Got a great email question while back.

Here it is:

“Ben, I have a list that I have been sending emails to monthly or bi-monthly when I have something to say. I do not want to annoy them! And yet I still get people complaining and calling me a spammer. I heard you say that doesn’t happen when mailing daily. How is that???”

That’s an excellent question.

Maybe think of it like this:

Your list is basically like an organism.

You created it, and you built it.

But then you starved it by not REGULARLY sending anything cool and fun and interesting to it, and so it turned against you.

You gotta feed it, son.

Don’t OVER feed it, of course.

But you should feed it regularly — and yes, every day is ideal.

Sure, maybe sometimes it will have indigestion and burp or fart on you, and make a stink over something you feed it, but mostly it’ll be happy and content and want more.

Anyway, that’s my take on it.

The trick is the KIND of food you feed it.

That is where my email system fits in.

I always get amused by people who are on my list and think they can “reverse engineer” what I’m doing.

They ALWAYS get it wrong.

Every time.

No exceptions.

And it’s interesting watching people play email “T-ball” like that, when they could be playing in the big leagues, making real sales, regularly.

Why mess around?

Ain’t nuttin like the real thing, baby:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Years ago, I was pronounced a “Type A” personality.

Basically Type A people are the super driven people in society who are aggressive, have trouble relaxing, always working, extremely impatient, urgent, competitive, want to excel at everything, and the list goes on.

Some are good traits.

Some… not so much.

Type B people, on the other hand, are the opposite.

They have little or no sense of urgency, are non-competitive, laid back, relaxed, slow paced, apathetic, don’t really care if they win or lose, etc.

Now, I don’t know how true this stuff is.

Some people even call it “junk science.”

But I do know one thing:

Whether you’re a Type A or a Type B personality, it’s definitely a good thing to at least be a “Type A Marketer.” Even if you’re a Type B personality, it won’t hurt to have these traits when you put on your “marketing hat”:

• Impatient — all the best marketers like failing FAST

• Time-conscious — Dan Kennedy’s magnificent “No BS Time Management” book puts this into perspective, be RUTHLESS about your time and you almost can’t fail

• Ambitious — pretty self explanatory?

• Controlling — like the old adage goes, “inspect, what you expect”

• Concerned about status — personal branding and market place positioning are (in some ways) dependent on this, ignore it at your peril…

• Aggressive — with implementing your goals and ideas

• Highly competitive — many of the great athletes and business people compete against themselves

Anyway, very interesting subject.

Sometimes I wish I WAS more Type B, though.

But even if I was a Type B personality, I’d still try to develop the Type A characteristics above when it’s time to take care of business.

They come in pretty handy in this big bad world.

Just something to think about.

To build more Type A marketing skillz, go to:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Last year I had a rare opportunity:

To be interviewed for Ken McCarthy’s elite “System Club.” Ken is like the “founding father” of Internet marketing (certainly one of them), and it was a great time and a lot of cool info was discussed.

Anyway, one thing we talked about was email.

Specifically, email frequency.

A lot of my website subscribers think I’m some kind of weirdo for sending out daily emails.

That I must be crazy.

And that I just tick off my lists, yada yada yada…

Of course, they’re all dead wrong.

They couldn’t possibly be wronger.

(Not about me being crazy, but about email frequency…)

It’s just the opposite.

Not only do you not tick your list off… but if they barely hear from you and you only mail them when you have “something to say” you have a MUCH greater chance of ticking them off since they aren’t used to hearing from you.

“Who is this jackanape sending me mail?”

“When did I join this list?”

“Where’s the spam button!”

Yes, mi amigo.

That’s exactly what goes through their minds.

But besides that, there’s a clear financial reason to bang out an email every day to your list. And when talking to Ken I learned he has a few other extremely profitable websites (non-marketing related) and I was floored by the numbers they get.

So naturally I asked…

“What’s the secret?”

“It’s that daily communication.”

Guess I should have known!

Oh well.

Is any of this getting through?

Or will you keep SPURNING my advice on this?

I hope not.

Because you’re leaving mucho $$ on ye table.

Go here next:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Well, I’ve done the math.

Today will be the 20th (yes, twentieth!) time I’ve moved in my life time. I think I probably even got most military people beat on this one. Sometimes I joke how I’m in the wrong business — and should open a moving company, instead.

I have it down to a science by now.

But, that’ll never happen.

Because, frankly, I LOATHE moving.

There are few things I would rather NOT do than move.

I hate moving.

Moving sucks!

So what’s any of this got to do with you?

Probably nothing.

Except, even though I’m about to embark on an 8 hour drive (albeit a pleasant, coastal drive), I still found a few minutes to bat out my daily email today.

To plug my product (see below).

And, to check in with my subscribers.

It’s a good discipline to have.

And will pay you mucho smackola.

Alrighty then.

I’m off.

See you on the other side…

Ben Settle

P.S. Almost forgot to plug my product!

What kind marketer would I be if I didn’t do that — even if just a “soft” plug (like this) at the end?

No marketer, I say.

No marketer at all.

So, here goes:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Hey,

This will be a “quickie” today.

(Got to get ready to move tomorrow.)

But that Survey Funnel plugin sale is ending this week. If you buy it from my affiliate link below, you can get it for 50% off.

Here it is:

http://vantagenet.surveyf.hop.clickbank.net?tid=47special

Ben Settle

P.S. If you want to read the interview I did with Ryan Levesque (talking about this plugin and some cool ways to use neuroscience to make more sales) here is the link:

www.BenSettle.com/list

Imagine you’re a social media goo-roo.

And, imagine you sell “how to” social media products.

(haha imagine that…)

You know, for Twitter, FaceBook, LinkedIn, Google Plus, and any other social media platform you can think of.

But, you have a bit of a problem.

You get lots of traffic.

But you don’t know which product your traffic is interested in!

Do they want your FaceBook product?

Your Twitter product?

LinkedIn?

What?

And you KNOW you’re losing sales because on days, for example, you promote your LinkedIn product, you’re boring the shizzit out of the people on your list who are NOT interested in LinkedIn.

Probably many of them will even leave.

“Meh. This isn’t for me…”

Sucks, doesn’t it?

Hey, I know.

Many affiliate marketers run into this all the time.

And you know what?

Until recently I had this same kind of problem (in a different market) where we have lots of different leads coming in with different sub-interests.

It’s been a big pain in the assimus, too.

Then, I met Ryan Levesque.

He’s the dude I’ve been yapping about all week.

He figured out a way around this.

How?

Well, Ryan has studied advanced neuroscience at an Ivy League university, and has even taught college level classes on the subject. And, recently, he created a WordPress plugin that lets you immediately (right when traffic hits your site) segment your traffic out, so you can send them to a capture page or sales letter that targets what they are interested in, so you don’t have to guess.

Take our imaginary social media goo-roo above.

If he used this plugin, he’d pwn.

People interested in FaceBook, would be sent to a capture page or sales page JUST about FaceBook.

Ditto with Twitter, LinkedIn, etc etc etc.

Think that might help sales?

You’re darn tootin’ it would.

This is the cyber equivalent of what the big direct mailers (who do $100 million+ per year) do. They slice and dice and segment their lists like crazy, making sure people get offers they’re interested in, and not a bunch of offers they’re not interested in.

Sounds simple, doesn’t it?

Hey, it IS simple.

And very powerful, too.

(Plus, it’s “point-and-click” easy to use.)

Best part?

If you get this plugin via my affiliate link below, you get it for half off (for this week only).

And here it is:

http://vantagenet.surveyf.hop.clickbank.net?tid=47special

Ben Settle

P.S. If you want to read the interview I did with Ryan Levesque (talking about this plugin) here is the link:

www.BenSettle.com/list

Did you download that free PDF yesterday?

The one of the interview I did with my new marketing pal Ryan Levesque (who’s like a neuroscience “scholar” — having taught the subject on a college level), and who has been using all kinds of interesting ways to build lists and make sales using some VERY simple neuroscience principles?

If you missed it, it’s good stuff.

One of my favorite parts is when he described:

“The neurotransmitter ‘cocktail’ buzz”.

And how to use this strange little quirk of the human brain to hold peoples’ attention (by mixing a bunch of chemicals around in your readers’ brain — and don’t worry, none of this is unethical or anything, people WANT this).

Anyway, if you missed it no worries.

You can still download it free here:

www.BenSettle.com/list

Also, another reminder:

If you buy the list-building product from the link inside the PDF (my big bad affiliate link) you’ll get the product for half off.

But, only for this week.

And, only from that exact link.

More tomorrow…

Ben Settle

Here’s something interesting:

Recently, Glen Livingston introduced me to a guy with some VERY cool ideas on list building. His name is Ryan and what sets this dude apart from the list-building expert pack is he uses principles from neuroscience to do the heavy lifting.

(Neuroscience being all about how the brain works.)

In other words…

He ain’t just some wannabe.

In fact, he’s even published research and taught college level courses on neuroscience, and has since built a business and products around using these principles to make more sales, build more responsive lists and more.

Anyway, Ryan’s taught me many interesting things.

And frankly, I just HAD to interview him.

Below is a link to a pdf of that interview transcript.

And before you even ask, yes…

There’s something for sale in it.

(A list-building product.)

If that’s a problem, then time to sac up.

Because even if you don’t buy the product… or if you think all sales pitches are the devil… you’ll still learn some cool ways to make more sales.

Also, one more thing:

The link inside the pdf is an affiliate link.

That means I get paid on the sales.

It also means you get the product at half off.

(I made a deal with Ryan).

But, only for this week.

And, only from the link inside.

If you’re interested, here’s the interview:

www.BenSettle.com/list

Enjoy…

Ben Settle

I just saw this funny cartoon…

It showed a man in a grocery store checkout line looking clueless and asking the cashier, “How does this work? I’ve recently retired from Congress and I’m not quite sure how to pay for things with my own money.”

HA!

Ain’t that the troof.

Hey, I mostly avoid politics in these emails.

But we’re in an election year in the US.

And so it’s unavoidable.

Nah, I’m not gonna get partisan.

Just the opposite.

I want you to NOT vote at all!

(Or, write in someone competent.)

And don’t bother giving me that dorky banality:

“If you don’t vote you have no right to complain!”

Makes no sense whatsoever.

The ONLY people with no right to complain are those who voted for the winning candidate.

Duh.

So what’s this got to do with email?

Lots!

For one, the ability to think for yourself (and not fall for the, “this is the most importantest election EVER!” BS, especially since you don’t even have a real choice — except between which poison will kill you faster).

Thinking is mandatory in emails.

To think through your position.

Think through your offer.

And think through your words.

Another thing:

Pay attention to political emails.

One thing these politicians DO do right is email. They don’t try to persuade everyone. They talk ONLY to their hardcore followers — that “white hot center” of the market.

That’s exactly who to sell to.

The PASSIONATE part of your market.

Do it right and you’ll pull “independents” over the fence via your arguments and enthusiasm.

So 2 big email lessons.

Who’d have thunk it?

Learning something from politicians…

For more advanced email training:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

I likes me a good challenge.

And so, once in a while when someone asks me “Ben, can I sell such-and-such a product with email?” and it really IS a hardcore commodity, well, I consider that a challenge.

Take this guy who sells… socks.

Yes, socks.

And he wanted to know if the Settle way of writing emails would work for him in his business.

A very good question.

How DO you sell socks by email?

CAN you sell socks by email?

Would you even WANT to sell socks by email?

Of course you can, babycakes.

One way is to… niche it.

For example:

You could start a list for runners. And in each email you’d tie your super socks in as a great way for runners to get the benefits they are looking for (whatever those benefits are).

You could do the same with tennis players.

Basketball players.

Baseball players.

Golfers.

Lumberjacks.

Skiers.

Fishermen.

Security guards.

Almost anyone.

Don’t they all wear socks?

Isn’t their ability to stand, move, or run on their FEET a big part of those jobs? Are there not socks that would be better for some of these people than others — either by thickness, moisture absorption, weight, length, comfort, softness, etc?

Just do your homework.

Talk to people in the niches you want to target.

And then find what socks you sell that would help them perform better (or better protect their feet from fungus, injury, cramping, whatever) and work those in to your emails.

So that’s my take on it.

Most anything can be sold via email.

Just takes a bit of strategy.

When you’re ready to start, check out:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle