Preview Mode Links will not work in preview mode

INspired INsider Podcast


INspiredINsider Show with Dr. Jeremy Weisz features interviews with successful entrepreneurs, Ecommerce founders, & visionary leaders.

Leaders reveal deeply personal stories and explore the tough journey, big challenges, and mistakes that they overcame to achieve success.

You will find inspiring stories from: Founders of Atari, Baby Einstein, P90X, Einstein Bagels, Skymall, and many more.


Thank you for listening from your host of http://InspiredInsider.com Dr. Jeremy Weisz. Go to InspiredInsider.com for Full Video episodes. 

Jun 21, 2019

This episode features three top direct response marketers - Brian Kurtz, John Carlton and Richard Armstrong. John is known as “the most respected writing teacher alive”… and the list of well-known marketers who reference John as their primary mentor for writing sales messages is staggering. He worked closely with direct response giants Jay Abraham and Gary Halbert for years… He has a SIMPLE SYSTEM that takes you step-by-step through the process called the simple writing system. Brian helped build Boardroom Inc., which is at its height, was a 150 million dollar company. Brian has overseen the mailing of over 1.3 billion pieces of direct mail over the past 30+ years and has worked alongside some of the top people in the direct marketing industry. Richard is one of the nation’s leading freelance direct response copywriters. He was voted the AWAI copywriter of the year in 2012. Richard is a two-time winner of the Caples Award – this is the “Oscars” of direct mail.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

  • [2:05] Jeremy introduces his guests, Brian Kurtz, Richard Armstrong, and John Carlton.
  • [5:30] John shares a lesson he learned from missing a Jimi Hendrix concert.
  • [8:40] Brian talks about the regret he has missing out on time with his mentors.
  • [13:00] Richard talks about lessons he learned his early career.
  • [16:30] The guys talk about how royalty based copywriting started.
  • [23:45] If the boss is happy - something is wrong with the copywriting.
  • [26:15] How John got started as a copywriter.
  • [32:15] You don’t choose your mentors, they choose you.
  • [39:45] Why you should focus on delivering value.
  • [42:00] Richard talks about mentors that impacted him over the years.
  • [45:30] John talks about meeting Jay Abraham.
  • [48:00] John opens up about the books he has authored.
  • [54:00] Brian talks about his book, Overdeliver.
  • [1:02:00] Richard shares which direct marketing books he loves.
  • [1:04:30] Why copywriters are not con-artists and other reflections.

In this episode…

What does it look like to get some of the best-known names in direct response marketing for a no-holds-barred conversation? Imagine all of the unique insights they’d have to share - look no farther! On this episode of Inspired Insider, you’ll hear from three top direct response marketers - Brian Kurtz, John Carlton and Richard Armstrong. In their conversation with Jeremy, the guys explain how they got started in direct response marketing, lessons they learned along the way, why focusing on providing value is critical, and much more. You don’t want to miss a minute of this fascinating conversation!

When you look back at your journey - what sticks out? Do you have lessons or regrets that stand out more than others? If you could pass on some advice - what would you share? Looking back at their journey as direct response marketers - Brian, Richard, and John were kind enough to share some of their hard-fought insights. The common theme from their reflections centres on missed opportunities. From missing out on one of the last Jimi Hendrix concerts to failing to spend time with key mentors late in their life - the guys stress the value of taking the road less travelled.

Did you know that one of the best ways to learn an industry or trade is to jump in and start providing value? It’s true! Too often - early on in their career - men and women are searching for a place to start without taking the time to find the best people to learn from. Imagine what it would have done for your career to spend a year or two simply learning from the top leaders in your industry. Brian, Richard, and John all attest to the value of sitting at the feet of those who have mastered their craft.

When was the last time you really pushed the envelope? Do you like to take risks and move the needle or are more of the play it safe type? The truth is - in the business world - if you play it safe, you’ll never get ahead. The old saying rings true - if the boss is happy, the product isn’t good. As direct response marketers, the guys had to learn that making the client happy wasn’t the point - they had to create content that would appeal to the customer. You can imagine that navigating the tension between pleasing the client and creating effective copy wasn’t easy.

Learning your craft and advancing in your specific industry is no small task. Many men and women can’t endure the challenges and roadblocks that arise in an intense industry like direct response marketing. Seeking to share their wisdom and expand their influence, Brian, Richard, and John have each authored books to help budding leaders. They want to do for others what guys like Jay Abraham and Gary Halbert did for them. To learn more from these brilliant minds in direct response marketing, make sure to check out their books - links can be found in the resources section at the end of this post.

Resources Mentioned on this episode

Sponsor for this episode

Rise25’s mission is to connect you with your best referral partners and customers.

We do this in 3 ways…

  1. Our Done for you Media - We help your company completely run and launch your own podcast. we distribute your show across more than 11 different channels including a dedicated blog post and social media. You simply show up and talk and we do everything else. Our team has been working with podcasters since 2009. I personally credit podcasting as the single best thing I have done for my business and my life. It has allowed me to connect with the founders/ceo’s of P90xAtariEinstein BagelsMattelRx Bars, and many more. Besides making best friends and finding my business partner..podcasting has led to relationships with countless customers and referral partners.
  1. Our Done for you Lead Generation- We manually send a consistent flow of customized outreach messages to your ideal clients and referral sources that you want to connect with to generate more business and clients - this is not paid traffic by the way.
  1. Our Done for you VIP Events - We do live in-person VIP Days and receptions. These are 100% outsourced VIP days for software companies and conference organizers so we can help you serve your highest level customers.  It may or may not involve Elvis costumes - See video

Rise25 VIP Days have a proven track record of helping companies to get more referrals, increase retention with their VIP customers, and get more engaged new customers without adding extra work to that company’s plate.

Rise25 has hosted VIP events in cities such as Austin, Chicago, Santa Barbara, San Diego, New York, Sonoma, and Las Vegas to name a few.

Since these each require a lot of humans to do the work we have limited bandwidth and only want to work with the right company. so if any sound interesting to you go to Rise25.com and contact us or email support (at) rise25.com.

If your company wants to attract and connect with your highest level customers and referral partners then you can learn more and contact us to find out if your company qualifies at Rise25.com.


Rise25 was cofounded by Dr. Jeremy Weisz and John Corcoran.