Dec 27, 2016
In this episode, Dave interviews Brian Kurtz, founder of Titans Marketing, author of The Advertising Solution, and one of the masterminds behind Boardroom Inc. Brian is a serial direct marketer and over the past 20 years, he estimates he has been responsible for $1.3B pieces of 3rd class mail. Tune in as Brian shares how he built a massive 9M name list, what the 40-40-20 rule is, and why segmentation is extremely important in your lists.
Time Stamped Show Notes:
- 00:33 – Introducing Brian
- 00:38 – Brian met Dave in Fort Myer
- 00:53 – Dave talks about American Dream U
- 01:04 – Brian has just republished a blog post, Masterminding at the Pentagon
- 01:10 – His blog is about their experience in Pentagon and how the troops can re-career out the military
- 01:39 – Brian’s biography
- 03:49 – Is Brian the good guy or the villain in marketing?
- 03:58 – Marketing being used for good vs evil
- 04:03 – Brian discusses speaking to a group of entrepreneurs in Hungary
- 04:33 – His presentation was entitled, Marketing isn’t Everything, It’s the Only Thing
- 04:43 – The first thing he talked about was the idea that Marketing is NOT evil
- 05:32 – The difference between selling and marketing
- 05:48 – Selling is not a chore, it is an obligation
- 06:22 – Brian has gone from offline marketing to online marketing
- 06:58 – Email is cheaper than direct mail
- 07:42 – Brian does NOT use his list to promote affiliates
- 09:04 – Email has so much ‘junk’
- 10:21 – The least crowded inbox is the one you grew up with
- 10:40 – “Everybody’s mailbox is empty with online bill paying”
- 11:20 – Brian looks at how people are getting his attention through the mail
- 11:38 – Email marketers always ask Brian if he can help them do a marketing campaign
- 12:02 – “Direct mail is the new secret weapon”
- 12:21 – Brian is always referred to in Facebook when someone asks about direct mail
- 13:00 – “This isn’t about direct mail replacing online”
- 14:02 – How Brian knows when a mailing is directed to him
- 16:07 – In direct mail, messages are personalized and addressed individually to people BUT online, you send 1 email message to your entire list
- 16:24 – Dave shares how he used to work with associations
- 16:40 – “You can’t just build great stuff or host great content or have a great product – you actually have to market it”
- 17:21 – Segment your list to know which emails you should send them
- 17:41 – Brian talks about his experience in segmentation
- 18:40 – 40-40-20 rule = 40% list, 40% offer, and 20% creative
- 19:52 – There’s no one-size-fits-all creative
- 20:01 – Your lists are many lists – there are no unique names, just unique lists
- 20:18 – Segment as narrow as you can and expand out from there
- 20:40 – Dave shares about the mail he just received
- 21:51 – Handwritten letters are awesome
- 22:34 – Direct mail is still “direct mail”
- 22:49 – Brian talks about his blog, Christmas Cards in July
- 24:47 – Put something of significance in the mail
- 26:27 – “Human beings have not changed because of the internet”
- 27:22 – Dave shares 3 examples of sending snail mail
- 27:34 – 1st Dave’s friend, David Hauser who sold Grasshopper
- 29:02 – 2nd Dave’s salesman, Ryan, used to send out hand-written notes to people
- 31:05 – Dave is calling out a challenge to all listeners to automate a process and send out hand-written notes
- 31:20 – Check out Bond.co / Thankbot.com / Maillift.com / FeltApp.com / TheHandWrittenCard.com for hand-written note automations
- 32:50 – 3rd is the online spam factor—the Nigerian Prince scam
- 33:48 – SPAM is NOT a good direct marketing strategy
- 34:40 – Brian explains his new post, How You Sell is How They Will Respond
- 38:49 – If you sell crappy, stupidly, and with no heart, you will get customers who are exactly like that
- 39:53 – Getting an email with the “Re:” in the subject line is deceitful
- 40:31 – “Sometimes, the end can justify the means IF a lot of things are in place”
- 41:44 – Having something that can help a business grow attracts readers
- 42:07 – There are things worth doing
- 42:35 – More about Christmas Cards in July
- 42:59 – Everybody wants to be thought of and be relevant
- 43:30 – The value of regifting
- 45:10 – Taking regifting a step further
- 45:47 – The key is that they know you are thinking about them
- 48:27 – Brian’s book, The Advertising Solution is a profile of 6 advertising legends
- 49:27 – Brian wants to deliver more than a book
- 49:29 – Direct Marketing’s Rule of Thumb: You always over deliver to the customer
- 49:59 – Buy the book, send an email with your receipt, and you will get to download the greatest ads written by 6 legends and so much more
- 51:51 – Buying the book also puts you in Brian’s list which means you’ll have access to all of his free content in BrianKurtz.me
- 52:36 – Brian encourages you to go to TheLegendsBook.com and take advantage of the resources
- 53:56 – Dave shares a little secret about the podcast
- 55:50 – How Brian built his 9M name list
- 56:03 – Segment, test offers, and write incredible copy
- 56:40 – Start with expertly segmented list
- 57:08 – Online and offline efforts are almost the same
- 57:19 – Believe in your product 100%
- 58:40 – Find out where your market is
- 59:19 – Make deals with people who have the lists you need
- 59:48 – Research on every level
- 1:00:40 – Brian started with 0 after he left Boardroom
- 1:01:12 – His list right now is 7,000 which has been built organically
- 1:01:48 – Brian chooses to build a high-quality list rather than a high-quantity list
- 1:02:25 – Principles are the same for building a high-quality or high-quantity list
- 1:05:02 – Dave asks Brian how to become a baseball umpire
- 1:05:35 – Brian was a good catcher when he was younger
- 1:06:02 – He was a fat slow kid
- 1:06:39 – At 13, he couldn’t play but he knew the game well
- 1:06:50 – He stayed in the game by being the umpire
- 1:07:57 – When Brian is in a game, he sets everything aside to focus
- 1:08:15 – He loves the idea of bringing order from chaos
- 1:08:38 – “It’s a total ego play without ego”
- 1:09:50 – Check out Brian’s blog post, When Baseball Imitates Direct Marketing
- 1:10:16 – Dave closes the podcast
- 1:11:01 – For feedback and recommendations, email Dave at dave@davidrwill.com
3 Key Points:
- Direct marketing is not dead – it’s the new “secret weapon.”
- People want to be thought of and relevant – show this when mailing them!
- Remember to segment your lists – you don’t have unique names but unique lists.
Resources Mentioned:
- Entrepreneur's Organization – The EO Network
- BrianKurtz.me – Brian’s website
- The Advertising Solution – Brian’s book
Credits:
- Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives