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 10^th.

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 9^th,  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:

www.OverdeliverBook.com

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 10^th, 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.

The post A different take on Edison appeared first on Brian Kurtz.

I am also so grateful to all of you who wished me well after my stroke…and those of you who kept reading these Sunday missives through my long summer heading into this resurgence in the fall.

And thanks to all of you for being a student in my online family.

My first stop last week was on the stage at the Genius Network Annual, Joe Polish’s amazing event where he gathers the most impactful 400 entrepreneurs in the world, feeds them wisdom from the most dynamic speakers he can find, and then lets them loose to contribute to each other and connect deeply.

It’s magical.

I sat on a panel on copywriting (I know—if I tell you I am “a copywriter wannabe” you’ll have my head)…but being on this panel with 4 of my heroes in this area, I was clearly “the guy who worked with all the best copywriters” and they were the “copywriters.”

It was a blast sitting with John Carlton, Craig Clemens, Parris Lampropoulos and Richard Viguerie waxing poetic about the industry we have known and loved for a combined 200 years (and that’s 200 years of cumulative wisdom, not one year’s experience for 200 years).

We discussed so many things…and for this week (since I am traveling) I will share with you once again the “7 things that were present in every great copywriter I have ever worked with” with a little editing based on what I learned being on this panel.

Success leaves clues

Copywriting is not a commodity.

That is one of the first points I made at Genius Network last week.

Although if you sit where I sit, you might think that hiring a copywriter should be as easy as putting a listing on craigslist—because I get this question showing up many times per week in my In Box:

“Do you know a good copywriter?” 

Of course the answer is “yes”…I actually know hundreds…and I’m proud to say that I had the privilege to work with some of the best ever.

(And I am not being arrogant…see #3 and #6 below).

However, just knowing great (and not-so-great) copywriters is not enough…and asking the question like there is a one-size-fits-all copywriter for any business is the worst way to begin the inquiry.

Ask a novice who has tried writing promotion copy and failed miserably if they think it’s easy.

In fact, ask some of the best copywriters who have ever lived the same thing.

Not only is it not easy, all copywriters know that the secret to success is to master a niche before presenting themselves as the solution to all assignments in all categories.

Copywriters who have been at it for any length of time also know that what they do is not a talent they learned in school.

They also know that it is not a skill they picked up by accident by simply reading some books on the subject which miraculously led them to write successful copy and then make millions in royalties.

The faster things move in the online marketing world—as media gets cheaper and the barrier to entry gets lower—the more worried I get that short term success online with mediocre creative and copy has been interpreted as “copy is not that important” and also that “finding a copywriter” is not worth an extensive search.

In certain marketing circles even though it’s clear that adding great copy (from skilled copywriters) working in conjunction with precise list selection and an irresistible offer has been game changing for so many, there still seem to be too many marketers who look at copywriting as a necessary evil, rather than a core competency (to do or to buy intelligently) that can change the trajectory of their business.

As I talked about in my short video “When 41% is a majority,” if you have the list and offer dialed in, you will probably make some money with workmanlike creative and copy.

But that is not a reason to make copy and creative the “anyhow portion” of your marketing mix.

It’s just the opposite: The biggest breakthroughs throughout my career happened when we found the right copywriter on the right project; and the new copy approach by someone who had the chops and had done it before for many others is how we got 30% lifts in response (and more).

Four years ago I began digging deeper into why copywriting was being viewed as a commodity by too many entrepreneurs and business owners for my taste…so I got my shovel out and identified the characteristics that were prevalent in every world class copywriter I had the privilege of working with in my career.

When I was asked on the Genius Network panel, “What should entrepreneurs know about hiring a good copywriter?” I wanted to go over these 7 characteristics below but I didn’t have the time so I will share those with you below.

I originally titled that first crack at this analysis, “You May Not Know It When You See It”—or how to identify if a copywriter has that “it factor” that all of the greats possessed (and possess today).

I believe that the 7 traits below are what makes the great ones great…and even though most people don’t ask me for this information (they just want a copywriter!), I send them some version of this, tell them they are asking the wrong question, and that we can have a much better discussion of their needs once they understand the complexity of what it takes to be an “A list copywriter.”

I’m hoping this post can be a guide for you to follow if you are a copywriter; and also a guide to ask the right questions when looking for a copywriter.

I also hope that I make the case that hiring this asset correctly might be one of the most important things you will ever do in business.

You’ll see that “knowing it when you see it” is a lot more than just spotting writing talent…although there is no substitute for command of the language.

Here are the 7 traits that go beyond just writing:

1. HUNGER

This is similar to one of my favorite concepts which I have shared with you before–the notion of “outworking everyone.”

It’s not only working more hours, it is also showing your dedication to your occupation.

I’m a believer in Malcolm Gladwell’s “10,000-Hour Rule,” (despite it being debunked in some circles which I discussed in “10,000 hours or 33 minutes?”).

If you are not familiar with the rule, it states that it takes 10,000 hours to achieve mastery in just about anything.

Read the post if you want another spin on it but whether it is 10,000 hours or something less than that, it’s safe to say that world class copywriters are not achieving greatness from an online course or working at it with only a few hours of study.

Another angle on “hunger” and “outworking everyone” is that it is not about stepping on everyone else’s head during your rise to the top.

It is instead about “generosity” and showing by example how it’s done–which raises the bar for everyone who comes after you.

2. INSATIABLE CURIOSITY

Readers of this weekly e-mail have heard me on this one before too…nothing replaces curiosity when it comes to being a great copywriter.

Copywriters I have profiled in the past have showed us why curiosity is the driver to making them the best of the best: Gene Schwartz through “the power of reading”; Arthur Johnson through “the power of specialization”; Parris Lampropoulos through “the power of immersion.”

If you would like to read what I wrote about these three great copywriters previously (and others too on why insatiable curiosity matters most), click on any of their names above.

This may the number one characteristic that makes a great copywriter great…and in fact, I think it also makes a great marketer great too.

3. CONFIDENCE WITHOUT ARROGANCE /FEEDBACK LOOPS

Who do you hang out with and why?

How do you stay accountable (and not just responsible) to your craft?

The communities you align with to become excellent at anything may be the most important career decision you will ever make (e.g. Genius Network) …and there is not one copywriter who “goes it alone.”

Although I always say, “you can’t write copy by committee,” the top writers run their copy past others once they complete their drafts—people they trust to tell them the truth about what works and what doesn’t—based on their vast experience.

And of course they reciprocate.

Also: Like any other field where you are learning and growing, being an apprentice to mentors who can show you the way is critical;  and then later on, you pay it forward by surrounding yourself with peers with equal or more talent than yourself.

And then you become a mentor and begin the cycle all over again.

One of the greats, David Deutsch, is a perfect example of this: When I met him he was an apprentice to the one and only Jim Rutz; and now he has become one of the top coaches for up-and-coming copywriters–and a colleague of other writers who are his equals so they can continuously compare notes…and copy.

He never stops improving.

4. PASSION

If you start by writing with a purpose rather than for the money, you are on the right track.

If you have to call it “work,” why not start by creating magic in something you are passionate about first if at all possible? Then your work is your play.

My post “Direct Marketers Saving Lives” talked about this at length.

We should want to hire copywriters who talk about “10X” in terms of impact way before they talk about money.

As a marketer, don’t you want to start there too?

Another angle on passion which I alluded to in my intro:

Going narrow to wide is almost always the better path the best copywriters follow.

That is, going deep in one area or category and becoming proficient there first is the preferred way to eventually learn to go wider and write in multiple categories later on.

I also went deep on this in “Sharks, aliens and dinosaurs.” With an assist to Steven Spielberg.

5. BEING A STUDENT OF DIRECT RESPONSE MARKETING

When I speak about this to copywriters, the feedback I sometimes get is that it seems somewhat “intimidating”- talking about concepts like “RFM,”  “LTV,” and the “40/40/20 rule” as necessary for them to know about.

They often ask, “Why do I need to know that stuff if I only want to write?”

I explain that I am I trying to give them an unfair advantage over other copywriters competing for the same assignments.

Going from “copywriter writing for food’ to “trusted adviser being part of a  company or enterprise or mission” feels so much better and will be much more profitable—and it is easier to get there being a student of marketing and not just a student of writing.

Yes, I am seeding my new book! 

All of those concepts are covered (and a whole lot more in the book and in the thousands of dollars’ worth of bonuses that come with it).

Go to www.OverdeliverBook.com (and I am wondering why you don’t have it yet!)

6. HUMILITY

I strive for humility and I love humanity…and as a writer (or marketer), I believe this is a good place for all of us to originate…and I can safely say that it has served me well when I stay true to this (and you usually call me out on this when I violate this principle).

And it is plain to see in every top gun copywriter I have ever worked with.

Confidence in your message and how you choose to teach it is not arrogance if expressed properly and conveyed powerfully.

I talked a lot about the lesson in grace and humility I learned from Gary Bencivenga and Greg Renker after “The Titans of Direct Response” event in 2014–one of the most powerful things that happened to me as a result of that event.

I wrote about that in detail here.

7. PRIDE/SHOWING YOUR WORK

Having a portfolio is always important…but I purposely put this last when I speak about these traits to copywriters so they can see the other more important attributes they should strive for well before showing all of their previous winners.

(And if you don’t have any winners yet, having numbers 1-6 can still get you hired.)

Knowing who the writer is as important as the writer’s work.

Clearly the more you write, the more lessons you will learn on the field of play–and the larger your “portfolio” will be.

But hunger, curiosity, confidence without arrogance, passion, direct marketing knowledge and humility all come before that beautiful website showing off your samples.

One more thing I want to share now that you have read this post to the end:

Look at each of the 7 traits and you will see what I discovered (hinted at earlier):

They are also prevalent in all of the best marketers you will ever meet too.

• Hunger (and generosity) to make your products the best they can  be
• Curiosity to explore all media and to study successes and failures from others (e.g. swipe files)
• Feedback loops to ensure your product is best-in-class and it is easy to differentiate
• Passion that what you are selling fits with your life’s mission
• Knowing the fundamentals of measurable (direct) marketing
• Humility to know what messaging and positioning is congruent with who you are and all you represent
• Pride that you can’t wait to show the world what you have created

Warmly,

Brian

The post The back from the dead tour appeared first on Brian Kurtz.

It’s part of The Lost Chapters of Overdeliver and I originally wrote about it a little over a year ago.

(And if you would like all of these lost chapters plus 10 other incredible bonuses–videos, PDF’s of classic books, keynote speeches, swipe files and more worth thousands of dollars and all free with a purchase of my book–go to www.OverdeliverBook.com).

This “lost chapter” is about Wilt Chamberlain, arguably one of the best basketball players of all time, a gifted and skilled player who also happened to be over 7 feet tall (affectionately called “Wilt the Stilt” by many), who struggled throughout his career shooting free throws.

For those of you not familiar with basketball, a “free throw” is a shot you take when you get “fouled” by another player and you shoot with no one trying to block your shot or trying to stop you by playing defense—it’s just you and the basket.

Chamberlain was known to make shots from all over the court, with opposing players draped all over him, with relative ease, often with a very high degree of difficulty…but when faced with a free shot from the foul line, he often shot miserably.

He tried everything to shoot free throws better including seeing a psychiatrist (and he even told a story where the psychiatrist actually shot better at the free throw line than he did). 

There’s actually film of that in this video since I needed to verify that one.

For one season, however, Chamberlain tried “shooting underhanded” (which is not the norm, it looks a little silly and it has often been called “granny-style shooting”).

However, Chamberlain had his best season shooting foul shots this way although it caused him to remark that shooting this way made him “look like a sissy.”

He abandoned the practice despite the improvements.

Now let’s look at Rick Barry, also a hall-of-fame player like Chamberlain, who only cared about scoring more points at the free throw line and looking like a sissy didn’t seem to be a factor.

I found this on The Google:

[Barry] maintained a 90% free-throw accuracy throughout his career, which was the best in NBA history back in 1980. During the 1978–79 season, Barry only missed nine (9) free-throws out of 169. 

And he did it by throwing granny-style.

As strange as it looks, granny-style, or underhanded, shooting has actually proven to be a very accurate free-throw style. Nevertheless, players rarely resort to it. 

Rick Barry famously helped Wilt Chamberlain improve his disastrous free-throw record during the 1961–62 season with his unusual scoring style. By using the granny shot, Chamberlain sank a career-best 61% of free-throws that season, and even made 28 of 32 free throws in one game. 

But the next season, he stopped, and his free-throw record dropped accordingly. According to Malcolm Gladwell, he later admitted that he “felt like a sissy” when shooting underhand.

One of the lessons from this story is obvious:

You can do amazing things if you don’t care about what others think. 

But I would like to go a little deeper and add a marketing lesson which I talk about often–what I call “congruent marketing,” which takes into account what others think…but through a different lens.

And while this example sort of contradicts my principle on the surface (i.e. to Wilt the Stilt, shooting this way was not “congruent” with how he saw himself on the court), I will make the case that “shooting like a sissy” was completely congruent for him (if he thought about it like a marketer).

And for the record, I am not calling a guy who could step on my head and crush me a “sissy.”

The man was a warrior on and off the court all time time…relentless, passionate and ruthless.

For an athlete, those characteristics are synonymous with “winning at all costs”…so wouldn’t getting every point possible toward victory always be consistent with that premise?

Despite Chamberlain feeling that shooting underhanded was not consistent with his persona and stature, we all would probably agree that his fans, and fans of the teams he played for, would only embrace him being able to score as many points as possible any way he could get there.

Think about this as you communicate with your fans, your tribe and anyone who looks up to you for leadership, guidance and ways to win.

As long as you can always make the case for congruency and how you are presenting yourself and your vision, no one will ever question your methodology…it will be much more about results inside of being congruent.

I am not saying you shouldn’t be concerned with what others think; but being aware of what they think in the context of everything you do and everything you believe is a subtle distinction which I hope makes sense.

I have told you some cautionary tales in the past about online personalities allowing affiliates to make inappropriate offers not aligned with their values (and the expectations of their audience) only to lose subscribers and the confidence of their online family.

In those situations, the audience might ask, right before they hit the unsubscribe button:

“Why would you offer us that?”

I went through the same process throughout my career as it pertained to new product development when making a decision to “make or buy’: ”Making” a new book or newsletter was easy when using the content our audience loved us for and was used to; but “buying” someone else’s content and putting our name on it, always begged the question:

“Would our audience expect this from us (i.e. will they see it is as congruent with our brand)?”

That’s way more than “you can do amazing things if you don’t care what others think.”

Instead it’s, “You can do amazing (and many more) things if you pay very close attention to being congruent and consistent with your brand.

What your audience thinks (which will always be positive if you are consistent) will follow from that.

In marketing, you always have to care about if your audience will see the wisdom and the logic of everything you do.

I think if Chamberlain thought about this through the eyes of marketing and his brand, on the court and off, he would have seen that shooting free throws underhand would have made him anything but a sissy.

How something really makes you look has more dimensions than what is in your head and what the outward appearance looks like.

Always think about the ultimate goal and why people want to follow you in the first place.

Transparency and congruency always make you look good…and it’s a prescription for a richer life with everyone you interact with.

And you will score more points this way too.

Warmly,

Brian

P.S.  Breakthrough Advertising,Gene Schwartz’s timeless classic and a must-own book for anyone who markets anything, is in stock and ready for shipping.

If you don’t own this book, I encourage you to order today at:

www.BreakthroughAdvertisingBook.com

We’ll get one out to you immediately.

The post Don’t be a sissy appeared first on Brian Kurtz.

Jay Abraham says that it is our “moral obligation to teach it” for a little more emphasis.

This plaque above is the #1 slide of a list of 22 Ways to Overdeliver in business and marketing—a presentation I am giving at Growth Summit later this week in Denver. I hope to see many of you there. 

(This event is the new “Info Summit,” formerly under GKIC and now under Magnetic Marketing).

This quote is #1 because it is the most important element of over delivery (the way I define it)—and it was on full display at the Titans Mastermind meeting last month from four of our members who did “Titan Spotlights,” sharing successes from their respective careers.

Today I’d like to give you a glimpse of one of those presentations…with the other three to follow in the coming weeks and months:

This is not about dry cleaning

Dave Coyle is not just another dry cleaner from Wichita, Kansas…he is THE dry cleaner from Wichita, garnering a 70% market share  in a city of almost half a million people.

Now you would think he is able to do this based on offering the lowest price—after all, dry cleaning is a commodity and having the lowest price is the key to gaining market share with most commodities.

But he is actually one of the highest price/highest margin dry cleaning services in Wichita as well.

How does he do that?

First, he realized that in a service business like dry cleaning, if the person tasked with growing the business is the same person responsible for the operations of the business, you can’t scale.

So he freed himself up by hiring good managers and setting up fantastic systems to handle the day-to-day while he dreamed big.

Dave is a special entrepreneur who believes that everything in his business is not a revenue event but everything is a relationship event. (That would be a good quote for another plaque!)

Simply put, when customers leave you (e.g. they refund transactions) you often lose them forever; but they rarely leave you if they have a fulfilling and ongoing relationship with you that is based on trust.

That takes work however to convert all that fulfillment, relationship building and trust into revenue and profit.

He may be running dry cleaning businesses but for Dave it’s all about inclusion and meaningful connecting built into the business.

He spoke for almost an hour–but let me give you a window into this mad scientist of creating relationships—and remember, we’re talking about dry cleaning.

With acquisition, before he starts giving out free offers and “golden tickets” to anyone and everyone, he first gets prospects to raise their hand through various techniques—and then starts with the top 20% to get a profile of their fears, desires and problems.

He figured out what problems he can help solve and then came up with specific, unique benefits that are more meaningful (“what is special about his business”) than simply the products and services offered (“the commodity side of the business”).

He does some neat things in the “appreciation” stage (when they begin their relationship with him):

• A big welcome package with a gift (of course with a handwritten card or note) with compelling offers to “stick” with him (by creating a “barrier to switch” something very few commodity businesses have the creativity to do).
• An easy one for him is a personalized bag that has all the customer’s data and preferences built into the bag and the system.
• Other stick strategies include random complimentary services and special philanthropic offers.
• He told us about one philanthropic offer where he put up signs in all of his 12 stores where he offered free dry cleaning (or laundry) to anyone who had recently lost their job.
• And a similar offer to vets who had just got home or on specific holidays (Memorial Day, Veterans Day).

Even if you are not unemployed or a vet, wouldn’t you feel good if your dry cleaner were making offers like these? And as a paying customer you are contributing too.

And to keep customers for the long haul, the relationship continues past the acquisition stage and appreciation stage…when his expansion and retention strategies are all under the umbrella of “Trust.”

Most importantly, offering status and treating his best customers like VIP’s with the most exclusive offers, is built into the customer journey.

For example, his “Platinum Members” are 5% of his customer base but 40% of his revenue; and his “Gold Members” are 15% of his customers and 30% of his revenue.

That’s 70/20 (close to 80/20) but you get the idea.

This doesn’t mean you ignore the other 30% either (“Silver” and “Bronze” members)…but you have different work to do with them…and different messaging for them as well.

Dave uses handwritten notes all the time to everyone…and many other techniques that are digital and physical…but it’s never one size fits all.

That’s advanced marketing from a guy who is a student of all marketing media and claims to know little about it.

Yeah…right.

By the way, Dave’s top .5% (that’s “point 5 percent”) are his “Titanium Members” and they are spoken to and treated differently as well.

One other thing he subscribes to that is key to expansion and retention:

Treat customer service and fulfillment as marketing functions.

I’ve spoken about this many times before and it’s an entire chapter in Overdeliver.

In dry cleaning (as in any business), it’s a lot easier to keep an existing customer than to get a new one.

Dave refers to this as “Reducing Friction”:

• Gather the most common complaints and address them (and solve them) quickly
• Rough edges equals opportunities: A dissatisfied customer made whole is a satisfied customer for life
• EASY problem resolution by always making the customer right and giving them more than they ever would have expected (from “Titanium” to “Bronze” to first time customers)

Dave’s Titan Spotlight was illuminating just for the fact that we learned that even in a commodity business, which is usually differentiated by the lowest price or a “laziness to switch,” you can transform that commodity business into a specialty business if you pay close attention to everything available to you.

In fact, the best way for any business considered a commodity to “clean the clock of its competition” (pun intended), is to look everywhere for those differentiators.

The #5 slide in my Growth Summit deck on “Why and how we Overdeliver in business and marketing” simply says:

Advertising opportunities are now infinite

I know that doesn’t seem like it’s a differentiator in itself…but it’s one of the many small hinges that open big doors…you have to know what those are…whether it’s your neighborhood dry cleaner or a state-of-the-art online marketer.

The brick and mortar or physical product businesses need digital solutions and the digital-only businesses need physical solutions—all of which create unique offerings in a world of the same.

Warmly,

Brian

P.S. I mentioned Jason Garber at the beginning of this post, the wonderful artist who has carved plaques like the one at the top (and he sent me four smaller versions of it too which I have distributed to other teachers who “did it”).

Here are two others he carved for me (and I never asked him to do any of these):

I thought “why are you doing this for me?”—and I want to share with you the heart of this artist who is also a friend.

When I emailed him a thank you for the plaques, he responded:

You see, I am always teaching people. 

I have 7 kids and home-school them all.  We were talking about quantum tunneling, hawking radiation, black holes, and the 15 different kinds of ice over lunch today. 

Earlier today I was explaining the current draw/dump on 240/120 panel to a friend.  Last night I was teaching my daughter how to safely work around the table saw and band saw. 

And a couple days ago my son and I were engineering a balcony in such a way it didn’t need support posts, and calculating the tensile strength and diameter of the steel rods needed to make it safe.

To sum it all up, the phrase on the plaques meant a lot to me when I read it on your blog. 

I kept a couple of the little ones for myself.

My request of you today:

If you are learning it, doing it, or did it, please teach it too.

BK

The post If you did it, teach it appeared first on Brian Kurtz.

Paul Hartunian, like Gene Schwartz (and precious few others in the world of direct response) is a “Renaissance Man” of marketing…because he is so much more than just a marketer.

Sure he developed the quintessential program on publicity…and he also taught thousands how to sell on eBay (out of their RV or from anywhere) before eBay was part of our marketing nomenclature.

But he also has…

• …taught medical school
• …appeared in many Broadway shows
• …attended law school specifically to get involved in The Innocence Project
• … become a roller derby referee (in his spare time)
• And he currently runs “Aunt Mary’s Doghouse” which supports overcrowding in shelters by housing unwanted dogs on a farm and then placing hundreds of dogs who are at risk.

However, at his core, Paul is a marketer…and at Titans Mastermind a few weeks ago, he decided to make his final presentation after 55 years in the marketing world.

Lucky us!

He spoke about How To Create a Powerful, Profitable Talk in 4 Easy Steps (see the P.S. for a free PDF of that)—and of course he talked about Publicity (that gets response and leads to profit)–and also how he still runs a six-figure business on eBay for less than an hour a day.

There was even a lesson on how he still loves direct mail, uses it regularly and successfully, further dispelling the notion that it is far from dead.

Having this final presentation in the Titans Mastermind portal will be a prized video–and I may make it available at some point to folks who join Titans Xcelerator (my new virtual mastermind which I will be announcing in the next month or so at a charter rate of $1,500 a year). Stay tuned.

I met Paul in January of 2000 at an event called the “Billion Dollar Internet Strategy Setting Summit and Custom Marketing Makeover Process”.

Quite a title and claim…but it wasn’t hype.

The information that was shared and adapted from that event has exceeded a billion dollars a few times over already.

It was hosted by the late Audri and Jim Lanford, marketing superstars I wrote about in, What are your non-negotiables.Their loss was way too premature but they left us a lot from that event and with their pioneering work.

And Jay Abraham, who wrote the foreword to Overdeliver, was a host too, and is still rocking and rolling in marketing circles and he will be a guest speaker at Titans Master Class in November.

The “Billion Dollar Summit” was also the first big event in the new millennium and it was clear proof that the world didn’t end on January 1, 2000…and more importantly that this “Internet thing” was worth taking a closer look at.

Paul was my favorite speaker at that event and I made it my business to meet him which was the beginning of an almost 20 year friendship…that eventually led to his “farewell to marketing presentation” at Titans Mastermind last month.

There were many web pioneers speaking at the “Billion Dollar Summit” over 4+ days.

Whether you have heard of these people or not, I dare say that you owe them a debt of gratitude for many of the techniques you employ today. Speakers included:

Andy Bourland, Dana Blankenhorn, Declan Dunn, Ken Evoy, Rob Frankel, Cliff Kurtzman, Jakob Nielsen, Eva Rosenberg, Corey Rudl, Jim Sterne, Ralph Wilson.

Not household names as much today but Google some of them (and not just for a stroll down memory lane). You may have to dig a little to get to the right person…add “marketing” after their name or you will, for example, get an English soccer player for “Declan Dunn”.

Paul did two sessions at that event…one was on how to make a living on eBay.

The other session was how he really sold The Brooklyn Bridge–and the story is nothing like the many scam artists selling to gullible tourists with the line, “Boy do I have a bridge to sell you.”

I want to tell you this story to illustrate how a world class marketer’s mind works…how yours can work like this too…when you believe ideas are everywhere if you are mindful and paying attention all the time.

In 1983, when The Brooklyn Bridge was celebrating its 100^th anniversary, Paul was watching TV and saw a report on the news that the walkway of the bridge was being torn up and being replaced.

He also noticed piles of discarded wood being placed next to a truck that had a readable phone number on it–so he dialed the number and asked a million dollar question:

“What are you planning on doing with that wood?”

The response was that it was being discarded…to which Paul told them he would give them $500 for all of it.

The guys with the wood were so happy…they even offered to deliver it to him…and I guarantee that Paul was happier, and not just because they delivered it.

That wooden walkway is the gift that keeps on giving.

Paul cut the wood up into small 1 inch squares, attached them to collectible certificates designating that these were pieces of the original bridge, and he has sold, and is still selling, thousands of them.

In addition, Paul used his publicity skills to get on shows like To Tell The Truth and to have his “Man Sells the Brooklyn Bridge” press release read on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.

You can’t pay for that kind of exposure…and Paul didn’t but got it.

Then, 25 years later, he celebrated the “25^th Anniversary of the Sale of The Brooklyn Bridge” (an event he created!) by issuing a limited number of these:

Paul admits that he’s had many terrible ideas…but he also believes that it only takes one good one to make up for all the terrible ones.

This was clearly one of the good ones…and he’s had many more than just this one.

Selling the Brooklyn Bridge one square inch at a time, like so many other “good ones,” happened because he is always paying attention.

In the words of Gene Schwartz, when he defined Mass Desire:

It is the public spread of a private want

One day in 1983 did people get up in the morning and say, “I want to buy the Brooklyn Bridge?”

Doubtful.

But once you know there may be an element of mass desire in the marketplace, you must then go to the State of Awareness of prospective buyers (i.e. the way buying the Brooklyn Bridge would satisfy that desire).

And then determine a State of Sophistication (i.e. how many times the The Brooklyn Bridge has been offered to them before), and in this case without satisfaction.

“This time it’s for real” was a core premise of Paul’s approach to create satisfaction.

I’m only scratching the surface from the first three chapters of Breakthrough Advertising and how it applies here; but Paul knew these principles well (and a whole lot more).

Just another reason to compare him to Gene Schwartz.

More importantly than how he did what he did, Paul’s eclectic interests were part of the success formula too (much like Gene too).

He was multi-faceted, he loves the human race, and in turn, the human race loves him.

And he always had fun with all he did, and will do, in the future.

What a way to make money, find happiness and enjoy life.

 

Warmly,

 

Brian

 

P.S. How To Create a Powerful, Profitable Talk in 4 Easy Steps is a handout that Paul gave out at the Titans Mastermind and I’d like to share it with you here.

It’s got an overview of the system he uses and then the versions he created.

I hope it’s helpful to you when you prepare your next talk.

Click here for the PDF.

 

P.P.S. It may not be the “Billion Dollar Summit” from January 2000…but it is the closest thing to it that we have today.

The Genius Network Annual Event in Phoenix, Arizona November 2-4 brings together 300 of the most dynamic entrepreneurs, marketers and business leaders in the world today in one place sharing their mastery freely over 3 days.

I’ve been a member of Genius Network, Joe Polish’s one-of-a-kind mastermind, for 8 or 9 years…and this year, at the annual event, I will be on a panel with John Carlton, Parris Lampropoulos, Craig Clemens, Richard Viguerie…and I’d love to see you there.

Other speakers include Dr. Andrew Weil, Keith Cunningham, Peter Diamandis, Dave Asprey, Chris Voss and many others.

I don’t get any compensation for telling you about this event…only the satisfaction that I am recommending a place for you to learn and grow.

If you want to see if you qualify for this event, go here now.

The post I’d like to sell you The Brooklyn Bridge… appeared first on Brian Kurtz.

Today is just through lunch on Day One. 

Some of the speakers you have heard of and some you haven’t…but they were all stellar.

Plus we had “Titan Spotlights” with some of our members strutting their stuff (i.e. what makes them so special).

Election 2020: Which way will swing voters swing?

Our first speaker over dinner was Titans Mastermind member Rich Thau of Engagious, a research and dial testing company specializing in public policy, politics…and of course marketing.

Rich outlined an ambitious project he’s working on where he is visiting “swing states” and doing focus groups with voters who voted for Barack Obama in 2012 and Donald Trump in 2016.

He’s in the midst of a 21 month project which began in March 2019 and it will run through the election in November 2020.

He has traveled to such hot spots as Appleton Wisconsin, Erie Pennsylvania, Warren Michigan and Edina Minnesota—meeting with these “swing voters.”

Some initial findings:

1) These are low information voters: For example, only 3 candidates (Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren) scored above a “5” in recognition on a scale of 1 to 10.

They also don’t know much about the issues (e.g. Medicare for All and The Green New Deal)

And maybe most importantly, swing voters get most of their news from local TV stations, local websites, Facebook and national TV morning shows.

If you are like me and get your news from places like MSNBC or Fox News, you are in a significant minority (although it seems so “loud” while you are watching, doesn’t it?).

2) Most Obama-Trump voters stick with Trump right now.

3) The 2020 outcome hinges on the economy (with personality issues a lesser consideration).

Issues 4 and 5 below are important but there is nothing more critical than the economy…that never seems to change.

4) Swing voter mindset: “America First,” making Trump’s positions on trade and immigration a strength.

5) Populist trends emerging: Anti-corporate, support for student loan debt relief and increased taxes on the wealthy are also taking hold with swing voters on the other side.

What does this have to do with marketing?

Everything.

Knowing who will be in The White House after the 2020 election will change the economics of our marketing and also copy platforms and promotion strategies no matter which way it goes.

That’s why this research is so important.

Being able to predict the result as early as possible will give you an unfair advantage over your competition and possibly not require you to have “2 versions” of the same promotion for example.

But polls aren’t always correct (see 2016)…and maybe Rich’s research will yield the results we need.

And here’s another key reason why a presidential election is important to marketers (from my post Driven to Distraction) written after the 2016 election when so many marketers were wondering why “results were down in the 4^th quarter of 2016”:

Simply put, the world doesn’t stop when you launch a product or send out your next promotion…no matter how much you are changing the world. 

And I am not making light here. 

Many of you game changing entrepreneurs and inventors reading this right now don’t deserve to have your best ideas and launches ignored because of world events and things that are out of your control.

But not every distraction is out of your control. 

One such distraction could be a doozy of a presidential election. 

Not sure when that will ever happen again in our country but you never know, right? 

That last line is said with a bit of sarcasm…I have a feeling that 2020 will be even more distracting than 2016…so please make your promotion plans accordingly.

I will repeat that full post closer to the 2020 election for those of you who still need a reminder to avoid this period if you want to mail, launch or promote around it.

Outrageous Marketing

Our first speaker on Day One was marketing legend Bill Glazer…the “G” in GKIC and Dan Kennedy’s partner in that iconic company.

Bill spoke about The 8 Steps to Apply OUTRAGEOUS Multi-STEP Marketing Campaigns to Your Own OUTRAGEOUS Business…and it was…well…outrageous. And all based on his new book.

There are 49 successful campaigns in the book Outrageous and 42 more coming in Volume 2…and Bill got at least another half dozen ideas from the things that were shared at Titans Mastermind.

The 8-Steps to applying outrageous marketing:

1) Understand that everything you do to advertise and market your business can be outrageous

2) Understand that you are NOT your customer

3) Train your brain to look for ideas in “obvious” places

4) Train your brain to look for ideas in “unobvious” places

5) Study what’s working outside your industry and “swipe and deploy”

6) Everything is outrageous…including YOU

7) Outrageous advertising is fun and it lets you make your business fun too

8) Every outrageous campaign should create an emotional reaction in order to deliver an “experience”

Bill covered all of these in detail and it was a very rich presentation.

Other important things he reminded us in the context of the above:

• People need a minimum of SEVEN (7) contact points with you before they are ready to buy.
• Most businesses try to find one or two mediums they are happy with and stick to it—but outrageous campaigns are all multi-step and multi-media.
• All outrageous marketing use online and offline media.

You can see why Bill is one of my heroes. 

The 8 biggest mistakes that prevent your offer from converting on cold traffic

Titans Mastermind members Justin Goff and Stefan Georgi, both A+ copywriters and marketers, have seen the inside of 170+ different funnels in a wide variety of niches.

Rather than tell you the 8 mistakes with examples, I am going to go one better and offer you an opportunity to opt in to Justin’s highly cultivated list by clicking here.

Justin writes a daily email similar to mine (but not as long! ) and offers so much…and it’s my pleasure to enable you to subscribe.

There is no charge but you have to qualify…but knowing my online family as I do, I think he’ll let you in.

OK…I’ll give you a “tease” of one of the 8 biggest mistakes Justin and Stefan talked about:

#2 (but this could have been #1): You’re not going deep enough with your research 

This is a mistake Justin and Stefan see all too often—that copywriters assume they know their market…but when they can actually do deep research to find out what customers are really looking for, it’s almost always completely different than what they assumed.

Pro tip: Go on Amazon (5 star and 1 star reviews only), online forums and Google news articles for products or services like the ones you are selling and see what people are saying.

You will pick up their language and talk to them in that “language”;  you will understand their real pain points (not the ones you assumed); you will understand in their own words exactly what they love and hate about existing solutions; you’ll come up with amazing horror stories you can use in your copy and even come up with a “conspiracy angle”;  you can uncover “hushed up” or censored solutions and make what’s old new again; and you will find interesting, testable proof supporting the arguments you make in your sales letter.

This is the (pro) tip of the iceberg how Justin and Stefan think about copy.

I urge you to get on Justin’s list…he’s a genius (as is Stefan)…and I get nothing from him to say that except that you will improve your marketing by subscribing.

Here’s the link again.

The recovering attorney

Peter Hoppenfeld then spoke before lunch on Day One and gave us a rundown of legal and compliance issues we need to be aware of as marketers.

Peter is a “marketing friendly lawyer”–he knows we have to sell but he will also make sure you don’t get in trouble while doing all that selling.

I use him for so much in my business and he is the official “Titans Recovering Attorney”– and I am happy to say I have done no jail time and I always feel good about my marketing.

He spoke about a lot of things with the most urgent being the new California Privacy Law (“CCPA”)—and he sent an alert about it to all of his clients (and all of the Titans).

If you would like a copy of this alert, send an email with “CCPA” in the subject line to:

phoppenfeld@gmail.com

That’s it for today…but I still have so much to share with you from this amazing Titans Mastermind meeting.

In the coming weeks I’ll report on:

• The juxtaposition of the best technology with the human touch
• How a Titan achieved a 94% retention rate to his mastermind
• “The Copy Cube”—where promise and believability meet
• How to sell The Brooklyn Bridge
• The “unfair advantage” to skyrocket your brand
• How to turn around failing companies (and multiply your profits)

I’m exhausted just thinking about the last meeting…my brain is full…and it will be good to unload as much of it as possible on you in the coming weeks.

Warmly,

Brian

P.S. I can’t resist…here is another of Justin and Stefan’s “8 mistakes when marketing to cold traffic”:

You haven’t tested enough headline complexes 

I never heard that expression before…but the “complex” is defined as the headline with the copy that follows immediately.

I knew what it was and now I have a name for it!

The best headline complexes will include as many of these as possible– and use these as a checklist when you create your own:

• Curiosity
• Call out pain point
• Promise-Solution
• Specificity
• Simplicity
• Credibility: Address the prospect’s skepticism
• Time frame to achieve results of the promise

Keep these on your desk to make sure your headlines (and supporting copy) are as powerful as they can be.

Justin and Stefan also gave many examples of headline complexes in their presentation–and Justin uses lots of case histories from the 170 (and counting) funnels he has studied (and will study).

Getting on his list will be a good idea for you.

Sign up here.

The post Outrageous marketing, the 2020 vote and the recovering attorney appeared first on Brian Kurtz.

Anna put out a call for interviews for people who have “struggled to success”…and while I dismissed the request initially (my story is so boring—no bankruptcies, divorces, jail time, addictions or anything else that seems like a hero’s journey, coming out of wreckage to success), I asked Anna if almost dying counted.

In addition, the fact that my book Overdeliver came out on April 9^th (with lots of launch activity around it) and I had my stroke on April 10^th, how did that fit in as well under the heading of “a struggle?”

It seemed pretty vanilla to me since I survived…and the book launch seemed trivial compared to still being above ground…and if I had died, we wouldn’t be having a conversation anyway so who cares?

That is, I really didn’t know if it was a struggle because I didn’t die. And I am still living my life the same way.

I knew I dodged a bullet and I am up for a lot more mischief in the marketing world now…and more importantly, I still have what is most important to me (my family and friends).

Simply put, having a stroke wasn’t a “come to Jesus moment”…just something I know I had to get past to continue my journey.

Anna had other ideas.

She heard my story, formulated a series of questions I wasn’t even thinking about—and she was quick to say “let’s do it.”

The interview is here…it’s around 45 minutes long.

During the podcast I found myself recognizing some struggles which I wasn’t aware of before–she caught me–and I thought one or more might be helpful to you in some way as you examine your life and career.

(In the interview I also came up with a word that Anna never heard of–it gets spellchecked when I type it in Word so I can excuse her for not knowing it. But at least caught her on something)

And if you listen to it, share with me an ultimate struggle you overcame in your life–and where you ended up because of it (or in spite of it).

I may accumulate some of those stories (with your permission and with no names attached) because there could be some great lessons for all of us in a future post.

Once again, the podcast is titled (and when you click on my picture below, it’s the fourth interview listed):

I guess I did do that. 

Warmly,

Brian

P.S.  Last chance to sign up for  The Do Good and Make Money Super Summit (I am one of the speakers) which begins September 23^rd  and runs for 8 days until September 30^th…and you can get a free pass by clicking here.

It is a very ambitious Summit with over 80 speakers speaking on four tracks:

#1 – Starting Your Venture

#2 – Your First $100,000

#3 – Your First Million

#4 – Scaling To Eight Figures (where I will be speaking)

I will be speaking on one of the last days, talking about “Over Delivering Value” which in my opinion is the most undervalued aspect of “Scaling to Eight Figures.”

I hope you will grab your free pass and tune in.

There are all sorts of other offers for bonuses if you want more…but the basic pass is free.

(Note: Any money I receive in commission I will be donating to charity:water.  Click on this post and you can read about them and also donate to charity:water …and if you do, you will receive some neat “ethical bribes” from me.) 

Click here to sign up now for The Do Good and Make Money Super Summit.

The post Life is long appeared first on Brian Kurtz.

That is a question worth answering before you attempt any sales funnel, online launch, video sales letter, direct mail campaign—any kind of marketing—because when you know the “why” of your audience, the “how to do it” becomes a lot easier.

Knowing your tribe—the people that are most like you, who share your values, and who can’t wait to hear what you have to offer them—doesn’t have to be large either.

They just need to be congruent with your message and you need to be consistent with how you express that message.

Some examples:

Justin Goff, an A-list copywriter and business builder, did more with 200 names on his list (I think he has over 1,000 now)—a true “online family”—than many marketers do with thousands of names. He is able to attract a hand-picked, loyal audience that he emails daily with useful content,  they get what he is talking about and therefore when he makes an offer that makes sense to his subscribers, he achieves response rates and ROI  (to very high ticket, high value offers) that are unheard of.

Ben Settle, an email expert, has a much larger list but not large by most standards. And he “emails them to death” (at least daily)—or should I say “emails them to life”—and he can make offers to them that can get response rates that are as high as lists five times the size of his.

Donald Trump, with a somewhat larger lists, and whether you are a supporter or not, has millions of people hanging on every word he tweets (no time for email)—and he has supporters and detractors alike who keep reading his tweets every day as news, entertainment or something in-between.  And the supporters just get more fervent each time he tweets and the detractors just get more frustrated. But as we say in marketing, if you don’t have haters you’re not being controversial enough. And on the other side, he clearly has lots of loyal followers.

In fact, going back to Settle, when he has people on his list being argumentative and disagreeing with his core premises without a cohesive argument (in his opinion), Ben will unsubscribe them before they do it themselves.

I recall when Ben was selling my Titans of Direct Response offer, he had someone on his list return the product to me for a refund—and when he found out about it, he called out this subscriber to his entire online family as someone not “suitable” for his tribe: “Anyone who couldn’t find value in that product doesn’t belong on my list.” And he removed him.

I didn’t see it exactly the same way—of course I gladly sent Ben’s subscriber a refund—but Ben’s list is one that he expects to be learners…and Ben is their teacher. If you do as he suggests he also expects you to follow through. You don’t have to necessarily buy everything he sells (although he’d like you to)…but if you do, it’s all value and there is no room for returns on much of it. For this relationship to work at its highest level for Ben, his students need to be in synch with him so he can share his views freely and openly and they are always on the same page.

After all, it’s his list. You may not agree with him but he’s always consistent and congruent.

And in all three examples above, the people on those lists buy (or vote) based on congruence with the leader of the list much more than the tactics they each use.

Congruence, not sales copy, may be the most overlooked aspect in how you relate to your list—small or big—and in Chapter 9 of Overdeliver, which covers Continuity and Lifetime Value, I talk about this in terms of how it positively impacts every customer long term:

Protecting Your LTV with Congruent Marketing

Everything you do in your business needs to be congruent. …staying in business for a lifetime combines knowing your numbers with knowing who you want to be in the world and what you want your business to represent. That means building a culture into your business that reflects who you are and what you value most. If you have a strong foundation that is congruent with your purpose, it’s easy to attract the right audience and to develop offers and creative that are congruent and appropriate for them. And not surprisingly, when you focus on congruence, the number that you calculated in lifetime value per customer tends to increase exponentially. Whether you make the subsequent products yourself or buy them from someone else in some kind of partnership, whatever you put your name (brand) on has to be congruent—to you as a company and to your customers. 

Creative is also an area where congruence can be at risk: what might work best to bring in new customers may be inconsistent with how you really want to sell. I have seen many thought leaders struggle when they begin marketing aggressively for the first time. Unfortunately, they start with the premise that marketing is evil—and then my job is to show them how to sell congruently yet still remain aggressive. It’s a sweet spot that we can all get to, and it’s different for everyone. But I maintain that being as aggressive as possible, while being as congruent as possible, is the formula for the highest lifetime value. 

Since we’re talking about marketing, and money is always involved, things can get tricky when your desire to be congruent collides with paying the electric bill. If you have a good reputation and a solid bank of goodwill with your customers, and therefore with your prospects too, it’s easier to recover from a “congruence fail,” but you can’t count on it. 

(Note: In the rest of Chapter 9, I discuss a “congruence fail” that almost cost me big time. And there is also a discussion of “The Bogey Man”—Dick Benson—and why you can spend more money on your upfront marketing than you think. If you don’t have a copy yet, pick up Overdeliver at www.OverdeliverBook.com and access the thousands of dollars’ worth of resources too.)

I recently heard about a marketing live event held in a baseball stadium —they had something like 30.000 people—and while that’s a powerful “list” who can buy lots of stuff (live and after the fact) I maintain that a targeted, well curated list will be a better asset for the long haul based on what I said above re: congruence.

Would I like 30,000 people to sell to? Sure.

Would I do it indiscriminately with no regard for who they are, without segmenting them first and creating multiple sales messages? I doubt it.

I guess if you want to give me 30,000 names and addresses of marketers, I will attempt to bring them along to my way of thinking…but I will also be happy to leave many of them to other marketers as well, especially if they are not congruent with my message.

Consider the deep dives you can take in a more intimate setting, whether email or live; and what you can accomplish when you get down to the people who want to follow you rather than the people who are just waiting to be pitched offers, not order (or order and return), never to be heard from again.

Large can be mighty…but so can small.

In the spirit of being congruent, I turn to the Godfather of Marketing, Jay Abraham, who wrote out a series of bullets re: “Why People Pay Me”—and I am stealing some of these for myself.

And while I can’t do it is well as Jay yet, it gives me something to shoot for—and maybe you can steal a couple of these too:

Why People Pay Me (Jay Abraham)

• I’m paid to understand how to reduce (or eliminate) the risk in a transaction or

proposition––so it’s easier to say yes then no…easier to pay than it is to flee.

• I’m paid to understand how human psychology like procrastination, contemplation, equivocation factors  into everything—and how to turn all those into maximum advantage—much like the martial arts aikido that uses the force of the enemy against itself.

• I’m paid to understand how to stand out.

• How to —out appeal, out impress, out excite investors over and above the capital-seeking maddening crowds of other fund seekers vying for their money.

• I’m paid to understand the number of impact points, nuances and leverage elements that serve as bridges or locks (think Panama Canal) that work to advance and enhance the positive decision, commitment or outcome—or that can suffocate things.

• I’m paid to understand all the direct competition––meaning the industry- generic competitors of your business––new or existing (as well as the indirect)

• I’m paid to understand and communicate masterfully what value in tangible and intangible terms a company’s product/service or offering represents– to a wide swathe of different players––all that can position, positively or negatively impact your intended outcome.

Being paid for that is something worth striving for, don’t you think?

Warmly,

Brian

P.S. Speaking of more intimate groups…The Titans Master Class meeting in November in Scottsdale, Arizona will be one of those events that I think people will be talking about for years to come as something you shouldn’t have missed.

Here’s your chance not to miss it:

It’s November 11^th, 12^th and 13^th—you must be interviewed for a seat–and guest speakers include Jay Abraham, A-list copywriter Carline Anglade-Cole, online media expert Farukh Shroff, launch and marketing experts Marisa Murgatroyd and Shelley Brander and thought leader/business builder Dan Kuschell. With more to come.

In addition, all Titans members will be given a free ticket to LaunchCon, Jeff Walker’s amazing event, which will be in Phoenix November 8^th, 9^th and 10^th.

Titans Master Class is a one year membership which includes 2 live events a year, office hours with me, a content portal with all past events of the last 4 years, a private Facebook group for sharing of ideas, vendors and marketing issues…and group calls throughout the year with experts in all areas of marketing, copywriting and entrepreneurship.

If you are interested in interviewing for a seat, and you would like to be with us in November, fill out the short application form at www.titansmasterclass.com so we can set up an interview. Attendance is limited.

P.P.S.  I will also be a speaker for The Do Good and Make Money Super Summit which begins on September 23^rd and runs for 8 days until September 30^th…and you can get a free pass by clicking here.

It is a very ambitious Summit with over 70 speakers speaking on four tracks:

#1 – Starting Your Venture

#2 – Your First $100,000

#3 – Your First Million

#4 – Scaling To Eight Figures (where I will be speaking)

I will be speaking on one of the last days, talking about “Over Delivering Value” which is crucial to “Scaling to Eight Figures”…and I hope you will grab your free pass and tune in.

There are all sorts of other offers for bonuses if you want more…but the basic pass is free.

(Any money I receive in commission I will be donating to charity:water.  Click on this post and you can read about them and donate to charity:water …and receive some neat “ethical bribes” from me too.) 

P.P.P.S And click here to sign up now  for the The Do Good and make Money Super Summit–and I’ll see you there!

The post Why do people pay you? appeared first on Brian Kurtz.

One of my subscribers, Ryan Saplan, sent me a video of Alex Rodriguez and Barry Bonds talking about hitting in baseball—then and now—and he thought as a baseball fan, I would like it…and even be able to relate it to marketing.

I’ll try to do that for baseball fans and non-baseball fans alike

If you don’t want to watch all the “geekiness” about hitting a baseball (it’s about 20 minutes long), skip to the 12 minute mark where Bonds and Rodriguez share some insightful universals.

And whether you watch any of the video or not, I’ll share two insights I got from it:

1) How you become a “complete hitter” (or a “complete marketer”).

2) “The Double White Belt.”

Being a complete hitter…or “It’s the total package, not just a headline or subject line”

If you don’t know what’s happening in baseball today I will simplify it for you:

The players coming into the league today are being taught “launch angle” (i.e. “swinging up” a certain way in order to hit more home runs).

Bonds has a different angle (pun intended)…it’s detailed in the video…and he’s got the street cred for you to pay attention (if you are into this sort of thing).

Steroids or not, Barry Bonds was the most feared hitter in baseball when he played…I vaguely recall that a manager of the opposing team once intentionally walking him with the bases loaded (forcing in a run—unheard of)–but that was better than him driving in multiple runs with a hit (or a home run).

He finished his career with 762 home runs (and don’t tell me how many were steroids induced because we can still agree that he was as good a home run hitter as anybody)—but the difference with Bonds is that he also batted close to .300 (actually .298) which is a particular measuring stick for a great hitter…but not as revered as it once was.

(It is interesting that Bonds says in the interview that if he was playing today with all the “shifts” being employed–e.g. for Bonds the opposing team would probably put three infielders on one side of the infield and leave one on the right side, all playing deep. To that, Bonds said, “I would bunt [hit a ball softly on the infield] until I hit .400”)

Today it’s all about hitting home runs—even if you bat .250 or less—and “the killer package” of a complete hitter no longer includes batting average, or more importantly, runs scored and runs batted in.

But Rodriguez and Bonds make the case for the real “killer package” of a hitter—it’s when you combine home runs with runsscored and runs batted in (RBI’s).

Note: For those of you who know nothing about baseball, when you score more runs than the other team you win. It’s pretty straightforward.

Rodriguez and Bonds also agree that the best hitters should have a 4 to 1 ratio of homers to RBI’s, not 2 to 1, which is happening a lot today.

How does this relate to marketing?

It’s about writing the “home run sales letter” that has staying power (“a .300 average” to go with it plus runs scored and RBI’s).

That is, it’s got to have great leads, headlines, subject line—but the magic comes with the offer, premiums and all the other great content that makes a winning promotion.

The techniques available today (technology plus new, inexpensive media for example) has made us a bit lazy on the creative side—and as you know if you have been reading my posts, great copy and promotion is not written by amateurs.

The pain (and then the pleasure) for how a copywriter develops a promotion, through intense research and asking all of the questions no one else asks to achieve the best result, is not a commodity…it’s really hard work.

And the best writers haven’t been doing it for a year or two—they’ve put in the sweat to get to a point in their careers where they’ve seen it all—like Barry Bonds who has taken tens of thousands of swings to get to where he is.

The beginning of Chapter 2 of Overdeliver speaks to this last point:  

Chapter 2 

Original Source 

Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.

This chapter’s opening quote is often attributed to Pablo Picasso . . . and the Dalai Lama. . . and Life’s Little Instruction Book by H. Jackson Brown Jr. It’s ironic, when we’re talking about the importance of original source, that we can’t attribute the quote to its original source (i.e., the person who said it). 

Every lesson I learned throughout my career at Boardroom, and everything I’ve done since (including running high-end mastermind groups and consulting with companies to help them implement direct response principles in their marketing), has been based on original source material from the greatest marketers who ever lived. My first book, The Advertising Solution, profiled six of those greatest marketers, and their fingerprints are all over this book too. Believe it or not, all the marketing you’ve ever done is probably based on something they pioneered, even if you’ve never heard of them before. 

When you recognize and understand the fundamentals of any field, you’re better equipped to innovate and break the rules of the particular game you’re playing. 

Marketing is no different. If you don’t know the fundamentals, you might accidentally break the rules and get lucky, but you can’t rely on getting lucky. 

Building a business that will keep its customers for a lifetime requires much more than the occasional successful fluke.And when you have a deep, intrinsic appreciation of the principles and strategies that were developed over the years by the titans of direct marketing, you get to stand on their shoulders. Taking what they learned (and proved over and over again), you build on foundations they laid, and what you create will be much more solid because these principles are timeless. They are still 100 percent relevant to today’s marketplace. 

This might be obvious to you, but just in case it’s not, having a deep understanding of the fundamentals of direct response marketing from the pioneers who first implemented them will enable you to achieve better results with any and all marketing programs you work on today and into the future. You will be able to serve your customers in powerful, profitable ways without having to repeat the painful learning curves and costly errors that these entrepreneurs and marketers suffered before you. 

In that chapter, I go on to outline the “5 Core Principles of Direct Response Marketing” and why Original Source matters (and not just for nostalgia).

If you have the book already, write to me and tell me if you can relate to them in the context of what Rodriguez and Bonds are talking about.

And if you haven’t gotten the book yet, buy it here so you can get all of the amazing bonus material at www.OverdeliverBook.com. (You’ll also want the video I talk about in the P.S. which is there too.) 

The Double White Belt 

I might be taking a little poetic license here—excuse me if I do (and feel free to correct me)—but I have surveyed quite a few black belts in various martial arts and they tell me it’s true.

And it works for what I want to relate here so that’s good enough for me.

Most of the martial arts have belts to mark achievement—from white to black—and lots of colors in-between.

(I’m a geek about baseball, not the martial arts—obviously).

But after you achieve your black belt (or 10^th degree black belt), you get a white belt again (what I am calling the “double white belt” and it might be called that by some in the martial arts too).

In fact, a particular black belt told me that the symbolism is that “black fades to white”—I liked that.

I interpret the double white belt like this:

Now that you can kill someone with the touch of your hand, you have a moral responsibility to keep a “beginners mentality” and to never forget the basics and where you came from; and that you understand that you are now trusted that you won’t use those lethal techniques unless necessary.

Also: Now that you did it, you have an obligation to teach it.

What Barry Bonds is doing in the video is teaching from his double white belt.

Richard Viguerie does the same thing.

Who is Richard Viguerie? He is a direct marketer who virtually invented political direct marketing and fundraising and now that he in his mid-80’s he not only comes in to the office every day practicing and improving his craft, he is also teaching it to anyone who asks.

He’s got a “triple white belt” in my opinion in direct response marketing–and thank goodness for all of us he took on this noble obligation.

I had him speak multiple times at my Titans Mastermind and Titans Master Class and you can read what he shared most recently in The what and the who before the how—“The Four Horseman of Marketing.”

To take it one step further, I’m sure Richard could take many of his secrets and teach them to folks who could use them for evil…but of course he doesn’t (intentionally at least).

That’s the subtle piece regarding the responsibility of owning a double (or triple) white belt.

In short, I encourage all of you to become complete hitters and double white belts…it’s a path worth pursuing.

Warmly,

Brian

P.S. My good friend Bo Eason—who was featured on video in my opening presentation at The Titans Of Direct Response —just came out with a new book, There’s No Plan B For Your A Game. 

If you’ve ever seen Bo speak—or attended one of his events where he teaches how to present powerfully—you know that this former football player is not just another pretty face (or body :)).

You can watch his tribute to the greatest football player ever, Jerry Rice, on the Overdeliver bonus page (It’s the first video in Bonus #1)…or you can just grab Bo’s portion here. (Wait for it to load…it’s a big file.) 

His book is available here…it’s fantastic. And I’m not getting anything for this…I just think it’s a great book.

P.P.S. Bo will be a featured speaker at my Titans Mastermind next January in Austin, Texas—along with Ryan Levesque and Yanik Silver (so far).

If you are interested in applying for Titans Mastermind (or Titans Master Class, which meets in Arizona in November with Jay Abraham and many other amazing speakers), fill out the short application at www.titansmasterclass.com and we can arrange an interview.

P.P.P.S. And regardless pick up Bo’s book here. 

The post Just be a good hitter appeared first on Brian Kurtz.

“We’ve been playing in this area for 55 years and it’s always our favorite place to perform” 

    – Mick Jagger at Met-Life Stadium, August 5, 2019

Let that sink in. 

Can you imagine doing anything for 55 years and also being as great as The Rolling Stones? 

And they acknowledged many others, not just the audience, during their concert last month. 

I admire longevity—it takes a lot to do something “average” for a long time—and there are all sorts of lifetime achievement awards for that which are well deserved. 

But watching the Stones, all of them in their 70’s, and still together rocking and rolling at a very high level last month in New Jersey, made me think what being extraordinary for a long time is all about…and that 55 years of cumulative experience is infinitely more than one year’s experience for 55 years (or 60 years as I say in the P.S.). 

Think about how much Mick and the boys have had to evolve to stay relevant for over 5 decades—how many people, bands, friends and relatives have participated in their initial rise and ongoing relevance–and they are far from a band slowing down or just going through the motions–—they are still doing it at a peak performance level. 

On the opposite side of the spectrum in terms of longevity is Ed Sheeran…who has been touring for maybe 5 years…but in that time he was able to fill up the same 50,000+ stadium that the Stones did (I saw him from approximately the same seats last year). 

Here they are, a little blurry, on the same stage almost a year apart–but there was nothing blurry about their performances: 

I know how The Rolling Stones filled that stadium given their history…but how did Ed Sheeran do it in such a short time? 

Then I remembered a post I wrote last year after going to the Sheeran concert (“Being young has nothing to do with it”) and I am re-naming (and updating that here) with the added wisdom I gained from seeing The Rolling Stones. 

Today I’m calling it, “Thinking Out Loud in Diapers.” 

I was able to see firsthand last year Ed Sheeran’s origin story playing out in front of me—and I can only imagine it was the same for The Rolling Stones 50 years ago. 

If you don’t know who Ed Sheeran is, and you are over 60 years old, you are not alone (as I found out before, during and after his concert). 

I was more at home with The Rolling Stones. But I was pretty comfortable at both. 

I love all of their music and I love my daughter’s reaction to both shows: 

She was surprised that The Rolling Stones were actually alive and still playing…and she was more surprised that I would attend an Ed Sheeran concert (“you’re too old for that!”)—but I could tell she was super jealous too. 

And I’ll believe, whether it’s true or not, that she gave me a few points for being a little cool that I attended both. 

Both shows were great and I highly recommend you check them out if you get an opportunity to see either one live…although time might be running out for the Stones. 

Or not—they were pretty awesome so who knows when they will stop touring. 

I don’t know about you but I hear too often people making excuses for young entrepreneurs (and less experienced business leaders) not “getting it” as it pertains to acknowledging and compensating people properly who have helped them achieve great success often in very short period of time. 

I learned at both concerts that age has nothing to do with “getting it.” 

The Rolling Stones obviously get it…you don’t perform for 55 years, selling out every concert, on good looks alone. Mick Jagger and the band gave me one perspective which I will talk about more below. 

But Ed Sheeran is 27 years old–and he gave me an entirely new perspective on the relationship between age and wisdom. 

The warm up band for Ed was Snow Patrol—I’ve heard of them before, I have a couple of songs from them on my iPod and my wife and I were excited when they were announced. 

Near the end of their set, they thanked everyone for supporting them in their career which we learned spanned 25 years. 

Did you know Snow Patrol had been around that long? I didn’t. 

And then they thanked Ed Sheeran profusely for having them on tour with him. 

Interesting…the star of the show was 2 years old, mainly eating and pooping, when his backup act was already touring. 

And 55 years ago, when Mick was 21 I wonder who he was thanking for the Stones start—and I guarantee it was someone–and since I was only 6 at the time, you’ll have to excuse me for not having more details. 

Shortly after Snow Patrol was done, Ed Sheeran appeared, with amazing energy, as he leaped on to the stage, playing non-stop music for 2 hours. 

At some point during his set he paused to mention that when he was “young” (I guess like 5 years ago when he was 22?), it was Snow Patrol that took him on tour with them when he was just starting out. 

I heard similar gratefulness in his voice to what I heard from Snow Patrol. 

I also heard a 27 year old who “gets it.” 

And in the quote that opened this post, you got a glimpse of a 76 year old who gets it too. 

All of these rock stars understand that at any age you have to be on the shoulders of giants to get somewhere (and in Ed’s case, so fast!). 

That was refreshing–and there are countless ways to reciprocate and acknowledge along the way.  

I don’t know if the Stones are great guys or not but the gratefulness in Mick Jagger’s voice for being able to play the New York area for 55 years was obvious–as was getting over a health scare that originally postponed the concert; and I don’t know if Sheeran is a great guy or not but what he showed with his actions said something that could never be expressed with words…and he’s got 50+ years to continue to show it. 

Through their behavior it was clear how much they both understood gratefulness and appreciation and that they also both know that acknowledgement of others is part of the success formula…and that formula is not just for rock stars.  

On a personal level, I left both shows thinking about how painful it was to write the acknowledgments section of my new book, Overdeliver—not painful because of the love and support I’ve gotten throughout my career from so many people–but painful because when I handed in the final manuscript, I’m sure I forgot someone significant. 

And that’s why with the resource page for Overdeliver, I was doubly sure to acknowledge many of my mentors, dead and alive, for the contribution they made to my career. 

After surviving my stroke in April, I was especially grateful that the book and resource page were there (forever) in case my future prognosis was not as good as it is. Or if I had passed away. 

Ed has it easy right now—he’s only had 27 years of accumulated support and wisdom contributing to his success—but his life will get much more complicated assuming he lives the rest of his life with the philosophy of never forgetting how he got there (wherever he ends up getting to). 

Mick and the Stones have a more difficult task because they are much closer to the end than the beginning…and acknowledgments need to be handed out in whatever time they have left performing. I felt it at numerous times during their show. 

I wish them both well and will follow them for so many reasons…two in particular: 

1) I want them both to keep making great music that I know millions will enjoy. 

2) I also want to see how both keep paying it forward. 

Having seen it for myself with Sheeran, I also have a different appreciation for Snow Patrol, a group I liked and now a group I will love and respect forever–and I don’t care if they ever record another song in the future. 

They also didn’t tell me what great guys they are either but what they showed the audience by being there and playing full out (and hopefully they were sincere), a brand of humility and grace we can all emulate. 

Thanks for allowing me to do some “thinking out loud” on this topic (pun intended if you know Ed Sheeran’s music)…click on that link and let me know if you think Ed is the bomb (like my daughter does). 

And I believe you can always get what you want.  After all, how else can you become the word’s “leading rock group” in 1969…and in 2019? 

I also know 50,000 people at Met Life Stadium thought Ed Sheeran was just “perfect”…and I know Snow Patrol was content to keep “chasing Ed Sheeran” even while they are also “chasing cars.” (You know who they are now, right?) 

Warmly, 

Brian 

P.S. You didn’t expect rock videos this Sunday morning did you? 

Hope you clicked on the music of The Rolling Stones, Ed Sherran and Snow Patrol above (and that you didn’t wake up anyone in your house). 

The other thing I couldn’t help thinking about given this multi-generational kinship talked about above was something I said in a previous post which I sent on my 60^th birthday and titled it, “Too many of my mentors are dead”. 

I re-wrote an excerpt here in the context of today’s post: 

My mentor, Marty Edelston, often said to me, in order to be sure that I had the right idea about aging:  

“I love getting older since it means I am only getting smarter.” 

(And if he was still alive today, he would once again explain the difference to me between “60 years of experience” vs. “one year of experience for 60 years.”)

What that means:  

Knowledge and wisdom are cumulative assuming you are a lifelong learner. 

Marty was a lifelong learner and he taught me to think that way too, which at its core means always having insatiable curiosity, always hanging out with people smarter (and often older)  than yourself and never letting your ego get in the way of learning.  

Also, keep in mind that the older folks in the business have all the wisdom…get some before it’s too late. 

And it’s OK to gain wisdom from those who are younger than you too.  

While there are prodigies who can make huge differences for thousands by the time they attend their first prom (or even if  they are a “late bloomer” like Ed Sherran at 27!),  most mortals like you and I need some age (and wisdom) to get there…and not just doing the same thing year after year.  

I am often the oldest person (by chronological age) in many of the rooms I hang out in these days (and even sometimes in a large football stadium).  

However, in those rooms I am usually hanging out with some of the most phenomenal marketers in the world—which is something I am proud of and I no longer make jokes about everyone in the room being young enough to be one of my kids.  

A better perspective: 

I am getting my Ph.D. in areas of marketing from others who may not have put in the hours or years (yet)… but they have achieved expertise way beyond what I know in their short time on earth about one thing (or many things).  

Maybe Snow Patrol will let me join their band?   

P.P.S. We just received new inventory of the masterpiece Breakthrough Advertising –so if you don’t have your copy yet, now is a great time to order. 

Titans Marketing offers the lowest price and it’s the only authorized edition…and the main text is 100% of what Gene Schwartz perfectly penned in 1966 plus we added a mini-swipe file as an appendix in the Titans edition. 

And if you don’t have Gene’s other masterpiece, even more rare, check out what I wrote about The Brilliance Breakthrough here. 

And you can order here…we currently have new books in inventory as well, and all come with an exclusive workbook. 

The post 55 years or 5 years……excellence is excellence appeared first on Brian Kurtz.