Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

It's late May 2004 and I'm preparing the final teleseminar for a new copywriting program I'm putting together. As I searched my brain for what to recommend to my students for further study, one book kept coming up: this one. It takes a lot of sophistication and direct-marketing experience to appreciate the real genius of Gene Schwartz. Don't kid yourself - this book isn't easy. I know easy, because that's what I specialize in. However, Mastery is not easy. On the other hand, information that will lead you to Mastery in marketing - especially, mastery in copywriting - is rare to the point of being almost non-existent. But this book contains exactly that information. Who should get this book? Let's start with who shouldn't. If you want run-of-the-mill yet valuable, money-making information about copywriting, get books by John Caples and by all means, get Vic Schwab's "How to Write a Good Advertisement." They're available on Amazon. If you want to learn about branding, grand strategies and other B-school versions of marketing, forget this book. It's not for you. The person who should get this book is the person who would like to create a million-dollar business with an idea, a product, or a division of an existing business. There is simply no other resource that will show you how to do that with marketing. I recently spent some extremely valuable time with a corporate consultant who bills at $25,000 a day to help companies dominate markets and create new ones. I don't know if he's ever read "Breakthrough Advertising," but I can say that his level of thinking indicates he _owns_ the material in this book. The re-publisher of "Breakthrough Advertising," according to Schwartz, hired Schwartz to write a sales letter that started his business. Rumor has it that the re-publisher's business now takes in a nine-figure income every year. What's my point? That Gene Schartz has DONE what I am saying this book can do for you. In this book, you should be warned, he makes distinctions that, frankly, are beyond the understanding level of most business people, even most smart entrepreneurs. So if you get this book, it's not a handy reference or a quick read. Not if you're going to get anything out of it, that is. This book is a commitment. And if you can't understand what's in it when you first get it, there's no need for despair. Because the path of Mastery is about growth of vision, skill and capacity through repetition of basics, ideally under the tutelage of a mentor who is also a Master. Meaning, read it several times. Take notes. Ponder. Tinker. Look for examples. Try the ideas. Then go back to it again. Gene Schwartz, I'm sad to say, is no longer with us on this Earth. But he and his wisdom live on in this book. He can be the mentor who will guide you to your next level of business achievement.