Rare Direct Mail Ad for The Robert Collier Letter Book

I just turned up a fascinating, two-page direct mail piece for one of the most important sales letter books ever written: The Robert Collier Letter Book. I suspect the piece may have been written by Robert Collier, himself, though it’s signed by Paul Crane of Parker Publishing.

The copy is in need of some touch-ups for today’s audience, but overall, it’s better crafted than the majority of pitches for similar material today.

The Robert Collier Letter Book

The Greatest of All Direct Mail Books

Dear Sir:

When a man can turn an $80,000 loss as of June 1st into a $121,000 Net Profit as of December 31st, entirely with letters –

When he can sell, by mail $3,000,000 worth of traveling bags – take 400,000 pairs or returned silk stockings at the regular dealer’s price and dispose of them by mail, at a profit –

When he can increase gross sales in three years time from $2,000,000 a year to $6,000,000 a year for one concern, and then go and do just as big a job for two other companies in completely different lines of business – all through the use of clever, well written letters –

Then there has to be something so fundamentally sound about his way of writing and using letters that it would pay you as a man interested in making more money to try the same methods in your business.

Of course, we are referring to the world famous Robert Collier techniques of selling by mail – now available –

THE ROBERT COLLIER LETTER BOOK

For more than 20 years, Robert Collier successfully sold anything and everything by mail. During that time, he was in charge of direct mail selling for Colliers, Review of Reviews, New Process Company, and many others. He sold considerably more than $20,000,000 worth of goods by mail, including $2,000,000 worth of O. Henry stories, over $3,000,000 worth of Well’s Outline Of History and millions of dollars worth of all manner of products from coal and coke to ladies’ dresses and men’s socks.

In THE ROBERT COLLIER LETTER BOOK, you get every one of the hundreds of sound, tested plans that worked so profitably for Mr. Collier and many famous firms…countless specimens of actual letters and circulars, including a short, clear discussion by the author of what exactly made them work – what made them pull in orders. Here, for you, are money-making plans that you can put to work for greater returns in your direct mail campaign. Plans like these –

The direct mail strategy that sold one million copies of the Book of Etiquette after it had gathered dust for fifteen years in Doubleday’s stock room.

The letter that actually sold 50,000 traveling bags, reviving the New Process Company at a time when it was in the red for $80,000.

The direct mail ideas that induced nearly half of the nation’s top executives to subscribe to newly published Business Week magazine

These and hundreds of other sales boosting methods in THE ROBERT COLLIER LETTER BOOK are yours to be used by you, no matter what your objective may be.

Suppose you’re in business for yourself, but don’t have the money you’d like to spend on advertising. Chapter 22 shows you how one lady’s ready-to-wear dress dealer achieved outstanding profits from a $50-a-week investment in direct mail. Or suppose you’ve always wanted to build up a bigger and better mailing list of your own – of proven buyers. Chapter 11 shows you step-by-step how such firms as William H. Wise and Company, and the New Process Company go about getting just such results.

Say you have a new product to introduce to the public, but can’t afford to take a chance and gamble. Chapter 20 shows you how to safely forecast its selling possibilities – the same system Robert Collier used on one product to pull in one million dollars worth of orders during the first six months of business.

The same thing goes for any question or problem that comes up in your direct mail work. You can use this book and its techniques as a jumping-off place – find out for yourself what others have accomplished when faced with problems so similar to the ones you have. Regardless of what your sales objective is, simply turn to THE ROBERT COLLIER LETTER BOOK and find actual, tested profit plans that accomplished such a varied amount of objectives for Robert Collier and others.

Mr. W.F. Rehbock of the Foley Manufacturing Company, Minneapolis, after reading and using THE ROBERT COLLIER LETTER BOOK, in its previous edition wrote:

We made a test mailing of 3,000 letters along the lines suggested by Mr. Collier, and 3,000 of our regular letters which had been getting good results for several years, and we were amazed to find that we increased the pull 50%.

Why not see the book for yourself – Examine it and use it for 10 days at our risk!

Naturally, we think the book is absolutely tops – and we’re pretty well qualified to judge its merits because of our own direct mail experience – therefore, we must recommend it to every advertising man, every manufacturer, every individual interested in making money selling by direct mail. But, it’s only after you see and use this great book yourself that you can determine how valuable it can be to you.

Mail the enclosed card and get your copy on this 10 day free trial offer. Then, see for yourself what a help it can be whenever you’re stuck for a new idea and fresh approach. When you’re thoroughly convinced, send us your check for $10 plus a few cents to cover postage and shipping. However, if for some reason you’re not entirely satisfied, return the book to us and you’ll be under no further obligation. Fair enough?

Sincerely yours,

Paul Crane