Did Gary Halbert Consider Himself The Best Copywriter?

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It is undeniable that Gary Halbert was one of the greatest copywriters of all time and an inspiration to a great many. Not taking anything away from that, I must ask however, why is Gary Halbert considered to be THE greatest copywriter of all time when at least three different times he himself said that there were copywriters better than him?

(1) He said that Claude Hopkins was the greatest ad man who ever lived. The Gary Halbert Letter

(2) Concerning the other Gary - Gary Bencivenga he said, "Many people think Gary Bencivenga is the best copywriter on earth. And, believe it or not, it's hard for even me to dispute that." Gary Halbert, The Gary Halbert Letter (12/29/93 issue, page 7) Marketing Bullets

(3) Concerning Michel Fortin he said As far as Michael Fortin goes, I have to grudgingly admit he is hands-down the best sales letter writer on the entire Internet. The Gary Halbert Letter

Yes, there were times he said he himself was the best and other times when he reluctantly but graciously pointed in another direction. A couple of others are touted as the best too besides those Gary Halbert mentioned. What do you think?
#copywriting #best copywriter #copywriter #gary #greatest copywriter #halbert
  • Among those four guys it's a fool's errand trying to
    make the case that any is better than the others.
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  • Most top copywriters, like most top sales people, have a certain amount of "big ego." I would imagine that right after Gary got the results from a wining control piece, he may have temporarily thought of himself as "the greatest?" (I know I've been guilty of such ego based thoughts, on occasion)

    But once the high wears off, then we all must come back down to earth. At that point he likely remembered that he's "among the greatest" copywriters, but surely not the only one.

    A lot of it also has to do with what style of copy you are looking at.

    For example: Eugene Schwartz was brilliant (probably one of the best ever) at writing sales letters to sell books. But I'm not sure he could ever compete with the likes of Perry Marshall when it comes to creating Google adword campaigns.

    And who among us could compete against John Carlton, when it comes to selling golf equipment?

    Basically, I agree with @Tsnyder... "it's a fool's errand trying to make the case that any one top dog is better than the others."
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    • Banned
      I agree. Maybe he's felt high at first, but he must have gone over it and went back to reality - to face that somebody is and could be better than him.
  • Doesn't matter if he did or didn't... he wasn't.
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  • Profile picture of the author Fras
    You are always best copy writer. When you note others action in deep way.
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  • Thanks for the comments and insight, guys.
  • No offense but - why does it matter?
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    • It doesn't really matter. I think the OP was just tryin' to start a friendly little chat by asking the question.


      If only there was some magical platform where people could exchange ideas, and even ask rhetorical questions just to stimulate creative thought. How wonderful would that be?

      We could even give the platform a pithy, or catchy name. (Oh, I dunno... maybe call it sumthin' like... "a forum?")
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  • Maybe I'm just the party pooper LOL. I don't understand the point of trying to guess what someone who's deceased may or may not have thought of himself.

    I'm much more interested in what living people (preferably prospects) think.
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    • [3] replies
    • Yep, dead people have no ability to give you money.

      What prospects and buyers think of us,
      now that's where the fun and money is.

      Best,
      Ewen
    • In that case, know that there's no better copywriter in my entire house than me, living, dead or invisible.

      But, if we left my house alone, I'd like to know who people on this forum think is the best (living or dead) copywriter and why.

      Because I can't make up my mind. I read/see/hear an ad/book by one great copywriter and he/she is the best till I read/see/hear another copywriter's words.


      [QUOTE=angiecolee;11020109

      I'm much more interested in what living people (preferably prospects) think.[/QUOTE]
    • "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy."

      Sometimes it's just fun to engage in a little idle speculation. No harm, no foul.
  • Banned
    Gary Halbert was a Genius at Copywriting, no doubt. I really love the following headline:

    Wife Of Famous Movie Star Swears
    Under Oath Her New Perfume Does Not
    Contain An Illegal Sexual Stimulant

    You can read more about Gary's adventure in creaing that amazing Ad here:

    The Gary Halbert Letter

    Jonathan
  • I believe Gary Halbert considered himself the greatest living copywriter at the time, and I personally believe he was right... obviously opinions differ.

    1) Claude Hopkins is the undeniable god of "reason why" advertising, and was maybe the second most influential copywriter at the Lord & Thomas agency, which is the most influential ad agency ever. I think John E. Kennedy influenced Lord & Thomas more, because he taught Albert Lasker (the "father of American advertising") the principals of reason why advertising to begin with. But Claude Hopkins took Kennedy's principals and absolutely perfected them. He is in a league of his own.

    2) Whether Gary Bencivenga or Gary Halbert is better than one or the other is pretty much impossible to say. As far as I know they played slightly different games. Gary Bencivenga made his fortune writing for the big mailers like Phillips. I think Gary Halbert did write for some of these, but he also was a crazy ass copywriter/entrepreneur hybrid who could take a list, write an ad and make a ******* fortune.

    Gary Halbert achieved the pinnacle of a copywriter- he wrote a letter that could be mailed to every name in the yellow pages profitably. Gary Bencivenga wrote some pieces that mailed over 100,000,000x. But even he didn't reach this level.

    3) Michael Fortin is a phenomenal internet copywriter, but couldn't hold a candle to Halbert in direct mail, a very different medium, which Gary Halbert basically revolutionized.
  • Statements like the one above are hero worship more than anything.

    You're not privy to the needed information on which to base a reasoned opinion.

    And then there's the other masters of Halbert's era... Jim Rutz, Mel Martin, Ted Nicholas, and Joe Sugarman... just to name a few. Did you consider their work when forming your opinion?

    Alex
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    • It's possible. I'm not too afraid of hero worship as it makes me really passionate to study his stuff.

      I'm a huge fan of those other writers, but I still feel Gary Halbert played a different game. Actually until last week I didn't consider Gary Halbert the greatest of all time and next week my opinion could change.

      I think we can definitely all agree that if someone studies Gary Halbert and does whatever they can to learn his craft and implement his principals... they can't go too far wrong.
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    Did Gary Halbert Consider Himself The Best Copywriter?

    It is undeniable that Gary Halbert was one of the greatest copywriters of all time and an inspiration to a great many. Not taking anything away from that, I must ask however, why is Gary Halbert considered to be THE greatest copywriter of all time when at least three different times he himself said that there were copywriters better than him? (1) He said that Claude Hopkins was the greatest ad man who ever lived. The Gary Halbert Letter