Brian Kurtz and Daryl Urbanski shared their expertise on direct marketing, emphasizing the importance of list building, database marketing, and copywriting. They discussed the significance of personalized relationships in business and effective marketing strategies for scaling businesses. Daryl and Brian also highlighted the importance of understanding the market and audience, breaking rules and taking risks, and blending offline and online tactics to maximize ROI. They emphasized the value of data analysis, measurability, and segmentation in both direct mail and online marketing.

Here are the reasons why you should listen to the full interview

• Learn how to leverage journaling for personal development and success.
• Discover the key strategies for scaling a product based on audience response.
• Understand the role and effectiveness of direct marketing in business evolution.

Resources

• Brian Kurtz Website
• Brian Kurtz LinkedIn
• For more Informative Interviews Click Here

Interview Highlights 

Direct marketing with Brian Kurtz, Hall of Fame umpire and marketer

• Brian Kurtz shares insider secrets to direct marketing success.
• Brian Kurtz is a legendary direct marketer with a successful career spanning over 50 years.
• Kurtz has been recognized for his contributions to the industry, including induction into the Direct Marketing Association's hall of fame.

List management and personal relationships

• Brian Kurtz praises Brian's ability to connect with people, citing his personalized introductions and ability to make everyone feel special.
• Brian Kurtz and Brian discuss the impact of their dinner event, with Brian highlighting Brian's ability to create a sense of community and connection among attendees.
• Brian Kurtz shares their college experience, including their uncertain future plans and serendipitous events that shaped their life.
• Brian Kurtz's interest in list management began when they visited headhunters in January before graduation, despite the job market being unavailable for six months.

Career path from English major to list management to copywriting

• Brian met a headhunter in January who fell in love with them and helped them get a job at a publishing company.
• Brian  eventually landed an interview at Boardroom Incorporated after being referred by the headhunter, who saw a connection between them and the company's founder, Marty Huddleston.
• Brian started working at Boardroom Inc. as a list clerk and later became interested in the marketing side of the business.
• Brian learned about copywriting and offers, and worked with some of the greatest copywriters of all time.
• Brian's experience at Boardroom Inc. helped him develop a deep understanding of what makes audiences tick.

Copywriting importance and list building fundamentals

• Daryl Urbanski and Brian  discuss the importance of copywriting in business, citing examples from successful copywriters like Gary Bencivenga and Greg Ranocco.
• They emphasize that even in today's digital age, copywriting remains a crucial element in leveraging salesmanship and moving the world, whether through written word, webinars, or video sales letters.
• Brian  highlights the importance of understanding audience and list building basics.

Selecting and segmenting audiences based on recency, frequency, and monetary value

• Brian emphasizes importance of selecting customers based on recency, frequency, and monetary value.
• Differences in importance of monetary value depending on whether selling information or catalog products.
• Brian highlights the importance of segmenting audiences based on their behavior and characteristics, and tailoring messaging accordingly.
• Existing customers are often the best target audience, as they have already shown interest in a product or service, and can be re-engaged in a more personalized manner.

Marketing strategies, challenges, and growth

• Daryl Urbanski learned that treating a small list like a large one can lead to better results.
• Urbanski faced challenges in his career, including growing pains and learning how to apply direct mail to other channels.
• Daryl Urbanski reflects on his early career struggles to sell products on TV.

Scaling a business through niching and direct marketing

• Brian discussed how insomnia led to a $200 million franchise, and the importance of journaling and gratitude in their career development.
• Brian shared their approach to increasing content reach by licensing outside books, rather than relying on internal editorial.
• Brian discusses the importance of niching down in business, citing challenges with going too wide.
• Brian and Daryl Urbanski share experiences with trying to go a mile deep and an inch wide in their businesses.
• Daryl Urbanski shares insights on scaling products, citing Jean Schwartz's book Breakthrough Advertising.
• Brian discusses importance of audience feedback in determining when to scale, using surveys and online methods.

Direct marketing strategies and scaling products based on audience feedback

• Daryl Urbanski and Brian discuss the importance of listening to the audience and scaling based on their feedback.
• Brian shares an example of creating a book on diabetes based on audience need, rather than surveying for demand.
• Brian emphasizes the importance of understanding the market and recognizing signs of success or failure in direct marketing.
• Brian and Daryl Urbanski discuss the importance of testing and scaling in direct marketing, and how to adapt to market feedback.

Scaling up campaigns by following audience feedback and using specific copy approaches

• Daryl Urbanski and Brian shared insights on launching a successful business, with Urbanski highlighting the importance of dialing in a product or service over an 8-18 month period.
• Brian shared an example of a quick campaign that was able to scale quickly based on feedback, breaking rules in the infomercial business by building a case for the offer over 25 minutes instead of the traditional 7-minute format.
• Brian shares insights on successful infomercials, highlighting the importance of audience feedback and tailoring copy to specific products.

Tracking and measuring results in direct marketing campaigns

• Daryl Urbanski discusses direct marketing and its measurability, sharing tips on testing sales letters online before using them in direct mail.
• Brian emphasizes the importance of tracking results in direct marketing, citing examples of online-to-offline testing and attribution modeling.
• Brian emphasizes importance of tracking and attributing media spend to individual campaigns.
• Lifetime value of customer should be considered when evaluating media effectiveness.

Direct mail and online marketing strategies, including targeting and personalization

• Daryl Urbanski and Brian discuss the importance of understanding lifetime value and predicting ROI in marketing.
• They also highlight the benefits of using data and modeling to make informed decisions and improve marketing strategies.
• Daryl Urbanski discusses the power of targeted advertising on social media and the internet, highlighting its efficiency and low cost.
• Brian warns against sending untargeted or incongruent messages to an audience, as it can lead to unsubscribes and decreased receptivity to future offers.

Marketing habits and overdelivering

• Daryl Urbanski and Brian discuss direct marketing strategies, including over-delivering to customers.
• Brian emphasizes the importance of overdelivering in marketing and business, citing the example of giving away a free phone with a magazine subscription.
• Brian shares the habit of successful people, including only sleeping an average of 6 hours a night, and encourages listeners to adopt similar habits to emulate success.

Prioritizing time, gratitude, and avoiding envy

• Brian reflects on prioritizing tasks and practicing gratitude for success.
• Brian reflects on the importance of gratitude and not envying others' success.

About Brian Kurtz

Brian Kurtz is the founder and CEO of Titans Marketing LLC, which provides direct response marketing coaching, consultation, and educational services. He has an English major and Business Administration degree at Rutgers University.

As a direct response marketing consultant, he specializes in demographical and data marketing. Brian has been responsible for buying more than $80 million worth of direct response TV spots over three years. He has also overseen approximately 1.3 billion pieces of mails used for online and direct response marketing throughout his career. 

In 2000, Brian was inducted into the Direct Marketing Association’s Hall of Fame at the 14 Annual Circulation Day. He has received the Leader of the Year Award from the Direct Marketing Club in New York. The 2002 Silver Apple Honorees also acknowledged his work and accomplishments.

Brian is also a blogger and has written several articles exploring direct response marketing and other related topics.

Enjoyed This Podcast?

Marketing has significantly evolved over the past few years, transitioning from direct response to online marketing. Brian reminds us that the fundamental concepts haven’t changed despite the change in media. If you enjoyed the podcast, be sure to subscribe and share it with your friends!

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