Mel Martin — the Deadliest Bullet Copywriter (Space Ad #14: "Practical Golf")

Never heard of Mel Martin?

Join the club.

Countless direct response marketers and copywriters — some with a very high level of attainment — greet his name with a blank stare.

After Gene Schwartz helped Marty Edelston lay the foundation for Boardroom, it was Mel Martin's copywriting fascinations that turned it into a $100 million a year operation.

He was so critical to Boardroom's success, his name was kept a secret for fear he'd be snatched up by another company.

But ten years before Mel Martin wrote a line of copy for Boardroom, he pioneered a new and far more lethal brand of bullet called a "fascination."

Even today, most copywriting bullets are rubber on impact. The intended target glances over them and returns to business unfazed.

And prior to Mel Martin, the best bullets were just typographical symbols wedged next to a benefit. One exception was Victor Schwab's bullets. They were killer. (I'll allow myself use of that wretched word just this once.)

If you were a prospect for a product Mel Martin wrote the copy for…you were toast. Martin was like a 1930's gangster with tommy gun in hand leaning out a car window and riddling your curiosity with bullets.

• Want to learn the secret to writing bullets that automatically draw friends, power, love, money far beyond your fondest dreams into your life OVERNIGHT? See page 294.

Kidding. Just click this link for one of Mel's powerhouse ads.