Ben Settle

Reader Kate S. puts in an application for an email topic:

“Ben, your personality and sense of humor come through so strongly in your email. I love reading them! But I wonder what you were like as a kid… Did you have any great adventures? Play pranks? Did you always know you wanted to write? I would love to hear some of your stories. I think they’d make great promotional email subjects, especially with your unique voice. Anyone else agree?”

I have written such emails in the past.

Like the time in 8th grade when Child elBenbo farted in study hall.

(The sound on the wooden seat echoed through the chamber, everyone started laughing and looking my way — so I looked at the guy behind me as if *he* did the deed…)

Or the time my mom broke a wooden spoon on my butt while I laughed at her.

Or the time I kept honking my my mom’s car horn to get her to hurry.

(Thus, breaking the horn… embarrassing the hellz out of her.)

Want another?

One for people paralyzed by fear of getting started?

All right, here goes:

When I was around five or six years old I sucked at swimming. I hated it. I was afraid of the water and thought I’d drown. So my mom made me take swimming lessons. At first I resisted. I’d pretend to be sick. I’d hide. When it came time to jump off the diving board, I even scaled the fence and ran away… my swimming teacher caught me, dragged me to the diving board, and threw me in.

And guess what?

I didn’t drown, didn’t flounder, and didn’t sink.

I *enjoyed* it.

So it is writing emails and selling.

Are you putting off writing emails?

Sac up and start writing.

Dive in, babycakes.

The water is just write.

(Yes, I typed “write” instead of “right” on purpose, Grammar Nazi.)

Don’t do what Child elBenbo did and hide from it, run from it, or scale the fence to escape it. Embrace it. Start writing. Today. Write an email designed to sell your product, load it up in your email broadcasting service, and let the hounds out.

Otherwise, you’re just being a poosy like I was with swimming.

If you want guidance, check out my “Email Players” newsletter.

Subscription info here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

So here’s the thing:

Long term readers of my rants and raves know I’m not a big fan of “moving the free line” — where you continually give away more and more free stuff in your emails so that people miraculously think, “if this is the stuff he’s giving away free, the paid stuff must be truly astonishing!”

Yeah, I kind of don’t think so.

In fact, it makes you kind of a chump.

And, someone people may even despise.

At the very least, it’s far less profitable than learning how to sell.

But don’t take my word for it, Fonzy.

Good, old fashioned psychology backs elBenbo up on this. Specifically, some research from Psychology Today a few years back where they analyzed why nice guys who give and Give and GIVE (and never demand anything in return) so often get dumped, friend zoned, cheated on by their woman, etc.

It’s not a malicious thing anyone is doing purposely.

It’s simply human nature.

The person who does all the work, invests most, and does all the favors falls in love (the marketer working like a mule to give away freebies), while the person who does nothing, invests nothing, gives nothing back, often feels no love for the giver at all (the person who sees all your free stuff, nods, then goes and buys from elBenbo giving me their lovin’ instead…)

What?

You don’t believe it?

It can’t be?

Well, you can believe whatever you want.

But, this is why so many emails with lots of free stuff go unread, un-acted on, and un-bought from, while emails that give little or no value (if done correctly, something few people understand) get lots of sales, generate loads of happy customers, and keep people coming back for more.

Yes, it’s counterintuitive.

But, it is what it is, so whaddyagonnado?

Anyway, this is a deep subject.

Way too deep to go into here.

But never fear:

I go into way more detail about it on pages 6 and 7 in the upcoming October “Email Players” issue. There’s a reason blokes like me (and this spans lots of different markets and products) make out like bandits with email, while people preaching “give lots of stuff away free in emails!” are more likely to be worried about how to keep the lights on and meet payroll.

It’s all about the psychology (not writing “tricks”), babycakes.

More in the October issue.

Here’s where to subscribe:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

On the webinar Kevin Rogers and Yours Unruly are doing tomorrow (to give a lil’ taste of what’s going down at our “Email Addiction” intensive next month…) we’re both going to analyze an email we’ve sent to make lots of dineros during various offers.

The one I’m going to show is, shall we say, politically incorrect.

Maybe even in poor taste.

(It’ll certainly horrify any feminists and weak men.)

But, it also got the most clicks and sales (not opens — are you beginning to see why I careth not about opens?) during the campaign it ran in, which included some 13 or 14 other emails over a weekend.

What was the email about?

It was about sex.

And broken families.

And the dark side of female nature.

And the weak side of male nature.

And… and… and… well, you’ll just have to wait and see.

I’ll show you this email (800+ word email — a long ‘un), explain why it worked, and how you can use the same principals to sell whatever you want, in whatever market you want.

If that sounds good to you here are the webinar details:

It’s tomorrow (Wednesday — 9/14) at 12:00 EST (9 PST, 10 MST, 11 CST)

Here’s the link to register:

https://zoom.us/webinar/register/76f1f0593c9941718c34be5db4a05ad8

More:

The event itself is limited to just 6 people.

And, last I heard, 3 of those spots have already been snatched up with a small pile of applications Kevin is still going through (there are several types of businesses and people we can’t help — thus, making people apply to save us time and them rupees). So I would not be surprised if they were snatched up before the webinar tomorrow.

We’ll see.

In the meantime, register at the link above and all your nightmares will come true…

Ben Settle

Here’s something to ponder on:

Last weekend at Greg Gomez III’s Fast Start Summit, video marketing “grand puba” Tyson Zahner and I got to talking about how much easier it is to sell to non-IM type of people, despite the big objection from people in our world being “yeah, sure, what you teach works in the make moolah markets, but what about consumer markets???”

What these do-gooders don’t realize is we ARE in the hardest market to sell to.

Why?

Because y’all IM’ers know all our tricks.

You know all the persuasion tactics.

You know all the psychology.

You know all the headline formulas, etc.

(Or, at least, are in the process of learning it.)

It’s a lot like the dating world. Guys who understand the game know you can never rest on your laurels and stop pimping your girl. Other dudes are always trying to hit up on your girl. Always trying new ways to charm, seduce, and entice her away from you. Always trying to pimp her.

And so it is when you sell to the IM market.

You can never rest on your laurels.

People (your competition) are always trying to hit up on your girl (your list).

Always trying to seduce her with new ways to charm, seduce, and entice her.

Always trying to pimp her.

Not so in a lot of consumer markets.

Many are filled with marketing schlubs who have no idea how the game is played and are even afraid to make offers at all hoping people will go through the trouble to google them to buy something. (Take the golf market, for example, the golf companies are clueless, which is why they “market” themselves by giving away free stuff to country clubs, etc hoping people will wear and use their stuff and tell their friends.)

I’ve sold in many, many, many markets.

And, I can tell you:

Selling to IM’ers is much harder in the long run than markets like golf, weight loss, self defense, home business, various health markets, college funding, and the list goes on. Some are harder than others, but overall, they are much easier than the IM crowd.

This is why, if you sell to IM’ers, email is vital.

Yet, ironically, most emails to the IM market absolutely suck.

And they suck because the marketers sending them rest on their laurels thinking they can just swipe and steal, send self serving drivel, or just be great give-away artists (sending free content constantly — getting lots of praise and likes, but a fraction of the sales they could and should be getting).

I hear from these guys all the time.

They are the biggest part of my Email Players subscriber list.

They’re tired of failing.

Tired of listening to nonsense that only works for people with rockstar positioning with gigantic lists.

Tired of wasting time and money.

Well guess what?

If that’s you, and if you are ready to sac up and invest in your email education, then the “Email Addiction” event I’m doing with my droogie Kevin Rogers will show you how to stand out like a fart in study hall from anyone else you’re competing against — regardless of what market you sell in, or what kind of product you sell. As long as you have a list (doesn’t have to be a big list, neither Kevin nor I have big lists) and an offer people want, our wicked ways of getting your list literally addicted to your emails will kick all kinds of gluteus assimus for you.

It’s not for people with zero list or product.

And it’s not for price shoppers. (It ain’t cheap.)

It’s for people who want to win and, for people who play to win. (Not people who play to lose — which is most IM’ers, sadly).

If you want to attend, here are the details:

It’s going to be on October 24-25, 2016 in St. Petersburg, FL.

(hotel to be determined)

Price: $3,995.

And, seating is limited to just 6 people.

Very small, very intimate.

You’ll get lots of personal help/attention.

To attend you have to apply here:

https://goo.gl/forms/ZFfw9zzsbUsqiPQA2

Ben Settle

While talking with Kevin Rogers about our upcoming “Email Addiction” intensive event, he was saying how during the hot seats and teachings he will be the good cop, and I’ll be the bad cop.

In other words:

I’ll be abusing the members.

I have ZERO problem doing this.

Kevin, on the other hand, is a much nicer guy than me.

While I am the one who has no compunctions against telling someone their email, story, premise, offer, idea, or writing sucks out loud… Kevin will be the one giving you a compliment and a cuddle.

He’s the kindly, father figure.

I’m the death ray.

I think it’ll be a good balance.

And by the end, me getting you lost, Kevin getting you found… the talent level of anyone who is in that room and survives my abuse and his soothing will go up (by my prediction) 100 fold.

It doesn’t take much, believe it or not.

And I can tell you this:

The only one who has gotten their emails abused by me in this manner is my ex-copywriting apprentice. And I can tell you, whether she liked it or not, it made her an infinitely better copywriter.

Same with when I abused Dan Meredith.

(Although he didn’t get abused nearly as badly.)

He flat out told me because of my teachings he created a business, from scratch, that was generating me $40k/month.

Misty my podcast announcer will tell you the same.

Being abused by elBenbo is like hard exercise:

There’s lots of pain, followed by lots of gain.

Anyway, what about you?

Want to be abused by elBenbo?

Then best hurry, Butch.

We only have 6 spots total to “Email Addiction.”

That way, everyone really does get personal attention.

(Unlike these 50+ people so-called “masterminds” where it’s impossible to give everyone attention.)

As of now, only a few of those 6 spots are left.

Here’s where to apply:

https://goo.gl/forms/ZFfw9zzsbUsqiPQA2

Dates are October 24-25, 2016 in sunny St. Petersburg, FL.

(hotel to be determined)

Price: $3,995.00

Time is short, either giddy-up, of giddy-down…

Ben Settle

P.S. Just last weekend at Greg Gomez III’s “Fast Start Summit” I got to abuse his Platinum members in this very manner. Whenever Greg handed me the microphone you could see the color leave the person’s face who I was about to skewer. And, by the end of the day, they may have been bloodied, beaten, and singed… but they all — every one of them I spoke with — said it made a gigantic difference in their businesses and they wouldn’t trade it for anything.

That was abusing 20+ people over a day.

Just imagine the business-changing growth that’ll happen to just 6 people over two days…

True story:

While back my pal Ryan Healy wrote an article about how scientists discovered reacting to a never-ending stream of “information bursts” (you know, like checking your email…) literally “excites” your brain to the point where it dumps dopamine into your system — the stuff that creates feelings of happiness.

It makes you feel goooood.

And the MORE you release it, the MORE you crave it.

And the MORE you crave it, the MORE you want to keep doing whatever caused ye olde “pleasure dump” in the first place.

I’m no health goo-roo.

And maybe I’m just watching too much “Breaking Bad.”

But know what this sounds like to me?

Checking email is like taking drugs!

Freaky, eh?

But at the same time, it sure explains why so many of my “Email Players” subscribers are kicking gluteus assimus (I have an ever growing stack of testimonials from the Email Playerdom — which I always release towards the end of the month to promote the next issue).

What can I say?

People love a good email.

They look forward to it, even.

And, yes, their brains FEEN it.

They need their fix, Heisenberg.

Give it to them.

The stipulation is this only is the case if you do them right.

Hardly anyone does them right.

Most people simply don’t know what they’re doing.

Enter the “Email Addiction” mastermind later next month I’m doing with my pal, professional copy chief, stand-up comic, and copywriter extraordinaire Kevin Rogers.

Here are the details:

It’s going to be on October 24-25, 2016 in sunny St. Petersburg, FL.

(hotel to be determined)

Price: $3,995.00

So it’s not cheap, nor is it for cheapskates.

And, seating is limited to just 6 people.

That means very small, very intimate (ooh yeah baby), with lots of personal help/attention.

Thus, we are not just letting anyone who applies come.

If you want in, you have to apply first.

Not only do you need to tell us about your business and market (there’s a chance we can’t even help you, depending on your situation, offer, list, etc — a cold hard fact some people are just going to have to accept) but also why you should even be allowed in the room at all. Especially if, it comes down to accepting you and someone (or several other someones) competing for the last spot.

I’ve been wanting to do something like this for years.

It’s my Ninth Symphony, babycakes.

And, there are only 5 of the spots left.

(As of this writing, and we haven’t even heavily promoted yet…)

Here’s where to apply:

https://goo.gl/forms/ZFfw9zzsbUsqiPQA2

Good luck…

Ben Settle

A few weeks ago I wrote to you about the anti-professional wine bar I like to frequent near my seaside beach town lair.

The guy who does business on HIS terms.

Has no problem kicking out would-be customers on a dime.

And, even goes so far as to put “reserved” signs on *all* his tables so that if someone he deems unqualified to dine or drink wine in his establishment enters, he tells them the tables are all full, and to scram.

Anyway, I take a similar attitude for my private Facebook group.

Once in a while a POS spammer gets in.

But, lately, I’ve been putting safeguards in to keep the number low.

For example, I don’t let in riff-raff like this:

• Anyone who is an obvious spammer/scammer (i.e. photo of a slutty girl who just joined fb yesterday)

• No photo or a photo of some dorky object, cartoon, logo, yada yada yada

• They don’t speaky English or have some weird name of bizarre characters

• People I simply don’t like (for any reason, or no reason at all)

• Known trolls and agitators

• People who have joined dozens of other groups and are just loiterers

• And the list goes on

And you know what?

So far, doing so has helped keep a lot of the riff-raff out of my valuable group. (Where I often share ideas, tips, strategies, ads, etc that you’ll never see just being on my free email list or by reading my blog.)

What?

You want in my free private Facebook group?

And, you insist you aren’t riff-raff?

Well, you’re welcome to try.

But, just know, there are reserved signs on all my tables just in case…

Here’s where it’s at:

www.elBenbo.com

Ben Settle

For the last 5 years I’ve had the following tagline at the top of my blog:

“Your Daily Email Addiction”

Some think I put that there to be an arrogant little bas-turd.

And, there is probably some truth to that.

But, the main reason is, over the years, in multiple niches (like health, golf, etc), I have developed a way to make people literally addicted to my emails — a for real chemical addiction in the brain. And, yes, there are peoples’ writings that have the same effect on me as well, same with TV shows, movies, etc — it’s a process that can be applied to emails, and it is the stuff from which sales are made day after day, many times for products people don’t even read the sales letter for.

And you know what?

My pal and copywriter (and stand-up comic) extraordinaire Kevin Rogers does the same thing.

And, recently, he and I have decided to team up to co-teach a small, intimate (ooh) event showing you our fool-proof methods for writing emails that get your list addicted to your emails, potentially buying your stuff sight unseen, as well as 3 kinds of offers we both use to make out like bandits during launches and affiliate campaigns to the tune of tens of thousands of buckeroos (or more) in a weekend to our *small* lists.

We’re also doing a half day of hot seats, too.

And, a dinner, and some other goodies TBA.

Anyway, we’re calling this live 2-day event:

“Email Addiction”

It’s going to be on October 24-25, 2016 in St. Petersburg, FL.

(hotel to be determined)

Price: $3,995.

And, seating is limited to just 6 people.

Very small, lots of personal help/attention.

If you want in, I suggest grabbing your spot immediately (they will go fast) here:

www.EmailPlayers.com/addiction

Ben Settle

Hiya secksy,

Lemme tell you a little story about how I (“Bigfoot” — that’s me, toots) became a world-wide personal brand, with multi-millions of dollars worth of products, merchandise, events, and even TV shows created about me… and how you can use my same methods to do the same.

Here’s the diggeroo:

Ever since the 1950’s my big, bad, hairy self has been good for business.

My legend has turned entire towns into my image (like Willow Creek California, for example — which names everything from their burgers to their golf course and car wash after me). There are museums dedicated to my ugly mug, there are t-shirts, apparel, figurines, books, videos, and other collectibles with my name attached to them. There are even entire fan conventions and cable TV shows and documentaries dedicated to greasy ol’ me, as I sit in the woods scratching my arse all day, and don’t even have to lift a toenail.

Frankly, you don’t even have to believe I exist to contribute to my popularity and revenue.

(Your skepticism simply makes me MORE immortal, Binky.)

That’s the beauty of it!

And why has all this happened?

Because the name “bigfoot” is known the world over and has a powerful personal brand attached to it. Yes, even though nobody has seen me or can prove I exist.

It’s ALL because of my brand.

And I want to tell you something else:

The September issue of Ben Settle’s “Email Players” issue has a lot of info on how you can use the same techniques I did to brand myself using nothing but plain text emails. But you can’t hide in your cave all day like that lazy chupacabra does — debating whether to get it or not.

My pal elBenbo is sending it in to the printer tonight.

Get your small hands on this big issue here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Your big hairy pal,

Bigfoot

P.S. The bonus that goes out with that issue will also show you how to write emails (like this one) coming from me and other fictional (or, rather, that you THINK are fictional…) entities, too, that can as much as 10x’s your opens, clicks, and sales.