The Maverick Marketer Blog

I can’t stand boring, faceless, mind numbing marketing.

Yuck.

TV ads go by in a blur of sameness and even those that are funny lack real ’salesmanship’ needed to actually sell anything.

Same online.

Most emails and websites are a waste of pixels on your screen and suck the very life out of you to pay much attention to them.

I’m not really trying to be critical… it’s more that I love marketing and know the power of great campaigns that grab you by the imagination and draw you in (and buy)… so I can’t help but want to show YOU how to make your marketing stand out.

One of my friends and mentors, Joe Vitale, is a master at outrageous marketing and HE credits PT Barnum as one of HIS inspirations.

In fact, PT Barnum is the father of outrageous marketing and is perhaps more famous for his fun, zany events. He captured the imagination of the world before he died in 1890, and inspired Joe Vitale to write the only real biography of his marketing brilliance.

That’s why, when Joe launched his revised, updated edition of ‘There’s A Customer Born Every Minute’ he decided to do a Barnum-esque event that turned into The World’s First Canine Concert at a beautiful park in Austin, Texas.

The concert started at 12 Noon and went for 1 hour… of course the band, Porter Davis, also played their music for the crowd… and everyone had a blast.

PT Barnum incarnate was there, along with a life sized version of Joe’s book, a real live Mermaid, magicians, and even a 7 ft tall cat protesting the event.

The media showed up and got Joe a good deal of publicity for book launch.

I absolutely endorse this book… it contains Joe’s unique insights and reveals for the first time Barnum’s 10 Rings of Power… along with the ONLY true study of Barnum’s outrageous stunts (and the thinking behind them).

Now… what’s especially cool is that you can hear all about the genius marketing and the ‘behind the scenes’ magic of Joe’s Canine Concert on a call tonight between Mark Joyner and Dr. Joe Vitale… (more on that in a minute)

P.T Barnum is most famous for his zany yet brilliant publicity stunts.

He knew how to have fun with marketing and tickle the imagination of the public to draw immense crowds to his events and also made himself a huge fortune in the process.

He is unfortunately also credited with coining the phrase, ‘there’s a sucker born every minute…’

I used to think that was true, too, until I read Joe Vitale’s brilliant book. Joe discovered that Barnum never actually made the ’sucker’ comment at all… and clearly proved that in his wonderful biograpy of Barnum.

A major New York publisher liked Joe’s ‘There’s a Customer Born Every Minute’ so much they just published a revised and expanded edition and it was launched yesterday (along with a ton of bonuses).

Listen, a lot of people ask me how I got where I am today and ask how I come up with my ideas… well, Joe Vitale is one of the mentors I credit with showing me how to have fun with marketing and be at least a little bit outrageous at the same time.

Here’s TWO steps to learning how to make YOUR marketing more fun and more outrageous and more profitable at the same time…

Step 1: get Joe’s newly revised and updated "There’s a Customer Born Every Minute" and all the bonuses at… http://www.barnumreturns.com.

Then…

Step 2: Sign up for the call TONIGHT with Mark Joyner and Joe Vitale where Joe will reveal the Barnum-esque strategy behind his book launch and Canine Concert at: http://www.maverickmarketer.com/barnum

The call is FREE… so enjoy these two brilliant marketers as they reveal how marketing can be fun, outrageous, and profitable all at the same time.

I can promise you this… there is never a dull moment with those two!

Craig

I’ve been like that Ground Hog recently… holed up in my office doing a zillion and one things. But yesterday I emerged just long enough to take the first step toward achieving a dream I’ve had since I was about 23.

What’s more, there is a serious marketing lesson in the experience I went through that I want to share with you.

First, I want to give you a heads up… tomorrow (Friday March 24th) I will be making a very special offer for just 7 people who want to go to Big Seminar for the first time… more on that in a minute.

Now on with my story…

I’m going on a road trip, starting in June, and my life may never be the same. I’ve dreamed of this for a long time but it’s taken until now for all the pieces to fall into place. What’s 14 years among friends…

Sometimes life doesn’t take the turn you thought it would… and you’re faced with a whole new road to travel. So it is with my new dream vehicle… which got me a ribbing by one of my friends who let me know I’d finally become a Texas Redneck.

Now, I had wanted to buy this beauty a few months ago… it’s a super machine that will push your eyes to the back of your sockets if you stomp on the pedal… the hand crafted race-bred engine simply sings louder the more you ask of it… and I’ve had my eye on one that looks like this….

Ah, that’s a beauty. BMW M3.

Had I bought that yesterday, my friend would not have accused me of being a Texas Redneck (an aging yuppie with a lead foot, perhaps… but not a Redneck)

Here was my dilemna… my dream is to drive across this great country in an RV or tow behind trailer… and the fact is this muscle bound convertible will NOT tow anything like what I need.

You’re a Redneck if… you dream of THIS…

This is simply the largest vehicle I have ever owned. In college I had a beat up pick up truck (Ford F150 4×4) for my landscaping business, but this monster is even bigger…

What’s amazing is the ‘cowboy leather’ seats in side (that’s what my kids call it). It’s the only vehicle with Castano leather.

If you had told me just a few years ago that I’d buy a top of the line truck with ’smooth as butter’ leather for about what it would have cost me to get that shiny M3… I’d have hurt myself laughing.

Roadtrip!

The dream come true is that this June I’ll be departing with my wife and three boys towing a big 5th wheel trailer and spend about 8 weeks on the road. About 4 weeks will be in Vermont, visiting family and friends… with a detour up north to Canada for Michel Fortin and Sylvie Charrier’s wedding in August.

If you have experience with 5th wheel trailers and want to drop me a line, please do. I’m considering renting one or buying one and need to feed my brain with savvy about what I’m looking for.

I can’t wait…

I’ll of course have my laptop with cell phone broadband card so I can post pics and stories to this blog as I go.

Marketing lesson…

This truck is brand new… which means I shopped around at the 4 or so local Ford dealers to test drive and compare. One guy, who was relatively new on the job, showed me around, was friendly enough, and I went back several times to explore different options during my search.

The reason I’m doing this now is that it’s ‘Truck Month’ and my sales guy told me they’d knock $10k off the sticker in factory incentives.

I was pretty sure I would either buy a new truck from him or a used one from eBay if I found something that hit the spot.

Well, when it came down to haggling, I sat down last Saturday with this guy and asked him to get me his best numbers. He said he was busy and shuffled me off on his trainee sales person who had literally 3 days on the job. At this point, I knew more than she did about the vehicle.

She was helpful and took my information as I waited for the price quote. When my original sales guy returned a while later he had a hand written breakdown of what they’d be willing to do… including a $5,000 down payment.

Here’s the thing, I had spoken with another dealer the day before and that sales guy, Rick, told me a price that was several thousand below what the first guy offered… and no down payment.

So, when I told the sales manager I was going to shop around, he picked up the paper with the pricing on it and I walked out, saying I’d call on Monday. Without that paper, I’d not be able to ’shop’ with any hard bargaining chips as all I had haggle with was my word. Needless to say, I noticed the gesture.

As it turns out, in Texas, car dealers can only be open one weekend day… and Rick was open on Sunday so I took my wife, Aimee, and the boys down to see him. He confirmed his price and had an attentive, no BS style. We looked at a couple identical trucks and never test drove anything.

Monday… I bought my truck from Rick. I even gave my original guy one more chance to come back with a serious offer (because I said I would give him a chance), but you know what he said? It was his day off and he’d have his trainee talk to me.

Wrong answer.

Why did Rick get the $50k sale and the original guy who spent all the time with me didn’t?

Relationship…

I’m no newbie when it comes to sales and marketing and I can spot BS pretty quickly. The original sales guy and his trainee simply didn’t recognize that I was serious when I said give me your best numbers… and played games when it came time to haggle…

If you’ve got a top of the line truck to sell… you need to listen to your customer and walk them through by the hand all the way to the sale. Don’t pawn them off on someone who can’t answer final buying questions… and then ignore the fact that you’re up against stiff competition.

The lesson I took away from this for me, and am now sharing with you, is that the business that comes across with a real, honest, no BS offer will beat a ‘too slick for their own good’ sales shark any day.

Substance outsells manipulation and games. I’ve been known to pay more from one salesperson for the same product just because I liked the person I was dealing with better.

In this case, the lower price from Rick was the way I discovered the games the original guy and his manager were playing… so I got the best price and the better dealership.

I see this sort of thing happening all the time online, especially in the Internet Marketing niche with affiliate promotions.

Sometimes I’ll see just one too many emails promoting the same thing… and I’ve become ‘BS Intolerant’.

I’ll buy any day from the person who tells me like it is and gives me a square deal. In fact, I love to buy stuff from people like that because I want to reward them for doing things right.

Be real… people will buy more from you. It’s that simple.

With that said… I will be making an irresistible offer tomorrow for 7 people who want to go to Big Seminar in Atlanta April 7th, 8th and 9th.

See, on Tuesday I have a special preview call with Armand Morin about email marketing… I’ll be giving you my straight up, no BS take on why I recommend this Seminar so strongly.

I know live events aren’t for everyone and I don’t want to post this limited offer on the blog. So, if you haven’t already done so… sign up for my VIP Seminar list here and tomorrow I’ll tell you all about what I’ve got cookin.

(When you sign up for the VIP Seminar list, you’ll instantly get a link where you can check out the seminar and sign up for the preview call with me and Armand on Tuesday, March 28th)

First Name: Best Email:

I’ve talked a lot about ‘breakthroughs’ recently and taking the first steps on this dream is a big deal for me.

It’s a milestone that represents FREEDOM to travel the country in a ‘home on the road’ with my family and see things most people don’t get to see.

Whatever your dream, I encourage you to reach for it… and not settle for anything less.

I’ve proven to myself beyond a shadow of a doubt that you can achieve whatever you dream.

All the best,

Craig

Talk about intense… my life is running at 100 miles per hour with no brakes… I have not had a moment to update my blog.

I’ve had such a laser focus on the various projects I’m working on that it feels like the last week went by in a blink of an eye… and I love it.

I’m working on some very exciting projects of my own (that I promise I’ll tell you about soon) as well as my Butterfly Marketing case study…

But I’ve got to pop my head up and get your attention right now because two of my favorite people have finally released something that I’ve waited over a year to see come to life… and you’re among the first to hear about it because it’s not officially launched yet (can’t wait to find out what it is… click here).

Last time I wrote you I talked about what it takes to break through to success… particularly in marketing… and I got emails and comments on that like I never expected.

I love it when something I write hits a nerve… that’s how I know I’m ‘keeping it real’.

I’m fascinated with ‘breakthroughs’ because of my long journey to success… and because I work each week with coaching students who are looking for breakthroughs of their own.

The more I study this, the more I ‘get’ how success is all in your head.

How you think and how you feel creates the results you get. I’ve had times when the world seemed to pile on me with one load of obstacles after another.

I felt like yelling, "come on… can’t you see that I’m ALREADY down and out? I can’t take any more rotten luck!"

When my head is all turned around, inside out, and I feel depressed or jaded toward the things that stand in my way personally or in business… I can’t seem to get out of my own way.

Everything I do when I feel like that is backwards… wrong… upside down and crosswise from what I should have done.

At times in my life I’ve been like a drowning man and the more I thrashed about the deeper I sank.

The question is… how do you turn things around before you truly hit bottom?

I’m sure you’ve been there… when everywhere you look, another problem is raising it’s ugly head, like the mythical Hydra monster that simply regenerates two heads for each that you strike down…

The ‘enemy’ is not ‘out there.’

The lesson in that legend is you don’t need a better sword because ‘fighting’ won’t kill this beast… you’ve got to outsmart it by going WITHIN yourself (more on that in a minute).

And then…there are magic times (I’m hoping you’ve felt those, too) where everything lines up and you feel like you could do anything you dreamed up and it would work instantly.

Then… you can’t even imagine feeling down… you’re invincible!

Over a year ago, I had such a weekend with some incredible people… it was a workshop that cost an arm and a leg to attend ($5,000 just for the ticket to get in) and the theme for the weekend was ‘Breakthrough Copywriting’.

I was one of the speakers, among a handful of the very best copywriters and marketers alive today… but the ‘audience’ was filled with great copywriters and dead serious marketers, too.

It was more than a ‘workshop.’

It was an experience that I think surprised everyone involved.

Imagine being in a room with 40 marketers, all at different levels, each facing different challenges, yet all experiencing their own personal break through over the course of just a few days.

Do you think some of those other people’s breakthroughs rubbed off… compounding the learning experience?

You bet.

I’ve been priveleged to attend some amazing events, including some personal growth stuff that really pushed the envelope… but this one weekend was special in a way that I can’t put perfectly into words.

(I know… that’s funny… ME, at a loss for words. Go figure)

I’ll admit, when my mentor and dear friend David Garfinkel (the world’s GREATEST copywriting coach) told me he was putting on this workshop, at first I didn’t fully understand what he meant by ‘breakthrough copywriting’… but I’ve learned that when David has something to teach me… I just listen.

Literally, he’s guided me at critical points through some of the most daunting obstacles that I’ve faced in the three years I’ve known him… and I shudder to think of some of the wrong turns I would have taken had he not been in my corner.

I know I’m not the only one who feels that way… folks happily pay him $15,000 and up for mentoring and salesletters, when they can get a spot in his schedule.

David’s been a copywriter and writer since before I even got out of high school (I think the most interesting thing I wrote then was love notes to my girlfriend in study hall… my term papers were mostly drivel).

David has generated literally millions in sales for himself and his clients… and he has a gift like perhaps no other for teaching HOW to craft sales messages that really sell.

But… he also knows what it’s like to stare at a blank page and dread typing the first word… blocked from even tasting a lick of success from what could be a six figure (or better) project.

Hey, as copywriting great John Carlton says, nothing happens until the sales copy is written…

Wouldn’t you know it, though, ‘copywriting’ is not all that is involved in a successful campaign.

There’s more to it… and this is what nobody tells you about writing killer copy.

If your head is clogged with emotions and fears and limiting beliefs… your next promotion is doomed until you can break through that block.

Makes sense… the words come out of our heads and from our hearts… If you’re struggling with writing cash pulling copy it turns out the first place to look is inside yourself.

In case you’re wondering if it’s worth taking the time to think about this… it is.

Writing words that sell is literally the surest path to wealth that I know. You may speak your words into audio or write a script for a video that sells products like hot cakes, but words are at the heart of the campaign inevitably.

I read a promotion the other day that made me shake my head… it had all the ‘buzz words’ but it fell flat.

It had no heart… it was a hollow shell filled with parts that didn’t add up to the sum total of anything near what the product deserved.

I wasn’t surprised to hear that promotion didn’t sell squat.

In our ‘information marketing’ niche everything is about the writing… the product idea, the copy, the emails you use to promote your product… so if the well of your mind is poisoned with self sabotage, all the time and money you put into your business is down the drain.

If you’re serious about making money in marketing, you’ve got to face this fact.

The pen (or keyboard) is not only mightier than the sword, it’s the key to a city of gold that awaits on the other side of your next breakthrough.

Think this doesn’t apply to you? Think again.

At that weekend in Vegas I heard my brother in arms, Michel Fortin, the million dollar copywriter, talk about HIS blocks… this stuff hits everyone my friend.

If he can write copy that literally has launched million dollar product sales and still have to break through his barriers… you better believe that you and I face these moments of crisis and opportunity, too.

(Kinda gives you hope, though, doesn’t it? Even the masters walk in the same shoes.)

It’s human. We all share this struggle and breakthrough cycle on our journey through life.

That’s why I love the ‘infopreneur business’ because you get to face your own limits and breakthrough as you climb the ladder to success… with the help of those above you on the ladder.

Recently I spent about 50 minutes on the phone with Michel as he went through a salesletter for my new project (I felt pretty lucky… he’s not taking any new clients on).

His mind is so fine tuned at this point to the art and science of sales copy that in a tweak here, and tuck there, and a swift kick in the tail there… he brought the words to life on the spot.

We all saw Michel do the same thing that weekend at the Breakthrough Copywriting workshop during the hot seats… he’s got a gift… but do you know who’s Copywriting Templates he uses for his ’swipe file’?

David Garfinkel’s very own…

Now, if you are a long time reader you know I’ve practically forced David to offer his elusive Copywriting Templates course because he usually only makes them available at the seminars he speaks at.

But, with good reason… my subscribers have clammored to get their hands on the only resource I know that literally breaks down every element of writing killer copy and distills it into a no brainer template.

Template… as in blue print… system… plug yourself in and watch the predicable results flow out as if by magic.

Let me make this perfectly clear… templates are THE OPPOSITE to making yourself reinvent the wheel each time you write.

Why do that to yourself? That’s why great writers have such massive ’swipe files’ of killer copy.

But swipe files are not templates… and it takes work to reverse engineer a winner out of someone else’s copy.

But… David’s templates lay out the structure of every element of a winning salesletter for you on a silver platter.

Everyone wants his templates.

Hey, literally, I just got an email from a long time reader and customer who wants to get his hands on these templates and asked me for help… and he’s in line with a guy from the UK who already asked me a week or so ago.

My eternal struggle with David is that he almost never makes enough copies available when I get a rare chance a few times a year to promote it… and now the course is off the market for good I understand.

I love David’s work so much I’ve literally done more teleseminars with him than anyone else… and pretty much every one featured his templates… and every time they sold out.

So you can imagine how excited I was to learn that David and Michel have put that amazing weekend of breakthroughs and copywriting brilliance into a box that you can bring home for yourself.

I’ve waited over a full year for this… and I promised myself, David, and every once attending that I would shout from the rooftops the moment I could offer the full audio and video of this event because…

* David goes through, in detail his templates and his deepest copywriting secrets like never before…

* Michel Fortin laid out the secrets to his cash copy machine that’s been behind practically every major product launch you can think off…

…and that’s just the beginning.

Listen, this course doesn’t launch until April 1st… and there are some unique (and very clever) goodies available as part of an exclusive pre-launch happening right now that I’m part of because I was lucky enough to speak that weekend.

In fact, one of the bonuses is a never before released audio I did with David about my ‘Relationship Writing Secrets’…

So I suggest you go take a peak at http://www.maverickmarketer.com/breakthrough right now and see what you missed last February in Vegas.

I assure you, you’ve never seen anything like this before… it’s certainly not simply a ‘course of copywriting.’

Breakthrough Copywriting strikes at the heart of what’s holding you back from reaching the next level in your business… whether you are at square one or within arms reach of the stars. Everyone… from the speakers to the attendees walked away from that workshop with a head full of "aha’s" so I’m confident you will too.

Click HERE and SEE FOR YOURSELF how to break through your barriers and write copy that pulls in massive sales (even if you think you can’t write two words to save your life right now!)

It is my firm belief after all these years that the surest way to break through is to take a leap into the unknown, take a chance, and believe in your own ability to land on your feet.

Every time I take such a leap these days I turn to David and Michel for a helping hand… it’s time you got them in your corner (along with the other magical minds I have not even mentioned here who put their heart and soul into that Breakthrough Copywriting workshop).

Others gladly paid $5,000 to spend 72 hours in that room and they took away something that is worth many, many times that cost. I’m just glad I was there so I had to tell you about this opportunity.

Just because you weren’t there doesn’t mean you have to miss out.

Now… I’ve said my peace… I’m diving back into my projects.

Here’s to your next breakthrough… write me and tell me all about it. email me or better yet, share it with everyone by leaving a comment, ok?

Craig