The ad: “Do You Have the Courage to Earn Half a Million Dollars Per Year?” (1967)
The copywriter: Eugene Schwartz, author of Breakthrough Advertising
The big idea: turn an unbelievable money claim into a question about the reader’s character
The offer: a book of money-making techniques from the “super money makers”, risk-free
The lesson: when a claim is too big to believe, ask a question that makes the reader qualify himself.
Whenever copywriters get the chance to learn from the late, great Eugene Schwartz, they usually JUMP on the opportunity!
Why?
Because even though Schwartz wrote his magnum opus – Breakthrough Advertising – in the 1960s…
He was so much ahead of everyone else, it’s not even funny.
It’s no wonder his legendary book was selling for $125 when I made this video (which is a freakin’ STEAL even at that price!)
His teachings today are as relevant as ever.
So today, we’ll explore a famous Eugene Schwartz ad that unpacks many of the things he talked about in the book.
You can also find my list of the best copywriting books here.
(This is Day 7 of my 100-Day Proven Sales Letter Breakdown Challenge. Prefer video? Here’s the full breakdown.)
Who was Eugene Schwartz?
Eugene “Gene” Schwartz was one of the OG direct response copywriters.
He wrote Breakthrough Advertising in 1966. And copywriters still argue it’s the most important book ever written on the craft.
(You have to read it several times to really get it.)
Why is it still relevant? Simple. Human psychology doesn’t change.
The culture, the technology, the setting – all different. The way we make decisions? The same.
Gene was a master at finding those psychological triggers… and pulling exactly the right strings.
Are you the “one”?
Here’s the headline:
(Want to read the full swipe – marked up with my personal notes and comments? It’s one of the 100 annotated sales letters inside my Million Dollar Copywriting Swipe Library.)
Pretty cool, right? Now think about the numbers.
Half a million dollars in 1967 is close to $5 million a year now, adjusted for inflation.
If you ran an ad saying “here’s how to make $5 million a year”, most people would say “come on… leave me alone, it’s a scam.”
So Gene didn’t SAY it. He asked a question.
By rephrasing a bold offer as a “philosophical” question, Eugene Schwartz effectively evades the natural bullshit detector that most people immediately experience after reading a headline.
The question moves attention from the claim… to the reader’s own character.
Do I have the courage? Or not?
Reverse psychology
This ad uses a lot of reverse psychology. It “flips the script” and builds desire by actively trying to DISqualify people.
The subhead says it straight:
As a result, people who are the right fit pay a lot more attention.
And you can still use this question today.
“Do you make these mistakes in English?” has been abused to death. This one hasn’t.
(I might test it in one of my own ads.)
The qualifying questionnaire
The lead reads almost like a questionnaire.
It’s meant for the kind of man who has…
First, the relentless desire to earn more money in a single year than most of his friends will earn in their entire lifetime.
Second, enough sheer raw faith in himself to believe that tomorrow he may actually take home $40,000 or $50,000 a month – once he’s been shown the techniques.
Third, the willingness to make sacrifices for “prizes beyond the imagination of the ordinary man”.
Fourth, the responsibility that comes with all of it.
Do you believe you are destined for greatness? Are you willing to make sacrifices? Do you believe you could earn $40K to $50K a month?
It paints the picture of a highly successful man accomplishing EVERYTHING in life.
The same benefits as any get-rich-quick pitch – but disguised as a self-qualification.
Simple ad. Huge big idea.
Think AIDA:
Attention – the question.
Interest – the qualifiers.
Desire – what comes next.
Action – the order coupon.
Nothing fancy. A relatively simple ad with a HUGE big idea.
The big idea and the lead do most of the heavy lifting. Get those right, and a simple structure is plenty.
“Throw out all the rules”
Then the first subhead:
Its only job?
Get you to keep reading.
Joe Sugarman‘s slippery slope again.
Then Gene teases the unique mechanism… without giving it away.
The almost completely unknown techniques of the “super money makers” – the men who take home $500,000… or $1 million… or $5 million a year.
Written by America’s most famous financier, the book reveals the secret techniques of men who take up to $5 million a year!
That’s crazy!
Insider tips at the disposal of an ordinary man!
(Why listen to your uncle Joe and his business idea of the week, when you can learn from people with the track record?)
Killing the big objection
After the promises, one wonders: are these privileges only for the rich?
Eugene answers it before you can ask:
Is this a dream? Seriously, what could be better?
Then a short section building up the expert behind the book.
His education. His qualifications. His media appearances. For this reader, credentials matter.
Give them a look inside the product
The rest of the ad walks through the book, chapter by chapter.
Each one gets a short overview, some desire and fascinations.
Selling an information product? Give people a peek inside. Tease some answers, give away a few tidbits – but never the solution itself.
Gene even gives away real value here. You’d learn something about investing just from reading the ad.
Gary Bencivenga always said it: make the advertisement itself valuable.
Chapter 1 – insider secrets. What do the traders know that I don’t? (Today’s “copy the portfolio of top investors with one click” apps sell the same dream.)
Chapter 2 – cheap money. Loans, borrowed money, other people’s capital for your ideas.
Chapter 3 – market timing. Smart people know nobody can time the market reliably. Not Ray Dalio, not Warren Buffett. But it’s what people WANT to hear… and in the short term, it can work.
Chapter 4 – the fascinations start.
Fascinations from the ad
“The five fatal weaknesses that destroy most men who try to expand too quickly.”
A “how to avoid” bullet. Fear does the selling.
“Favorite tricks promoters use to squeeze an extra few thousand dollars from you.”
The benefit (save thousands) + curiosity (WHICH tricks?).
Then more teasers: how to add $99 of credit to every $1 of your own… how to control profit-making machinery overnight… the 13 dangerous traps and 7 warning signs to avoid in new deals.
Specific numbers everywhere. Which makes it feel real.
You’re so drawn to everything promised, you want to find out more.
That’s the beauty of brilliant copy.
Eugene Schwartz’s incredible curiosity-driven headlines
The last section of the ad does a terrific job appealing to greed.
Chapter 5 – doubling the profit from each deal.
As Gary Halbert would say, this stimulates the “greed glands”:
More fascinations
“How to buy a going business without one penny cash.”
Benefit + curiosity + the money objection, all at once.
“How to set yourself up for a lifelong annuity simply by making a phone call.”
Lifelong income from ONE phone call?
“How to turn somebody else’s must-sell business into royalty checks for you, even if you don’t invest a cent of your own.”
Somebody else’s problem… your paycheck.
With hundreds of proven strategies, one thinks: at least a few of them “should work for me”!
Chapter 6 – million-dollar tax angles. “The four golden rules for taking more after-tax dollars from any deal you make.” Plus tax-deductible pension plans.
With curiosity-driven paragraphs like these, the price doesn’t stand a chance next to the value.
And there’s so much suspense that you feel you MUST find out – or you’ll miss out.
Eugene is highly skilled at pulling the correct strings in people. The ad paints the perfect picture and builds an intense desire for the offer.
Towards the end, the reader wants to find out the secrets of the filthy rich.
The best sales letters appeal to the dream… and show it’s achievable and NOT scammy!
The crossroads close
The last subhead:
“Don’t risk disappointment – send for your copy today.”
All six fortune-building steps – including “dozens of almost completely unknown techniques that we do not have room to detail here”…
Available “through this advertisement only”… without risking a cent.
Then I love the “Crossroads Close” at the end. Simple. Short. To the point.
You can keep struggling – the not-so-smart choice. Or you can send for the book and change your life.
The choice is yours. It definitely knocks many people off the fence.
Then “It costs you nothing to prove this to yourself” – the guarantee.
And ordering instructions that made me realize how easy buying is now…
“If you wish your order sent C.O.D., check here, enclose a $1 deposit, pay postman balance.”
I don’t even know what that means anymore. 😅
Would this Eugene Schwartz ad still work today?
In a local newspaper? It could. Really.
Online, I’d change two things:
1 – Add urgency and scarcity. The default for people is to do NOTHING. Give them a real reason to act now – a limited print run, a deadline, something.
2 – A stronger close. It fizzles out a bit at the end (probably space constraints). Today’s readers need more of a push.
Gary Halbert’s advice:
Read a proven promotion every day. And find the ONE thing you’d improve.
Do that for a year, and watch your skills take off.
5 lessons to steal from Eugene Schwartz
1 – Turn an unbelievable claim into a question. “Do you have the courage…” beats “earn $500K guaranteed”.
2 – Let readers qualify themselves. Disqualifying people makes the right ones lean in.
3 – Kill the money objection early. “$200 or $1,000 is enough.”
4 – Tease the contents, chapter by chapter. Fascinations for each part – never the answer.
5 – Close at the crossroads. Show both roads. Let them pick the smart one.
That’s Day 7.
See all the proven sales letter breakdowns →
More Eugene Schwartz: the Boardroom Reports ad · “Burn Diseases Out of Your Body” · lessons from Breakthrough Advertising
More like this: David Deutsch’s “Gin-Soaked Raisins”
And if you want the “secret recipe” behind ads like this one – the persuasion pattern I kept seeing over and over during these 100 days – grab it here:
Free cheat sheet
Steal the “Secret Recipe” Behind the Most Profitable Sales Letters of All Time
The 7-part structure I kept finding in proven sales letters – plus a 26-point checklist that catches the holes in your copy before it goes live.
Send Me the Secret Recipe →-Csaba
P.S. – A lot of people have been asking about the sales letter swipes I’ve used for this 100-day challenge…
They’d love to get access not just to the swipes themselves…
…But to my detailed notes, annotations and comments on them as well.
So I put them all together in my Million Dollar Copywriting Swipe Library – 100 of the best sales letters of all time, annotated and marked up. Plus a 2,000+ page swipe vault of emails, sales pages and Facebook ads.
It’s less than a buck per annotated sales letter… and some of these bad boys are 50+ pages long!
(PRO TIP: you can even feed them into your AI tools to make them that much smarter.)
