Multiple unlocked and unguarded entry points aren’t the best practice for high security prisons, schools (a relatively new phenomenon) or the warehouse at Sotheby’s.
But in marketing and copywriting, multiple entry points can be your gateway to the most advanced education…and sales and profit too.
However, these unlocked and unguarded entries must be used strategically when they pertain to your offers and messaging.
Enabling your customers, readers, students, prospects, suspects–to choose their own adventure with what you offer– with an eye on a particular prize–can be bad news or good news.
Bad: When haphazard and disorganized (i.e., not strategic), multiple entry points create confusion and lack of focus.
Good: Entry points, each with a purpose and on mission, can lead to marketing nirvana.
I’ve seen it play out (in a good way) in many of the promotions I’ve been involved with during my career…and in my post “The ethical bribe” from 2017, I lay out a case history where multiple entry points led to one of our most successful campaigns ever.
Click here if you are interested in reading about it.
I will not give you examples when multiple entry points haven’t worked…you can find thousands of those on your own. 🙂
This same premise applies to coaching groups, accountability circles and masterminds.
There must be an overriding strategy linked at every step with the goals of your groups—a defined mission and vision and always looking towards tangible result(s) for members.
But there are many ways to get there and not just through a single door.
That’s how I came up with the idea of Titans Xcelerator which you’ve been hearing about for some time.
The story begins with, “I predicted the pandemic.”
Since I decided to launch a virtual, Zoom-based mastermind at an unbelievably low price in December of 2019, it looked like I was a genius by the time March of 2020 rolled around.
It certainly enhanced the offering which was sound even without the tragedy of the pandemic, with everyone stuck at home. I just wanted to teach more people about what I had been doing for four decades.
And let me say that I am not making light of what we have all been through since early 2020…in fact I feel a little guilty saying I predicted it…much like many of you when you talk about 2020 and 2021 being your best years in business ever.
I know a lot of you who have had that experience and congratulations for making the right moves under difficult circumstances.
But I know many more who suffered terribly–many of you reading this perhaps–whether personally or with your business…maybe even through the loss of a loved one.
Know that I have thought about you whether directly or indirectly…and I only wish you better times going forward.
I was positively and negatively affected by the pandemic.
It is in that spirit that I hope you will read this post.
With an eye toward prosperity and joy in 2023.
Back to the origins (and pivots) involved with Titans Xcelerator.
The initial offering in December 2019 included a lot (digital content portal, physical delivery of content, a private Facebook group) …with the main benefit being a live call with me (and other members) for two hours once a month (with marketing discussions, hot seats, guest speakers, breakout rooms).
The overriding strategy for Titans Xcelerator linked to results: (Over)deliver a comprehensive education of the “what’s” of direct response marketing…through the best “who’s” I can find to teach those “what’s” …without getting into the “how’s” (at least initially)…all derived from what I’ve learned and who I’ve met over 40+ years working in this wonderful industry.
I would recommend the book by Dan Sullivan and Ben Hardy which is called, Who Not How.
I have to admit that I was on to this concept before they wrote that book because I’ve been talking about the “what’s” of direct marketing for 40 years.
Click here for my take on “The what and the who before the how” which I gleaned from the “marketing Buddha,” Dean Jackson (which he shared at a Titans Mastermind meeting) …and when he shared it with Dan and Ben, they took it to the next level with their book.
Again, it doesn’t matter who invented it…it only matters how we apply it…and innovate on it.
I gladly give all the credit to Dean, Dan and Ben.
When we were all quarantined at home in March of 2020, I pivoted to weekly calls (what else did I have to do?) which added so much more education…and conveniently, there were many more “who’s” stuck at home…to speak and share with the group.
Plus…I added an additional half hour to the calls (which would be permanent, thinking that I might move away from weekly calls eventually).
This extra half hour served as kind of a warmup to each call…now very popular…which one of the copywriters in the group dubbed, “Koffee with Kurtz.”
Needless to say, all of this was overdelivery to a group that would have been satisfied with two hours once-a-month rather than 2 and a half hours once a week.
But because the calls got better each week, the consistency bonded the initial members…and the next wave of members…into a family.
Was this a happy accident or good planning under chaos? I don’t think it matters. It’s what happened.
Regardless, the group became a family with renewal rates of close to 75% over the 3+ years of Titans Xcelerator. Those going on their fourth year are close to 90%.
Keeping happy members around for multiple years, getting results, is one of the not-so-secret-secrets of a successful mastermind.
This is not intended as a brag…it is intended as a case history of pivoting in real time…and how to overdeliver on overdelivery when circumstances present themselves.
And since I love the calls so much, the additional hours did not need to be “computed” on my fictional time sheet…my work is my play.
In the P.S. I will list the guest speakers from 19 of the 32 calls of 2022 (we scaled back to a minimum of 2 calls a month with a maximum of 4 when we were able to finally go outside again) 🙂
And I will add the “entry point” for each so you can see how wide we have gone while keeping to our core premise.
The moral of the story:
On the surface it’s overdelivery on overdelivery…but the more critical lesson is that adding additional entry points to fulfill the ultimate goal worked here…big time…and what began as reactive became proactive.
There was another lesson for me and all of the members–that even when a particular entry point seems like it’s not applicable to your life or your business we need to think again…and more deeply.
Because every new entry point could be something you don’t know that you don’t know.
Whether it comes from a speaker, a member, a discussion, a breakout room, a hot seat…or while you are having “koffee.”
I thought the year in review of the outside speakers who presented to Titans Xcelerator (please look at the list in the P.S.) would be a great way to end the year on a positive note with an eye towards a productive 2023 for all of us.
They are sent as inspiration for you to look for entry points everywhere.
The review doesn’t include all of the lively and meaningful discussions we had during the year on all of the calls (with “koffee” and without), many of which have inspired these weekly blogs.
Another use for multiple entry points: Fodder for writing. 🙂
Many of those discussions take place among members in smaller groups in Zoom breakout rooms (which the members love).
There have also been in depth hot seats (which any member can request anytime), most of which end up being meaningful to everyone.
The “Titan Spotlights” from members have also been a source of education—“what’s from internal who’s” — explained below in the P.P.S.
So many entry points…so little time. But many sprung out of having more time than we ever imagined.
Today–most importantly–I want to wish everyone in my online family a wonderful (and healthy) new year…and I look forward to sharing my weekly “propaganda” each week in the coming year.
I always try to come up with something that I think you will enjoy and apply in some way.
Please feel free to email me anytime with suggestions or topics for posts…and I welcome both disagreements and praise.
Remember, in the words of Mark Ford, “Flattery doesn’t work on everyone but it works on me.” 🙂
And…just to give you one last chance to join Titans Xcelerator before we close the doors on January 7th, please check out the most generous offer I have ever made (yes, even with “only” 30+ live calls per year…and don’t forget to check out the P.S.).
Warmly,
Brian
P.S. 2022 in review…the guest speakers who presented to Titans Xcelerator over the past year (with their “entry points”)
- Chris Mercer: Rethinking Measurement: Reading and believing your marketing numbers
- Rich Schefren: What is working in online marketing right now…through the most epic examples from his “Steal Our Winners” program
- Justin Breen: The entrepreneur’s mindset from a serial entrepreneur…and how he built two global companies in the “Zoom era”
- Ari Galper: “Trust Based Selling” …with a one call sale
- Jason Korman: Creating an office and culture that people will thrive in and never want to leave
- Maxwell Finn: How to make your advertising on Tik Tok work
- Jason Fladlian : The ultimate debrief on a $57 million launch…a 2 hour master class
- Alex Schlinsky: The paradox of selling with depth…and shortcuts
- Jason Swenk: Building an agency the right way
- Annie Hyman Pratt: Building a company “people first” based on her bestselling book, The People Part
- Matthew Dicks: Storytelling and marketing…based on his book, Storyworthy
- Dan Kennedy: The “greatest hits” of No B.S. Marketing…live with the guru himself
- Rita Shankewitz and Michelle Cohen: Offline marketing and media that still works…from their over four decades working at Boardroom Inc.
- David Garfinkel: Making your prospect read every word you write…from one of the country’s top copywriting coaches
- Chris Evans: From success to failure and back to success from a marketer with conviction
- Tracy Childers and Micah Mitchell: Membership/subscription models that work…from two guys who built successful programs for hundreds of clients
- Mandi Ellefson: Being a “Hands Off CEO” …and the size of your company doesn’t matter
- Joe Polish: What’s in it for them based on his new book by that title…he spent 2.5 hours with us…sharing his career as the ultimate “connector”
- Lori Haller: Why design matters…in both marketing and customer service and fulfillment because all of those things are marketing functions…from one of the best designers in the world
As you can see, there are people on this list who you have heard of…and many you have not heard of…which means that popularity and “names you know” is only one part of the equation when it comes to learning about as many “what’s” as possible.
I search everywhere for the top experts in every corner of direct response marketing, copywriting and entrepreneurship/business building.
Keep in mind that these represent only 19 of the 32 calls we had in 2022…and every call is recorded and stored in a digital portal…and they are also sent out each month in the mail on a USB with other content from my “vault” (presentations from other events I’ve hosted and treasured swipes I’ve collected).
Most of the content is evergreen so one of the additional entry points is that you have a library of everything on your shelf (or on your hard drive).
P.P.S. BONUS: Here is a list of speakers from 2019 through 2021…from the beginning…who have presented to Titans Xcelerator (and check out the special offer at the end):
- Ben Settle (offline and email marketing)
- Doberman Dan Gallapoo (offline newsletters)
- Perry Marshall (everything marketing)
- Chad Collins (SMS and text marketing)
- Kim Krause Schwalm (copywriting tips from an A-List copywriter)
- David Deutsch (thinking inside the box from another A-List copywriter)
- Susan Berkley (voice coaching for webinars, radio, podcasting…anywhere)
- Nicholas Kusmich (Facebook advertising from one of best teachers and implementers)
- Kevin Rogers (copywriting coaching…and ultimate hooks)
- Joel Erway (webinar marketing)
- Jay Abraham (everything marketing and preeminence)
- Parris Lampropoulos (lessons learned from turning around a company)
- Richard Rossi (creating events for 10,000 students and parents at a time…using direct mail)
- Marcella Allison and Laura Gale (anatomy of writing a book)
- Bari Baumgardner and Blue Melnick (live events to virtual events to hybrid events…and where we go next)
- Carline Anglade-Cole (copy secrets from another A-Lister)
- Mike Capuzzi (creating short books for fun and profit)
- Ryan Lee (the continuity king)
- Joshua Lee (the LinkedIn king)
- Alex Charfin (the entrepreneur mindset)
- Charles Byrd (affiliate and JV marketing from an expert in both)
- Lee Richter (women in marketing…mentoring…and building businesses)
- Shelley Brander (making your niche and passion a multi-million-dollar business)
- Ryan Levesque (the “Ask” man…and Quiz funnels…from one of the best marketers)
- Pat Corpora (company turnarounds…three different times)
- Randy Long (positioning your company for sale)
- Harlan Kilstein (Facebook Groups from a savant)
- Justin Goff (writing copy for cold traffic)
- Victoria Labalme (risking forward)
- David Phelps (evolution of a niche of a niche of a niche…creating millions of dollars through hundreds of followers)
- Troy Ericson (email deliverability)
- Robert Skrob (the retention expert…for memberships and subscriptions)
- Matt Wolfe and Joe Fier (podcasting for everyone)
- Mike Koenigs (your next move…making it work…from a marketer who makes big moves every day)
- Jeff Meltzer (TV and infomercial marketing)
- Chris Haddad (the P.I.G. method from the copywriter everyone wants to follow)
- Adrian Savage (email deliverability…such an important topic)
- Craig Simpson (direct mail for everyone)
And you wonder why so many of the members who have been with us from the beginning are still with us? 🙂
Note that these lists do not include the “Titan Spotlights” we have done…with members themselves presenting in their area of genius…and the opportunity to present is open to all members.
Since the beginning we have done a total of 26 Titan Spotlights and they have been as dynamic as any of the outside presenters listed above.
Additional entry points indeed.
P.P.P.S. Ready to join yet?
I’ll add one more special incentive I have never offered before.
Would you like to listen to (and own) any of the presentations above?
Any special entry points (or personalities) included in the two lists?
While new members don’t have access to past calls and speakers, anyone who joins through the link below will have their choice of any two (2) of the “speakers” listed above which are not included in the existing “catch up bonuses.”
That’s two (2) personal choice selections from the “Titans Xcelerator vault.”
There are 57 entry points to choose from…complete calls with the speaker plus discussions and maybe even a hot seat.
Just email me with your two (2) choices from any of those listed above…once you sign up and receive your confirmation…before January 7th.
I may even give the results of the most popular choices. 🙂