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The new year brought two new books by direct marketing master Dan Kennedy. Dan Kennedy is the author of famous (among direct marketers) “No B.S. Marketing Letter”, a monthly newsletter designed to help marketers market better. Kennedy is known for his blunt, no-holds-barred approach in his marketing discussions. Thus, his writing is concise and to the point. His two new offerings are no different: No B.S. Direct Marketing and No B.S. Wealth Attraction for Entrepreneurs pick up right where the last three books by Kennedy in this series left off. (The other three books are No B.S. Sales Success, No B.S. Time Management for Entrepreneurs, and No B.S. Business Success; all five are well worth owning.)

Kennedy takes a slightly different approach in these two books than he did in his previous three. In these two, he only writes about one-third to one-half of the book. The remainder of each book is filled out with related chapters from members of Kennedy’s marketing “Inner Circle”, those who subscribe to his newsletter and his personal coaching groups, and experience a great degree of monetary success in their businesses as a direct result of Kennedy’s help and insights. (He also includes an audio CD in each book that enhances and develops the book’s contents.)

For example, in No B.S. Wealth Attraction for Entrepreneurs, Kennedy writes Section I, which contains twenty-six “wealth magnets”. Each wealth magnet is one concept that an entrepreneur must learn, understand, or master in order to attract wealth. These magnets include such concepts as not feeling guilty about acquiring wealth, realizing that wealth is “out there” and you can obtain it, and thinking in terms of building long-term equity, not just short-term income. Section II of the book is comprised of content from “guest experts” who show how they applied the wealth magnets and grew wealthy because of it. Many of these chapters are focused on real estate investing; I would have preferred a broader range of experts, especially in various direct-marketing businesses, because Kennedy is noted for his expertise in direct-marketing.

Similarly, No B.S. Direct Marketing is composed of two main sections, the first written by Kennedy and the second by another grouping of experts. In Kennedy’s section, he tackles the foundation of direct marketing, which consists of a series of ten rules, set up to read as the Ten Commandments of direct marketing. Such rules include There Will Be Tracking and Measurement and There Will Be Follow-Up, among others. The second part of this foundation is the “results triangle”, consisting of the interplay between message, media, and markets, and how they all tie together.

Section II of this book features contributions from guest experts, but differs from Wealth Attraction in that more business sectors are covered. Specifically, the focus in this section is how retail, restaurant, professional services, sales, and service businesses have used direct marketing to enhance their businesses by growing their customer base and their profit margins. Two final chapters discuss how great marketers set up and use systems and hold on to their customers through regular and intentional contact (the 52X Contact secret).

Each book concludes with a resources section (Section III) that includes information relevant to the businesses featured in the books, as well as several special offers from Dan himself, including a free, three-month trial offer for Dan’s No B.S. Marketing Letter. (In the interests of disclosure, I am a subscriber of this letter, and have nothing but good things to report about it.)

For those who seek wealth, the programs laid out by Dan Kennedy in these two books will provide you with an excellent starting point for your journey, as well as a map to guide your way, two combinations not often found in the same books.

Jeremy is a book reviewer and writer living in Pontiac, Michigan.