Lessons from Great Copywriters, with Brian Kurtz

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Oct 3, 2022

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INSIGHT

Seven Traits of Top Copywriters

Top copywriters share seven common traits including hunger, curiosity, humility, and passion.
They consistently demonstrate these traits at very high levels across the board.

ADVICE

Use List History to Target Copy

Ask for list history and segmentation to target copy effectively.
Writing great copy to the right audience yields far better results than mediocre copy to a broad audience.

ANECDOTE

Gene Schwartz’s List Value Story

Gene Schwartz prioritized access to high-quality mailing lists over immediate payment for copy.
He recognized mailing to the right audience yielded compound profits exceeding standard fees.

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Our guest today has a unique vantage point in copywriting. As an executive at Boardroom for 34 years, Brian Kurtz worked with many of the most successful and famous copywriters of our time, including Gene Schwartz, Gary Bencivenga, and many others. As the guy in charge, Brian was responsible for selling well over one billion dollars’ worth of products, “$39 at a time,” to millions of people. Seven years ago, Brian started a second career writing books and running mastermind groups. As well as republishing old direct marketing classics. I’ve wanted to have Brian on the show for a long time, and I was thrilled when he agreed to talk about the copywriting legends he has worked with. If you’ve ever wondered what the people at the top of this game were and are like, today’s your lucky day. Brian’s here to tell you. Brian started out by zeroing-in on what the greats of yesteryear (and some of the superstars he worked with are very active today) do differently from other copywriters. We can all suppose, imagine, or try to find hints from stories and their work. But Brian worked closely with these writers to create winners. After some sharp insights about what makes the champions a different breed, Brian and I spent a lot of our time talking about the man who just might be everyone’s favorite Old Master, Gene Schwartz. We went way beyond Gene’s two famous books as Brian shared some stunning stories about working with Gene, and his life outside of writing copy. Brian has a number of offers, including a special one (number 3) for Copywriters Podcast listeners only: 1) Opt in to Brian’s weekly blog at briankurtz.net (and there is lots of free content at that link as well) 2) Go to OverdeliverBook.com to buy his book. You’ll get instructions on how to buy it on Amazon, and send him the receipt to get the bonuses. Less than $20 for the book, and the bonuses are incredible. 3) My favorite: Special offer on Breakthrough Advertising / The Brilliance Breakthrough: Both books together for $300 -- a $35 saving. And free shipping If you’re outside of the US, Brian will take half off of expedited shipping. So, $300 for both books, $330 for outside the US. We haven’t set up a link for this special offer. It’s good for up to one week after the podcast. You have to email Brian: brian at briankurtz dot net for this special offer, and be sure to put “Friend of David” in the subject line.
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