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106 The Seven Lost Secrets of Success

first name or we don’t know what’s going to actually
pull them into it. But if we know their first name, we can
say “Dear Joe” or “Dear Craig” or “Dear Pat” or who-
ever it happens to be. We don’t need the headline. The
person’s name alone is going to be so powerful that they
will at least begin the letter.

Another thing that’s going on here is that this letter
came from Bruce Barton, who, as I’ve already said, was
pretty well known and probably everybody who got
this letter knew him personally or knew of him. So, that
was the second reason they would begin the letter—and
remember, only begin the letter. And it’s also the reason
why they might not need a headline.

So, again it’s coming from Bruce Barton. If it’s com-
ing from somebody that they already know, the
headline may not be necessary, and if they are using
their first name—in other words, making the letter very
personal—you may not need the headline. So in this
case, it’s a personal letter from a well-known person. No
headline is needed.

Craig: I think another thing that’s really great about
this and a disarming quality of not having a headline
is that it immediately takes it out of the realm of the
sales letter. And if you look at what he does with it later,
I think that’s an inherent part of his approach here; that
if he had started out with “How to do anything,” “Do
it now,” or “Read this,” it would have had an entirely
different setup to the letter, but, I think, it would have
had an undesirable effect given what he did later on.

So, I can’t read his mind, of course, but I think it’s a
perfect way to set up; this is a personal letter from me
to you, and that immediately will grant me a higher
response than if it’s just an ad.