was to give Bond the most concise, impactful education on direct marketing (called mail order then)... and... on how to life a good life in general.But getting a copy of The Boron Letters--at that time--was an impossibility... unless... like me, you were fortunate enough to get one from the private stash in an Ocala, Florida storage unit.But I digress. That night, the first night I arrived in Miami Beach, with all its beauty, glitz, glamour and fun, instead of hitting the town, I instantly, in one sitting, devoured The Boron Letters in a caffeine-fueled frenzy.It paid off almost immediately... in two ways:1. I got exposed to "secrets of living a good life" I'd never even had a glimpse of before... and...2. Although it wasn't my motivation, Gary instantly recognized my earnestness... and that... along with doing well on a couple of small projects over the next week, got me a spot as Gary's mentee.The rest is history. I eventually graduated from just being a lowly mentee, to working side-by-side with Gary on many multi-million dollar projects for nearly a decade... until... his untimely passing in 2007.But more than that, we became friends. Great friends. In fact, there are very few days that go by that I don't think about picking up the phone and giving him a call, only to realize I can't.That sucks! It truly, TRULY SUCKS! More than I can even put into words. However, fortunately, his sons Bond and Kevin are still around, are great friends of mine... and... I chat with them frequently. And they're both sharp, super sharp... just like their "old man".In fact, I've said this before, but it bears repeating: Bond is on my short (very short) list of people I turn to when I have a marketing problem... or... for that matter, ANY problem.So when he told me he was releasing an updated Kindle version of The Boron Letters, I was thrilled! I immediately bought a copy to support my friend's effort.Now normally, I'm not into updates of things that are brilliant pieces of work in the first place. However, this is different. Very different. For one, like I said above, Bond is sharp... super sharp!And secondly, those letters were written to him personally to teach him everything Gary had learned in 46 years on "how to live a good life".That being the case, Bond didn't change the original letters at all. All he did was add an update at the end of each letter that reveals what the lessons meant to him... and... how he applied them.Plus, he reveals the overlooked, hidden meanings behind some of the lessons that only he could know because his dad had repeated them to him many, many times... in many, many different forms.I think so much of The Boron Letters that I was in the process of re-reading them for the umpteenth time and taking detailed, handwritten notes when Bond told me about re-releasing them with his commentary.Anyway, I urge you to get this updated version of The Boron Letters and read it immediately. It will be the best 10 bucks ($9.99 actually) you've ever invested in your life's education.Sincerely,Scott L. HainesP.S. No matter where I'm living at the current moment (which I change fairly frequently, BECAUSE I CAN) two things always travel with me... (1) a complete hard copy set of The Gary Halbert Letter... and... (2) The Boron Letters. "I", to paraphrase the old American Express commercials, "never leave home without them."

In 2007 I'd spent 28 years as a combination writer/art director in traditional marketing - advertising, corporate communications and ad agencies' versions of direct marketing.Then I started studying direct marketing. From the folks who really knew it. After about five minutes, I could see the huge, giagantic, gaping, no-comparison difference:Agencies produced gorgeous mailings that looked great in their presentations to other prospective clients.The people I was learning from - a secret society of sorts - produced cash.For their clients and themselves. Of the top three, two are amazingly successful. Rich, even. Worth tens of millions of dollars.The third is dead.His name is Gary Halbert.I don't know of anyone in the know who doesn't think of Gary as the best who ever lived. The other two - Dan Kennedy, whose courseware I own - and John Carlton - whose blog I read regularly and who worked with Gary for years - worship Gary as a modern god.Now, you can't study this discipline from Kennedy or Carlton without hearing about Halbert. Which in turn leads to hearing about the Boron letters.They are famous.I don't even want to think about what they must have cost when Gary's son Bond first published them. References in online discussions to this book-plus-annotation, in a multimedia version, led me to believe it cost hundreds of dollars. I haven't checked, but I wouldn't be surprised to find one for at least that price and maybe more. Because, c'mon - this is Halbert! Talking to his son! and Teaching marketing! And copy!But at $9.99, it's an absolute must.Okay. This Kindle version isn't all the letters. It's just the first 25. 25 separate douments: of a father's love, a man's struggle with himself and the world. And - business. Not just marketing, but how to get things done. How to deal with people. How to keep on keeping on. How to make money, even from prison. Yup. Halbert was doing his regular freelance gigs and entrepreneurial joint ventures. FROM PRISON.If you've been studying DM for several years. as I have, there's a lot here to learn. Enough that I was glad I had it as insurance this past Sunday night, on the eve of my first-ever mailing in support of my own business.But if this is the first inkling you've ever had that agency mailings are not direct mail at all, it's also the perfect place to start.