- July 24, 2018 -
He's been described as a curmudgeonly old-school conservative tight-ass who doesn't even do email.
He hates social media and doesn't trust the Internet.
He makes his clients communicate with him by fax machine, for God’s sake!
He wears gaudy suits with purple shirts.
He's blunt, harsh (sometimes bordering on brutal) and straight-forward...and has branded his direct-style as "No BS."
Guess you see now where I've gotten inspiration from...hopefully not in clothing style, though!
One business consulting session with him costs $18,000.
He's Dan Kennedy.
He's a legend and one hell of a marketer.
When I first set out on my own in the mortgage industry, I used his material to a "T" when sending out postcards.
It worked brilliantly, and I've been a fan of direct-style marketing ever since.
But what I love about Dan is that...
He's a character and he's got his quirks.
People like to hang around people with personality...call it charisma or call it chutzpah.
We gravitate toward people who make us laugh, argue, roll our eyes.
People who inspire us to be better, bigger, bolder.
So as much as I respect and enjoy Dan Kennedy, I have to "slightly" disagree with one of his trademark quotes.
"The business that you are REALLY in is MARKETING." - Dan Kennedy
Here's why...
Every single Discovery that our team holds with new customers starts with this question: "What business do you think you're in?"
We get all kinds of answers. Plumbing, bath restoration, solar, power generation.
And every once in a while, somebody gets it!
Like a kid in grade school who can't wait to blurt out the right answer...they say "I'm in the relationship business."
Bingo! They get it. Ding, ding, ding.
See, you can write a great ad.
You can make a good offer.
You can put up a terrific sales letter.
And eventually they're going to quit working. They just peter out.
Bonding doesn't work that way.
A sense of affinity, a sense of rapport builds until your prospects start having thoughts like:
"That person is just like me. I could hang with that dude."
Or "That person gets me. They understand exactly what I'm struggling with."
If you can demonstrate that you have a matching set of values and beliefs with your prospect, the door opens up significantly in creating that bond.
By the way, you can't fake this. People can sense if you're putting on a show.
When you have that kind of a bond with your marketplace, you no longer have to be brilliant about copy...or use a certain set of tools...or craft the perfect offer.
Will every person you bond with convert to a paying customer?
Some will.
Some won't.
So what?
Next!
But what you're doing when you create tight bonds with your audience is being a better businessman than a marketer.
Chew on that for a minute...more thoughts about that another day.
In the meantime, let's chat.
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