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Many small businesses market the way large brands do: a polished logo, an attractive website, social posts and advertising intended to "raise awareness". Large brands can fund awareness for years. A dental practice, accountant, contractor, agency or gym usually can't, and needs marketing that produces customers it can count.
Dan Kennedy's No B.S. Direct Marketing for Non-Direct Marketing Businesses makes the case that every business, whatever it sells, should market like a direct-response business: every ad, page, email and letter should ask for a specific response, be measured, and earn its cost. Magnetic Marketing offers the current edition in print with a set of bonus trainings.
This review covers the book's main ideas, what it can help you achieve, a paraphrase of Kennedy's ten rules with ways to apply each, the offer details, and who it suits. It's most valuable for business owners and marketers who are already spending on marketing and want it to be accountable.
Disclosure: SEO-Serps is an affiliate of Magnetic Marketing. If you order through links on this page we may be credited, at no extra cost to you.
What You Can Achieve With No B.S. Direct Marketing
- Turn existing marketing into measurable marketing, so you know which channels and pieces produce customers
- Stop spending on activity that can't be measured
- Add clear offers and reasons to respond to your website, ads, emails and mail
- Build systematic follow-up so fewer leads go cold
- Write copy that asks for a response rather than describing your business
- Increase leads from existing traffic by applying direct-response rules to your highest-traffic pages
- Hold agencies and staff to clear standards with a simple checklist
- Improve retention with the book's customer-retention ideas
At a Glance
| Book | No B.S. Direct Marketing for Non-Direct Marketing Businesses by Dan Kennedy (current edition) |
| Format | Print book |
| Bonuses | A Direct Marketing Toolkit of video trainings and checklists, a multi-presenter training and a large swipe file |
| Offer | See the offer page for current pricing and shipping |
| Guarantee | If you don't find a valuable idea, you can request a refund and keep the book |
| Best for | Service and local businesses, agencies and marketers who want accountable marketing |
Ready to order? Get No B.S. Direct Marketing → — includes the bonus toolkit. Check the page for the current offer.
The Core Idea: Accountable Marketing Instead of "Awareness"
Kennedy separates marketing into two kinds:
- Brand or image advertising: aims to create a feeling about the business, asks for no specific action, and can't be measured directly.
- Direct-response marketing: aims to get a specific person to take a specific action — call, book, buy, request information — and is measured by how many do.
His argument is that small and mid-sized businesses should treat every marketing dollar as accountable. Brand-building can still happen, but as a by-product of marketing that produces customers, not instead of it.
This is directly relevant to SEO and online marketing. A website that ranks but doesn't convert is, in effect, unmeasured brand advertising. Applying direct-response principles to pages that already receive traffic is often the fastest way to improve results without increasing traffic.
Kennedy's 10 Rules of Direct Marketing (Paraphrased)
1. There will always be an offer
Every piece of marketing should offer something specific: a consultation, a guide, a sample, a demonstration. "Contact us sometime" isn't an offer.
Apply it: Check your homepage and last five social posts. If they offer nothing specific, add an offer.
2. There will be a reason to respond now
Without one, people postpone indefinitely. Deadlines, limited availability, early-response bonuses and price changes all provide a reason.
Apply it: Add a genuine time or capacity limit to your next offer.
3. There will be clear instructions
Tell people exactly what to do and what happens next.
Apply it: Give each page one primary action, described in plain words.
4. There will be tracking and measurement
If you can't measure what a piece produced, you can't decide whether to continue it.
Apply it: Know your cost per lead and cost per customer for every channel.
5. Brand-building only as a by-product
Brand awareness is fine as long as it comes from response-driven marketing rather than a separate budget.
Apply it: Keep branding consistent across response-driven pieces; that builds recognition at no extra cost.
6. There will be follow-up
Most prospects don't buy at first contact. Systematic follow-up — email, mail, phone, retargeting — outsells single contacts.
Apply it: Build a follow-up sequence of at least five to seven contacts for every lead.
7. There will be strong copy
Copy turns attention into response. Kennedy's The Ultimate Sales Letter covers how to write it.
Apply it: Rewrite your most visited page with a specific headline, problem, proof and offer.
8. It will generally look like direct-response advertising
Response-driven marketing has headlines, offers, deadlines and response devices. It often looks less polished than brand advertising and performs better.
Apply it: Test a plainer, offer-led version of an ad or page against the polished one.
9. Results decide
Judge marketing by what it produced — not awards, compliments or likes.
Apply it: Evaluate each campaign on cost per customer and return.
10. Apply the rules with discipline
Hold all marketing, and anyone you pay to produce it, to these rules consistently.
Apply it: Make the rules a checklist; nothing goes out until it passes.
Applying the Rules to Websites and SEO
- Offer: every important page needs a specific offer near the top — an audit, a quote within a set time, a guide, a first-order incentive.
- Reason to act now: use genuine urgency where it exists — monthly capacity, seasonal deadlines, booking windows.
- Clear instructions: one primary call to action per page, with a button that says exactly what happens next.
- Tracking: conversion tracking on every form, call and booking, with call-tracking numbers by channel. Know which pages and keywords produce customers, not just visits.
- Follow-up: every form submission and download should start an automated sequence.
- Strong copy: rewrite pages that rank but don't convert. A well-written page in position three can out-earn a weak one in position one.
- Results: judge SEO and content by leads and sales per page, not rankings alone.
Applying rules 1, 3 and 4 to your five highest-traffic pages is a practical starting point.
Want the full set of rules and examples? Order No B.S. Direct Marketing →
Brand Advertising vs Direct Response
| Brand / image advertising | Direct-response marketing | |
|---|---|---|
| Goal | Awareness, liking | A specific action now |
| Offer | Usually none | Always |
| Deadline | None | Usually |
| Measurement | Indirect (surveys, recall) | Direct (responses, sales, cost per customer) |
| Suits | Large companies with long horizons | Every business |
| Judged by | Reach and sentiment | Return on spend |
Other Topics in the Book
- The Results Triangle — aligning message, market and media
- Common offer mistakes
- What to say before asking for the sale
- Building recognition as a by-product of response
- Finding unrealised profit in an existing business
- Testing whether copy is compelling
- Using trade associations to reach a market efficiently
- Persuasion principles, drawing on classic sources such as Napoleon Hill and Dale Carnegie
- Customer retention methods
- Becoming the preferred option without being the cheapest
- Constructing offers
The Bonus Materials
According to the offer page, the book comes with:
The Direct Marketing Toolkit
- A two-part video training from Dan Kennedy on why advertising fails and how to make it work
- A case-study presentation on Marty Fort's use of Kennedy's principles across several businesses
- A masterclass on applying direct marketing online
- Dan Kennedy's 10 Commandments — the rules as a printable checklist
- A one-page Direct Marketing Quick Start Guide
- A Direct Marketing Toolkit checklist
Multi-presenter training and swipe file
- A multi-hour training in which a group of experienced marketers each share their main direct-marketing strategy
- A large swipe file of their examples
The page lists values for these bonuses; treat them as list prices. In practice the checklist, quick-start guide and swipe file are the parts most readers return to.
Offer Details
- Pricing and shipping are shown on the offer page and differ for US and international orders.
- An optional checkout offer bundles additional Kennedy books and trainings. It isn't required. The Ultimate Sales Letter and The Ultimate Marketing Plan are also available through their own offer page, so compare before adding it.
- Guarantee: if you don't find a valuable idea, request a refund by email and keep the book.
Who It's For
- Service and local businesses — dental, legal, accounting, trades, health, fitness, hospitality
- Agencies and SEO professionals who want client traffic to produce measurable leads
- Owners whose marketing "isn't working" but who can't identify why
- Marketers who want a framework rather than a collection of tactics
Who May Not Need It
- Experienced direct-response marketers already running measured, offer-led campaigns (the swipe file may still be useful)
- Large brands with long-term awareness budgets — although rule 4 applies to them too
A One-Week Action Plan
- Day 1: Audit your marketing against the ten rules.
- Day 2: Add a clear offer and a reason to act now to your highest-traffic page.
- Day 3: Set up tracking for every lead source.
- Day 4: Write a five-email follow-up sequence for new leads.
- Day 5: Rewrite one ad or post as a direct-response piece.
- Days 6–7: Launch the changes and start measuring; review in 30 days.
The Benefits in Practice: Four Scenarios
The local practice paying for unmeasured ads. A practice running brand-style ads adds a specific offer, a deadline and a tracking number to each. Within a few weeks it knows which ads produce patients. The benefit is the ability to cut spending that doesn't work and increase spending that does.
The SEO agency improving client results without more traffic. The agency applies the rules to clients' highest-traffic pages: offers near the top, one call to action, conversion tracking and automated follow-up. The benefit is more leads from existing rankings, which is easier to demonstrate to clients than ranking changes.
The contractor losing leads to slow follow-up. A contractor who replied to enquiries once and then waited sets up a simple follow-up sequence. The benefit is more quotes converted from the same number of enquiries.
The owner managing a marketing supplier. Using the ten rules as a checklist, the owner reviews everything the supplier produces before it goes out. The benefit is marketing held to a clear, measurable standard.
Is It Right for You? Five Questions
- Do you know your cost per lead and cost per customer for each channel? If not, the book's tracking and measurement rules are the first thing to apply.
- Does your website make a specific offer on its most visited pages?
- Do new leads receive structured follow-up, or a single reply?
- Are you paying for marketing whose results you can't see?
- Do you manage an agency or staff who produce marketing for you? The ten rules double as a review checklist.
If any of these exposes a gap, the book will pay for itself quickly.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the offer include?
The print book plus the bonus toolkit, training and swipe file. See the offer page for current pricing.
Do I have to buy the checkout offer?
No. It's optional.
How does it differ from The Ultimate Sales Letter?
This book covers strategy — running your marketing as direct response. The Ultimate Sales Letter covers execution — writing the copy.
Does it apply to online businesses?
Yes. The principles apply directly to websites, email and paid advertising, and the bonuses include an online direct-marketing masterclass.
Key Takeaways
- Every piece of marketing should make an offer, ask for a response and be measured
- Ten rules that double as a checklist for you, your staff and your suppliers
- Directly applicable to websites and SEO, especially high-traffic pages that don't convert
- Comes with a bonus toolkit of trainings and checklists
- Check the website for the current offer and shipping
Bottom Line
No B.S. Direct Marketing is a practical framework for any business paying for marketing it can't measure. The ten rules are simple, hard to argue with and immediately applicable online or offline, and the bonus checklists make them easy to put into practice.
Get No B.S. Direct Marketing →
Printed from seo-serps.com — https://seo-serps.com/online-business/no-bs-direct-marketing-for-non-direct-marketing-businesses-review/ — updated November 5, 2026.