Last year – pre-Cap’n Covid, or course – I was telling “Email Players” subscriber and the “founding father” of internet marketing as we all know it Ken McCarthy about why — barring a death in the family — I refuse to do any plane traveling this year.

There is a burnout aspect to it after the last few years.

But, more than that, I find airports only slightly less depressing than casinos.

Last time I flew back in October 2018, when speaking at AWAI’s copywriting bootcamp and then the great Brian Kurtz’s master class right after that, it was intolerable.

Not just from the crowds.

But, the utter insanitary conditions of even so-called “clean” airports.

Anyway, Ken’s response (with his permission) is below.

It’s quite the lesson in and of itself for business people:

I’ll tell you, not only are they depressing, they are literally sickening – as are air flights and hotel rooms and restaurant food.

I can drive to Kennedy (LONG but doable) and I’m going to shoot for a place to stay with OPEN windows ideally where I can make some of my own meals.

I always found travel a little rough, but now that I’ve looked into the matter in depth I realize that when we go out into “the world” we might as well be crawling through a sewer.

In terms of toxins that are in the air, in synthetic carpets, chemical cleaners, air “fresheners” that are literally neurotoxins and on and on it goes. It’s quite a lot to process. Human beings aren’t built for it and in takes a toll.

You are right on the money to be living by the ocean and NOT traveling

And I can go into a lot more gruesome detail!

Some people depending on genetics, constitution, overall health – various factors – are a lot more impacted than others, but bottom line all these places – airports, airplanes, hotel rooms are absolutely ghetto-sewer shit.

It’s kind of a joke that we look at them as “luxuries”

Cap’n Covid or no Cap’n Covid:

This is why I can’t stomach even the mere brain fart of being a digital nomad. I just don’t see what’s so exciting, thrilling, fun, and great about traveling from one petri dish to another full of human stench, terrible hygiene, communicable diseases, boogers, farts, screaming kids, nosey travelers, long lines for terrible food, sticky bathroom floors, overachieving TSA agents, and other assorted horrors that airports & hotels offer.

This why I’m far more content being a Baggins than a Took.

Adventures don’t just make one late for dinner.

They can make you toss that dinner, too…

All right, enough warm fuzzy feelings for the traveler’s soul.

It’s not all doom & gloom.

Because if you know what you’re doing, you can use plain, simple emails to make sales anywhere — at home, in an airport unfit for human habitation, or even in a dirty hostel or Airbnb in the middle of nowhere while occupying the house with 5 total strangers all sharing a bar of soap with a pubic hair stuck to it.

To learn how I write such emails, go here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

An eager-beaver reader asks:

Hey, Ben.

After binge-reading your email newsletter few days ago,

something makes me curious.

You write long story email,

why don’t you write a blog post just like your email

and promote your post through your email newsletter?

The short answer:

I do it the way I do it because I kinda like getting paid.

I find this question fascinating in the same way I would find it fascinating if someone asked me, “Ben how come you don’t use MySpace?” In fact, I thought this silly idea of writing teaser emails to send people to long blog posts which then link to an offer, being better than simply putting the content in the emails with a link directly to an offer died off years ago.

But, apparently not.

About 10 years ago I would sometimes get challenged on this.

And you know what happened?

Every single person I know who tested it found their sales were not just better, but exponentially better… simply putting the content in the email instead of trying to screw around sending them to a blog post to generate comments or for SEO, etc.

That’s not to say not to use blogs.

I certainly do – for purely list-building purposes.

But, not when I want to make direct sales, except in rare circumstances.

Anyway, do with this info what you will.

Take it to heart.

Ignore it.

Or even SPURN it, for all I care.

But if you want to see the exact methodology Yours Crotchety uses, go here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Riffing on my insistence this week that building your own media empire is far more important than having talent, skill, charisma, looks, or know-how… actress Sophie Turner (Game of Thrones, X-Men: Apocalypse, X-Men: Dark Phoenix) made an admission a few years ago about why she got a specific part.

The admission?

This:

“I auditioned for a project, and it was between me and another girl who is a far better actress than I am, far better, but I had the followers, so I got the job,” she said. “It’s not right, but it is part of the movie industry now.”

Her followers were on social media, of course.

A very weak media for business people compared to others, especially for direct selling.

But, it’s still further proof these days it is more about having a media platform than having talent.

Or skill.

Or anything else.

Like it or lump it, we live in the Age of Media. This should be abundantly obvious to anyone paying attention. But what may not be obvious is, if you merge having a genuine skill or knowledge set (i.e., what it is you sell or do) with knowing how to puppeteer media platforms then, I dare say, you almost can’t lose.

All of which is what the May “Email Players” issue is about.

I cannot stress the importance of this skill enough.

In my opinion, it trumps copywriting skill.

Traffic-generating skill.

Storytelling skill.

“Engagement” skill.

Or any other skill.

Own the media = own your business destiny.

And no, social media ain’t owning your own media.

Thus, why I say the May “Email Players” issue — about finding, controlling, and stacking your own media platforms — is the single most valuable issue of the 105 prior issues to date.

If you want to partake of it, best hurry, Scooter.

Deadline to get it is tonight.

Specifically, when I send the list in.

Here’s the link:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

True story:

Last June I got to talking to my pal Robert Bruce about a novel I was about to work on (specifically, what is now the bonus 8th novel in my Enoch Wars: Omega Edition), and we got to talking about life, business, and marketing as is what always happens. And he was asking about my newsletter, and I told him how I was playing with the idea at the time of selling 3rd party ads inside.

I ended up nixing that idea.

But he told me about a local fisherman up in his neck of the woods who had once started a print newsletter for fisherman.

And, he told me about these particularly interesting facts:

• The newsletter circulation is 5k subscribers.
• Each issue has 21 spots for paid ads.
• Each spot costs $500.
• He has a waiting list of people wanting to advertise in it.

Now, let’s do the math:

Twenty one advertising spots at $500 a pop = $10,500 per month.

Just for writing about his passion to a hot market of receptive leads.

But that’s not even the most interesting part of it all.

To me, the most interesting and important part of it is, his newsletter is his own media platform he has 100% control and ownership of. A platform that reaches 5,000 people each month. That he can say whatever he wants, think whatever thoughts he wants, and sell whatever he wants — without any fear of Facebook, Google, or any other big tech platform de-platforming him, shadow banning him, playing with any algorithms, or telling him what he can or can’t sell, can or can’t advertise, or can or can’t say.

Now THAT is power.

Power only owning your own media can give you.

And having a subscription business like that is just one of many ways to give yourself this power. And it’s not even a mandatory way of doing it. (i.e., the point of this email is not to sell a subscription newsletter — if you don’t see that, then congrats on missing the point of all this, Maynard). In fact, I believe for a lot of businesses, stacking & mixing in more media platforms, that further enhance and compound on each other, could potentially take a 4 or 5-figure business and turn it into 6-figures, 7-figures, and beyond business if done correctly over the course of time.

This sort of “media stacking” is what the May 2020 “Email Players” issue is all about.

It goes to the printer tonight.

After that, it’s too late to get your meat hooks on it.

Here’s where to subscribe while you still have a little time left:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

“Daly is the ‘asshole god’ of this virtual world, and his word is law.”

— Walton
Black Mirror
“USS McCallister”

I can’t say I’m a Black Mirror fanboy, but the show definitely has its moments. Including a few of the best scripted single TV show episodes I’ve ever seen.

One of which is titled:

“USS McCallister”

It’s about the CTO of a tech-entertainment company who nobody likes or respects and even finds creepy when working at his company in the day. But at night he is in his own private cinematic cyber universe — based on a TV show he watched as a child — as the commander of a starship exploring new worlds, with his “crew” being the digitally cloned consciousnesses of the people who treat him like crap and ignore him in the real world.

In this world he is “god.”

He can control matter itself, and does so in horrific ways to keep everyone subordinate.

And what he says is the way it is. Anyone who disobeys him is, for all intents and purposes, condemned to a hell of Daly’s own creation that is a bit disturbing to watch.

This is a power that he abuses, of course.

And, he suffers the consequences of that abuse.

Reason I bring this up today is because, while having your own media platforms doesn’t give you that much power, it can give you a lot more power over your fate, and the fate of those you serve and sell to, than you might think.

Some medias give you more power than others.

Like, for example, social media has rules you have to follow. Same with mobile apps or even email and a website (which your host can always shut down).

But a media you sell via the postal system, for example, has no rules I can think of, as long as you are not doing anything illegal. You can “say” whatever you want in a print newsletter or book, for example, and other offline media you own. In the US you are even protected by the First Amendment to do so.

Point is, each media available to businesses is different.

With their own pros & cons, their own reach, and their own profit potentials.

And the real power is NOT in controlling and mastering just one media, but mixing and combining as many as you can, in as many ways as you can, selling with them in all the means for doing so as you can.

Which brings your non-god-like narrator & pal to the point:

The May 2020 “Email Players” issue.

It’s all about building your own media empire and the medias I use and/or recommend playing with. But, more importantly — because technology and rules are often changing — how to think like a multi-channel, multi-media platform marketing publisher, and not just an “internet marketer” or a “copywriter” or a “coach” or accountant, attorney, or whatever the thing is that someone does in their business.

It’s the difference between thinking like a publisher and not just a “writer.”

An agency owner and not just a “copywriter.”

A restaurant chain owner and not just a “chef.”

A network owner and not just a “Youtube influencer.”

And so on, and so forth.

It’s a state of mind. And this issue attempts to get people thinking this way, thinking differently about how they look at their own business, and thinking in terms of building not just a business, but a media empire of your own — on a big or small scale — that you control.

Once I send this puppy to the printer, it’ll be too late to get it.

Here’s the link:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

One of the “rules” inside my “Copy Troll” book is:

Don’t engage one-on-one with a troll, unless they have a bigger audience than you.

I won’t go into all the reasons for this here.

That is, after all, what the book is for.

But, I will say, even if they do have a bigger audience than you, the best way to engage with them is, instead, via your own Media platform. That way, you can both troll them back without granting them access to any of your audience (like you do if you fight with them directly on social media or whatever) and also profit from them.

It’s something that dawned on me later than I would have preferred in business.

And, when I started reading how the late media empire-builder & squeaky voiced William Randolph Hearst did the exact same thing to grow his business, influence, etc, I tripled down on following that rule.

For example:

There was an incident when he was visiting France where the French did not like him, and wanted him out of the country. And when they told them this, in true Hearst fashion, he did NOT argue with or engage in any kind of shyt-talking directly one-on-one with the French leaders, which he probably wouldn’t have been very good at.

Instead, he wrote an editorial about it in his papers:

(i.e., on his own Media platform)

“I have no complaint to make. The officials were extremely polite. They said I was an enemy of France and a danger in their midst. They made me feel quite important. They said I could stay in France a little while longer, if I desired, that they would take a chance on nothing disastrous happening to the Republic. But I told them that I did not want to take the responsibility of endangering the great French nation; that America had saved it once during the war, and I would save it again by leaving.”

Pure Copy Trolling poetry.

But, I am not bringing this up to sell Copy Troll.

No, I bring it up to show you how to wield the incredible power owning your own Media platforms gives you, as well as one of many reasons it’s good to have your own Media platforms you control, and those you simply use, even if you don’t own or outright control them.

All of which are talked about in the May “Email Players” issue.

The deadline to get this issue is coming up soon.

Here’s where to subscribe, while you still can:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

A tale for the business books:

One thing I found extremely ironic was when, last year, writers were shocked & freaking out over California’s AB 5 legislation. Way I understand it is, this legislation caps freelance submissions at 35 “submissions” per year per “putative employer.” Considering paid freelance stories go for a paltry $25 on the low end, and $1 per word on the high end, that makes it so anyone who makes their living as a freelance writer in California is pretty much screwed.

If that is true, then it’s just another run of the mill screwball California law.

And, the only reason I knew about it is internet marketers kept incessantly emailing me about it in a panic, weeping & gnashing their teeth about how it’s the end of the world for freelance writers, will soon spread to other states, etc, how I NEEDED to warn my list, yada, yada, yada.

And maybe it is the end for freelance writers.

I don’t know, nor do I care, and haven’t even kept up with the drama.

Why?

Because (1):

A lot of California freelance writers tend to be ideologically self sabotaging going by the ones I have personally known, interacted with, and have observed squawking nonsense from their social justice soapboxes over the years, and overwhelmingly voted for the bat shyt politicians who pushed for this law in the first place. If you are a writer living there and you like that sort of thing, and if you voted for these politicians to help “the children” or whatever, that’s your business. But don’t be shocked when the unintended consequences bite you.

And (2):

I don’t cater to nor pretend to be able to help someone who thinks in terms of just being a “writer.” Especially when there are so many ways anyone with even a smidgen of writing skill (not even talent, just skill) can make out like a bandit… and not only be immune to these kinds of idiotic laws, but probably profit from them.

The kneejerk reaction going on by writers horrified by it all was rather fascinating.

More:

This is also a perfect example of the important difference between thinking like a “writer” and thinking like a publisher.

If you are a mere writer your income is most likely capped due to time & energy constraints anyway.

If you are a publisher, the sky is the limit.

The power is not in your “writing”, but in owning and/or controlling your own publishing medias.

Which brings me to the punchline:

The upcoming May “Email Players” issue is all about stacking media platforms. If you are a mere “writer”, even if you enjoy voting for politicians openly hostile to your business, then I believe it can give you lots of ideas for re-booting that sagging self-sabotaging inner game, and become far more than a mere writer to potentially create a far bigger, more successful, and more secure business for your bad self.

Or not.

If you don’t use the info, and just curl up into a fetal position it won’t help you at all.

Whatever the case, you’ll have to decide soon.

The deadline to subscribe in time for the May issue is almost upon you.

Here’s the link:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Not long ago, I wrote in one of my daily emails:

“I’d bet green money someone who knows what they are doing with email can make more sales sending a handful of emails they quickly write and load in an autoresponder, dripped out over 4 or 5 days to a list of 1,000 people… than a chest-pounding social media rockstar can make lobbing 100+ posts per day to 100,000 so-called followers during that same time frame.”

This is simply a fact.

Anyone with even a modicum of email skill knows this.

And only an amateur marketer with their head shoved so far up their gluteus bootyus they foolishly think you “need” social media to build a business would dispute it.

In fact, right after I wrote that, “Email Players” subscriber Fotis Chat wrote:

So true. Today i started the “Trolling the feminists” campaign. I emailed my list and copy pasted the message to my Fb page.

600 people VS nearly 3,000

People on the list show their support via donating money. People on social media show their support by liking and sharing.

I expected that much but damn. I pity the fools who feel happy only with social media accounts.

I used to pity them, now I celebrate their ignorance.

Why?

Because technology as well as ideological political/social shifts are happening so quickly, with de-platformings happening so frequently, and with certain new media opportunities popping up so rapidly… that the future belongs not to the lowly “internet marketer” — and certainly not the “social media influencer” — but to the few who know, understand, and consistently apply the importance of building a media business, and not just a [insert whatever the “thing” is you do] business.

I don’t care if you’re a freelancer.

Or a coach.

Or an info-publisher, professional service provider, brick & mortar business, podcaster, seller of subscription offers, or any other kind of small or solo entrepreneur.

Behold the May “Email Players” issue.

I show you not just what medias I use & advocate using, and how to mix & match ‘em, but also — because there will no doubt be new medias created in the future, with current ones taken away — how to think like a multi-media publisher, and not just a seller or doer of whatever is is you do or sell.

It’s the difference between being a chef or the owner of a restaurant chain.

The former can make a good income.

Maybe even get “rich.”

But the latter?

Can potentially build lasting wealth, a lasting legacy, and, yes, a lasting empire.

The typical (i.e., majority of) small & shallow thinking “internet marketer” won’t comprehend this. But those with the desire and capacity to think big will. And, they are the only ones who should even think about subscribing in time to get the May issue anyway.

Here’s the link to subscribe to get this issue, while you still can:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Back in January, Mike Cernovich wrote on his blog about how a nurse got harassed and doxed (i.e., her private info published publicly) on Twitter.

Doxing is something social justice warrior-types are often keen on doing.

Especially when someone commits some kind of thought crime.

And, from what I can tell, they do it when getting someone de-platformed fails.

But why did they do it this nurse’s case?

What hideous sin did she commit against the Collective hive mind?

For advocating clean living, of course.

Specifically, for suggesting drinking water and going to bed early would do more to help prevent anxiety than going out partying and consuming alcohol, or popping a color-wheel of prescription drugs. She even got death threats and had to shut down all her social media accounts.

Moral of the story:

When trying to get you de-platformed fails, expect to be doxed.

Another moral of the story:

It’s yet more reasons to use, control, and take advantage of other Media platforms besides friggin social media. There’s this weird assumption that you ‘need’ social media, especially when starting out, to have some kind of business presence and it simply ain’t so.

Social media is an extremely fragile business building platform at best.

There are many others to choose from.

And while it’s perfectly okay to have social media in the mix, it’s borderline insane to rely on it.

Or any one media platform, for that matter.

Yes, including email, as Mailchump has been proven quite spendidly.

If you want an A-Z training on how to stop thinking like a marketer and start thinking like a multi-media publisher (on a big or small scale) make sure you are subscribed to “Email Players” before the upcoming May issue.

The deadline is coming up fast.

And once I send it to the printer, it’ll be too late to get it.

Here’s the link:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle