We have a question for you:

What can a famous ad man who died in 1934 teach you about marketing your business today, in the 21st century?

It sounds like a riddle, but it’s a legitimate question. And the answer is – a huge amount!

These days, the conversation around growing your business is all about the “hustle,” the shiny new tactics, and the hottest marketing channels. But if you dig deeper, you will discover that the underlying principles behind those tactics and strategies have been around for many decades.

ROI? This concept is almost 100 years old.

Lifetime customer value? Not a new idea at all.

Conversion rate? Marketers have been measuring it forever.

If you want to get better at marketing your business, on any channel, tactics will only get you so far. Instead, you would do far better if you picked up a classic like “Scientific Advertising” by Claude Hopkins (that ad man we mentioned, who died in 1934)…

…or better yet, learn from someone who lives and breathes direct marketing.

Someone who has spent the past 35 years obsessively studying, absorbing, implementing, and perfecting the sum total of marketing knowledge from the best and brightest advertising minds who ever lived.

Someone like today’s guest on Get Genius podcast, Brian Kurtz.

A legend like Brian doesn’t need an introduction – if you’ve ever had even a passing interest in direct marketing or copywriting, you have probably heard of him. That said, the man’s career spans decades, and Brian’s achievements are too many to list in this short article – so let us give you the “greatest hits.”

  • Brian got his start at the company called Boardroom Inc. Over 34 years, he has helped to develop Boardroom into one of the most respected direct marketing companies in the world. During Brian’s time there, he has gone all the way from apprentice to employee, to partner. Under his leadership, Boardroom’s revenues grew from about $5 million in 1981 all the way to $150+ million in 2006.
  • Over the course of his career, Brian has had a hand in sending out over 2 billion (yes, with a B) pieces of direct mail to subscribers. That said, he is so much more than a “direct mail guy,” having tried almost every major marketing channel, online or offline, with obscenely impressive results. He was even using regression modeling to predict buying behavior – long before Facebook and its “lookalike audiences!”
  • After leaving Boardroom Inc., Brian founded “Titans Marketing LLC” with the purpose of educating today’s entrepreneurs about direct marketing and its eternal truths. A lifelong student himself, Brian himself never stops learning. He rubs shoulders with some of the smartest copywriters, marketers, and business owners working today – and you’ll hear some of their names on today’s podcast!

To be completely honest with you, this may be the most important Get Genius episode we’ve done (yet, anyway). The things you will learn today will help you scale a sustainable, profitable business, no matter what industry you’re in and which marketing channels you are using. The concept of RFM alone will change the way you look at your interactions with customers forever.

(We won’t spoil what it is – listen to the interview!)

But that’s enough teasing and previews. Without further ado, please enjoy this conversation with the one, the only, Brian Kurtz!

Click here to view the full transcript

Here’s what you will learn:

[00:15] Introducing Brian

[06:05] What is direct response marketing, and how Brian fell in love with it

[18:47] Titans of direct response, and how Brian teamed up with them to educate entrepreneurs

[27:30] 6 most brilliant marketers of all time (from Brian’s book “The Advertising Solution”)

[40:32] The truth about what it takes to write great copy

[44:00] How copywriting is NOT like pornography (it makes sense in context, we promise)

[49:19] RFM, and how to use it to think about your marketing

[55:30] 4 copywriting secrets you can apply to your business right now

Resources from Brian:

The Advertising Solution – Brian’s book

You May not Know It When You See It– one of the most insightful articles about copywriting you will ever read

Brian’s website