Ben Settle

I got an email yesterday from a bloke wanting me to talk more about “writing” and not so much mindset, marketing, persuasion, selling, yada yada yada.

Sigh.

As you wish, my little fledgling.

Here are some not-so-interesting (and kinda weird) writing habits I have.

Your milage may vary using them.

So, do with this info what you will:

• I write my novels in bed

• I often listen to the same song on a continuous loop while writing

• I think way faster than I can type so my first drafts (of any writing — novels, emails, sales letters, and on on, and so forth) are unreadable and unintelligible to anyone but me

• I’m paranoid about boring people

• I’m even more paranoid about boring myself

• I can write okay but I suck at spelling so I don’t worry about spelling words

• I can speak okay but suck at pronunciation so I don’t worry about how I’m pronouncing words

• To motivate myself I simply remember 99% of people aren’t willing to write an email designed to sell their product every day — they could if they wanted to (lame excuses notwithstanding), but they won’t, so there really is no competition

• I am not afraid to use the pronoun “I” in my emails and copy…

That’s it for today.

To learn my wicked email ways, go here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

It astounds me how many people resist my “pay yourself first” philosophy in terms of time.

(i.e. first hour of every day belongs to you — not clients, boss, etc)

But, it works.

And, no, it doesn’t just work for Yours Unruly.

The ever-persistent Ashley Gainer Lankford comments:

“When I was drowning as a single mom trying to freelance “around the baby” I took your advice to do my own business-building before anything else…and by the end of that year I’d tripled my monthly income. It’s what I tell all my freelancing moms now, but the resistance is a real beast. I get it, having lived in panic mode for a while. It’s hard to choose marketing over client work when all you can think about is whether or not you’ll have enough money to pay rent next week.”

What else need be said?

It works.

If your rationalization hamster is already spinning out a bevy of “I can’t because…” excuses, simply swap out “can’t” with “won’t” and at least you’ll know the only one in your way is you.

What’s not in your wallet?

Of course, I think the first hour should go to writing an email selling your product.

Want to revolutionize your sales?

Your profits?

Your lifestyle?

Start writing one email each morning (no skipping days) using my wicked ways, and assuming you have an offer people want, I don’t see how you can possibly not become more successful.

More info here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Saturday morning I was rapping a bit via email with the esteemed Bob Bly, who is one of the most prolific writers I have ever heard of. For example, he’s written 89 full-length nonfiction books for Wiley, McGraw-Hill, and his other NYC publishers (for real publishers, not self published).

Not to mention a slew of other info products.

Countless numbers of ads, sales letters, emails, magalogs, etc.

And, even, a book of short stories.

I told him I haven’t written even a fraction of the content he has.

To which he replied:

“I always wanted to write a novel and have not, so you are way ahead of me in that department!”

Here’s why I bring this up:

Today I started book 5 of my “Enoch Wars” saga of novels.

I wrote the first draft of book 4 last month, am writing book 5 this month, next month will be book 6 and sometime before the end of the year I’ll bang out book 7’s first draft. Then, next year, I’ll edit and release them one-by-one.

And you know what?

If you want to write fiction you can just as easily do the same thing.

All you have to do is write one chapter per day.

In fact, if you want to be appear “lucky” to everyone, simply do this:

For the next 30-days every day you wake up — before you do anything else other than drain the weasel, take your dog out, etc — write one email to sell your product, write one chapter of a novel, and write a section/chapter of an info product.

Thirty days.

Do those 3 things right when you wake up.

Do that, and you will see changes happen to your business, your life, and your mindset you can never get buying yet another book on motivation or success, etc.

That’s my challenge to you, my little fledgling.

Are you down for it?

Good.

Then get crackin’…

Of course, if you need help with the writing emails part, to make it even easier and faster for you (which will carry over into your other writings, too), check out my “Email Players” newsletter over yonder:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Tally-ho.

Ben Settle

A while back I remember there was a product I wanted to buy about a certain Internet marketing topic and, when I tried to buy, looking for an order link, I couldn’t find one.

Why?

Because they didn’t have one.

The marketer insisted on me watching another 10 days of videos first before selling me anything. This was despite really wanting the product, and willing to pay a lot of money for it. I didn’t even have to watch the whole first video (and I hate watching videos) to know I wanted it. Frankly, I wanted the product even before seeing the first video. And, I was in a hurry to get it for a project I was working on.

Anyway, I mailed support and they still wouldn’t let me buy.

“You have to watch all the videos first.”

It was the marketing equivalent of giving elBenbo blue balls.

So what did I do?

I said screw it and didn’t buy.

Suddenly I didn’t want it as badly.

And, I never bothered.I bought a different one from one of their competitors instead. We’re talking about a very large ticket product, too. (Don’t remember the exact price this was many years ago.)

The point?

Don’t give your customers blue balls.

Or, they may just dump you for another company instead.

If you want to know how to persuade your list to want to buy from you without playing inane games giving them blue balls or whatever, hit the jump below to check out the “Email Players” newsletter.

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Over the years I’ve compiled a list of excuses people make for either not writing emails, or failing at it.

Here it is for your viewing horror:

1. “Gmail’s inbox! Nothing is getting delivered!”

Bull.

You’re just not interesting enough for people to make you a priority. Frankly, Hillary should just blame her disappearing emails on gmail, too. That’s what all these Internet marketers blame for their lack of success.

2. “No time!”

Really?

You can’t carve out a half hour per day… maybe turn off the evening shnewz or get up a half hour early (or go to be a half hour later)?

And you think you’re going to be a biz’nid owner?

Meh.

3. “Can’t think of anything to write about! My brain goes blank!”

No.

You just don’t know your market well enough. Probably you are bogged down in all the latest persuasion tricks, chokes, and bright shiny objects instead of studying your market, knowing all their pains and problems, etc.

Otherwise, you’d have the opposite problem

So many ideas you have trouble deciding which to write about…

4. “I hate writing!”

But you probably like talking, no?

So talk into a recorder, and have it transcribed. Smooth out, and send.

5. “I have nothing to sell!”

So?

You can start building a list and use my launch method (for sale only to “Email Players” subscribers) to start pre-selling them, so they are primed and ready to buy when you do have a product.

Don’t use no product as an excuse.

That is, if you want to be taken seriously.

6. “I don’t know how to write well!”

Neither do I.

And it doesn’t matter — because email copy is not about “writing” it’s about communication. And you know how you get good at communication? By communicating… and you can practice by writing an email each day designed to sell your product.

7. “I have too much client work to focus on!”

That’s your problem right there.

You aren’t paying yourself first.

Paying yourself first is a must in my humble, but accurate, opinion — not just in terms of money, but in terms of time. The first hour of every day belongs to you and you alone. Start taking that attitude and you’ll find yourself getting a ton of work done, doing better work for your clients, and not feeling guilty at night because you didn’t write an email to give yourself and your kids and family lifestyle, opting instead to write emails to give your clients and their kids and family a lifestyle.

Is that really your priority?

So many excuses.

So many ways people hold themselves back.

If you’re just going to make excuses why you aren’t mailing and being successful with it (and blaming everything and everyone but yourself) I don’t even know why you’re on this list.

There’s nothing I can do to help you.

Nor do I even want to help you.

What would be the point?

I don’t like to encourage bad behavior, I punish it.

That said, for the few people left over reading this who want to stop the endless excuses and start making sales with email, and enjoying it (otherwise, why bother?), then check out my “Email Players” newsletter.

The next issue has a lot of advanced info in it.

And, the bonus I’m including is especially valuable.

More info here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Lately I’ve been on an intense Jim Camp (the late “world’s most feared” negotiator) kick — listening and re-listening (over a dozen times so far) to some audios he did, and reading his book “No”. Anyway, something he did when selling water softeners that got him so many sales he made more from doing that part time than he did from his full time commercial airline pilot job was:

Asking his customers who were on the fence to tell him no.

What he did was this:

He went to all the customers he had talked to who hadn’t made a decision, gave him a maybe, put him off, etc. And one by one he told them, “I just wanted to ask you to tell me ‘no thanks’ if that is your decision. That way I can close the file and move on.”

This didn’t close all of them, obviously.

But, he got a bunch of high ticket sales from people who had been in the fence, or just weren’t in the position to buy originally, yada yada yada

All by trying to get a no, instead of a yes.

Anyway, I suspect this would work well for freelancers too.

Y’all having to put up with flakey would-be clients, etc.

Go to each of them (you have nothing to lose) and make them ante up. Call them (don’t be a pussy and email them) and say:

“We talked about doing your ____ work, but you never made a decision. I just wanted to ask you to tell me ‘no thanks’ if that is your decision. That way I can move on to some other clients I’m talking to, and close the file.”

The caveat is, this has to be a principal by which you do business.

If you try this tactically, you’ll sound like an idiot and they’ll see right through you.

You have to really be willing and anxious to let them go.

Ah yes, Jim Camp:

Still schooling us from beyond the grave…

Speaking of clients:

The September “Email Players” issue talks a lot about a topic very few (especially the people always nattering on about it on Flakebook) understand — and that is personal branding. Personal branding simply being nothing more or less than everything you do to attract and maintain customer and client relationships.

Something that can drive your email response higher than you ever imagined.

And, not just emails.

But anything else you market with.

(YouTube, articles, webinars, podcasts, etc.)

If you do client work of any kind, this issue can make it so that, over time, clients wouldn’t even dream of hiring anyone else for whatever it is you do — even if you aren’t the “best” at it they can choose from.

Anyway, she goes to the printer in a couple weeks.

Click the filthy link below to subscribe in time:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Following is a short email exchange I had last week with a snowflake:

SUBSCRIBER: You have made it so I cant cancel your annoying emails. Stop now.

elBENBO: I just clicked the opt out link for you. It was really hard to do. It shows you as opted out. If you keep getting them take it up with Aweber.com it’s their software. Now go haunt someone else.

SUBSCRIBER: Haunt someone else? Thanks for that abusive email. I ll leave a screen shot all over the internet for you. Show everyone who receives your salesy non informative emails how polite you are. Secondly. You use aweber so it wouldn’t be myself to sort this out. It would be yourself.

elBENBO: No, it’s Aweber software, snowflake, I have zero control over whether you stay or go. I am thinking by your victim mentality (“abusive” – go to your safe place, hurry!) you just didn’t know how to click the opt out link. Yes, please do tell all your friends online to avoid me, you’ll do us both a favor. Now go away. Shoo.

In his defense, he did go away cordially after that.

So, he probably won’t do me the favor of sharing the screenshot and scaring away people like him who are so delicate telling them to go haunt someone else is “abusive”. I don’t usually recommend wasting time on such things. But, sometimes, drawing the nonsense out of complainers is worth the time if you can turn it into email fodder.

More:

About this whole spam thing.

Since spam is unsolicited bulk email, technically, these complainers are more “spammy” than the marketers they are whining to.

At least, they are in my case.

How so?

Because to join my list one has to click a box saying they acknowledge they’ll be getting “daily promotional emails” from me (it won’t let them subscribe otherwise). Then the first email (all above the fold) says I mail a lot (2-3 times per day or more) and how to leave, etc if they want to at any time.

100% transparent.

And, they are going in as my willing victims, not innocent victims.

On the other hand:

I never ask for their irrelevant feedback, comments, and complaints.

Although I do often find such things amusing…

(And, as you can see, great for email fodder.)

Yes, my little droogie, when you use my methods you can profit from complainers.

More info here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

This email is for bigger companies.

When I say “bigger” I mean, you’re doing at least $1 million in revenue per year. And, also, you have working offers already in place, but know those offers could be doing 2, 3, 4, even 5 (or more) fold more sales in a reasonably short period of time if you had Yours Unruly’s more “hands on” assistance with your email and copy.

I’ve toyed with this idea in the past.

And, since then, I’ve done it on a less hands-on scale to test the waters.

Like, for example:

Our Oceans 4 Mastermind coaching 7, 8, and 9 figure companies on their emails and copy… flying in to Agora Financial (9-figure per year powerhouse direct marketing company) at their Baltimore office to teach their writers and editors some email and copywriting strategies… advising industry leaders like MLM top earner coach Ray Higdon (who trains mlm leaders doing as much as $50 million per year) and speaking at his private mastermind, helping someone (who wishes to remain confidential) in the cut throat entertainment industry go from making $0 sales in most Decembers to over $100k this last December and doubling that in January (from tweaking his email strategy)… being invited to be an instructor at the great Brian Kurtz’s Titans Masterclass in October… and the list goes on — including teaching some of my wicked ways speaking at prestigious companies like AWAI, Real Dose, and more.

Anyway, the point?

I figure it’s time to take this to the next level.

By that I mean this:

If you qualify, traveling (gasp!) to your place of biz’nid.

And then, analyzing, dissecting, and, if necessary, ripping apart your emails and copy, and helping you and your team “on site” recreate everything, showing y’all anything you need me to show you, and then helping you fix that copy up and get it running. If you qualify (you must be doing at *least* a million per year, my fees are going to be astronomically expensive — so if you’re a price shopper who lets your spouse or accountant dictate these things, and can’t make your own decisions, you don’t qualify), and if you’re interested in this, reply to this email.

In that email:

1. Tell me what your business is, who your market is, what your goals are, etc

2. What your main challenges, goals, etc are you would want my help with

3. Anything else you want me to know, or questions you have

And that’s all there is to it.

Word up.

Ben Settle

Someone asked what my writing music “playlist” is.

Since I just wrapped up the first draft of book 4 in my “Enoch Wars” series a couple weeks ago, and will be starting the first draft of book 5 in mid August, this is a timely question. And, yes, there’s a powerful writing lesson below you can use regardless of what your playlist is or what kind of writing you do.

So chill them zombies out.

Anyway, the playlist depends on what I’m writing.

For fiction (when writing book 4 a few weeks ago) it was:

1. “Requiem For a Dream” original song (had to find the song on YouTube — I have never seen the movie, I just dig the theme for writing)

2. “The Brides” from the Bram Stoker’s Dracula soundtrack

Basically, what I did was, I put one of those two songs (depending on the chapter) on a constant loop. This is a writing trick (that works great for copywriting too) I learned a while back from a former bid’niz partner and it works great for keeping me focused.

Which song I played depended on the chapter.

When I wrote a chapter about the evil villain, I played the Dracula song.

When I wrote a chapter about the so-called “hero” I put on the other one.

The only exception was chapter 8 where I listened to the Miami Vice theme over and over for reasons that will make perfect sense for fans of my Miami Vice-obsessed vampire character Fezziwig.

The point?

Other than my taste in music is boring for you?

For me, writing is all about emotion and focus. And, I highly suggest you tap into the feelz (good or bad — just don’t let the feelz dictate the editing process) in a way that keeps you focused, then write and see what happens.

You can always edit later.

As for non-fiction, emails, copy, etc?

Usually movie soundtracks for that, too.

But, not always.

Okay, enough.

You can read the first of my twisted monster novels free online here:

www.ZombieCopBook.com

But, a word of warning:

The derangement bleeds off the page.

Don’t read if you have a weak stomach…

Ben Settle

P.S. I won’t say it’s great literature (it’s not). But, the reviews mostly agree it’s an entertaining, and, yes, disturbing read. It’s also a fast read, too. In fact, just this last weekend a girl I know told me she started reading it on her beach vacation. And, she said she got through the first 9 chapters in a day.

Of course, she also said:

“Just to let you know, I’m holding you personally responsible for the completely bizarre and twisted dreams I had last night”

Bone App-e-teet…