August 1, 2020

If you were asked, “What is the top priority in your business,” how would you answer?

I’m sure you would say things like:

  • Keeping my clients/customers/students happy
  • Getting new business from new people (new customer acquisition)
  • Creating new products or services (innovation)
  • Commitment to positive cash flow and profit margin
  • Fulfilling on your mission

I know you can think of many more.

What if I told you that the top priority in your business is something that could take in all of the items above–and a lot more—and it’s as easy as creating a consistent flow of information to your family?

That’s my thesis for today and I’ve been thinking about it for a long time.

First, let’s differentiate between your family (i.e. your immediate loved ones) and your business family (i.e. those who follow you, read what you write in books and emails, and/or watch you on YouTube or your video blog).

The former is a given…that family is the top priority in your life. Full stop.

The latter, however, is not often given the priority it deserves in your business because silly things like “making more money” and “finding new customers” seem to supersede sincere and regular communication with your “second” family.

The first key is to understand that “priorities” such as making money and getting new customers is simply a derivative of that consistent communication with your list.

You need to believe that so you can stay with me here.

Maybe you don’t receive big bucks with every email, tweet, blog or video…but there is definitely a cumulative effect…and combined with the notion that “life is long,” it’s why this should be your number one priority.

Secondly, if you look at your list as a list and not as real people, you wouldn’t make these communications your top priority either.

Why would you?

All they would be are “names on paper or in a computer.”

It’s no fun (and there is a lot less profit) to think of people who follow you and want to hear what you have to say as paper cut outs (at best)—like the ones who are now the “fans” at COVID era baseball games.

The fact that I often address you as my “online family” is not a stunt or something that’s not genuine.

I really mean it.

It reminds me to constantly remember that everyone who opens one of these emails is akin to a relative.

When I realized that you, my readers, students, teachers, clients, customers, prospects, suspects, tire kickers (and yes my actual relatives and friends too), are the most important thing that moves my business forward, my business made a lot more money (without trying to make money).

It ties into “the five ways we get paid and the fifth being cash” (i.e. you utilize me and I hopefully enhance, appreciate and refer you when I get the chance—which all lead to the reward).

That’s why writing these emails/blogs/pieces of propaganda/musings from my experiences each Sunday is definitely the number one priority in my business.

(See further down about some specific non-monetary rewards from regular communication with your online family).

Plus…writing is something I love to do and having some people who want to read what I have to say makes me want to write even more.

It’s self-motivating and it gives me joy.

My favorite emails during the week are the ones I receive from you, with good news and bad news about what I write, but all in the spirit of moving us both forward.

And you don’t have to be an A-List copywriter (which I am not) or a published author to feel this way.

You’re probably saying to yourself, “THIS email is THAT important to you, Brian? You need to get a life!”

I would answer that question this way:

 “I have a great life and career. But within my career, all good things stem from having a loyal following who might care what I have to say…not because I want to be famous or a guru (and I am neither)…but to have a place where I can share …and have you share with me in return.”

And if you write or speak or do anything for a loyal audience, you know what I’m talking about.

I try to be interesting each week but what I really am is interested…and I know those of you who communicate with me feel the same way.

I was inspired by something my friend and Titans Mastermind member Justin Goff said in one of his daily emails to his online family.

He said he gets up every morning to write with no interruptions and he works at his daily email until he’s done because it’s the most important thing he does each day.

Justin has a very profitable business with all sorts of courses, webinars, interviews, masterminds etc.—I do too—but that is not necessarily what motivates him to write his daily email–and it is not what motivates me to write to you weekly.

It’s true that Justin is a copywriter by trade so you can unjustly say that is the reason why he does it every day like clockwork. It’s not so…but you can believe what you want to believe.

But I’m not a copywriter…so why is writing to you so critical to my business as well?

If I did a “direct calculation” of each of these emails and “how much money I made from each one,” there is no calculation that would make it worthwhile.

However, if I told you that every “indirect calculation” I can source from these emails cumulatively adds up to millions of dollars over many years would you then consider making it the number one priority in your business?

Despite being a serial direct marketer which demands measurability in everything I do, I believe that I make more money from writing to you than anything else I can do.

There are many things which are equal or more valuable than money (in my bank account at least) such as personal satisfaction, learning something new, finding out something from a person in my online family that leads me to an epiphany, finding a potential speaker for one of my masterminds or to simply get an idea from a family member for another blog post.

Anything I receive from writing these posts has value today…which will eventually lead to making money…and it’s the same for you… if you are patient…and whether you are looking for a monetary reward or not.

I guess I enjoy getting rich slowly rather than quickly. I can savor it that much longer.

And it’s the kind of “rich” that lasts a lifetime.

But…please don’t ask this serial direct marketer for a precise ROI.

I can, however, give you some examples of why I know it’s true:

  • There’s the guy who has been part of my online family for over three years—and admitted that to me after he joined Titans Xcelerator—because that was the offer that hit him in his sweet spot. I told him for three years, “I’m here when you are ready.” That offer made him ready.
  • There are the thousands of people who bought Overdeliver as soon as  it came out solely because they had been part of my online family for quite a while…and despite many people not being able to afford a mastermind or even Breakthrough Advertising for $125,  $17 on Amazon for a book plus an over delivery of bonuses from someone they liked (I assume!) was easy. And there were many buyers who bought in bulk for their staff, company or coaching groups.
  • What about the guy who wrote to me after I blogged about the Titans of Direct Response event of 2014…and he asked, “Do you think you will ever do a Titans event again?” And he asked more like an industry insider than a beginner or a novice in the business. I got into a lively email correspondence with him which determined he was a major player in the industry…which led him joining Titans Mastermind at $20,000.
  • The previous situation is more than having “whales on your list” (a Dan Kennedy term)…it’s about having a relationship with as many people on your list as humanly possible—oops, in your online family—which leads you to the whales, the striped bass, the sunfish…and some minnows too. I wear the title “Director of Sales Prevention” as a badge of honor (one given to me by Joe Polish); but what I really am is closer to what Dean Jackson would call a “Fisherman without bait” (i.e. my fish jump in my boat when they are ready rather than when they are offered a hook with a worm every day or every week).

There are some keys to developing an online family (another way of saying building your list) that will pay you millions over time—if you attract them the correct way and if you romance them regularly.

That will be its own blog post which I promise to write for you soon.

Hint: It’s about building with quality over quantity.

And finally, here are three P’s on how to make the task of communicating with your online family your top priority (courtesy of Titans Xcelerator member, results leader, and daily email writer, Michael Roderick):

  1. Prioritization—you need to make time for it every day or week or it won’t get written (e.g. Friday is my “writing day” and without putting that time in my calendar, I couldn’t do it)
  2. Process—every email, blog, video should be used, at a minimum, as market research of your online family…whether there is an offer or not (e.g. what they like, what they don’t like, simply asking questions, showing you are interested in them). It’s not that complicated either.
  3. Permission to suck—you can’t be consistent and perfect—some things will work and some things won’t—just be true to yourself and congruent all the time. You’ll be surprised what works that you thought wouldn’t and vice versa.

I hope this one didn’t suck.


Warmly,


Brian


P.S.  I have a favor to ask all of you…you don’t have to spend any money, you can send your online family something of incredible value…and you can help out a friend (and family member).

Read the article first below…it appeared in Parade Magazine last week…and while it wasn’t done to increase my popularity, or to encourage your pity or to gain publicity, it did give me an idea (based on a typo of all things).

And being labelled a “Stroke Survivor” will not be on my business cards anytime soon. 🙂

Stroke Survivor Brian Kurtz

On the morning of April 10, 2020, 62-year-old Brian Kurtz, a businessman and author from Connecticut, began his day as he always did: He kissed his sleeping wife, Robin, then headed to the bathroom. But Kurtz’s normal routine took a drastic turn when he suddenly collapsed in a heap on the floor. The sound of the fall woke Robin, who immediately called 911. “I was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance; my mind was extremely fuzzy, and I couldn’t speak or move my right arm,” recalls Kurtz.

He learned the details when he woke the next day. “My wife told me, ‘You had a massive stroke. You almost died.’’’ Kurtz had suffered an acute ischemic stroke, a potentially debilitating and deadly type of stroke that occurs when a blood clot obstructs blood supply to the brain.

Strokes, the fifth leading cause of death in the U.S., cause one death every four minutes. They are medical emergencies, and quick treatment to restore blood flow to the brain greatly improves a patient’s odds of survival and risk of complications like memory loss, paralysis and speech and vision problems. Nearly half of stroke survivors never regain total independence. Many die.

Fortunately, when Kurtz arrived at the hospital, a neurosurgeon specializing in his type of stroke was on duty—an amazing stroke of luck for Kurtz, who was promptly whisked into surgery to remove the clot.

Following the surgery, his arm motion was restored, as was his ability to think and speak clearly. Although he did permanently lose vision in his left eye, he feels extremely blessed. “I knew I dodged a bullet. My doctor told me that most people in my situation have much more serious impairments.”

Kurtz, who also survived prostate cancer in 2008, admits to feeling depressed and vulnerable for many months following his ordeal. But what he calls his “near-death experience” didn’t take away his determination to get back to normal through rest, good nutrition, physical activity and plenty of patience. “I always knew what was important to me; now more than ever, there’s a certain urgency about living my best life.”


The typo? My stroke actually happened on April 10, 2019not 2020—which means I’m doing even better now. Yay!

There is another reason why the typo is significant which leads me to my favor.

My second book, Overdeliver, came out April 9, 2019.


That was definitely a bummer one day before my stroke—but if I had to choose between surviving a potentially fatal stroke and having a best-selling book…well…what would you choose?

However if I had died, it could have sold as “the last thing I ever wrote.” Maybe as a collector’s item?

But things worked out in my favor and In the words of a wise man from the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail, “I’m not quite dead yet!”

The book has sold decently over the last year and a half—despite not being able to truly launch it.

I promised my publisher I would re-launch it at some point.

However because of my stroke (a lame excuse considering it was well over a year ago), and then my lack of courage to ask industry friends and “family” (including you, my online family)—I never had anyone formally “mail for it.”

Given the typo in the article above, I was reminded that it has been that long since my stroke and I want to make an “ask”…and hopefully it is not an ask that is unreasonable.

I’m hoping we know each other well enough, and if you have your own online family, would you agree to mail an offer for Overdeliver—as part of my re-launch—using the spectacular free resource site, www.OverdeliverBook.com?

After I wrote the post “Never ask from nowhere again” I received lots of favorable feedback which I wasn’t expecting–I guess I gave myself “permission to suck” with that one.

Many people asked me, “Why didn’t you ever ask me to mail for your book when it came out?”

I’ve already told you the answer—I was “post-stroke” AND I am a chicken.

Then I guess I had another lame excuse—COVID 19.

So…Would any of you like to mail for Overdeliver?

You can use the story above (i.e. Brian had a stroke the day before his book came out and he has asked me to help him re-launch it).

Or…You can let your online family know how I might have changed your thinking in any area of marketing or copywriting—obviously only if I have really done that.

Or…you can say how you know me (at least that you subscribe to my weekly blog),  that you’ve read the book, and while it’s decent, the bonuses are even better!

 And the bonuses are worth thousands of dollars…and some of them are not available anywhere except at www.OverdeliverBook.com.

While I can’t offer you an affiliate commission, I will give you something of tremendous value from my extensive archives of books, swipe files, and digital content…to be determined.

You can be sure that I will over deliver on your “commission” depending on what you can do—you can count on that.

You can even request something specific that you know I own or have the rights to.

I’ve got lots of incredible materials in my archives and in inventory in my warehouse.

Simply send me an email that you want to promote Overdeliver by sending an email to your online family.

I can send you any support material you might want to help with your email to your family.

Or…if you can only do a post on social media, an email to your immediate family or send a message via stool pigeon (or whatever) send me an email as well after you take a look at the site at: www.OverdeliverBook.com.

Affiliate commission to be determined for anything less than a mailing…I’ll still over deliver. 🙂

I hope you’ll see with the testimonials, the quality of the bonuses (from the world’s greatest marketers and copywriters) and a decent book, you will not make yourself look bad by promoting.

And since according to Parade Magazine I had my stroke in 2020 and in the middle of COVID (and not last year) it proves that you can launch a book any time you like. Or that’s how I see it anyway.

I also know that this is a big ask…but it is not coming from nowhere.

About the author 

Brian Kurtz

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