Three years ago, almost to the day, an event took place in Stamford, Connecticut called, “The Titans of Direct Response.”
It was a gathering of Titans, on stage and off–350 of the best direct marketers in the world.
I wanted to tell you briefly today how the event came to be and then give you, with my compliments, access to one of the most impactful presentations from the event from one of the great marketing minds of all time.
As most of you know, I spent 35+ years helping build one of the most successful direct marketing and publishing companies in history, Boardroom Inc.—with its founder (and my mentor) Marty Edelston.
I never claim to be the genius who started it…that was all him…but I considered it an honor and privilege to be the chosen “second rainmaker” of such an amazing company. We had a great run.
Marty passed away in October of 2013 and you can imagine the outpouring of love and admiration that followed from everyone in the direct marketing industry.
I recently wrote about why (and how) he achieved all he did in his amazing life in “Being extraordinary matters.”
Among all of the notes, letters and emails that came in after Marty’s passing was a one page letter in a Federal Express envelope from someone who doesn’t use email (ever) and usually only communicates via fax.
Fed Ex was for special occasions.
Those of you who know the legend of Dan Kennedy already guessed the sender of the Fed Ex.
I mentioned in last week’s post that more people source their marketing education to Dan than anyone else in our world…and receiving that one page letter about his feelings about Marty was a highlight in all of that outpouring of love and admiration.
Dan and Marty swam in different pools (but within the same “beach club” to take the metaphor one step further).
That is, despite being in very different businesses, they each knew that direct marketing principles could (and should) be applied to almost any market; and that those fundamentals are critical to understand whether you sell products or services business-to-consumer or business-to-business.
The mutual respect they had for one another always warmed my heart.
And the letter from Dan crystallized all of those feelings.
Of course I immediately faxed a response back to Dan thanking him…as quickly as I could put together a fax…and we left it there.
But as we all know, big ideas take time to percolate…and you never know when you will get one even if it’s a delayed response to something that seems so obvious after you think of it.
I was sitting in my living room on a frigid day in December of 2013 (two months after Marty’s death), and I thought about that letter from Dan…what it really meant…and I started dreaming about a tribute to Marty that would be deserving of all he did for our industry for over 50 years…and also what Marty meant to me.
I started typing a letter to Dan.
And since it was not an email (needless to say Dan doesn’t even own a smart phone!), I dreaded the fact that I would have to go out in the cold later that day to fax it to him from the local Kinkos since I did not have a fax machine in my house.
I think that caused me more stress than writing the letter!
The letter talked about his feelings about Marty…about how I marveled that two giants with completely different “fan bases” overlapped so much with their philosophies about marketing, copy and entrepreneurship…and that I wanted to create a tribute event to Marty like no other…and that I wanted him to be the first keynote speaker.
At that point, the event was just a gleam in my eye…but Dan’s return fax (before he left for time off through mid-January) was a “yes” with details to be worked out when he returned.
I then spent a day with Dan in snowy Ohio that February and we mapped out the event…and the amazing thing was that every speaker we had on our wish list said yes without hesitation:
Jay Abraham, Joe Sugarman, Ken McCarthy, Perry Marshall, Greg Renker, Fred Catona…and some of the best copywriters Boardroom ever worked with (David Deutsch, Parris Lampropoulos, Arthur Johnson, Eric Betuel). Plus my inner circle of marketing geniuses, Jim Kwik, Michael Fishman and Ryan Lee.
And when the world’s best living copywriter Gary Bencivenga contacted me and said he would “speak one more time” (after he had vowed never to speak publically again after his landmark event, “The Bencivenga 100”), we had a lineup like no other to honor Marty…truly direct marketing royalty, all connected to Marty and the building of Boardroom in some way.
To mark the three year anniversary of “The Titans of Direct Response,” an event that Dan Kennedy called “the event of the decade,” I want to give you, with my compliments, the presentation Dan opened the event with:
“The 7 Things I Include in Every Pitch I Craft”
Dan created this presentation specifically for this event and it is part of the 12 DVD set that I have since sold many copies of for as much as $2,000.
I am sending it to you today to honor Marty three years later…to honor Dan for trusting me and sending me that fax saying he would be my first speaker at Titans…and to give to you, my online family, an amazing presentation that I know will help you and your business in the present…and in the future.
Go here to watch it right now…no additional opt in and of course no charge.
Let me know the biggest lessons you receive from Dan’s brilliance and how you might apply them…and I can share some of those insights in future Sunday posts.
And you can email me…no need to fax…
Warmly,
Brian
P.S. The timing of sending you this presentation on the 3 year anniversary of Titans seemed perfect…and coincidentally, GKIC (who were terrific partners for me when I was promoting the Titans event since Dan is a key strategic partner of theirs), is re-releasing Dan Kennedy’s most referenced and quoted training, “Magnetic Marketing.” All new and updated. It’s among the most useful courses ever created for marketers.
Since I don’t do affiliate deals and I am not interested in the commissions—but I still want you to buy this program—if you buy it using this link, I will donate all commissions I receive to hurricane relief efforts in Texas and Florida.
I think “Magnetic Marketing” is a program that every marketer should have in their library—just like Breakthrough Advertising—and supporting this launch this way will hopefully encourage you to buy it.
Please click here to see what “Magnetic Marketing” is all about.
P.P.S. And please watch Dan’s presentation from Titans when you can…it contains some of the best advice on copy and offers ever delivered.