And making sure anyone and everyone can understand you instantly (and they can also remember more of what you say or write) should always be your highest priority.
Using images which your “listener” or “reader” can de-code for themselves into words is one way to be memorable; and the other is to remember that “grammar is overrated.”
Where is all this coming from?
Gene Schwartz of course.
I hate to sound like a broken record but there is no one in the history of copywriting or marketing who understood the power of using images that create words…along with the power that comes with not caring all that much about grammar in the process.
“Grammar is overrated” was the subject line I used when I first told you about the second “Gene Schwartz lost classic” that I re-published (after Breakthrough Advertising) which is called, The Brilliance Breakthrough, How To Talk And Write So That People Will Never Forget You.
I am not the only one who saw the huge value in bringing this book back to life which I did just about a year ago…so many world class copywriters and marketers feel the same way.
One of them, David Garfinkel, (who is also one of the top coaches for copywriters today), just released an awesome podcast titled, “The Secret of Instant Understanding.”
In it, David goes deep on how you can make anyone you talk to or write to understand you instantly–and completely–and therefore remember more of what you say or write…or, as Gene put it, “How to talk and write so that people will never forget you.”
David credits the lessons he teaches in this podcast to a core concept from The Brilliance Breakthrough…and I encourage you to give a listen here…I think you will be able to apply everything he talks about in all you do.
Back to The Brilliance Breakthrough…calling this book a “lost classic” is far from hyperbole.
When I released Breakthrough Advertisinga couple of years ago, many of you who are Gene Schwartz enthusiasts asked me about The Brilliance Breakthrough…which warmed my heart.
I realized reading those emails that you, my online family, were students of the craft…and I had to deliver The Brilliance Breakthrough to you as well.
And I needed to do it affordably since at the time I started putting this new edition together, there was only ONE used copy available on Amazon for $4,000.
Well…that one copy was signed by Gene Schwartz to my mentor Marty Edelston…however $4K seemed like a lot of money for an autograph…although I think the book is worth that much (actually more)…and of course I am not objective!
So after you listen to David Garfinkel’s podcast, if you are interested in obtaining a copy of this game changing book, I will not only save you $3,805 but I will give you a workbook too.
More on why I created a workbook below.
I just checked Amazon and there is one copy available now for around $500 and the rest are $800 and above…and that signed copy has come down to $2,000 (a bargain).
But none of those copies come with a workbook; and the exclusive edition I have available for you is still less than half the price of any copy you can get on Amazon.
And for the hundreds of people who have discovered this gem already, drop me an email and let me know how you are applying it to your verbal and written communications.
I’ve heard from many of you already and it’s been rewarding to hear how much the book has helped you.
Those of you who have shared with me your successes with the book…thank you!
I have shared (and will continue to share) all of your feedback with Gene’s wife Barbara, my partner in bringing Gene back to life for a new generation.
Note: The Brilliance Breakthrough is a very different book Breakthrough Advertising…with The Brilliance Breakthrough, Gene wanted to teach everyone to write more powerfully…and it didn’t matter whether you were a marketer or a copywriter.
I mentioned in a previous post that someone recently bought a copy of The Brilliance Breakthrough and then bought three extra workbooks, not for his copywriting team, but for his kids.
This book is full of communication universals for all of us to follow.
Then there is Breakthrough Advertising,which is the “advanced text”…and as you know, it goes much further than just being a road map to talking and writing more powerfully.
Those of you who have it—and there are now almost 2,000 of you who have bought the Titans edition and thousands more who owned a previous edition—know that it is as much about human behavior as it is about copywriting and marketing.
The early draft that I wrote for the foreword to the new edition of The Brilliance Breakthrough is pasted in below so you can see how I was thinking about bringing this book back to life and as a sort of companion to Breakthrough Advertising.
And it will at least give you a flavor of what it is all about and how important it is even if you can’t afford to buy a copy yet.
You will also read more below about how “lost” it really was–and I think you will enjoy the story.
And if you would like to order one (with a workbook), please go to:
www.TheBrillianceBreakthrough.
Feel free to forward this blog post to your own online family if applicable…and on social media…so we can tell many more folks that this book is now readily available. It’s been a long time coming.
And please listen to David Garfinkel’s podcast whether you order the book or not and share it too.
I know you will find it very valuable.
Back to “grammar is overrated.”
I received a few angry emails the first time I published this from some linguists and purists of “grammatical correctness.”
So be it.
But when you read The Brilliance Breakthrough you will see that Gene is not giving everyone permission to mangle the language.
Rather, what Gene is teaching is that starting with perfect grammar is not the most important consideration when you write or oversee any promotional copy.
And of course it is not a justification for all of the bad grammar I’ve used in my weekly blogs in the past either (even today)!
I maintain, however, that all of my bad grammar was (and is) justified and in context.
That’s my story and I am sticking to it.
Thanks Gene.
If you have been part of my online family for a while, you know I have written a lot about Gene Schwartz in the past…he was a true Renaissance Man in our industry and I even profiled him with five other legends of advertising in my book, The Advertising Solution.
As a friend and mentor, Gene was so influential in my life and in the lives of countless others.
His wife Barbara cannot believe the appetite for his work today, among so many young writers, marketers and entrepreneurs…much than when he was alive.
And I take being the shepherd of his books very seriously.
As I mentioned above, to give you lots more color about this book, I pasted in below the foreword for this new edition ofThe Brilliance Breakthrough in addition to sharing David’s podcast with you too.
The foreword will give you a sneak peek into this lost classic…why it is so important…and also why I thought it was critical, with my publishing partner Jim DiCola, (more about him below) to create the accompanying workbook which was Jim’s idea.
There are exercises Gene created inside the book and having the workbook will make it easier to complete them without writing in this sacred text…
I have books and workbooks in inventory…and they are ready to ship today. Just click here.
I appreciate your continued enthusiasm and support for all I am up to…sharing classics like The Brilliance Breakthrough is a big part of my mission and thank you for being on this journey with me.
Appreciatively,
Brian
Foreword to the Titans Marketing editionof The Brilliance Breakthrough: How To Talk And Write So That People Will Never Forget You :
This masterpiece you now hold in your hands, which has been a lost classic from almost the day Gene Schwartz wrote it, might be the most influential book you will ever read assuming you plan on communicating with other human beings in the future.
It is for me…and it has taught me more about communicating verbally and through the written word than anything I learned in my four years of college as an English major.
Back story on that: When I returned home from my sophomore year of college and told my parents I would be majoring in English, I came dangerously close to being cut off from my “college funding”; and even worse, I thought my parents would kick me out of the house.
But things worked out (or so I thought).
I was able to graduate with a degree in English and I believed that by sticking to my guns and not changing my major (and convincing my parents I would use my English degree for good rather than evil), I learned how to read and write and I was destined for greatness.
But everything changed when I got to know (and learn from) Gene Schwartz just a few years after graduating from college.
This book will forever change the way you think, and have been taught, about expressing yourself and your ideas.
It’s the next best thing to having Gene Schwartz as your personal copywriting coach.
From the outset, Gene makes it perfectly clear what you need to know about this book with the opening sentence of Chapter 1:
“The first thing you have to do with this book is forget everything you were ever taught about grammar!”
Gene’s thesis (and subtitle of the book) of teaching us, “How To Talk And Write So That People Will Never Forget You” has less to do with grammar and “proper English” and more to do with choosing the perfect words to make up the sentences we speak and write for maximum impact.
And yes, this is a marketing book at its core so “maximum impact” means “maximum sales.”
One more thing: Please don’t tell my English professors from college that grammar is no longer relevant to me…they might just take back my diploma…although I think I prefer the “graduate degree” I received from Gene rather than the undergraduate degree those professors gave me…
Why have I been obsessed about bringing The Brilliance Breakthrough back to life?
I think the main reason is that everyone practicing copywriting or marketing today needs as much Gene Schwartz in their life as possible.
I believe he might be the most important figure in the history of advertising when it comes to the merging of human behavior with copywriting and marketing.
And since I like to say, “marketing isn’t everything, it’s the only thing” (in the context of how to get your mission or vision out to as many people as possible and as powerfully as possible), learning how to write like Gene (which you will from this book) is your ticket to creating the most powerful messaging possible.
As Gene says at the conclusion of chapter three:
“…from words, you have generated images. And now from these images you will generate sentences. And from these sentences you will then generate entire discourses. Stories, reports, instructions, poems…a universe of shared emotions and thoughts.”
Despite the fact that Gene never wrote anything for an online promotion, what he is talking about here—and throughout the book—applies to all media and forms of communication: Sales letters, space ads, email, video scripts etc.—any written communication that has as its main purpose to get the reader to respond…and buy.
Online or offline.
I think you will also be struck by how simple Gene’s writing approach seems to be and his willingness to peel back the curtain on that approach…word by word, sentence by sentence.
The exercises at the end of each chapter—almost like “Mad Libs” for copywriting (but way more productive and with “correct answers” in the book!)—will guide you through a process that will make you a better writer. Guaranteed.
Also, please follow Gene’s instructions on how to use this book best.
He emphasizes the importance of applying the lessons from each chapter immediately. So if you can, please attack the book as Gene recommends…you won’t be disappointed.
And since I was always taught to never write inside the pages of a book (until I got to college!)—especially one as valuable as this one—I wanted to make it as easy as possible for you to apply Gene’s techniques.
That’s why I created the accompanying workbook which includes all of the exercises which appear at the end of each chapter.
The workbook will also make it easier to toggle between the book and the exercises in the workbook.
These exercises will enable you to write in ways you never thought possible.
I firmly believe that when we are working inside our passion—when our work is truly our play—you can become the best copywriter for your business.
That’s not to say that if you ever have an opportunity to hire a copywriter of Gene Schwartz’s caliber you shouldn’t jump at that opportunity—but most of us will not be given that opportunity in our lifetime.
However, this book, and the process Gene lays out for us step-by-step, is the best way for you to bring out what is inside of you…enable you to write incredibly powerful copy…with the possibility of needing only a proofreader when you are done.
And remember…the proofreading will have little to do with proper grammar…
So that’s why this book needs to be brought back to life…and it is no accident why the price of used copies of this book have been offered online for as much as $8,000…and as of this printing, the cheapest used copy I’ve seen is around $4,000.
Only a select few have been able to applyThe Brilliance Breakthrough…until now.
What makes this book different from Gene’s other masterpiece, Breakthrough Advertising?
In a perfect world, I would have preferred re-publishing The Brilliance Breakthroughbefore Breakthrough Advertising since this book, while not a primer for copywriters, is not nearly as dense as Breakthrough Advertising–and it is immediately usable and practical to many more people.
I think if you read The Brilliance Breakthrough first, you will get more hands-on training before diving into what is clearly Gene’s “advanced course” (i.e. Breakthrough Advertising).
But no biggie if you have already readBreakthrough Advertising and you are now beginning to read this treasure.
I would highly recommend, however, that you re-read Breakthrough Advertising after you have been through The Brilliance Breakthrough.
The fact is that neither of these books can be read just once to garner their full impact anyway.
In short, The Brilliance Breakthrough is all about execution on the theories Gene Schwartz penned as copywriting rules of thumb (and universals about human behavior) in Breakthrough Advertising.
You need both of these books in your library…they complement each other beautifully…and this is the first time in decades that both are easily accessible to all generations of marketers and copywriters.
How lucky are you to have easy access to The Brilliance Breakthrough?
Well…luckier than when I was a lad…
The stories I have heard over the years about smuggling copies of this book out of libraries are legendary.
Publisher and direct marketing historian (and my partner in getting this new edition printed), Jim DiCola, told me this story:
I went to my library [many years ago] and requested an interlibrary loan. After checking across the country, the only copy they could find was from the Library of Congress.
A month later the book showed up at my local branch.
However they had strict instructions that they would not let the book leave the library due to restrictions from the Library of Congress and that it was only on loan for a short period of time.
So every Saturday morning (and some weekday evenings) I would trek a mile to my local library, go to the front desk and request the book, and then a staff member would have to personally go to some secure part of some back room and bring me the book to read on the premises only.
And as the due date approached for when they had to return the book to the Library of Congress, I had been successful in my secret mission to photocopy the entire book, one chapter at a time over many months, unbeknownst to them.
And Brian, I will not tell you where this library is located…ever!
They will take away my library card for sure if they find out!
Of course I asked Jim if I could make the story richer by saying he walked 12 miles each way to the library, in the snow, and barefoot as well…however, what he told me above was the best he could do…
But you get the idea.
I’ve heard other stories from folks who had to leave significant “collateral” at the front desk at their library in order to read The Brilliance Breakthrough on site.
I was frantically looking for someone who might have forfeited their Rolex to sneak out of a library with the book…hey $4,000 could buy a pretty nice watch, right?
Sadly, I couldn’t get that story and decided not to make one up.
But the good news is that the book is no longer rare.
And congratulations that you now own a copy.
Are you ready to become your own best copywriter?
I want to thank Gene for being such an incredible mentor to me and so many others during his lifetime.
And I also want to thank his wonderful wife, Barbara Schwartz, for being so generous with Gene while he was with us…and to this day.
Her generosity is the main reason this book is now available to you.
When I approached her about re-publishing this book, she only had one copy of the original text herself…which I have not let out of my sight while using it to print this new version.
Yes…I did a little photocopying myself…
And I made a very cool discovery which was clearly a message from Gene to me (and to you): There were a couple of notes from Gene inside Barbara’s only copy with changes he wanted to make to some of the chapter titles should the book ever be reprinted.
Of course all of those changes have been incorporated into this edition.
And seeing those notes made it abundantly clear that Gene also wants to be part of getting this book back into circulation…and to share his wisdom with all of you.
Like Barbara, Gene was very generous too…and I am so gratified seeing the appetite for Gene’s work today, even among the youngest copywriters and marketers…but I am also not surprised.
And this book in particular, while on the surface looks like it is targeted at copywriters and marketers, is really for anyone who desires to speak or write more clearly.
I know of quite a few people who want to give it to their children…one friend is buying a copy for his 11 year old son.
I also know Gene is also smiling down on all of us, seeing the impact his work has had on multiple generations already…and also how much more impact he will be making on generations into the future.
It’s obvious that Gene practiced what he preached:
He knew better than anyone how to talk and write so that people will never forget him.
Brian Kurtz
May 2017