$2 Billion Wall St. Journal Letter (“Tale of Two Young Men”) by Martin Conroy

swiped by Mike Schauer ran 1975-2003

Below is what many consider "The Greatest Sales Letter of All Time." It sold $2 billion worth of Wall St. Journal subscriptions & ran from 1975-2003 with...View More

$2 Billion Wall St. Journal Letter (“Tale of Two Young Men”) by Martin Conroy

Key Takeaways

  • One of our biggest fears is that decades later (or more drastically, on our deathbed), we feel that we settled in life & failed to reach our full potential. The idea of time passing quick & us failing to reach our desired goals in that time is very painful.
  • For many, the story also taps into other low feelings such as envy (of the other man) & stupidity for feeling like they didn't achieve the same success as someone with an identical situation & advantage. The question that then arises is "what is the missing factor(s)?" which builds a substantial amount of curiosity.
  • Without the identical comparisons discussed, the story wouldn't have the same effect. It's constructed to easily present a believable, single missing solution.
  • This is another bold example of swiping from older advertisements. The ads Conroy (the copywriter) was influenced by ran over 50 years earlier from when he created it. The way he swiped is completely okay because he simply used the structure & flow of the narrative.

Analyst Spotlight

Mike Schauer

Mike Schaueris the founder of Swiped.co and the main analyst in the swipes section. After intently studying & building conversion-focused websites for 6+ years, he started Swiped to help others master marketing & copywriting through the analysis of great examples!

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