“I’m just an ordinary guy who has been able to do extraordinary things”
-Martin (Marty) Edelston
After writing last week’s post to never forget 9/11–the tragedy of it all 25 years ago…and then a “September 11th rebirth” from 12 years ago—I only paid lip service to the reason for that rebirth (i.e. a landmark event) from 2014.
Martin “Marty” Edelston launched a company called Boardroom Reports in 1972 and created one of the greatest “direct marketing universities” of all time–and a successful company at the same time.
Imagine that. 🙂
Boardroom defined the term “learning organization”… Marty’s legacy lives on…which I want to highlight for you today.
I’m just glad I got into that university at a time when no one was checking my SAT scores.
Marty passed away in October of 2013 and was the inspiration behind what many have called the event of the (last) decade, “Titans of Direct Response.”
I talked at length last week about the event itself.
My dream was that after the event, many more people would want to follow in Marty’s footsteps and focus on creating the biggest impact possible on the world of direct response marketing.
Here’s how I have committed to that dream which is now reality:
- I’ve written these weekly blogs consistently (on Sunday mornings) for the past 12 years. (Albeit with coaching from the likes of Ryan Lee and Jeff Walker…that’s a story for another blog)
- I launched three mastermind groups for multi-channel direct response marketers since the event.
- I have released the Gene Schwartz classics Breakthrough Advertising and The Brilliance Breakthrough (along with co-authoring Breakthrough Advertising Mastery and launching the “Breakthrough Advertising Bootcamp”).
- I have created exclusive swipe files and copywriting secrets from two of the greatest of all time, Jim Rutz and Bill Jayme.
- And I’ve written two books, The Advertising Solution and Overdeliver.
Marty is the one that got me into this mess, and I have no desire to get out of it anytime soon.
I hope you feel the same way.
Today I would like to share some of Marty’s genius with you in two areas:
First, “the myth of work-life balance”; and second, the four pillars I have identified which enabled a man with limited education, an incredibly difficult childhood and very few resources or connections when he started out, to become truly extraordinary.
The Myth of Work-Life Balance
If this sounds familiar, it should…because I repeat it in these posts in different contexts at least two or three times a year so I never forget it…it’s a North Star for me and many of you…so excuse this rerun with a purpose.
One evening almost 30 years ago, when I was leaving the office very late, I walked past Marty’s office and saw him working at his desk very intensely.
It was probably 8:00 p.m.–he and I were the only people in the office–and he was playing with some direct mail copy and writing what he called “nice notes” to people he wanted to connect with–just doing his thing.
I remember saying to him that night:
“You know that expression about no one thinking they should have spent more time at the office when they are lying on their deathbed? That doesn’t apply to you, does it?”
He said that he had never heard that before and if he had, it would not have registered anyway. I’ve got the receipts on that because I was with Marty while he was on his deathbed and it did not apply to him. I’ll share that story in a future post.
He went on to say, with a wry smile, that if he dropped dead at his desk later that evening (after moving a line of copy on the cover of a promotion an inch to the right), that I would make sure the change was made the next day. 🙂
That brings me to the quote that was printed on the back of Marty’s business card–and I framed one of those cards, both sides, for the wall in my office:
“The Master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his education and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence in whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he is always doing both.
-Zen Buddhist Text
Here’s what it looks like:
I know that this idea of our work also being our play seems more like an ideal and not based in reality…but what if this was true for you?
I invite you to reprint this quote and put it on your wall (or in a place you can read it regularly).
Every day we spend above ground is a blessing…and loving “what we do” (while not differentiating between work and play) will make all the difference. It’s a lofty goal…one that is hard to achieve…but worth striving for.
The Four Pillars to Becoming Extraordinary
At 2:00 a.m. on the day of Marty’s funeral, I was sitting at my kitchen table trying to construct a fitting eulogy (through some tears).
I was grateful (and terrified) that I was given the honor of being the only non-family member to deliver a eulogy…and I wanted it to be extra special for the man who changed my life.
And the lives of millions more. (See pillar #4)
Marty would tell me often that he was just an ordinary guy who was able to do extraordinary things… he was simply “Mickey from Newark, New Jersey”, trying to do the best he could do all the time.
Excellence was his mantra.
He had stationery that read:
“Good, better, best. Never let it rest. Until the good is better and the better best.”
As I sat there in my kitchen just hours before well over a hundred people were going to pay tribute to him, I came up with four pillars of why I thought “ordinary Marty” became an extraordinary businessman, entrepreneur, marketer, editor, benefactor…the total package:
- He outworked everyone
- He had insatiable curiosity
- He always surrounded himself with people smarter than himself in areas where he lacked knowledge and/or expertise
- He focused on helping YOU first…with “saving lives” as his ultimate mission
Not a bad way to run one’s life.
On “outworking everyone”:
Marty was the guy in school everyone hated because he always won.
He spoke often about how he could “outrun the gazelles” as a member of the track team despite being slower than most of them (by working harder to make himself faster).
And he was that guy in the office early in his career who always outperformed everyone by whatever measure was relevant. While offering up his “secrets” to his fellow salesmen but sadly, out of jealousy or stubbornness, most did not take him up on that.
Their loss.
He wasn’t the fastest runner or the most successful salesman just because he was driven and super-competitive.
Yes, he certainly was both of those things.
Most importantly, he knew that outworking everyone is the ultimate expression of generosity.
Much more on this pillar (with an illustration of how beating your competition is ultimate generosity) …and more about all four pillars…are included in a video in the P.S. (something I rarely share but today is a good time to do that.
On “insatiable curiosity”:
Without curiosity, life is so boring.
And to bring it back to our world of marketing, this might be the most important trait to have in your arsenal to bring your vision into the world most powerfully.
Without insatiable curiosity you might end up only going through the motions.
The advent of AI is certainly helpful in asking good questions…but you still need curiosity to come from within you.
My good friend Paul Bigham, a terrific marketer and an even better person (a worker and player and you never know which he is doing), shared this about Marty in a blog post he wrote recently:
It begins by asking expansive questions. Marty would often remind all that the only inconsequential questions were the ones not being asked. And if history serves me right, he would add something to the effect that the questions worth asking are the ones not being asked.
Again, more details on this in the video in the P.S.
On surrounding yourself with the best people you can find:
Simply stated, and this is an oldie but a goodie…
“If you’re the smartest person in the room, you are in the wrong room.”
It is critical to surround yourself with folks who will tell you the truth, not just feed you what you want to hear, and who will never let love leave the room while they are telling you the truth (especially when the truth is painful to hear).
On “saving lives”:
Publishing large circulation newsletters and selling millions of books with the most important and lifesaving consumer and health information he could find (by outworking the competition, having insatiable curiosity and connecting with the top experts in the world) is how Marty accomplished this in a huge way.
There are countless examples of subscribers and book buyers (and people inside Marty’s inner circle) who have stories of how Marty saved their lives. I need to profile some of those in the future…since Marty did not.
We can all do this in our own way following the first three pillars above…and then working towards this fourth pillar as often as we can.
The event was extraordinary as was Marty.
Those who were involved in “Titans of Direct Response” all agreed on the importance of bringing together as many of the people as possible who Marty surrounded himself with during his lifetime…the people who made him so big and strong…and extraordinary.
And it was particularly rewarding when one direct marketing/copywriting superstar after another said they would like to speak, share and educate, on their own time and without a fee, simply to honor Marty.
Even folks who never speak publicly or had previously decided never to speak in the future.
Coming out for Marty was easy for them because he always came out for everyone else.
I am sharing this background about Marty and the “Titans” event today since so many of you are new to my online family and might not know about either one; and sharing lessons from Marty and his fellow Titans is always worthwhile, whether you have heard them before or not.
The hope is that you will be able to incorporate many of them in your own lives.
It will be worth it.
Being extraordinary matters.
I share this quote from Marty often and it bears repeating:
“You only go through life once so you might as well be the world’s best”
Warmly,
Brian
P.S. I want to share the video of my opening session at “Titans of Direct Response” …going deeper on the four pillars to becoming extraordinary based on the life and times of Marty Edelston.
Click here.
The good news: It doesn’t seem dated since the principles are timeless.
The bad news: It DOES seem dated because I am 12 years younger!
Anyway, please let me know your thoughts on these pillars…and how you are incorporating them into your “life and times’ as well. 🙂
Click here to watch “The Four Pillars to Becoming Extraordinary.”
P.P.S. In the spirit of spreading the gospel of the “Titans of Direct Response” one more week. I will repeat last week’s one-time offer…now a two-time offer (since the inventory is not quite cleared out yet) …
After the event, I put together a box of the materials we gave away at the event (exclusive swipe files, interviews, transcripts); and all the videos (first on CD’s and later on a USB), with the 9 hours of presentations from the greatest direct response marketers who have ever lived.
We sold dozens of these “boxes” at $2,000 each.
Here is the page which outlines everything that is in the box.
You can ignore the $2,000 price.
We later digitized everything we could from the box and sold even more of those packages as “Titans of Direct Response Digital” at $499 each.
Ignore that price too.
One last time: In honor of the 12th anniversary of this monumental event, if you would like one the remaining few boxes (I still have a few left and have no plans to recreate/reprint it ever again) …AND…the full digital product as well…
…YOU CAN HAVE BOTH for $395 (domestic shipping included, international shipping will be extra).
Everything from “Titans of Direct Response” is unique, timeless, still actionable…and a collector’s item too.
There is no order page…you will need to email me with your mailing address…and we will take it from there.
Put “TODR” in the subject line of your email.
https://titansofdirectresponse.com/