It’s late — I’ve been working until now on a new daily newsletter that I will launch tomorrow. It’s connected to my weekly health newsletter, which I tease occasionally but never reveal.
Inevitably, whenever I launch something new like this, a million and one little niggling things pop up that need to be done.
That’s why it’s late. And that’s why I somehow still haven’t written this daily email.
So let me just share something I wish somebody had shared with me a long, long time ago.
Had somebody told me this, it would have cleared up many confused days and nights of my marketing education.
It would have taken away some worries.
And maybe it would have even made me some money.
Here’s the big “secret”:
There are two fundamental styles of direct marketing/businesses/newsletters.
The first style I will call the Marty style, as in Marty Edelston.
Edelston was the founder of Boardroom, a $100M direct response publisher. He hired the bestest and A-listest copywriters out there, including Gary Bencivenga, Parris Lampropoulos, and David Deutsch.
The second style I will call the Dan style, as in Dan Kennedy.
Dan was at one point the highest-paid copywriter on the planet. He is also somebody who has shaped generations of direct marketers, including Russell Brunson, Ben Settle, and, on a much more modest level, me.
Marty style: intriguing, benefit-oriented, impersonal.
Dan style: intimate, personality-oriented, opinionated.
The Marty style of newsletter features cool how-to insider tips, such as how to ouwit a mugger in a self-service elevator, along with references to outside authorities who revealed that info.
The Dan style of newsletter features a personal rant by Dan about how the sky is falling or is about to fall. It features no outside references because what other authority could you ever need besides Dan himself.
So which style is better?
Or rather, why are there two styles, and not just one, the way we would all prefer?
You guessed it. Because each style can work well, and each style has its drawbacks.
Dan style means you can sell much more easily, and at much higher prices, and people will stick with you for longer.
But your audience is much more limited, and your product is really you.
Marty style means you can reach a much broader audience much more quickly, plus you don’t have to grow out mutton chop mustaches and share photos of yourself sitting on a bull.
But your audience is much less attached to you, and they will pay $39 instead of $399 for the same info.
So which style you choose to follow is really up to you and the kind of marketing/business/newsletter you can stomach for an extended period of time.
Of course, you can also stomach both, which is basically what I’m doing.
I have this newsletter, more on the mutton-chop-mustache, Dan Kennedy side. On the other hand, my health newsletter, including the daily newsletter I’m launching tomorrow, is fully on the “what never to eat on an airplane,” Marty Edelston side.
You gotta figure out what you want to do.
Final point:
If you do decide to go the Marty Edelston, impersonal, benefit-oriented route, then you will likely need copy chops, above and beyond what you will need if you are really selling yourself.
And if you do need copy chops, specifically the kinds of copy chops that people like Gary Bencivenga, Parris Lampropoulos, and David Deutsch have, then take a look here: