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Top 10 Best Marketing Book Reading List

Marketing, social media, advertising

royalflush

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These were the books that were game changers for me. They helped me up my game in business. I read a lot of books, but I'm going to only give out 10 books, I don't want anyone to suffer from analysis paralysis.

Here are my top 10:
  1. Ca$vertising by Drew Eric Whitman - solid advice on advertising. This book is a compilation of hundreds of years of advertising work from legends like John Caples, David Ogilvy, etc...
  2. Permission Marketing by Seth Godin - teaches you the difference between permission vs interruption marketing
  3. Crush It by Gary Vaynerchuk - he talks about social media marketing and caring for your customers. And HOW to pursue your passion
  4. 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing by Al Ries and Jack Trout - these are the fundamentals of marketing
  5. Positioning by Al Ries and Jack Trout - from the title itself, this book will teach you how to position your brand
  6. Ultimate Sales Machine by Chet Holmes - read about the core story and the Dream 100. Those two ideas are enough to make your dreams come true
  7. Marketing to the Affluent by Dan Kennedy - if you're afraid of selling to the affluent, you should read this book
  8. The 4 Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss - teaches you how to test and automate your business
  9. Influence by Robert Cialdini - teaches you about the 6 mental triggers of people (consistency, scarcity, etc.)
  10. The Culture Code by Clotaire Rapaille - you will learn about imprints of people and how you can take advantage of it
 
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Thanks for sharing! lol Was just trying to find a list of these books!
 

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@royalflush Have had 'The 4 Hour Work Week' for almost a year now but haven't had time to check it out. I will once I'm done with what I'm currently reading... Will look up the other books as well. Thanks....
 

Boo Blizzi

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Since I mainly market online, I love reading direct response books. My top 10 are broken down into books that teach marketing techniques and copywriting.

Marketing Techniques

1. Scientific Advertising/Tested Advertising Methods (I put both of them together because they are the foundation of direct response advertising) - Claude Hopkins/John Caples
2. The Gary Halbert newsletter/ or Max Money in Minimum Time/ or The boron letters (More direct response info than you could ever use... plus great entertainment. Gary is an effing riot!)
3. 12 Month Millionaire (My favorite marketing book so far. He gives you a no-holds-barred look behind the scenes of what a real direct response biz is like) - Vincent James
4. Running Lean (Business creation and marketing broken down into a scientific step-by-step process) - Ash Maurya
5. The Ultimate Marketing Plan (a nice overview of how to build a comprehensive marketing system) - Dan Kennedy

Copywriting

1. Breakthrough Advertising (This could very well be the copywriting bible, but I think it's too advanced for beginners) - Gene Schwartz
2. Autoresponder Madness (Everybody wants to tell you how to increase leads and opt-ins, but not how to turn those leads into cash... this dude does!) - Andre Chaperone
3. Advertising Secrets of the Written Word (This guy sold a gazillion products through catalogs and airplane magazine ads... then just to put the icing on the cake of his career... he sold a bazillion Blu Blocker Sun Glasses before he retired) - Joe Sugarman
4. The Robert Collier Letter Book (A classic full of detailed examples) - Robert Collier
5. The Ultimate Salesletter (A break down of the salesletter framework Dan uses to sell millions of dollars of infoproducts and services in almost every niche) - Dan Kennedy

Honorable mentions

1. Cashvertising (I've read it twice, but it really doesnt move me. Maybe because I read the original material he got his ideas from)
2. Influence (Again, I read it twice, and everybody recommends it, but it doesnt really move me. Maybe I'm doing it wrong??)
3. Getting Everything You Can Out Of All You Got (This is by Jay Abraham. The information is good, but I already heard it all from Gary Halbert and Dan Kennedy)
4. Also, watch everything Frank Kern does. He uses all of these old school marketing techniques and just twists them to work on the internet. He is a master at learning from other marketers and then delivering the same strategies to you in a way you think are new.

For instance:
  • He sold Mass Control. It was basically Jeff Walker's Product Launch Formula with a twist.
  • Next he had a biz with Jordan Belfort (the Wolf of Wall Street) and they were selling lead gen sites to plumbers and chiros the way JB was selling stocks in the movie. The venture flopped cuz FK doesn't like doing traditional out-bound marketing (cold calling) he likes to attract leads that recognize they have a problem and believe he can help them solve it.
  • Then he was doing these webinars selling 8 week courses for consultants, celebrity authority positioning, and whatever else. He learned the strategy from Kevin Nations when they were doing a program called One Man Millions. He says he's made 10 mil or so with the strategy since he's started.
  • Now he's giving away a physical book and only asking you pay for shipping. These new wave guys are calling it a "trip wire", but it was originally called a self liquidating offer. It goes back to those Columbia House Record Clubs when they would send you 12 tapes for a penny.
Anyway, I cant front. That mofo is about the smoothest, most charismatic salesman I have ever seen online and he is worth modeling.
 
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royalflush

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Since I mainly market online, I love reading direct response books. My top 10 are broken down into books that teach marketing techniques and copywriting.

Marketing Techniques

1. Scientific Advertising/Tested Advertising Methods (I put both of them together because they are the foundation of direct response advertising) - Claude Hopkins/John Caples
2. The Gary Halbert newsletter/ or Max Money in Minimum Time/ or The boron letters (More direct response info than you could ever use... plus great entertainment. Gary is an effing riot!)
3. 12 Month Millionaire (My favorite marketing book so far. He gives you a no-holds-barred look behind the scenes of what a real direct response biz is like) - Vincent James
4. Running Lean (Business creation and marketing broken down into a scientific step-by-step process) - Ash Maurya
5. The Ultimate Marketing Plan (a nice overview of how to build a comprehensive marketing system) - Dan Kennedy

Copywriting

1. Breakthrough Advertising (This could very well be the copywriting bible, but I think it's too advanced for beginners) - Gene Schwartz
2. Autoresponder Madness (Everybody wants to tell you how to increase leads and opt-ins, but not how to turn those leads into cash... this dude does!) - Andre Chaperone
3. Advertising Secrets of the Written Word (This guy sold a gazillion products through catalogs and airplane magazine ads... then just to put the icing on the cake of his career... he sold a bazillion Blu Blocker Sun Glasses before he retired) - Joe Sugarman
4. The Robert Collier Letter Book (A classic full of detailed examples) - Robert Collier
5. The Ultimate Salesletter (A break down of the salesletter framework Dan uses to sell millions of dollars of infoproducts and services in almost every niche) - Dan Kennedy

Honorable mentions

1. Cashvertising (I've read it twice, but it really doesnt move me. Maybe because I read the original material he got his ideas from)
2. Influence (Again, I read it twice, and everybody recommends it, but it doesnt really move me. Maybe I'm doing it wrong??)
3. Getting Everything You Can Out Of All You Got (This is by Jay Abraham. The information is good, but I already heard it all from Gary Halbert and Dan Kennedy)
4. Also, watch everything Frank Kern does. He uses all of these old school marketing techniques and just twists them to work on the internet. He is a master at learning from other marketers and then delivering the same strategies to you in a way you think are new.

For instance:
  • He sold Mass Control. It was basically Jeff Walker's Product Launch Formula with a twist.
  • Next he had a biz with Jordan Belfort (the Wolf of Wall Street) and they were selling lead gen sites to plumbers and chiros the way JB was selling stocks in the movie. The venture flopped cuz FK doesn't like doing traditional out-bound marketing (cold calling) he likes to attract leads that recognize they have a problem and believe he can help them solve it.
  • Then he was doing these webinars selling 8 week courses for consultants, celebrity authority positioning, and whatever else. He learned the strategy from Kevin Nations when they were doing a program called One Man Millions. He says he's made 10 mil or so with the strategy since he's started.
  • Now he's giving away a physical book and only asking you pay for shipping. These new wave guys are calling it a "trip wire", but it was originally called a self liquidating offer. It goes back to those Columbia House Record Clubs when they would send you 12 tapes for a penny.
Anyway, I cant front. That mofo is about the smoothest, most charismatic salesman I have ever seen online and he is worth modeling.

LOL, I think we have the same collection of books. Except, I don't have 12 Month Millionaire. Can you tell me more about it? @Boo Blizzi
 

royalflush

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@royalflush Have had 'The 4 Hour Work Week' for almost a year now but haven't had time to check it out. I will once I'm done with what I'm currently reading... Will look up the other books as well. Thanks....

Me too, I had it for about a year in my bookshelf before I started reading it. It's an awesome read. Tim will teach you how to start test your idea and automate your business. Lots of great advice about outsourcing.
 

Boo Blizzi

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LOL, I think we have the same collection of books. Except, I don't have 12 Month Millionaire. Can you tell me more about it? @Boo Blizzi

It's by a guy name Vincent James who made something like $100mil in 23 months. He sold breast and penis enhancement pills (shady stuff) but he breaks down the mindset and more importantly, the math behind finding and marketing a successful direct response product.

I say it is my favorite marketing book because when I first started affiliate marketing, I would have to try so hard just to get campaigns close to break even. I would have a CR of 4-6% for a sale or 11-20% for a lead and still not be profitable. Everything I read said to keep split testing to increase your CTR on ads and landers, which would eventually translate to higher CR.

This guy explained that you need to have a product selling at a certain price point for you to even consider running it via direct response marketing channels. He said the avg CR you could expect is about 2% with decent marketing. So if it costs you $1 to get a visitor to see your sales message and you sent 1k visitors, it would cost you $1k in advertising. If you had a 2% conversion rate, that means you would have 20 customers so to break even, the minimum price you could charge for your product is $50.

That was like an "aha moment" for me. I was buying PPC traffic for like .30/click and sending it to an offer with $1.50 payout. It would never work.
 
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Vagabond 007

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I've read most of the books mentioned here and will confirm they are great. Currently in the middle of Cashvertising.

Anything by Dan Kennedy is a must read, imo. He's my favorite marketer.

2 books that are VERY similar, but both great, are The Slight Edge and The Compound Effect.

Some other suggestions (that are the typical books everyone mentions)...

Thick Face, Black Heart - One of my favorites
Ready, Fire, Aim
How To Sell At Prices Higher Than Your Competitors
The Science of Getting Rich
The 80/20 Principle
Trust Me I'm Lying
 

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I need some help as far as marketing books to read. I run a property management business and I have basically two clients when you really break it down, investors and accidental landlords.

Investors are the folks that went out and intentionally bought real estate and are generally smarter on the whole real estate side. They are certainly more dollar conscious but are also much easier to work with.

Accidental landlords are people that bought a house and now can't sell it. They are the "challenging" clients because they are stuck in a bad situation and their problems are your fault when the mortgage comes due but these contacts tend to be higher margin so it makes up for it.

I've read Marketing to the Affluent, but do you have anything that you think would be good for reaching out to and communicating with these two types of clients?
 

Boo Blizzi

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I've read Marketing to the Affluent, but do you have anything that you think would be good for reaching out to and communicating with these two types of clients?

In the Ultimate Salesletter there is an example letter a property manager used to prospect for new investor clients. Basically he created an ad describing all the benefits of a particular investment property and how with him managing it, all the investor had to do was walk to their mailbox each month and pick up their check.

I would say your first step should be trying to find all the people that have more than 1 property registered in their name at the tax office. Then send them a prospecting postcard with a headline like: Important News for Real Estate Investors and Landlords... blah blah blah.

Your call to action should be something like: call me for a FREE - No obligation property assessment, or expense reduction consultation, or neighbor hood property value report.

I really dont know what you would offer them, but keep in mind your goal is to get them to raise their hand and identify themselves as prospects so you can follow up with them... even if they didnt convert after the initial meeting.

Hope that helps
 
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royalflush

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I've read most of the books mentioned here and will confirm they are great. Currently in the middle of Cashvertising.

Anything by Dan Kennedy is a must read, imo. He's my favorite marketer.

2 books that are VERY similar, but both great, are The Slight Edge and The Compound Effect.

Some other suggestions (that are the typical books everyone mentions)...

Thick Face, Black Heart - One of my favorites
Ready, Fire, Aim
How To Sell At Prices Higher Than Your Competitors
The Science of Getting Rich
The 80/20 Principle
Trust Me I'm Lying

DK is my hero. The guy is a legend.

I've read all your suggestions, but I haven't read Slight Edge and the Compound Effect. What's the biggest (most important) takeaways/findings/realizations you got from these books? @Vagabond 007
 

royalflush

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It's by a guy name Vincent James who made something like $100mil in 23 months. He sold breast and penis enhancement pills (shady stuff) but he breaks down the mindset and more importantly, the math behind finding and marketing a successful direct response product.

I say it is my favorite marketing book because when I first started affiliate marketing, I would have to try so hard just to get campaigns close to break even. I would have a CR of 4-6% for a sale or 11-20% for a lead and still not be profitable. Everything I read said to keep split testing to increase your CTR on ads and landers, which would eventually translate to higher CR.

This guy explained that you need to have a product selling at a certain price point for you to even consider running it via direct response marketing channels. He said the avg CR you could expect is about 2% with decent marketing. So if it costs you $1 to get a visitor to see your sales message and you sent 1k visitors, it would cost you $1k in advertising. If you had a 2% conversion rate, that means you would have 20 customers so to break even, the minimum price you could charge for your product is $50.

That was like an "aha moment" for me. I was buying PPC traffic for like .30/click and sending it to an offer with $1.50 payout. It would never work.

Couldn't find the book anywhere. It's not on Amazon. Is it an ebook?
 

Vagabond 007

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DK is my hero. The guy is a legend.

I've read all your suggestions, but I haven't read Slight Edge and the Compound Effect. What's the biggest (most important) takeaways/findings/realizations you got from these books? @Vagabond 007
He is a legend. No doubt.

The biggest takeaways from those 2 books, are the same thing, because again they are very similar...

Small actions/improvements over time lead to huge gains.

Summed up in a few sentences...

They basically talk about how small, daily actions will eventually lead to HUGE gains in the future. I forget which one it is, but the one book keeps saying how it's easy to do but the problem is, it's easy NOT to do as well. Which is so true.

An example (my example, not from the book) would be if you wrote a blog post everyday, in a year you'd have 365 blog posts. Which is a lot. And all it took was writing one blog post a day. Easy to do but easy not to do as well.

Another example, eat unhealthy food once and it won't hurt you. But do it everyday and you'll eventually be overweight and sick.

Basically applies to everything in life.
 
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royalflush

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He is a legend. No doubt.

The biggest takeaways from those 2 books, are the same thing, because again they are very similar...

Small actions/improvements over time lead to huge gains.

Summed up in a few sentences...

They basically talk about how small, daily actions will eventually lead to HUGE gains in the future. I forget which one it is, but the one book keeps saying how it's easy to do but the problem is, it's easy NOT to do as well. Which is so true.

An example (my example, not from the book) would be if you wrote a blog post everyday, in a year you'd have 365 blog posts. Which is a lot. And all it took was writing one blog post a day. Easy to do but easy not to do as well.

Another example, eat unhealthy food once and it won't hurt you. But do it everyday and you'll eventually be overweight and sick.

Basically applies to everything in life.

I watched YouTube videos about the two books you mentioned. It looks really interesting. I'm adding it to my To-Read list.

Thanks bro!
 

Boo Blizzi

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I mean the 12 month millionaire

Oh yeah, sorry about that. It was a book then some "guru" got hold of it and made it into a digital info-product. I think its called the 12 month internet millionaire now. Im sure you can find the pdf if you do a search on the Googles.
 

Mattie

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Has anyone read Grant Cardone's books! Was just wondering what you're thoughts were, before I invest in his books.
 

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@royalflush I've been looking for some great books about outsourcing, I've had 'The Lean Start Up' for a while both the audio file and the hardcover but haven't found it much interesting; Eric Ries is a good author though. Would you recommend any books on the above topic and also some great books on marketing a new brand? Would appreciate any recommendations. Thank you!!!
 
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royalflush

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@royalflush I've been looking for some great books about outsourcing, I've had 'The Lean Start Up' for a while both the audio file and the hardcover but haven't found it much interesting; Eric Ries is a good author though. Would you recommend any books on the above topic and also some great books on marketing a new brand? Would appreciate any recommendations. Thank you!!!

I've read outsourcing books before, but for me, nothing beats The Four Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss. Most of the other books are pretty much the same.

Lean Startup is a little hard to understand at first, but once you get it, it's really powerful. The Lean Startup is not an outsourcing book by the way. MVP, Validated Learning, Build-Measure-Learn, Innovation Accounting - these are all powerful concepts from the book. Perhaps, you can try and watch his video (maybe it's more interesting)?


Marketing a new brand? - read Crush It by Gary Vaynerchuk. Also, learn copywriting from John Carlton.
 
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the5thpgriff

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He is a legend. No doubt.

The biggest takeaways from those 2 books, are the same thing, because again they are very similar...

Small actions/improvements over time lead to huge gains.

Summed up in a few sentences...

They basically talk about how small, daily actions will eventually lead to HUGE gains in the future. I forget which one it is, but the one book keeps saying how it's easy to do but the problem is, it's easy NOT to do as well. Which is so true.

An example (my example, not from the book) would be if you wrote a blog post everyday, in a year you'd have 365 blog posts. Which is a lot. And all it took was writing one blog post a day. Easy to do but easy not to do as well.

Another example, eat unhealthy food once and it won't hurt you. But do it everyday and you'll eventually be overweight and sick.

Basically applies to everything in life.

@Vagabond 007 This is my first day on the forum. Just getting my feet wet in blogging/affiliate marketing (4 months)... in your opinion, what is good length for article post? I know there is no set number but do you have a word count range you like to stay within to be successful?

If anyone else has advice please feel free to jump in...

Thanks
 
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the5thpgriff

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First off, welcome!

The blog post was just an example. I don't have a concrete number to give you. However, there is an article (blog post) somewhere that actually discussed this very topic. I'll see if I can find it.

EDIT: Here it is. http://www.quicksprout.com/2014/03/31/how-long-should-each-blog-post-be-a-data-driven-answer/

Thanks @Vagabond 007 I'm happy I joined! Wish I hadn't waited so long... Thanks for the info. Greatly appreciated!!

I just read most of the blog post from the link... Exactly what I needed! Thanks again.
 
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Has anyone read Grant Cardone's books! Was just wondering what you're thoughts were, before I invest in his books.

Grrr, I don't like Grant Cardone. I've watched a bunch of his stuff, read nothing, but he just looks like a guy who sells a whole lot of nothing. Nothing of substance, just rah rah about hustling and being tough, closing etc. Cheerleader shit. Selling the Dream of the 'go-getter'.

I've worked in B2C sales and the only thing his style of selling did was alienate customers, or lead them to make decisions they'd regret after 2 hours of making a purchase. Not a word about value. I used try playing all these 'value conveying & closing' games but ultimately, it's better if you just F*cking provide it, so you don't have to play jedi mind tricks on consumers.

Victor Antonio has some fantastic (FREE) stuff on how the selling landscape has changed.

Of course a lot of people will disagree, mostly people who have watched that stupid Alec Baldwin speech (HOW DARE YOU FORMLESS?! ES GREATEST SPEECH OF ALL TIME! UR NOT CLOSER!) Not people who have actually faced 50-80+ customers every day for a few months.

I wouldn't buy it, but take my opinion with a grain of salt, because I PERSONALLY (Ad Hominem-ly) don't like what he represents with the way he teaches sales.
 
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Boo Blizzi

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Grrr, I don't like Grant Cardone. I've watched a bunch of his stuff, read nothing, but he just looks like a guy who sells a whole lot of nothing. Nothing of substance, just rah rah about hustling and being tough, closing etc. Cheerleader shit. Selling the Dream of the 'go-getter'.

I kept hearing about that dude... then watched a video of him closing someone on YT and immediately disliked him. I would never buy from a dude with those pushy tactics and disregard for fair exchange of value.

Im currently reading an old book called "The Secret Of Selling Anything" by Harry Browne and it is eye opening. He says selling is easy if you follow this 5 step formula
  1. Discover your prospect's motivation and desired outcome by asking question before presenting your product.
  2. Summarize your understanding of their desired outcome and make sure the prospect agrees with it.
  3. If your product can deliver the desired outcome, then present only those features and benefits pertaining to that goal.
  4. Answer any remaining questions your prospect has then present price and payment options.
  5. Assume the sale with language like, "So if there is nothing more to cover, I will get started on the paperwork today." Or "If everything makes sense, I can take a down payment today and have 24 super duper widgets delivered by Friday."
Ofc there are more details, but that about sums it up and makes complete sense to me.
 

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Since I mainly market online, I love reading direct response books. My top 10 are broken down into books that teach marketing techniques and copywriting.

Marketing Techniques

1. Scientific Advertising/Tested Advertising Methods (I put both of them together because they are the foundation of direct response advertising) - Claude Hopkins/John Caples
2. The Gary Halbert newsletter/ or Max Money in Minimum Time/ or The boron letters (More direct response info than you could ever use... plus great entertainment. Gary is an effing riot!)
3. 12 Month Millionaire (My favorite marketing book so far. He gives you a no-holds-barred look behind the scenes of what a real direct response biz is like) - Vincent James
4. Running Lean (Business creation and marketing broken down into a scientific step-by-step process) - Ash Maurya
5. The Ultimate Marketing Plan (a nice overview of how to build a comprehensive marketing system) - Dan Kennedy

Copywriting

1. Breakthrough Advertising (This could very well be the copywriting bible, but I think it's too advanced for beginners) - Gene Schwartz
2. Autoresponder Madness (Everybody wants to tell you how to increase leads and opt-ins, but not how to turn those leads into cash... this dude does!) - Andre Chaperone
3. Advertising Secrets of the Written Word (This guy sold a gazillion products through catalogs and airplane magazine ads... then just to put the icing on the cake of his career... he sold a bazillion Blu Blocker Sun Glasses before he retired) - Joe Sugarman
4. The Robert Collier Letter Book (A classic full of detailed examples) - Robert Collier
5. The Ultimate Salesletter (A break down of the salesletter framework Dan uses to sell millions of dollars of infoproducts and services in almost every niche) - Dan Kennedy

Honorable mentions

1. Cashvertising (I've read it twice, but it really doesnt move me. Maybe because I read the original material he got his ideas from)
2. Influence (Again, I read it twice, and everybody recommends it, but it doesnt really move me. Maybe I'm doing it wrong??)
3. Getting Everything You Can Out Of All You Got (This is by Jay Abraham. The information is good, but I already heard it all from Gary Halbert and Dan Kennedy)
4. Also, watch everything Frank Kern does. He uses all of these old school marketing techniques and just twists them to work on the internet. He is a master at learning from other marketers and then delivering the same strategies to you in a way you think are new.

For instance:
  • He sold Mass Control. It was basically Jeff Walker's Product Launch Formula with a twist.
  • Next he had a biz with Jordan Belfort (the Wolf of Wall Street) and they were selling lead gen sites to plumbers and chiros the way JB was selling stocks in the movie. The venture flopped cuz FK doesn't like doing traditional out-bound marketing (cold calling) he likes to attract leads that recognize they have a problem and believe he can help them solve it.
  • Then he was doing these webinars selling 8 week courses for consultants, celebrity authority positioning, and whatever else. He learned the strategy from Kevin Nations when they were doing a program called One Man Millions. He says he's made 10 mil or so with the strategy since he's started.
  • Now he's giving away a physical book and only asking you pay for shipping. These new wave guys are calling it a "trip wire", but it was originally called a self liquidating offer. It goes back to those Columbia House Record Clubs when they would send you 12 tapes for a penny.
Anyway, I cant front. That mofo is about the smoothest, most charismatic salesman I have ever seen online and he is worth modeling.

^ This.
Thanks for sharing!
 

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