Let’s chat about “The Matrix”.

There is a scene when Neo visits “The Oracle”.

She’s a sort of prophet inside The Matrix who can read people, tell the future and keeps the good guys on track. And while Neo is waiting in the other room to see her, he sees this kid using his mind to bend a spoon and make it do whatever he wants.

The child hands the spoon to Neo so he can try.

But, before Neo begins, he says:

“Do not try to bend the spoon — that’s impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth: there is no spoon.”

The meaning of which is this:

They are living in a computer generated world.

Nothing is technically “real” in the Matrix.

Not the air they breathe, or the taxes they pay, of the jobs they go to or the cars they drive, etc — it’s all a computer program they live in. And by realizing the spoon isn’t real, isn’t governed by the “rules” (i.e. laws of physics, etc) of the real world, it can be manipulated and bent.

Yes, tough guy, this applies to your emails.

In fact, understanding this changes everything.

For example:

People get so bent out of shape about “writing.”

“Oh Ben, it’s so haaaaard, I can’t write!”

Nonsense.

It’s only hard because you’re trying to bend the spoon.

When, in reality, there is no spoon.

By that I mean, “writing” isn’t real.

The words are from your brain.

Not from your fingers.

Or your keyboard.

Or your word processing program.

Your brain is truly a magnificently designed piece of equipment that is FAR more powerful than any computer or human-created machine. From the moment you’re born to the second you breathe out your last breath, it records, catalogs, and processes every “byte” of information you receive from your 5 senses.

Every sound you’ve heard.

Every object you’ve touched.

Every thing you’ve seen.

Every food you’ve tasted.

And, yes, every fart you’ve smelled.

It’s all there, inside your brain, crunching that data with more power than any “super computer” ever created. It regulates your body temperature, it keeps you breathing when you’re sleeping, and it basically keeps you alive in the background. It also feeds you ideas and sifts and sorts data so you can use it to accomplish goals and solve problems.

And guess what?

You have this massive power as your ally.

It’s yours to use as you want.

And yet, you’re telling me you can’t write a simple email every day designed to sell your product or service?

Bah!

You can write emails just as easily as I do.

You just have to realize the truth:

There is no “writing.”

The words don’t even have weight or substance.

That means you can manipulate your ideas into any form you want, belt out all the emails you need to make sales, and ignore the silly communication “rules” human beings have placed on each other when it suits you.

Of course it helps to have a guide.

Your very own “Morpheus” to explain and clarify everything.

That’s where my “Email Players Skh?ma Book” comes in.

Fact is, emails beget emails.

The more you write, the easier it gets.

And the easier it gets, the more you want to do it.

And the more you do it, the more sales you can make.

What this book (which comes with your “Email Players” subscription) does is, it shows you a systematic way of writing emails people love to read and buy from. It shows you how to write subject lines and body copy and make the sale, and how to do it in a way people not only don’t mind, but welcome.

It also comes with a 30-day game plan designed to make your business more sales.

If this sounds like something you want to know more about, go here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

I once had a conversation with a fellow who was starting to see some significant success in his business and was getting kind of down about it.

Money was flowing in like lies from a politician’s lips.

New customers were popping up like pimples on a teenager’s face.

And, he had more free time on his hands than a welfare queen laying around watching TV in a moo-moo all day.

So, why was he down?

Because he couldn’t figure out why (1) nobody in his world was all that happy for him and (2) why they were, in some cases, even hostile and antagonistic towards him.

“Mr. elBenbo,” he asked, “shouldn’t they be rooting for me instead of dogging me all the time?”

My answer?

Because the world simply doesn’t celebrate real achievements anymore.

It celebrates bullshyt.

In fact, an observation:

I have noticed over the past decade or so especially, success, persistence, and discipline, are simply not celebrated. They are almost mocked, in a lot of cases. It’s funny the things that are celebrated today. Someone gets a new $75k per year job licking corporate boots — yaaaay! Statistically, they will probably either quit or get fired in a few years. Or, at the very least, have their morale butchered by office politicians and a boss who was promoted a level or two above his competency. Someone starts a business from scratch and makes $150k their first year, with a foundation to hit the millions in a few more?

Meh.

“He just got lucky…”

So listen up, listen good, and never forget, Bub:

Nobody cares about you or your accomplishments.

Yes, some people do, of course.

But, don’t count on it.

And, don’t expect anyone to sing your praises.

And who cares if they do, either way?

What you should be focused on is your mission. Let the doubters and scoffers do their thing, you do yours. If anything, let them be spectators in your life to give their little, insignificant existences something to do.

That’s a lot more fun than the alternative.

And, that indifference towards caring what anyone else thinks can help move mountains for you in other ways, too.

All right, on to the business.

Go here next to start applying this attitude towards email marketing:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Listen…

Hear that?

That’s the sound of a thousand marketing proles flocking to buy from someone else’s business. But, if you want them – or your market’s equivalent to them – to change their trajectory and go to your business, instead, below is a proven game plan for getting all the marketing prole lovin’ your greedy self could ever want, following you on Flakebook, joining your email list, and kissing your righteous booty:

• Constantly behave like you’re a badass by going heavy on the internet tough guy/girl attitude

• Brag about being better than what your track record says you are

• Give little or no credit to those who helped you (books you read, courses you took, people who you learned from, etc) so people think you figured it all out on your own

• Swear all the time to look “edgy” and “cool” – bonus points if you put “AF” after bragging about something

• Keep your prices really low while talking about how high quality your product/service is

Do this and the marketing proles looking for a place to plug their umbilical cords into will love you. They will also give you lots of “likes” on Facebook, too. And, if you sell products and services that have nothing to do with selling to other marketers, fret not. Every market has its equivalent. And the above will work for any market to get the bottom-of-the-barrel customers.

In fact, they’ll follow you in droves.

They’ll say how genius and wonderful you are every time you post or mail.

And, you will build a solid following of them.

Yes, they’ll be mostly price shoppers, T-rexers/kangaroos (as I’ve heard ‘em called — i.e. their arms are too short to get to their wallets), serial refunders, and butt smoochers looking for free advice.

But, they are a market a lot of people make a living selling to.

And the high class customers/clients?

The ones who look for quality?

Who are the good kind of price shopper (i.e. they buy because your prices are high, with no time and patience for cheap)?

And who are serious about solving the problem your product helps with?

They’ll ignore, scoff, and maybe even mock you.

And, probably never buy from you.

Yes, even while they come to Yours Grouchy and my fellow “Email Players” subscribers instead….

It’s your business, you can run it however you want.

But if you want to learn how to write emails the classier group above enjoys and looks forward to reading & buying from, go here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

I once saw someone write about how she was re-reading the Lord of the Rings books, only to realize the One Ring is her smartphone, with this passage from Bilbo:

“…it would be a relief in a way not to be bothered with [The Ring] any more. It has been growing on my mind lately. Sometimes I have felt it was like an eye looking at me. And I am always wanting to put it on and disappear, don’t you know; or wondering if it is safe, and pulling it out to make sure. I tried locking it up, but I found I couldn’t rest without it in my pocket. I don’t know why. And I don’t seem able to make up my mind.”

In many ways, I believe the above applies even more to Flakebook.

Why?

Well, this is admittedly purely anecdotal but, the second I deleted my Facebook account (and I have a witness for this, should you need one…) over a year ago… just like Bilbo Baggins’ countenance and peace of mind changed the second he left the Ring at home and walked out the door… so it was with elBenbo Baggins.

I wasn’t even on there all that much, after closing my groups down.

But, even so, my productivity went up that same hour (literally — and I have a witness to this). And, the level of output over the past year since has been insane compared to years prior, including:

– Bought & paid off a house, and sold my former house

– Wrote & launched 9 high-ticket books, with a 10th being launched next month — including writing all the email campaigns & sales letters, etc for said book launches

– Wrote an 8th novel for my Enoch Wars series, which will be a bonus novel inside the upcoming “Omega Edition” i.e. all 7 original books of the series plus this new 8th in one big book

– Bought into 3 different software companies

– Plowed through more biographies & autobiographies than I can remember

– Spent more time walking the beach with my aging (15 year old) long-suffering dog in the past 7 months than probably the entire year before that combined

– Invested in a movie (details forthcoming in an upcoming “Email Players” issue)

– And probably a few more ticky-tack things I’m not even thinking of

Maybe that doesn’t sound like all that much to some.

But, for me, that is nearly 10 times more output than I ever did in prior years.

And while I suspect being on a travel & speaking moratorium has also contributed a little bit to it, I have no doubt the biggest factor was tossing Facebook — as well as Twitter — into the fires of Mount Doom. And again, I was not on there all that much compared to most people I know. So I can only imagine how much it holds back those who haunt their Facebook app, checking it 15+ times per day, and spending more time debating, giving away free tips for the likes & attention, and virtue signaling about whatever their token social justice cause is than getting real work done.

More:

Like Samwise Gamgee observing Frodo and Smeagol lusting after the Ring… I now clearly see just how Gollum-like other people are when I observe them on Facebook, interacting on Faceboook, and incessantly checking their Facebook on their phones (at restaurants, in the company of friends & family, even when talking one-on-one with someone) to make sure their Facebook still is where they left it… to constantly open it up and “disappear” into the posts and drama… wondering if their ego is safe by seeing how many people liked their posts and comments… getting depressed when they get less signaling than the post before (a very real phenomenon that affects every single person on there according to neurologists, even if they don’t realize it)… and pulling it up to always know it’s safe.

And, like Gollum — who, when he had the Ring, sometimes had to put it away since it galled his body — people try to lock their accounts up by deactivating it, knowing it’s galling their minds.

Even going on Facebook and social media “fasts.”

But they don’t find rest without the app on their phone & checking messenger.

Of course, like Boromir, they don’t think they are enslaved to the app.

And it’s especially amusing watching people cook up all kinds of excuses of why they “have” to be there, even as they know it’s galling their brains, savaging their hormone levels, sucking up their time, and controlling their reactions. It’s like something I read on Vox Day’s blog today:

“Man is not a rational creature, he is a rationalizing one.”

I know, I know — this does not apply to YOU, Boromir.

You, of course, are different.

And probably completely immune to the wiles of Facebook — which is designed to work on your dopamine production, designed to keep you dependent to being “connected”, and designed to keep you thinking you have to have it, or your life, your business, and your network will die on the vine.

Thus, I won’t bother waste your time or mine trying to persuade you to cast the One Ring into the cracks of Mount Doom.

What would be the point?

This email is mostly only for the 1% reading this who know what I speaketh is true on some level, are looking for some encouragement, and are ready to do the deed.

For them?

Here’s a non-exhaustive list of the benefits of ejecting Facebook:

• More privacy (this reason, alone, should be enough, especially if you are naive enough to put pics of your kids on Facebook…)
• Less accessibility (the law of supply and demand didn’t cease to exist with social media, it got amplified by it… what’s scarce is always more valuable than what’s easily obtained — and reclusive Pai Mei’s trainings are infinitely more valuable and sought-after than a storefront karate sensei at the local strip mall or YMCA…)
• No longer feeding, nourishing, and strengthening ideological enemies (Facebook, iTunes, Twitter… still working on liberating myself from Google, admittedly, but all in due course…)
• So many new ideas I am implementing, so fast… it actually annoys me trying to keep up with them (if anything, I am perpetually running the risk of burnout, which presents its own set of irritations…)
• More optimistic (it’s astounding how much the negativity of social media can affect the mind… in fact, I have since learned Twitter was specifically designed for negativity, and it’s no accident so many anonymous and mindless haters drive-by comment on there — something I did not fully realize until doing an “Irish good-bye” on the platforms I was on…)
• Less overall frustration (no longer seeing everyone’s stupid political views, rants, and virtue signaling — I not only don’t know what Trump, Pelosi, the media, etc are up to in many cases, I don’t care, either, and barely even look at the Drudge Report anymore other than the headlines…)
• More time to read about & study great people (I find it far more interesting and preferable to read the minds of great men, authors, military commanders, leaders, entrepreneurs etc via biographies and autobiographies, than to read the minds of marketing proles & new product junkies on social media…)

Those are just a few benefits.

And the drawbacks?

After an entire year… zero. I cannot think of a single thing I am missing out on that matters not being on those sites.

Am I saying I would never return to a social media platform?

Well, I never to say never.

But, if I do, it will almost certainly be a social media platform I own & control — such as the the product made by the software company I just bought into this morning can be easily converted to, should I choose. More details on this forthcoming in an “Email Players” issue soon.

But for now?

Daddy kinda likes his life, and doesn’t want to waste time on social…

Anyway, like I said:

This email is for the 1% of people on my list who know I speaketh the truth about this, and needed a Gandalf-like nudge to give up the One Ring.

And for them, I have a 29-day challenge.

A challenge I believe will take anyone to whatever goals they have much faster.

Including in ways they never thought possible.

Here is the challenge:

1. Delete your social media — Not just deactivate, delete, for 29 days. That gives you a 24-hour period to get back on Facebook or Twitter. I believe they give you a 30-day grace period after deletion to get back on — or at least they did last year — should you not be able to resist the lust of the One Ring. If you really miss it that much after 29 days, and find yourself further screwing up your circadian rhythm by caressing your phone’s Facebook app at midnight while talking to yourself like Gollum did… and you can’t let it go and must get back back on, well, you can.

And, without missing a beat, too.

(All your friends, lists, etc still in tact.)

2. Spend all the time you would have spent doing social media’ing working on your business — especially building and mailing your email list.

3. Subscribe to “Email Players” and learn how to start taking all that social media time and doing “for real” business, and not fake business hanging out with other people who don’t do any real business, but just talk about it on social media.

Again, this email applies to maybe 1% of my list.

And, no, I don’t expect most of those few people who do the above will stay off social media.

But for that 1% of that 1% of who do?

I predict their businesses will explode.

Their sales will explode.

And, yes, their profits will explode.

Not just in those 29 days, but forever after.

Whatever the case, if you are ready to detox, go here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

P.S. If you read this, and think you would love to leave sites like Facebook, etc, but can’t, because your business and income really do depend on one or more of those sites, then that should be a huge red flag for you in and of itself to change your wicked ways.

Relying on one platform you don’t control in the first place is dangerous.

Especially with all the incessant de-platforming, thought-policing, and algorithm-adjusting going on with practically all social media.

Even I agree social media can potentially make certain people lots of sales.

But, it’s a shaky foundation to solely build an entire business on.

And, like everything in life, it only works until it doesn’t…

One of probably the top 3 questions that rolls in around here goes like this:

“Ben, I want to sell a print newsletter like you do, how do I get started? How many people should I have on my list before trying to sell it? How do you put each issue together? What is the capital of Latveria….?”

And the list goes on.

This is especially true this month, since I talked about the subject in the November “Email Players” issue.

And, I completely understand where it comes from, obviously.

After all, it’s my offer of choice as well.

But, here’s the thing, Pookie:

By virtue of having to ask those questions, those requesting this info are demonstrating they are not ready to sell a subscription offer at all, much less a print newsletter, which is way harder to sell than a membership site, coaching, or other subscription offers that have less moving parts in my opinion and experience. This is especially true of the “how many people should be on my list before I do it?” question. If they had even a modicum of knowledge about the fundamentals of direct response marketing, they would know there is no magical number when you have that many people on your list it is time to start cranking on the launch machine.

In fact, that question shows how even MORE unprepared they are.

But, to throw these chaps a bone, I’ll just say this:

The best time to sell a subscription offer is when your market tells you.

Either directly (which will very likely not happen), or by virtue of you sacking up and writing daily emails — and not just lobbing free tips on social media at people all day as your head gets swollen with high fives & likes at all the supposedly awesome free tips you give away. And, I further argue you should be doing daily emails long enough to get feedback in the form of questions your lists asks, an idea of what they are already buying and spending money on, what formats they prefer to consume info in, how highly in regard they hold you as someone worth following, and dozens of other “tells” that only your list can give you, and not some marketing expert or whatever.

I can’t speak for anyone else.

And, it is probably because I am more methodical at this sort of thing.

But it took me at least 2 solid years of doing daily emails before launching my first newsletter. And, technically, 7 or 8 years, if you count the years I wasted by not mailing daily.

That said, here’s a rule of pinkie toe I advise on this subject:

If you are new, or even newish, to marketing, selling online, and business… don’t even think about selling a subscription offer for a while. Even if you have magical copywriting and marketing powers beyond the rest of us mortals.

Instead, build a list.

Mail it.

Make mistakes.

Learn from those mistakes.

Imbibe the lessons along the way.

And later, when you are ready, you’ll know it. In fact, there’s a very good chance that experience will tell you selling a print newsletter especially is not going to be as profitable or smart as selling something digitally delivered, depending on you, your market’s preferences, your list’s respect for you, your aptitudes, your dislikes, your patience levels, your budget, your ability to think forward, your maturity at meeting deadlines, your character for sticking with decisions, your writing speed & quality, how much you honestly enjoy writing vs making videos or audios, and a whole host of other things.

There might be a few outlier newbie types who have pulled it off.

But, if there is, they are few and far between.

And, chances are you aren’t one of them.

I certainly wasn’t, hence the 8 years…

But, that said, if you are still gung-ho on selling continuity:

Realize a print newsletter is the hardest and most time intensive and most complicated of all the continuity to make work. At least, going by the feedback of every single person I know who has attempted it. Including the ones who were modestly successful, who wisely realized they are better off doing a membership site or selling software or getting people in an app, or doing group coaching, or something else that is not direct mail-oriented.

All right, one more thing about this.

As I mentioned, this question about starting a newsletter comes up a lot.

And because I mail my list so often, and am in touch with them (you) each day, that is one of many ways I know my particular list wants to know more about this particular subject from my particular perspective. Thus, yes, I will be coming out with a comprehensive book about this. In fact, it has been in the outline stages for months, as I keep adding things to it. And, I hope to write it early next year, after I get these multiple software ventures I am embroiled in up and at ’em first.

But, this book will be my entire publishing model from A to Zoe.

It will NOT show you “how to” write emails or craft sales copy or launch products, or build a list, or how to write books/content, or anything like that. It will only show my email-driven print book & newsletter publishing model — the “what” I do — from stem to stern. In other words, everything I do and have done (like everything I sell, it’ll have zero theory, Chuckles) to build & structure the publishing & business side of my outfit.

It won’t be for cheapskates or anyone legitimately on a budget, either.

In fact, to extract the full value out of it, you will have to be a customer of some of my other books & my Email Players newsletter.

i.e. it will not be “newbie friendly” in the slightest.

And it especially won’t be for anyone who can’t be bothered to peel their brains off social media long enough to first get educated in the fundamentals of direct response marketing, copywriting, email marketing, or selling online. Frankly, even for seasoned pros it will be something that requires long months of reading & implementation to make happen, as it’ll be a 2-5 year plan at the very least, even for the fastest and brightest of those who want to do it. This is the culmination of nearly 20 years up in this business, after all. I couldn’t boil this down into a cheat sheet if I wanted to.

But that’s not going to happen until later.

For now?

If you want to be up to speed on my ways of using email to sell, and if you have a list and an offer in place already, I recommend getting in on my “Email Players” newsletter as far in advance as possible.

If that interests you, go to the link below.

If not, then I give you props for reading this 1100+ word email about a subject you have no interest in.

You, my friend, are a trooper.

Giddy-up…

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Once upon a time, I saw a discussion where people were weeping & gnashing their teeth over “graymail.”

What is graymail?

It’s when people opt in to get your emails, but never engage.

i.e. They never read them.

Never click on your links.

And, just let them sit in their inbox.

ESP’s notice this and they penalize you for it.

My opinion?

Graymail, Gmail’s promotions folder, more aggressive spam filters, and all other so-called DEATH OF EMAIL! changes have always worked to my advantage. In fact, what amused me the most about the email ex-spurt solutions displayed was not a single one of them mentioned simply writing emails people want to read, click, and buy from in the first place.

Nobody talked about generating more qualified traffic, either.

Or shooting for higher quality leads.

Or qualifying their opt-ins harder.

(Both at the opt-in page and right after)

Or learning how to write more engaging copy.

Or any of the other fundamentals of direct response marketing that people who have only learned from other “internet” marketers rarely get around to talking about while doing their social media grandstanding.

More fun facts:

According to the ex-spurts my ways shouldn’t work.

I’ve been told this by several of them over the years, even as my sales have gone up, my business has gotten more successful, my audience has grown, my customer loyalty has increased, and my “Email Players” subscribers have told me about their record sales doing all this stuff that supposedly doesn’t work.

It always reminds me of this Earl Nightingale-ism:

(paraphrased)

“Whatever you find yourself doing, if you look around at what everyone else is doing, and do the opposite, you’ll probably never make another mistake for as long as you live.”

All right, that’s enough internet for today.

To write emails people look forward to reading and engaging with, go here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

I was yapping with my woman a while back, who used to be in the coaching industry, and she was telling me about all the self-described “enlightened” marketers/coaches/entrepreneur chicks in her niche.

Some of these enlightened ones do things like:

• Not taking coaching calls during the dark moon
• Not starting ad campaigns until mercury retrograde is over
• Creating “energetically aligned” funnels
• Not taking any clients on unless they do energy clearing and the client has done an oracle card reading first
• And (The One Enlightenment Secret To Rule Them All) manifesting money by masturbating and thinking of money when they orgasm

There were a lot more where those came from.

But, those are some of the highlights.

And here’s why I bring this up:

I don’t know what kind of dough these girls make. But I would bet one of the spirit crystals they stuff down their bras at night that elBenbo’s unapologetically *endarkened* email ways would make them a lot more sales, with a lot less hassle, and in a lot faster time than their enlightened ways — regardless of the phase of the moon, if their energy is aligned, or even if their energy is plum drained from all that money manifesting in the bathtub.

It’s certainly been the case for other coaches who have learned at my non-altar.

And, for a lot of other business people, too.

All without having to touch your parts to manifest the success.

To see if my unenlightened ways can help you, go ye here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

One of my favorite documentaries is called “A Football Life – Mike Ditka” about the legendary — and my all-time favorite sports coach — Mike Ditka.

Entire volumes of business books can be mined from this short video.

Especially when it comes to handling trolls, critics, haters, etc.

For example:

The documentary shows footage of Ditka talking about his critics. The man had tons of critics, haters, trolls, and others with axes to grind when he was coaching the Bears. And I’ve never seen anyone handle hostile reporters or put the sports media Maynards in their place like him.

In fact, here’s what he said about his so-called media critics:

“Media’s fickle. You’re a hero today, you’re a bum tomorrow. Took me a while to figure it out but once I did I treated them all the same. Like dirt.”

There is a lifetime of wisdom in this.

Far too many people are far too timid in their emails due to “critics.”

Instead of ignoring them or, even better, trolling them back… they appease them, put them on pedestals, care far too much what they think, and, as a result, hold themselves back.

“Oh noes! What will my Facebook friends say about me if I send this to my list?”

Who cares?

Let ‘em weep & gnash their teeth, maybe they’ll learn something.

Obviously, you can do whatever you want in these circumstances.

But, I can tell you what Ditka would say and did say in the documentary:

“You’re going to have your critics. Screw ‘em.”

I don’t know if this adds anything to your life. But, maybe someone needed to hear it. If, for no other reason, than to give themselves permission to stop being such a pansy, write that email they want to use to sell their product, and try to make some sales instead of spending all that time pandering to people who don’t like or respect them anyway.

If you want help with the writing part, that’s where I can help.

Specifically, in my “Email Players” newsletter.

Details here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Reader MV asks:

Hey Ben,

Im a “short” time reader and hap-hazzard follower.

Just a quick observation from your emailings…Ive noticed you regularly refer to Copywriting/Marketing experts as “the late great” so ‘n so…

My question is why?

Youve been around long enough, done the work and obviously have a solid reputation so…
Why do you feel the need to refer to them in every email?

Just a question. No agenda. No hate. Just Curious….

My first thought is:

Why wouldn’t you want to give reverence to those who paved the way for your own successes and triumphs? In fact, the more successful I get at this game, the more appreciative I am of these great men of business & marketing I’ve learned from over the years.

I couldn’t not give them their well-deserved props.

It would be too… weird.

Another thought on this:

Back in my Flakebook days, this not sourcing and giving credit was so rampant it was borderline criminal. Especially, for example, the round robin of secret gurus who would pass around a checklist the great Dan Kennedy wrote for his “Ultimate Sales Letter” book about researching a market without giving any credit to him. In some cases, the blue light specials doing it would even imply they created it, and not the man who’s been at this game since before they were even born.

More still:

If you actually want the best for your friends, your peers, your customers, students, etc why would you not want them to know about those who impacted your own success?

Why keep them a secret?

What, you think those customers will defect and leave you, Maynard?

First off, that’s probably not going to happen.

And secondly, if they do, so what?

There are millions of potential customers even if you’ve picked a super obscure niche or market. If someone leaves, who cares? Let ‘em go. If your business & marketing game are both tight, they’ll be replaced with someone better soon enough. But, the reality is, if you fear these things, then that means your game is weak and you got bigger problems than some customers fleeing. Plus, that way of thinking shows a naiveté about how buyer psychology works that’s holding you back in ways you can’t even fathom.

If this sounds cryptic, let me put it to you this way:

Summer of 2018 I did a series of shows on my old podcast, each featuring someone on my “Mount Rushmore” (hat tip to the great Brian Kurtz for that analogy…) of favorite marketing teachers. I not only talked about all the cool things I learned from them, but I shamelessly promoted them, their sites, their products, etc. And during that time I didn’t see a single customer “defect” and got as much, if not more, new business during that time as usual. The best buyers — the serious students, not the contemptible new product junkies and small-thinking types who chase loose change on the sticky floor of the goo-roo casino — appreciate being told about some tip, some secret, some teacher who will give them an edge. It only makes the best customers bond with you more, trust you more, and want to do business with you more.

Finally:

Not giving credit when one should is pure, unadulterated Neediness.

There is no other explanation.

And nothing will destroy your influence like Neediness. People smell it a mile away. And if you have this dreadful disease of the psyche it’ll seep out in subtle ways in your writing, in your videos, in the way you move, behave, and react to questions/objections/trolling, etc.

Neediness is the deal-destroyer.

It destroys brands, reputations, and entire businesses.

On the other hand, being secure enough in yourself to admit you learned something from someone else, and letting everyone know it when relevant, opens the mind to doing more business with you.

Anyway, bottom line:

I’m not saying to be paranoid about this.

Sometimes you have knowledge that is bubbling up in your mind and you really don’t remember where it all came from, or it’s a combo of multiple sources + experience + your own unique application of whatever it is, and so on.

I ain’t talking about that.

I’m simply saying don’t be shy about giving props when the opportunity arises.

Because that’s what it is:

An opportunity —

To share a resource you benefited from. To display your respect for those who have helped you. And, yes, to demonstrate your non-Neediness.

All of which’ll do more for your business than keeping people a secret.

Okay, enough of this clacking.

Let’s get some business done ‘round here:

One thing I’ve been doing to simplify my business over the past several months especially is, when I send the “Email Players” mailing list in to the printer at the end of the month, I turn the product off in the cart so “stragglers” get in.

It frustrates people who can’t be bothered to make clearly-defined deadlines.

But, it simplifies my life and my printer’s life.

Thus, people have not been able to subscribe this month at all.

But, it’s been turned back on as of this morning.

Here’s the almighty link:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle