“Malcolm Gladwell says in his book ‘Outliers’, that to be great at anything it requires more than just raw talent, it requires time. Lots of time. His magic number is ten thousand hours. I fully agree.”

-Kirk DouPonce

The above is from my “Zombie Cop” novel’s cover artist.

Before hiring him I did my homework.

I didn’t want just “any” artist doing it.

I wanted the BEST artist to do it.

And, so, I looked into who was doing the book covers I already thought looked really cool and his name kept popping up. Turns out he is one of the best in the bid’niz (his “who’s who” of big publishing clients speaks for itself). And, it also turns out his philosophy about hard work and excelling at what you do are identical to mine.

For example:

I found an interview he did online.

And in that interview he was asked…

“What advice would you give to teenagers wanting to get into your field of work?”

His answer applies to ANY skill you want to learn.

Yes, including (especially!) email marketing.

He answered:

“Start cranking on those ten thousand hours. Keep sketch books and fill them up. Also study what other artists have done both from the past and present. Look at bank brochures, menus, business cards, logos, billboards, magazine ads, etc. Learning software is important too. If you only learn one program make sure it’s Adobe Photoshop. With Photoshop and a Wacom tablet, an artist can conquer the world, or at least recreate their own. The best thing you can do is do it and do it often.”

Let’s break it down:

1. Start on your 10k hours

(Daily emails are a great place to begin, babycakes…)

2. Study what other artists (past and present) do

(This is the real purpose of a swipe file — not to copy, but to study and get inspired, don’t let the swipe-n-steal goo-roos con you)

3. Look at brochures, menus, biz cards, logos, ads, etc

(Don’t limit yourself to just emails… study blog posts, sales letters, radio shows, public speakers, any kind of persuasive communication)

4. Best thing you can do is do it and often

(That’s where the rubber meets the dough — action)

Alright, enough.

I know 99% of people reading this won’t do a thing.

They’ll get inspired.

Get excited.

Then, say to themselves “I’ll get to this soon…”

Bah!

No, you’ll get to it NOW.

Today.

Right after deleting this email.

That is, if you’re serious about getting great at writing emails that can give you a comfortable living and de-stress your existence.

Otherwise, why bother?

Maybe go back to your job.

You know…

Putting your 10k hours in for your boss (and HIS family’s lifestyle)… taking orders, running errands and carrying reports to your superiors.

Brrr.

What a hellish thought.

If that’s what you want, I can’t help you.

If you want to master email marketing, go to:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Alrighty then.

The special deal I cooked up with Big Jason Henderson and his big “Email Response Warriors” course ends tonight at midnight.

(Eastern time zone.)

If you grab it from my naked affiliate link below you also get:

1. A free “Email Players” back issue — a “for real” $97 value

(Click here to see what’s inside the catalog)

2. Access to a special webinar where you can ask your questions and have your emails critiqued by the both of us and a “surprise” A list copywriter I’ll be telling you about later today

(I’m kinda in copywriting “fanboy” mode over this one…)

More:

At the moment Jason’s selling his course for $200 off.

Normally it is $497.

You get it today for $297.

Plus, it’s done via Clickbank.

So you get their 60-day guarantee.

Here’s what to do next:

1. Look at the attached “Email Players” back issue catalog, and pick an issue you want (the two most popular are the December 2011 issue which explains my extremely successful launch process that even a certain product launch expert told me he’s super impressed by, and actually interviewed me about it for his site… and the April 2013 issue which outlines my business model).

2. Go to the link below and order

3. Let me know the issue you want and your mailing address

But time is short.

If you want in, you gotta hop to it:

www.EmailPlayers.com/big-jason

Ben Settle

On a recent Ben Settle Antipreneur Show podcast I tossed a term out there into the airwaves (cyber waves?):

“Email Infidelity”

Here’s what it means:

It’s when someone on your email list is too much of a loser to write their own emails, so they copy something you write word-for-word (or change juuuuuuuuuust enough where they think they can get away with it).

They are, in effect, cheating.

Not just on you.

But, on their list.

On themselves.

Yes, even on their market.

And like real infidelity, it may “feel good” for the moment you do the wicked filthy deed… but the consequences can be severe and life altering.

(Not in a good way.)

How?

Lots of reasons.

For one, if you do this sort of thing, you are just making yourself less effective. Less skilled. And, yes, less of a dude. That’s what happens when you cut corners, son.

Secondly:

You can get in legal trouble.

True story:

About a year ago some jackass who brags about how he makes 7-figures per year ripped one of my emails off word-for-word. When I showed it to my intellectual property attorney she said it was basically an open-and-shut case if I wanted to nail him and go after him for some fat stacks in damages.

And third:

Your own list will never trust you.

Nobody trusts an cheater, after all.

And, it’s no different with emails — in fact, in the example above, the cheater’s own list ratted him out.

Not a whole lot of loyalty going on for them cheaters…

Anyway, bottom line?

Don’t do the email infidelity thang.

The 5-second “reward” is not worth the potential lifetime hell of consequences to you as an entrepreneur, as a marketer and, yes, as a dude.

Moving on…

I’m doing a special offer this week.

Here’s how it works:

When you buy Big Jason Henderson’s “Email Response Warrior” product at my naked affiliate link below by Friday (tomorrow) night at midnight Eastern Time… I will send you the current “Email Players” back issue catalog and you can pick any one issue inside it and I will send it to your doorstep.

(Yes, via snail mail.)

You will also get access to a special webinar.

And on this webinar Big Jason and I will answer your email questions and rip apart, uhm, I mean critique, your emails.

By the way…

Not familiar with Jason?

He’s been in the email game for 18 years.

Seen thousands of tests.

Has worked with a bunch of “player” clients.

Plus, his course is $200 off at the moment.

But, this offer ends tomorrow at the stroke of midnight.

(Eastern time).

Get access here:

www.EmailPlayers.com/big-jason

Ben Settle

“Ben, I don’t always agree with you but…”

So goes many-an-email I get from someone giving me a testimonial, or just shooting me a quick note to say they liked something I wrote, etc.

It’s common.

And, IMH(but accurate)O, comes off as kinda meek.

If you “don’t always agree” then be specific.

What don’t you agree with?

Otherwise I assume you DO agree with whatever you profess to disagree with, but you’re still in cognitive dissonance mode, and aren’t ready to accept the full truths I espouse (ha) in these emails.

Anyway, I can’t imagine telling someone:

“I don’t always agree with you, but…”

Like when I hung out with Andre Chaperon all week at our last Oceans 4 mastermind workshop in Vegas. We talked a lot about emails and marketing and persuasion (and beer). If you know both our stuff, you know parts of our methodologies are, in many ways, as different as night and day. But I didn’t start every conversation with, “you know Andre, I don’t always agree with you, but I really dig the way you blah blah blah.”

No.

I was in student mode.

I asked him about what he’s up to.

How he’s approaching his marketing.

What tricks he uses for response, list building, etc.

Instead of focusing on the stuff I don’t “agree” with (actually, I “agree” with doing whatever works for whoever is doing it — the only wrong thing you can do in email is not send one) I wanted to get my learn on.

Same with Big Jason Henderson.

(I get why they call him “big” the dude is like 12 feet tall.)

We had dinner in Vegas a couple times.

The guy has seen a gazillion email split tests.

And so I don’t care if he doesn’t mail daily.

Or if he sometimes likes using images.

Or anything else he does that I don’t do.

(And vice versa.)

The guy can sell with email, has a methodology he uses to do it, and has worked on some pretty big fraggin’ email campaigns. I wasn’t gonna go in saying, “you know, Jason, I don’t always agree with you, but…”

BTW, speaking of Big Jason Henderson…

He has an info product called:

“Email Dominion”

It’s a combo of videos, templates, and a live, “hot seat” webinar where you can ask (and get answers to) your questions.

Pretty cool stuff.

And, it’s currently on sale ($200 off).

Anyway, I asked him if I could promote it.

And guess what?

If you purchase from my “naked” affiliate link below, I will send you the “Email Players” back issue catalog and let you have any one (just one) back issue (not the current issue or a future issue, it must be in the catalog) you want — snail mailed to your doorstep.

That’s a “for real” $97 value.

Not phony Internet goo-roo value.

More:

You also get access to a live private webinar with Jason and yours truly, where we critique your emails and answer your questions.

This is a “bigfoot” sized value.

You’d have to drop at least $1k per hour to get this kind of access to us both at the same time (probably more). But you get us, at your disposal, to answer you questions and look at your emails, free, when you buy Email Dominion from my affiliate link below.

But, this offer ends Friday at midnight Eastern time.

After that, this offer vanishes like a fart in the wind.

(As people have found the hard way, I don’t make “exceptions.”)

Get your big email lovin’ here:

www.EmailPlayers.com/big-jason

Ben Settle