A subscriber to this blog sent me a 2-minute video of the wonderful and exceptional copywriter Drayton Bird…where he mentions two giants of direct response marketing…one of which caused Drayton’s worst hangover of his life…and the other is responsible for “buying” his sprawling home.
The “retirement newsletter” he mentions is one that I published at Boardroom (the company I helped build over 34 years) …and the copywriter of that package, Bill Jayme, was also a good friend, mentor and colleague of mine…although (spoiler alert if you didn’t watch the video), he never gave me a hangover.
Quite the opposite. He only brought me joy.
Well, he also brought much joy to Drayton despite the hangover. 😊
The amazing thing about Bill was that he didn’t take himself seriously…until he did.
More on his use of humor and satire in his copy in a minute.
And while he went through all of the ups and downs that a creative goes through during their career (many of which are mentioned by Drayton in the 2-minute video), in the end, both Jayme and Bird (and David Ogilvy, also mentioned in the video) came out the other end as champions of their craft.
A hero’s journey of a different kind…one worth learning from…and emulating.
Anything that entails “struggle…misery…depression…negative cash flow” (over 30+ years) can be worth it (as Drayton says in the video) …if lessons are learned and applied to the future.
And I couldn’t help myself… I reached out to Drayton while writing this post and I have already set up an interview with him for Titans Xcelerator to tell the rest of the story.
Two minutes is not long enough…so the video worked for me as a tease to know more.
Hmmm…maybe he should have been a copywriter? 😊
And if you want to hear the rest of the story too, stay tuned to this blog in the months ahead when I will make Drayton the star of a Wednesday email.
[Note: Please send me feedback on my Wednesday emails…which highlight a speaker or member fromTitans Xcelerator…with the main purpose of education and action items for you. I’ve been hearing from many of you and the response has been positive so far…but I am always looking to improve them…and to never bug you too much in your Inbox :-)]
What you need to know now regarding Drayton’s short video:
Pay attention when a hero talks about their journey…in a book or a blog…on a stage…in a video…or embedded inside their work.
Regarding Ogilvy, the man who “bought Drayton’s house,” I profiled him in my first book, The Advertising Solution, (written with direct mail savant Craig Simpson)…and although I never met him, I feel like I knew him after taking a deep dive into his work and his legend.
He deserves his own blog post and I promise to write one about him soon.
Back to Jayme…who really was the most in-demand copywriter of his time (Drayton isn’t lying in the video) …and he proved that starting narrow and then going wide enabled him to write about almost anything…with wit and humor (something most copywriters can’t pull off).
The proof?
The Bill Jayme Collection is not just a swipe file; it is the representation of a career immersed in writing, at the deepest level, which enabled Bill to write (at least) 210 individual direct mail packages (‘soup to nuts”) for 138 different mailers in 11 different categories.
More on that in the P.S.
On writing about anything
While many copywriters talk the talk about how they can write anything for anyone, many of those are charlatans rather than world class in any one of those categories (i.e. they fail to walk the walk).
The saying goes (which contradicts what I just said above):
“A jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one”
This is a quote that celebrates diversity…which is a good thing…but at what cost?
And is it really “better?”
I maintain that in copywriting, a master of one (e.g. category, niche) is required to become a “jack of all trades” (i.e. a jack of all categories).
And by “jack,” I am assuming not just a casual/lazy/half-assed jack…but an excellent/thoughtful/trained one in all trades.
This is not as easy as it sounds.
That is, anyone who claims they are a “copywriter” (and they are under 30 years old) and boasts that they can “write about anything,” I suggest you walk away and talk to another copywriter…maybe one with decades of experience…who got to that point by really doing the work.
Are there exceptions?
Sure.
But I’d rather bet on someone who has hard won experience over decades (with somewhere in the vicinity of 10,000 hours towards mastery, nod to Malcolm Gladwell)…and one that has made the trek from narrow to wide.
This is truer than ever in the age of AI…because there are Bots who can lay claim to being masters of everything (without much proof)…while the best copywriters toil in their specialties (in only the most industrious ways)…and toil enough to then become a Bill Jayme who truly could “write about anything.”
I’m sure many of you disagree with this thesis…especially if you are under 30 and are “crushing it” in multiple categories.
I’d love to hear from you about that…how you did it…and I may even try to get you to speak to my Titans Xcelerator Mastermind to prove me wrong and teach us a thing or two…because I love being wrong in the spirit of education.
On writing with humor (which includes wit, satire and whimsy too 😊)
I mentioned above how Bill Jayme used wit and humor in his copy…but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t serious about his craft (as indicated by his never ending waiting list of clients and a success rate in a wide variety of subject areas, industries and even non-profits that was the envy of his peers).
Back when Jayme was “toiling,” there was a school of thought among direct marketers and copywriters that being funny doesn’t work in direct mail.
Jayme proved that you need to be surgical when using humor in your copy…and that’s what makes studying Jayme so much more powerful (because today, you can get away with more comedic copy).
But you still need to be a surgeon.
And Jayme can be your “Attending Physician” assuming you are at least a “Resident.”
I know of some current copywriters who are not only experimenting with increased humor (including wit, satire and whimsy) in their copy…but making it their trademark…and doing well.
I’ve even got a few inside Titans Xcelerator.
I encourage you to share your successes with me.
I’d love to hear how you have executed on Pablo Picasso’s way of thinking (as it pertains to using humor in your marketing):
If you are in this camp, you must have studied Jayme…or Jim Rutz (who “got away” with using humor with great success too)…which I discussed at length with legends John Carlton and David Deutsch in a lengthy interview which is part of Read This or Die: The Lost Files of Jim Rutz.
That is one of the many reasons I created products from the archives of Jayme and Rutz.
This is also why I love copywriters who see formulas as recipes, a distinction made by our speaker this week at Titans Xcelerator, Hollywood script consultant and “Star Whisperer” (to writers, actors and directors), Michael Hauge.
I’ll tell you all about him in a future Wednesday blog. His presentation was mind blowing.
He wrote a book that businessmen, entrepreneurs, copywriters and marketers read as one of their Bibles…Storytelling Made Easy…written from a Hollywood perspective for direct response marketers and the business community, believe it or not.
Stay tuned for that.
In the meantime, I will share in the P.S. an example of Bill Jayme’s humor and wit…I hope you enjoy it.
And I’d love to hear from you…whether how you have become a “jack of all trades copywriter” in less than 20 years…or how you use humor in your copy or with your marketing positively…or anything else you want to disagree with me on.
Just don’t be disagreeable.
Then I might even agree with you. 😊
Warmly,
Brian
P.S. As mentioned above, in his prime, Bill Jayme was the most sought-after copywriter in the world.
He had a two-year waiting list of clients who wanted him to write a direct mail package for them…and he fulfilled them all, with a style that was a mix of poetry and sales copy.
There was no one like him at the time…or since.
And no one could beat his copy.
He was also a wonderful and entertaining speaker and storyteller.
And this story encapsulates who he was…with an emphasis on his impeccable wit and humility:
On a coast-to-coast flight, Bill found himself sitting next to a guy on an airplane while he was eating a delicious airline lunch—and the guy happened to be reading one of Bill’s most successful magazine promotions while he dined.
What a thrill this was going to be!
He had a perfect seat watching how this guy would immerse himself in the “poetry” he created…and then subscribe…and then he could reveal himself as the author of the masterpiece.
Every copywriter would love to have this experience…a real-life customer interacting with their copy without giving up their identity…a fly on the wall (or sitting, in the seat next to the customer looking over his shoulder).
Initially, things were going swimmingly:
The guy opened the envelope, which had a compelling headline that Bill was famous for (i.e.” the hot pants on the hooker” was how Bill explained how to use the outer envelope to full advantage…without being overly naughty). 😊
Then the guy began the letter…at least 6 pages long…probably 12…which was like a book that is impossible to put down.
That is how Bill structured his letters…one sentence leading into another, one paragraph leading into another, with the sole purpose of keeping the reader curious with anticipation of what will happen next.
He perfected the art of writing sales letters as compelling stories…an art many copywriters learned from and adapted from him…and are still learning and adapting from him.
He was an original.
And this reader on the plane was textbook because he jumped to the P.S. quickly (this guy was the perfect prospect!) …then back to the letter to read it until the end…followed by unfolding the large, 4-color brochure…and finally to the lift letter.
Then it was the moment of truth…the guy found the order card…he read it carefully…seemingly studying the terms (“Free issue! Send no money!”).
How could he decline this opportunity after reading Bill’s exquisite copy?
Then he folded the order card in half for some reason.
Bill was perplexed.
Then he folded it in quarters, creating a little rectangle with 4 points.
He then moved it to one of the corners of his mouth.
And he used it…
…as a toothpick!
Safe to say that Bill was glad he didn’t pay for this guy’s lunch. 🙂
He told the story with much more flair and imagery (what Gene Schwartz calls “picture words”) that showed more than told.
He did this with humility, humor…with wisdom always shining through…as he did with everything he wrote or spoke.
And that brings me to The Bill Jayme Collection.
After he passed away, his partner (and expert designer) Heikki Ratalahti worked with me to scan every direct mail package Bill Jayme ever wrote.
As mentioned in the post above, The Bill Jayme Collection contains 210 individual direct mail efforts in PDF format for 138 different mailers in 11 different categories.
To say Bill could write about anything is an understatement.
And no ChatGPT required …or invented yet.
Although I think he would have embraced it…and he’d be thrilled to see his influence on copywriters today who are committed to telling compelling stories with their copy.
They are almost all control packages (i.e., big winners in terms of response) and they represent some of the best direct response marketing copy ever written.
And please don’t think that because these are all direct mail packages that the copy platforms, headlines and concepts cannot be adapted to online promotions.
In fact, like so many copywriters who passed away before online and email marketing became “the killer app,” he would have flourished in the current marketing environment…big time.
“Hot pants on a hooker” as a theory, for example, applies to subject lines and not just envelopes.
And story is story is story…it is paramount…whatever the medium…offline or online.
Jayme was as prolific and productive as any copywriter who has ever lived.
And everything he ever wrote is on one packed USB inside “The Bill Jayme Collection,” indexed by category, and completely searchable.
Plus, we added a bonus video of Bill himself presenting live.
He’s got many other stories besides the “toothpick fiasco.” 😊
Click here to read another adventure in marketing that Bill and I experienced together.
I encourage you to consider ordering this priceless package (which I needed to put a reasonable price on).
Remember…
Stealing is a felony…stealing smart is an art…and stealing smart from an artist like Jayme is one of the most valuable things you can do.