I just returned home from Arizona and it was an exhausting (but exhilarating) trip.
Besides Genius Network, which I mentioned last week, I attended another fantastic event (LaunchCon) where the most innovative online marketing techniques were on display.
Jeff Walker, who hosts LaunchCon, has created a “laboratory” with his high end mastermind group—a group that does launches (and so much more).
I am a relative lightweight in that mastermind (i.e. I’m a total student) learning what’s hot in online marketing and bringing those innovative, state-of-the-art techniques to my masterminds.
Titans Mastermind and Master Class are all about “The what and the who before the how”—and being a member of Jeff’s Platinum Plus mastermind is one (huge) way I get to learn and share those “whats” and “whos.”
And every year LaunchCon just gets better and better.
After LaunchCon I hosted my Titans Master Class with Jay Abraham, A-list copywriter Carline Anglade Cole and a host of folks from Jeff’s “marketing lab,” speaking (and sharing their wisdom)–and I promise to share more of that event with you over the following weeks and months.
Today I want to share with you a post from a year ago, “Chapter 20 of 24,” from The Lost Chapters of Overdeliver.
I only shared this onceso you may have missed it (but it is relevant for today).
Reminder: The Lost Chapters is one of 11 phenomenal bonuses (all free and worth thousands of dollars) for buying my new book at www.OverdeliverBook.com.
Please check out the offer in the P.S. asking you to over deliver for me so I can over deliver for you even more.
When I spoke at LaunchCon, the title of my presentation was:
“Copy and creative are the least important parts of your launch…until they are not.”
In it I shared the 7 attributes present in every great copywriter I have ever worked with, 3 ways you can find the right copywriter for your launch (or promotion)…and I finished up by sharing Jim Rutz’s “10 commandments of copy.”
What I realized after my talk is that in 40 years of marketing, I haven’t invented anything.
Not a bad thing—just an observation.
But I have been a messenger for many rules of thumb of direct marketing over the years, bringing ideas from the past forward through my adventures—and by sharing some things that present (and future) marketers might not know, I am providing a valuable service.
At least I think so.
And if I am on reruns with that material for some, the reminder still might enable marketers today to apply them better…or differently.
Let me know what you think.
20: A Star is Born: “12 Notes” (October 2018)
“Music is essentially 12 notes between any octave – 12 notes and the octave repeats. It’s the same story told over and over, forever. All any artist can offer this world is how they see those 12 notes. That’s it.”
-Bobby Maine (played by Sam Elliott) in “A Star is Born” (2018)
Not everyone can be Thomas Edison.
But I don’t believe you have to constantly invent new products or techniques or services to make a huge impact.
Maybe that’s my way of justifying my existence despite never inventing anything new.
However, when I think that I must be a loser because I haven’t invented anything, I also know there are many other ways to be innovative.
I realize that it’s entirely possible that the story or experience I can put on a concept, a rule of thumb or an eternal truth just might be the key for someone else to understand it better or an entry point to something important that they didn’t understand previously.
How you see it and have applied it so others can see it clearly…that is a form of innovation too.
While inventing different ways for more people to understand important things might not be as directly utilitarian as inventing the light bulb, it’s a contribution we all can make to the world–and it’s our responsibility to do it as often as we can.
Sharing our 12 notes over and over again with new stories and experiences is never repetitive to those hearing those notes for the first time.
I was fortunate to be a guest speaker at a mastermind last year hosted by marketing icon Perry Marshall.
Perry has actually invented a lot of new things over the years and he encouraged all of us to, “Invent something the world can’t live without.”
My corollary would be: “Invent a framework so others can understand something that they previously did not understand…and once they understand it, they can’t live without it.”
When I look at my new book and see a chapter on “RFM” (“Recency/Frequency/Monetary”) and another on “LTV” (“Lifetime Value”), I am well aware that I didn’t invent those concepts; but I am also well aware that there are thousands of marketers and entrepreneurs who need to know those concepts, and excuse the hyperbole, it is information they can’t live without in relation to their businesses.
I can’t tell you how many events I have attended over the years—with top marketers and/or copywriters and/or entrepreneurs who were there to expand their knowledge—yet they were missing some “basics of human behavior” (i.e. marketing) that are required for the kind of growth they all desire.
So many marketing rules of thumb are actually truths about how people respond and buy–and they haven’t changed for centuries–yet many are not taught in a book and they are certainly not taught in school.
I know about some of this stuff intimately.
I didn’t invent it–just lived it.
Either I can be the messenger for more people to understand those concepts or someone else can …and we never know if it is our story or someone else’s which will create the epiphany (and usability).
And be OK not being the messenger for everyone–but never be complacent about sharing early and often–since I guarantee you will be the messenger for someone.
A copywriter friend of mine who heard me speak about “12 notes” and the quote that opened this post told me he wished he had heard the quote earlier in his career so he didn’t have to go through the pain of figuring this out for himself.
He was recently asked to be a featured speaker on the topic of “writing faster and writing better.”
As he prepared for the talk, he said he kept thinking that he didn’t have any new inventions or revolutionary ideas to share. He learned it all from Gary Halbert, Gary Bencivenga, and so many others.
He told me that thinking about sharing under the “12 notes concept” will give him so much more confidence in the future that what he talks about is relevant despite not being “authored” by him—and his stamp will still be all over it as will his mentors or the original source inventors.
He will be a musician playing 12 notes on any given day.
He added, “From now on, I’ll keep your insights close to my heart to stop me from doubting myself.”
Funny…he said “your insights” like I invented them.
Clearly, I did not.
But I was an effective messenger of those insights.
I also hadn’t thought about all of this in the context of self-confidence before being told this—but once again, we can’t all be Edison but we can all be heroes to many with our stories.
It’s how we tell our story inside those 12 notes that makes all the difference.
My next 12 notes will be based on my two week tour in Arizona.
Everyone I have spent time with on this trip can also play 12 notes on multiple instruments too…and I promise to be a good messenger based on everything I heard and learned.
Warmly,
Brian
P.S. I don’t know if you know it or not, but my book Overdeliver came out April 9, 2019 and I had my stroke on April 10th.
Bad timing I guess.
But I’d rather be alive than have a great book launch. Easy choice.
However initial sales were OK–shortly after April 9th, I hit #1 on Amazon in Direct Marketing (I’m currently #30). Here is when I hit #1:
So I have a favor to ask you if you have a list, a significant social media presence, a podcast or any forum where you can promote my book (with the resource site that goes with it).
Can you help with my re-launch by telling your respective tribes about www.OverdeliverBook.com?
It’s a big ask on the one hand since there is no affiliate commission.
But it’s not that big an ask since the offer is one of integrity and I believe boosts your standing with your audience.
I believe it’s true over delivery when you can offer these amazing bonuses just for buying an $18 book (which is not that bad in itself).
It’s an awesome value add for your audience.
They will receive incredible swipe files, videos, interviews, books, courses and more.
If you haven’t seen it, check it out at:
It’s also a living legacy from me to all of my mentors, both living and dead, worth thousands of dollars on one hand–but priceless on the other hand.
Those of you who have followed me for a while know how special mentorship is for me—and frankly, if I had died on April 10th, I would have been grateful because I would have left this site in honor of those legends.
But since I’m still alive…
…here is what I will send you if you can “promote” for me:
- A copy of Gene Schwartz’s Breakthrough Advertising OR The Brilliance Breakthrough OR Read This or Die: The Lost Files of Jim Rutz (your choice)—a $125 to $295 value.–but priceless in some circles. I’m sure you don’t have all 3 do you?
- A signed copy of Overdeliver
- A signed copy of my first book, The Advertising Solution
Just show me some proof that you promoted www.OverdeliverBook.com, then send me your mailing address, and I will over deliver for you because you over delivered for me. 🙂