Doberman Dan: Win the Long Game (Persuasion Play Podcast #015)

Serious students of direct response copywriting know the name Doberman Dan. Dan started selling bodybuilding guides and supplements in the 1990s as a way to find freedom from his J-O-B as a police officer. That financial freedom didn't come quickly, though. It took Dan some 9 failed businesses before he asked himself, "Why did I buy THAT thang?" ...and then used the answer to build his own successful business. Doberman Dan was gracious enough to sit with me and share his story—and a few secrets—for this episode of the Persuasion Play Podcast. Here's what you'll find inside: • Introduction—and how to say Doberman Dan’s last name! (0:00) • The lessons Doberman Dan learned as a cop on the mean streets of Dayton—and how being stuck and desperate opened his eyes to self employment (1:49) • All roads lead to Dan Kennedy (6:08) • How Doberman Dan swiped a brick-and-mortar playbook to market his first successful info product (9:30) • The two-step sales funnel DD perfected in the 1990s you can still use today (10:13) • The mindset programming that keeps people stuck working a J-O-B (12:19) • Dan’s terribly honest negotiation tactic that allowed him to lead the “live anywhere” internet lifestyle—before ecom marketing existed (15:00) • The destructive changes at print magazines and newspapers which have removed ANY incentive for them to run your test ads (19:15) • Direct mail still works—the concepts don’t change—but there’s a NEW challenge marketers have to overcome (21:35) • Alex Hormozi’s lead gen case study that vindicated Dan’s position about LCV (26:53) • Can you still get a copy of Doberman Dan’s book, Just Sell the Damn Thing? (26:26) • Why marketers must sell “the magic pill” to give buyers what they truly need (29:02) • Gary Halbert’s awareness technique Doberman Dan used to troll Gary himself (31:57) • The tedious task Gary Halbert, Doberman Dan, and other direct response greats demand from their students (if you’re not already doing this, get started!) (38:00) • The “grunt work” Dan uses to attract clients: it’s not anything you couldn’t do, too (39:55) • An evergreen strategy to get your name in the hands of your ideal prospects (42:42) • Doberman Dan’s advice that goes against the grain of his own mentors—and why running your business “the guru way” can make you go flat broke (43:34) • The “3-letter alphabet agencies” keeping Dan from once again selling health supplements (45:35) • Doberman Dan’s reveals the one thang “no one else can sell” ...that can be worth tens of thousands of dollars (53:01) • The role that copywriters might play if AI eats our jobs (1:00:55) • One thing AI will never, ever replace (1:02:19) • Doberman Dan’s journey from childhood “cultural Christianity” ...to studying Eastern scriptures... and how it’s revealed to Dan why some succeed where others fail—even when they’re on the same path (1:10:49) • The verse from Psalm 82—now proven by quantum physics—which can unlock incredible divinity in every one of us (1:12:31) • The NSFW conversations Dan has that “aren’t business related” but have EVERYTHING to do with success (1:18:11) • The ancient secrets—found in both Eastern and Western scriptures—most people don’t want to understand (1:21:30) • Where to get all the direct response marketing knowledge you need in a single weekend to build yourself a massive income (1:23:08) • Doberman Dan’s secret weapon—used for over 800 years—that builds up your alpha brain waves, getting your nervous system into a creative, non-critical state of flow (1:23:46) • What’s next for Doberman Dan? (1:27:35) Wow what a convo! Thank you Dan for your time! Find Doberman Dan online and join his email list at https://www.dobermandan.com/ For more resources about persuasion and influence, including book summaries and additional podcasts, sign up for the Goldmine Marketing email list at https://goldmine.marketing/goldminemail/ Thanks for listening. Love you! Jeffrey