Direct marketer Brian Kurtz, who used to be a VP at DM behemoth Boardroom, once named his Mt. Rushmore — the 4 greatest copywriters he ever worked with and learned from.
Inspired by Brian, I had the idea to name my own Mt. Rushmore.
Who are the four people who have influenced me the most?
Fortunately, I didn’t really have to think.
I have an objective measure of who has influenced me the most:
On my website, where I archive these emails, I tag people I’ve mentioned in the emails. That means I can simply go by people I have quoted most often, whose ideas I have referred to the most, who have appeared in these emails, and I guess in my head, the most.
So here they are. The four faces on Bejako’s Mt. Rushmore… along with just one, biggest, most important idea I got from each (it wasn’t easy to choose):
Mt. Rushmore #1: Dan Kennedy
Dan Kennedy tops the list in terms of number of mentions in this newsletter.
As a result, I had the most trouble picking just one idea that I got from him.
I made a list of a dozen ideas, and picked one that truly was revolutionary in my formation.
It was this:
“Infotainment” is not telling readers a fun or touching story and then trying to twist that into a sale.
In Dan’s world, everything is strategic, and is done for a reason. It took me a long time to learn that, and it’s something I’m still trying to fully internalize. As Dan puts it:
“I’m not Harry Dent or Warren Buffet, not an economist or a pundit; I don’t get paid for financial analysis, and I rarely do anything I’m not paid to do. I’m putting this out there to serve my purposes, to stir up and keep stirring up angst about the economy’s hazards and ills, that being with me protects or insulates you from. And again I make the point that this is not news or simply ‘current events.’ […] The sky is either falling or soon to fall, all the time.”
Mt. Rushmore #2: Ben Settle
Ben was my first exposure to many ideas and names in the world of direct response marketing.
He was also my gateway drug — the introduction to many of the legends in the field, including two of the other names on this Mt. Rushmore.
But since I’ve got to pick just one idea for Ben, it’s got to be daily emails.
For years, I had heard Ben talking about how daily emails turn you into a leader. I nodded, and did nothing.
Even after I had started working as a freelance copywriter, and writing emails for clients, years more passed before I had the idea to write daily emails for myself.
Eventually, I paid Ben a few hundred dollars for a book on getting copywriting clients. The book boiled down to the idea, “Write daily emails.”
Somehow, finally, it clicked. I started to write daily emails for myself.
That was back in 2018. I’ve been writing ever since and my life has transformed as a result.
Mt. Rushmore #3: Gary Bencivenga
When I wrote my little book, 10 Commandments Of A-List Copywriters, the first chapter was about Gary Bencivenga.
It was about Gary’s emphasis on proof, which is what he’s best known for.
But there’s one more specific idea I’ve learned from Gary, which has influenced me on a deep level.
It’s to look for offers that have killer proof baked in, rather than offers where you have to somehow conjure up, dig up, or invent proof, which often means it’s second rate.
That’s powerful advice for product creation. But I’ve taken this idea and applied it to content writing as well.
I often get readers telling me how they like my writing, or how I write well.
I appreciate the compliment, because I like to write and I like to think of myself as a good writer.
But really, I don’t like to rely on my writing ability to make my writing good. And when I do rely primarily on my writing ability, I find that the result tends to be lousy.
Instead, I write about things that are inherently interesting — at least to me — and that are easy to write well about as a result. To my mind, this is the same thing Gary was talking about, just in the email and in the book, and not just on the sales page or the order page.
Mt. Rushmore #4: Gary Halbert
Gary Halbert was my very first exposure to direct marketing.
I read the Boron Letters. I didn’t really get it.
Then I started reading the massive online archives of his multi-year print newsletter. I still didn’t really get it.
But at some point I read an issue of Gary’s newsletter titled, “The Difference Between Winners And Losers.” The ideas in this issue have influenced me on a deep level both for business and otherwise. In Gary’s words:
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I’ll tell you something: This issue of my newsletter is going to make a lot of my readers very uncomfortable. Why? Simply because I know the difference between winners and losers and, in this issue, I’m going to put the choice right dead square in your face. I’m going to give you an extraordinarily simple set of instructions and, if you do what I say, your chances of becoming extremely prosperous are going to be magnified by a factor of at least 1,000!
But most of you are not going to follow these simple instructions. I know that already from past experience. And I even know already the reasons you’re going to give for not doing what I suggest. These are the same reasons everybody (including me) nearly always gives for not doing something which will make our lives better.
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Gary says that the difference between winners and losers is…
“Movement! Winners go out and get going before they know all the answers or even most of the answers. Losers will study a problem endlessly to make sure they don’t do anything ‘rash.'”
Fortunately, this came early in my marketing education. As a result, I decided to start blindly doing what I’m told to do, by people who I have decided to trust, like the names on my Mt. Rushmore above.
The results have been inevitably good. I only wish I’d have done it all sooner (like with Ben’s advice about daily emails) and more thoroughly (like with Dan’s stance on “infotainment”).
So now you know my Mt. Rushmore. And now for my offer:
Yesterday, I offered a guide I’ve put together, “What’s Grown My List Over The Years, Vol. 1-6.” It’s a series of posts I’ve written in my Daily Email House community about the evergreen strategies that have grown my list over the years.
You can get this guide as a free bonus in case you join my Daily Email Habit service by tomorrow, Saturday, at 12 midnight PST.
And in case you’re wondering why you might want to join my Daily Email Habit service:
I’ll help you do infotainment in a purposeful and effective way, as Dan Kennedy does…
I’ll help you start and stick with writing daily emails, so you can become a leader in your field, as Ben Settle promises…
I’ll help you dig up inherently interesting things to write about, so you don’t have to rely on any extraordinary word magic, as I’ve learned to do from Gary Bencivenga…
I’ll help you actually take action and move, instead of continuing to read, and plan, and put things off, as Gary Halbert warned against.
Again, the deadline to join Daily Email Habit and get “What’s Grown My List Over The Years, Vol. 1-6” as a free bonus, is tomorrow, Saturday, at 12 midnight.
Here’s the link: