Coffee, Values, and Humanity: Direct Response Lessons From The Marketing Mercenary With Ron Lynch

• The Process of Ethical Sales and Idea Evaluation
• Ron expresses appreciation for the process of vetting ideas and people’s commitment to their ventures.
• He emphasizes the importance of implementation and the value of charging for insights.
• Joe Polish introduces Ron Lynch, a prominent figure in the marketing industry, who has achieved remarkable success in direct response.

Ron Lynch’s Background and Achievements:

• Ron Lynch is a renowned Entrepreneur, director, screenwriter, investor, and philanthropist.
• He has generated $5.5 billion in direct response TV orders and shares his marketing knowledge through the “Marketing Mercenary” course.
• His course has empowered over 200 individuals to launch successful businesses in the past three years.

Global Feeding Network Charity and Telehealth:

• On March 14th, 2020, Ron launched the Global Feeding Network Charity and Telehealth initiative during the onset of Covid.
• This initiative utilized technology to connect people in need with givers and garnered over a hundred thousand members globally within weeks.

Ron Lynch’s Expertise and Involvement:

• Ron’s background in retail operations, particularly as a grocery operations director, gave him a comprehensive understanding of supply chain, labor, and PNLs.
• He has been a creative strategist for numerous prominent brands, including GoPro, Samsung, SC Johnson, and more.
• With several patents and over 400 TV commercials produced, Ron is actively involved in multiple tech and food-oriented startups.

Ethically Bringing World-Changing Innovations to Consumers:

• Ron’s passion lies in ethically bringing innovations that solve real problems to consumers, which is a key aspect of successful brand building.
• He enjoys offering counsel and perspective to open-minded individuals and remains committed to making a positive impact.

The Concept of the $1000 Cup of Coffee:

• Ron introduces the concept of the $1000 cup of coffee for Entrepreneurs who want to pick his brain.
• This approach filters out those who are genuinely committed to their ideas and separates known quantities from unknown quantities.
• Charging for his time ensures that people take his advice seriously and are more likely to implement his insights effectively.

The Assessment Process:

• After the initial cup of coffee, a second meeting is offered, typically at a cost of $25,000 for corporations.
• This second meeting involves an in-depth evaluation process where Ron delivers a comprehensive 20 to 40-page document with strategic insights and recommendations.
• Ron appreciates the importance of investing in professional services and evaluating ideas properly for business success.
• Ron Lynch’s expertise and ethical approach to marketing and idea evaluation make him a valuable resource for aspiring Entrepreneurs.

Repositioning Circle’s Beverage Company:

• Ron describes how he helped reposition Circle as a water company, positioning water as consumers’ favorite beverage.
• By anchoring at the highest possible retail price, he created margin to build a successful brand through direct response marketing.

The Criteria for Successful Businesses:

• Innovation is essential for success, as commodities sell on price, but innovation sells on life-changing opportunities.
• Having a well-defined audience is crucial, as without one, even a great product innovation may struggle to gain traction.
• Margin plays a vital role, and anchoring at a higher retail price helps accommodate marketing costs and distribution.

The Consultation Process:

• For a $25,000 day, Ron conducts in-depth research, asking questions about the company’s problem, solution, unique selling proposition (USP), features, benefits, and target audience.
• He gathers data, research, CAD drawings, and technical details to create a suite of marketing products tailored to the company’s needs.

Learning the Art of Marketing:

• Ron shares how he stumbled into marketing while pursuing a career in acting.
• After landing a role in a movie, he stayed on as a Production Assistant (PA) to learn about filmmaking.
• Jeff Bridges, a fellow actor, advised him to learn writing, as writers always find work in Hollywood.

Embracing the Journey and Doing the Work:

• Ron heeded Jeff Bridges’ advice and reluctantly started writing two movies.
• He emphasizes the importance of doing the work first and letting the universe reward one’s efforts.
• Even though he initially hated writing, he discovered that embracing the journey led to unexpected opportunities.
• Ron’s journey from acting to marketing offers valuable insights into the importance of innovation, audience, and margin in building successful businesses.
• He emphasizes the value of doing the necessary work and embracing opportunities that lead to unexpected success.

From Grocery Stores to Hollywood: A Serendipitous Journey

• Ron shares a serendipitous encounter with talk show host Dana Middleton, leading to a life-changing opportunity in Hollywood.
• Dana’s sister, Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg’s partner and renowned producer, showed interest in the speaker’s written movie scripts.

Hollywood Calling:

• Kathleen Kennedy praised Ron’s writing style, impressed by how each character had a distinct voice, unlike most young writers.
• The Chester Film Company writing program was offered to the speaker, but he faced a difficult decision between pursuing Hollywood or staying in Seattle with his newlywed wife.

Choosing the Grocery Business:

• Ron decided to pursue a career in the grocery business, becoming a store operator and manager.
• He found mentors and learned how to operate and build high-end grocery stores, specializing in transforming stores in gentrified neighborhoods.

Learning the Art of Repositioning:

• As part of the grocery business, Ron learned the importance of repositioning products to appeal to different audiences.
• By offering gourmet choices and teaching Customers to buy better food, they could successfully charge more for the same products.

Infomercials and Offers:

• He  gained insights into marketing and offers through cooking kiosks, where they demonstrated gourmet food choices.
• This experience was akin to an infomercial, showcasing how repositioning a product could lead to increased revenue.

• Ron’s journey from a chance encounter with Dana Middleton to a successful career in the grocery business showcases the power of seizing unexpected opportunities.
• The lessons learned about repositioning and marketing have become valuable assets in his entrepreneurial endeavors.

Success in the Infomercial Industry:

• Ron’s infomercials experience explosive success, making millions of dollars in just a few months.
• However, he faces challenges as he realizes he needs to learn how to pick the right products and partners to sustain success.

The Importance of Integrity and Qualification:

• Ron places great emphasis on integrity and ethics when selecting friends and Clients.
• He believes in making agreements upfront and holding himself and others accountable to maintain integrity.

The Character Traits of Inspirational Figures:

• Ron has Joe Polish  identify character traits of three admired individuals: George Carlin, Jesus Christ, and Abraham Lincoln.
• Traits such as conviction, confidence, courage, compassion, and resilience are discussed, highlighting the positive qualities Joe values in others.

Understanding the Antithesis:

• Ron asks Joe to consider the character traits of someone with whom he would not want to associate with…
• Negative traits like evil, manipulative, self-serving, narcissistic, sociopathic, and psychopathic are explored.

The Meaning of Integrity and Honesty:

• Ron defines integrity as being consistent, keeping one’s word, and doing the right thing.
• Honesty is characterized by truthfulness and congruence.
• Ron’s journey and values serve as an inspiration, reminding us of the importance of ethical business practices and genuine character traits.
• His success in the infomercial industry and dedication to integrity demonstrate the power of aligning personal values with professional pursuits.

The Power of Integrity and Honesty in Relationships

• Ron discusses  the importance of understanding someone’s core values and character traits to build meaningful relationships.
• He shares how he uses a unique exercise to identify these traits in people.

Understanding Character Traits:

• Ron demonstrates the exercise with Joe Polish, revealing his positive character traits like conviction, confidence, courage, humor, caring, compassion, belief, resilience, collaboration, and articulation.
• He emphasizes the significance of knowing the dark side, the traits that may hurt or challenge someone in difficult situations.

Integrity and Honesty as Core Values:

• Ron explains the difference between integrity and honesty, highlighting their role in building trust and meaningful connections.
• He suggests that these core values are essential in life and business relationships.

Challenges in Relationships:

• He goes  into the complexities of trust and love in parent-child relationships.
• He explains how unresolved issues of trust from childhood can affect adult relationships.

Empathy and Trust:

• Ron considers adding empathy to the list of core values.
• He discusses the psychological power dynamics between parents and children and how it impacts trust and love.
• The exercise presented in the discussion can be a powerful tool for building deeper connections with others.
• Understanding and valuing integrity and honesty can lead to stronger, more fulfilling relationships.

Understanding Ethics and Discovering Your Purpose in Life:

• Defining ethics as an agreed-upon lattice work of society, a social construct of agreement on what is considered ethical.
• The conversation explores whether the same ethical principles apply universally across different cultures.

The Purpose of Life Exercise:

• Joe shares an exercise called “The Purpose of Life” that helps individuals understand their core values and the qualities they admire in others.
• The exercise involves listing three people they know and admire, as well as three people they know of but don’t know personally, and then identifying the qualities and characteristics they appreciate in each of them.

Understanding Values:

• The purpose of life exercise provides insights into an individual’s values, what they care about, and what motivates them.
• The exercise can be a powerful tool to understand someone else’s value system and what makes them tick.
• Ron and Joe  highlight the significance of understanding ethics and values in building meaningful relationships and connecting with others.
• The exercise can be a great way to gain insight into one’s purpose in life and to foster deeper connections with others.