One of the founding fathers of modern-day marketing, and more specifically advertising, is Claude C. Hopkins who first published “Scientific Advertising” back in 1923.
It’s an amazing read which I highly suggest to everyone who even remotely comes close to advertising anything, no matter what, why, or how.
In fact, I’d argue you should read it multiple times in a row. That’s what I’m doing right now, in fact—I’m currently on my god-knows-how-many read-through and I keep learning new stuff.
You can read the entire thing in one sitting if you’d like.
And yes, I know what you’re thinking “But Alex, that book is from 1923, surely that’s outdated and there are better books for me to read right now?”.
I thought so too at first.
But boy how wrong I was.
See, advertising and marketing at their core are psychological disciplines. It’s essentially salesmanship in print as Hopkins described it in his book. And if there’s anything to know about sales & psychology, it’s that people’s psyche doesn’t change. If something used to be true back in Ancient Rome, then chances are it still holds true today.
Sure the medium changes, and maybe even certain ideas, beliefs, and cultural ideals. But the underlying principles everything is based on don’t.
Another fact to consider is that the best way to stand out is to “be different”.
So modern books, teachings, and people who want to “compete” with such old-school legends and more-than-holy scriptures on the art of advertising, by definition, have to do things differently or else they won’t even stand a chance in competing.
But what happens when people want to compete with a near-perfect book (in this case at least)?
That’s right…
You end up with something slightly worse at best and completely and utter bollocks at worst.
That’s the case for every piece of information in every market targeted to every demographic and applied to every medium there is. No exceptions.
Something to think about.
Anyway, I’m not saying I’ve got knowledge anywhere near to the level of that of Hopkins. But I always focus on only taking in the best, most-trustworthy, and effective information from the old-school myths, legends, and pioneers.
Take for example Email Valhalla, my flagship course which teaches you all about writing emails that get you sales, no matter what market you’re in or what you’re selling, and keeps readers reading day after day.
There’s nothing truly new in the course.
No shiny bells or whistles.
But it is one of the only (I only know a handful of others) courses that brings everything from the top dogs who knew what they were doing together and teaches it in a modern jacket and a teaching style that’s uniquely mine and mine alone (that means no-nonsense, no bullshit, no time-wasting, and ultimately memorable and effective).
If that tickles your fancy, then check out Email Valhalla here: https://alexvandromme.com/valhalla