latest nonfiction books and authors. >> joining us now on book tv author richard biggery, go big, the marketing secrets of richard biggery. what to you do for a living? >> my mother went to her grave, a few year ago not understanding what i did. i was fortunate back in

1960s, to pioneer political direct mail, people have been raising money for a long time. they have been raising money through mail for charities and church and et cetera, no one combined the two. i did that in early 60s for about 20 years, i had no competitors. i went out there and helped build the concerted movement, i can make a case without direct mail there would be no concerted movement worthy of the name. i did my pioneering work. >> have you always been a conservative when you were growing up in texas. >> i grew up in pasadena, texas outside of houston and kids in neighborhood playing cops and robbers, we were 12 ort 13, i am not shooting robbers, i was shooting commies, i have no recollection of political conversations in my family,

i just came in this world knowing that communists are bad people, and dedicated to opposing them, i am second generation conservative,er 100% of second% conservatives, before we were conservatives, first we were anticommunist, that is the blue that held the conservative movement together in these days in 60s, and 70s and 80s. >> what was that moment that burning bush moment for you, when it came to direct mail and mailing lists, you are visiting national review office in new york city. >> the -- i fortunate i had two weeks summer camp national guard military base outside of challenge

chicago. i saw a small ad, for field directors for americans for constitutionalut action. they no longer exist, i had aa buddy who worked for national review, i could hearhe the cannons and guns going off in new york and washington, the war was starting, i was desperate to get into battle and fight political left here in america, i called my friend, davidbs franky, i say i have to get one of those 4 jobs, he said it one. i got the job. and for about a year and a half i moved to new york, i came in contact with bill buckley, and frank meyer and bret bozell. i tried to be like them, i read everything. i wasn't making a lot of

progress, i made a decision to focus on direct mail. we didn't have enough people like buckley to write and debate, but we had some, we have nobody that could market them to the country, i went to my wife, by then i had a wife two babies, and i said, honey, i think i've got something that will change america, maybe the world but i have to study it. i have been relieved of all household duties, she bought into it for 8 years i made a don't dive into marketing. in --. microphones of country back in those days. conservative messages were up again blockage, we could not get a message out. starting with direct mail we could go into people's homes. -- he was getting 10 or $25

contributions, from the campaigns. >> mr. biggery, what makes an affect an effective direct mail letter. >> it used to be second largest form of advertising, television is number one, now it number 3, because of the internet. and i recognize that. and i recognize that not -- when i write a letter that goes to a million people, i write it to one person, i have oned person in mind. >> whoi is that person? >> well, for most of my political -- was my parents, my mother and dad, i would have them in mind. you don't want to write to someone that always gives, that not a challenge or never gives, some that gives

on occasion, you have a conversation with them. bill buckley, famously said he was a conservative but not of the breed on saturday night he is hanging out with john gall and truman capote. my faith is catholic. i know -- i am one on the audience. i'm a true believer. >> many of your letters and those of us involved in mediaov or politics over the years have received these, they are often one line. pair gaffe -- paragraphs then 3 or 4 pages and they repeat. >> one of many reasons i like direct mail, i don't

have to guess does it work or that work? we take a million letters and split it in half. 500 thousand get short paragraphs and 500 thousand get long paragraphs, it has been tested. we know a good long 8 page letter will out pull a a 7 pain letter, people scan it. they flip through it. longer the copies, you would never give a salesman, sell the fridge but you can only speak 300 words. you speak until you make the sale, short letters short words, if you read the new testament, jesus words almost all one and two syllable words, he used very short words and short

paragraphs, follow me and et cetera. so, the -- you want long letters but short words and short sentences and paragraphs, i'll be 90 in a few months, i spend two hours a day studying marketing, advertising, business, i have done that for over 60 years. >> still today. >> to this day, i have spent 45 minutessed too today studying marketing, i tell young people study and read, competition is not that serious. most people in marketing and advertising have not done a lot of studying, if you study the classics, giants before us, you can get to the top of marketing in 5 years. you could be at the top 5%. mr. vibe, r has e-mail

and social media affected your. >> not in a major way, i was involved in early 60s. fundraising through mail of the not a mature business, it mature now. of fortune 500 company has a direct marketing department. we know what works in direct marketing postal, we don't with the internet, we'll follow it out, it might be more -- tomorrow or 5 years from now. there is a lot of young people who are trying it, they have -- next to nothing about marketing, they know the internet but they don't know how to market it we're in the stage of learning how to market using the internet. >> to go big, you talk about

4 first men of marketing position. describe the 4. >> nothing original, with that. a board from this and that, put it together in a package that is really important. and i urge our viewers doesn't really matter in life whether you are running for office or you want a promotion or a job or a razor a spouse, i tell people, when i tated my wife there was a lot of competition for this pretty's young lady's hand. i have to separate myself from that competition. position is a hole in the marketplace. hole in the market place, that youou can occupy. that is a private decision, differentiation is what you toto publicly to let everyone know. i like to use msnbc or fox

television, they both have a position, they are holes in market place, they differentiate it used to be tucker carlson now it is bret baier and jesse waters and rachel on ms nbc, third is benefit. you hav' to your market get all 4 right, life is down hill. wind is at your back. fox to their audience, succeeds. for a benefit, they offer news, information you don't get go where else out there, until have a little now.tition same with ms nbc and grand and grand isan the ball game. combination of

differencing a and benefit it takes singular it makes you a purple cow, i liver in country, you pass fields of 40 brown cows and black and white ones, you can't tell one from the other, but a purple cow would stand out. >> a fifth one is a tag line. you want to tag line. when you come up with a tag line it should be relatively short and summarizee what you do that differentiates yourself from others, if someone else can use your tag line, throw it away. if you are running for office your name does not tell if you are liberal or conservative, you want a tag line, most effective tag

line has about make america great again, that separated trump in 2016 from everyone else out there. youu want that tag line, we have a well-known government of virginia george allen who said you do the crime, you do the time. timing a reagan in 1980, are you better off now than you were 4 years ago. >> had have you found it effective to use strong language against your opponents, you know, negativeve adds, work well on tv.. >> the -- not necessarily strzok words. i read something, about truman. give 'em hell harry.

i tell them the truth and they think it hell. even if it is an -- a nonprofits, you want to separate your from your competition and explain what it didis you -- what it is you are going, people used to be exposed to 2 thousand mails a day, now it is 5 to 10,000. you have to identify your brand, grand is when you own aing which, i'm a brand, i wass first to do political direct mail, who is second? to fly solo across atlantic, and who was second pope. >> what surprised me in reading go big, you were talking about how liberals or the others, have

superseded the conservative movement with the trek mail. i got a lot of criticisms but they stop on election night, 1980. so, i told my conservative friends, don't worry it has taken me 20 years to learn how to do this it will take them 30 or 40 years because i'm smarter than they are, not sure, went 5 years roger

craver and others on the left caught up with the conservatives now they have surpassed us in my opinion. i wouldn't treatment of flying a plane with a pilot who had the skills of average conservative marketer, most people have 11ed it by their gut feeling. they have about 20 thousand similar organizations, and they raise 700% more money than we did from 700% more donors. >> you talk about them as third force organizations. >> i am i big expo. >> think about if obama, call a meeting of all liberal environmental

groups, 3nist groups would be represented there the conservative -- this conservatives did the same there would be 5 or 7 groups representedt there, each group has an agenda, a source of money and maybe and leadership and they are pugging everyone away. think of what the environmentalists have accomplished. so, the politicsen to really set the agenda so much as third force organizations. and we really are far behind and one of those things i wrote the book. to encourage mostly younger people, what you are my age, our dna is pretty well set, the definition of a entrepreneur is a risk taker, someone who will be

bold and take risks. that will come from younger people. 20s, 30s, early 40s. and i wanted everyone to read the book get engin engaged. -- get engaged. nobody was badging on barack obama's door to run for the senate or for the president. he picked himself. in 2007-2008, he described himself as a community organizer and a year later he is president of united states, donald trump is a business man, 15 months later he is president of the united states, pitch yourself, don't wait for someone to come blocking on the door, i came to washington i had ideas and energy. one. day, out of frustration, i call a meeting, a dozen people came, i call a meeting a week later, i

learned that something that nancy pelosi -- i read learned. you wouldp be surprised how many good impeachment will come to your meetings if you serve good food, i served goodod food, then they were inviting me to their meetings. have courage, be a risk taker. >> could liberals pick up go big and learn things? >> unfortunately, yes. nothing i can do about that, but yes, there is good advice. the versionious 4 horsemen of marketing if you want a job or a promotion or start a business, you to want differencetuate yourself. this look will help with that. >> talk about some people

that you write about in go pick, beginning with charles addison.n. >> one of life's great human beings. i much fortunate to know him in early 60s, youngest son of thomas edison. he was second of the naive, governor of new jersey and in last 10 or 15 years. he was active in the conservative calls to movement, he was we'll and generous with his contributions. very -- i ran your honor americans for freedom in early 60s, one day we had a small office on floorth floor, i am advertising, you have a rope in new york city, i am working at my desk at 2 p.m., i look up there is charles addison.

a delightful man. i caught him on the phone when i first started, asking for a contribute brewing. i f called a few another people like him, eddie rickenbacker of eastern airline and jai howard ipo gave he money, but i decided to stay with us. >> talk about that a little bit. cold calling people. on the phone, disla that not me,t it wasn't me in the 20s and opal is almost 90. >> youit will write them a letter. i got a secretary, they would write more betters, then -- i am the mihm -- mihm graph machines.

thatth seemed to work i tbotd computers that nobody heard of. we starvedded spitting out letters and after about a year and a half at buckley's nation's review your honor american are freedom, i focused on direct mail. i quit a good job and i started the vigorycompany. i guy nothing. one thing that i needed was names and addresses, i got over 12 thousand barry goldwater donors by end of the first year, i started my company in 1965, i had 100

thousand republicans goldwater donors now we're past 10 million. and i recognize early on that was be that we were in i wasn't in fundraising or marketing, i was in the name acquisition. >> have you gotten rich in your business? >> i have not, i have lived comfortably, to this day my team will testify, that i put everything possible back into the company, i am at every fiber of my being i am a entrepreneur. the definition of a entrepreneur is a risk taker. to this day, i put everything that i have available in company, the reasons is 1965, i started my company in january, i went to various conservative organizations, and i said, i

have goldwater donors let's do a test of 5,000, they agreed we would spend a dollar, and now you send a dollar 50% of your money comes back, in those days, two or 5 dollars would come back this great. now wild mail 50 thousand letters. and those results come in we'll mail 500 thousand, everyone says no mail another 500 thousand, i said no -- they said no. i said, okay. . i want to save western civilization, i know what to do. i will finance the money, to this u day, the vast majority of our clients we finance their mailing, i put it pack to finance more growth for the conservative movement. >> who was right?

5,000it or 500 thousand. >> neither, millions. we will mail in next 18 months something around 300 million postal letters. >> someone else who has been active in conservative movement in you write about big, morton blackwell.l. >> i dedicated my book to him, he a dear friend. i have known him as 002, i am active at national level. i am active. so, i have known since 1961, he calls me on phone said let's have lunch with a young conservative, you need to know him. we have nice lunch at may

flower, and lunch was so well, and invited morton back for another lunch, just he andhe i, morton said, i spoke magic words to him, said i want you to come work with me and help me build the conservative movement, at that point he was taking a payay cut, i gave him a pay increase, after some years he left and worked for ronald i reagan in the white house, after that he left and started leadership institute, almost no organizations that i could think of more important to conservative movement than leadership institute that trained over a quarter of a million young people, many governors and senators and congressmen. over the years, he give -- right now, he with my president of my company, i am chairman.

my company, kathleen patten in jerusalem with other national conservative marketers and teaching a couple hundred people in europe,s, conservatives how to be effective conservatives, he has maybe 500 or more classes, all over the country he his leadership institute teaches each year, and had more impact on the conservative movement than anyone else thatt i congress of who living. >> the book, go big, the marketing secrets of richard viguerie, someone said before rush limbaugh there was richard viguerie, appreciate your time. >> thank you, good to be with you.

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