NL/NL review sparks copywriter's memories of newsletter launch success story.

The Oct. 15 issue of The Newsletter on Newsletters reviewed a book on tax deductions for small businesses and the self-employed.

The review reminded me of one of my favorite newsletter successes: Tax Angles, a financial advisory that targeted the same audience.

The first DM package for Tax Angles dropped in the fall of 1977--exactly 22 years ago. Publisher Robert D. Kephart and founding editor and CPA Vernon K. Jacobs premised the product on a frequent complaint they had identified, which they dubbed "the businessman's lament":

"I have two lawyers and an accountant. Still, I can't seem to get any new tax-cutting ideas. I keep asking them to show me ways to cut my tax bill. But all I get is sympathy and routine paperwork."

That analysis of the prospect's needs and motivations served as my copy platform. I wrote an envelope teaser with this dramatic challenge: "Counting on your tax advisor to help you cut your taxes? If so, you're making the most expensive mistake of your life! Found out why--inside."

The sales letter did indeed explain why: tax professionals are busy; their recommendations are usually cautious and conservative; they don't know your business and personal concerns as intimately as you do, nor do they care about them as deeply.

All of which means: "You can't sit back and wait for your accountant or tax lawyer to track down the strategies and loopholes for you and tell you about them. You've got to keep yourself informed.... When you find something promising, take it to your advisor and say, 'Look at this. Can we apply it to my situation?"'

Common sense? Sure. But two decades ago, this chain of reasoning was far from self-evident. Some brilliant thinking--mostly Bob Kephart's--went into the editorial and promotional planning for Tax Angles. (NL/NL's book review quotes excerpts from the Introduction that echo many of the points above.)

Back to the sales letter. Having established the problem, the copy positioned Tax Angles as the perfect solution. For a nonprofessional, keeping up with complex and rapidly changing tax laws and regulations would be difficult and time-consuming. But there's a systematic monthly resource that's authoritative, up-to-the-minute, fast-reading, and written in plain English. A long list of bulleted examples of tax-cutting techniques followed.

Tax Angles was an instant success. The launch test mailed to 20 lists and pulled an average 1.27% paid response, recovering 168% of promotion costs. We rolled out a few months later to 69 lists, this time pulling 1.01%, with 147% of costs recovered.

Tax Angles swept the 1978 Newsletter Clearinghouse Awards competition, winning both for the newsletter and for the promotion package. Not surprisingly, the publication inspired imitators--some of whom duplicated our DM copy almost verbatim.

Sidebar: When Bob acquired the newsletter, it was called Tax Tricks and Techniques. I suggested the name Tax Angles. That choice, everyone agreed, was shorter and snappier as well as a bit edgy--subtly implying greater creativity and aggressiveness in tax matters than, say, H&R Block.

Tax Angles was subsequently sold and passed through a succession of owners. Renewing the subscribers proved to be tough, and I suspect that the market was hurt by the Reagan tax reforms of the mid-eighties, which created a perception that no more loopholes were left to exploit.

But Tax Angles had a good run while it lasted. When DM legend Bob Stone wrote a long article about the newsletter in Advertising Age, he called it "the classic direct marketing story."

Don Hauptman is a copywriter and creative consultant,