Chuck Hengel

The power of direct response is once again proven to be held in an amazing equation – the relationship between product, price, offer, call-to-action, creative, media, and conversion.

Success, not excuses. Guidance and vision, not false promises and generalities. Skin in the game? We give it. The entrepreneur needs it. And working with crazy, passionate founders is what it’s all about.

So, I’m reminded of the importance of the authenticity of claims.
Direct response demands no less, and actually much more from us.

If you’re an entrepreneur building a direct response company, you hear all sorts of talk and claims about the importance of “strategic media”. However, the strongest advocate for your success will focus on the far more critical questions that you must address first.

To a high degree, entrepreneurs are born, not made. You are either naturally comfortable with beginning things that have no clear outcome, or you are not. But don’t worry, if you are not a natural entrepreneur, it does not mean that kind of business is not right for you.

One of my favorite quotes comes from Apple CEO Steve Jobs, who was asked if he did customer research. His answer was “It’s not the customer’s job to know what they want.”
Why is it that truly great leaders seem to get right to the point? In my view, bold clarity does not take more than a few words.

I don’t understand why the marking and advertising industry spends 99% of its time writing about all things technology. It’s not that I don’t agree they may be the most important changes to track – from new mobile marketing platforms and social networking applications, to iPads and operating systems – this is certainly where much of the action is found.

Marketing Architects CEO Chuck Hengel describes his vision for marketing trends in 2011.

The consumer is in control. We know that now. What does consumer control mean for your business?

Much of the direct response community avoids radio. Marketing Architects CEO Chuck Hengel explains why that’s unwise.