Ben Settle

Today’s the deadline to get the August “Email Players” issue.

Here’s some of the goo-ey yumminess inside:

• A secret way of getting several years worth of daily email ideas and sales letter fodder handed to you on a golden platter. (The great Dan Kennedy says you can build million dollar businesses doing this — but almost nobody talks about the startling *email* profits it can create too!)

• The old life insurance guru’s secret for selling prevention. (Personally, I prefer selling cures, not prevention — but if you have no choice but to sell prevention, simply do this and it’s all good in the email ‘hood.)

• How to get thousands (possibly tens of thousands) more response opt-ins each year with your current traffic volume.

• Why it can be far more profitable to try to get people to spend less (not more) time on your website.

• 7 things you can do to your website (right away — and with minimal time investment) that can make your leads up to 10 times more responsive.

• How to do a weekly podcast without worrying about running dry of ideas. (I did 137 podcasts with ease following this advice — and will continue to use it when I launch my new podcast next year. Best part: Works for videos, blogs, emails, articles, and any other way you distribute content.)

• An email opener template “hack” for people who like hacks.

• Plus — a bonus video/transcript of a training I gave about how to use email to make all the new health offer sales your greedy little heart desires. (I used these methods to convert 40% of our list in weight loss to buyers, as well as to write several multi-million earning sales letters selling health supplements, eBooks, and other health offers. I have never taught this anywhere else and, yes, pretty much all these same methods work for selling non-health offers, too.)

• And a ho’ bunch mo’.

Again, today’s the deadline.

I am sending it in to the printer tonight.

Get it here while the gettin’s good:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Came a question recently:

“Ben I really want to believe your methods work but how can I be SURE? I don’t like wasting money do you?”

Of course not, duh.

You can’t know “for sure” until you try them.

But, maybe this will help put your mind at ease —

At his Health Profits Summit a few months back, “Email Players” subscriber & owner of the prestigious Real Dose supplement company (over 360k customers) Buck Rizvi said this about how my wicked ways changed their business:

“…it’s had a profound impact on our business and our ability to send emails daily to our customers and not have people just rushing to the exits and they’re buying our stuff. They’re buying 3rd party offers that we’re recommending and we’re able to now mail our list on a daily basis, which is really, really exciting.”

So there you go.

Lots and lots of goo-roos in the health offer space.

And Buck just laughs at them now.

By the way, the video and transcript of that talk above is included as a valuable bonus in the August “Email Players” issue. It’s about how to make more sales with health offers — but the info inside works for selling just about anything else, too.

(I use it all the time for non-health offers.)

But she goes to the printer tomorrow night.

Get your lovin’ here while you still can:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

One of my favorite inspirational movies is called:

“Warrior”

It’s about how two estranged brothers end up competing in the same MMA tournament — and I dig it quite a bit. Not only because I think it’s a fun movie, but also because of the multiple business lessons embedded throughout.

For example:

The older brother’s trainer makes his fighters listen to Beethoven’s music to help them stay focused and relaxed in combat. (There’s a lot of truth to this — also works for writing, taking tests, or any other kind of stressful task where you normally clam up).

My favorite line of the movie is when trainer says:

“You gotta relax and stay calm in there. The cage is your home. You set the pace. You set the rhythm. Feel the Beethoven. Be smarter than him, more patient. Wait for him to make a mistake. And when he does, that’s your moment.”

Ooh yeah, baby!

And you know what?

This works even better when writing emails.

A lot of people get goosed up at the mere *thought* of writing.

“What do I write?”

“What if what I write sucks?”

“What if nobody bothers reading it?”

“What if I can’t think of any good ideas?”

“What if it doesn’t convert?”

“What if it sounds stoopid?”

Knock that sad sack nonsense off.

Henceforth, when writing emails I want you to feel the BENhoven — relax, realize YOU control the page and set the pace (after all, you can write whatever you want, there is no reason to be stressed about it — it’s your “world”), be smart, be patient, let the ideas come to you, and they will. Imagine me perched on your shoulder, whispering sweetly into your ear to calm down, pluck this idea or that idea out of your head and onto the page, have fun, and, no matter what, just keep writing — the rest will take care of itself.

Yes…

Feeeeeel the BENhoven.

Let it guide your fingers as you type.

It works.

And, it works even better with my “Email Players” methodology.

The next issue shows you a secret way of using Google to get some of the most profitable ideas, themes, subject lines, and anything else you need. The great Dan Kennedy once said if you did nothing but this you could become wealthy. And I will add, write wealth-creating emails. (Best part: it even works in “stuffy” markets with high falutin’ types who hate hype and fun.)

Tomorrow is the deadline to get this issue before I send it to the printer.

Subscribe here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

At the risk of going into fluffpreneur mode…

If you’re writing emails the way I teach, yes, all the extra sales are groovy. And, yes, it makes selling far more predictable and less stressful. But, you will also be affecting people — even changing their lives — without even realizing it or trying to.

Case in point:

One of my long time customers and copywriter Shawn Lebrun — whose ads have earned millions of buckaroos in sales for his own business and his clients — recently wrote:

Hey Ben

Thanks for the shout out in the email this morning, I appreciate it.

Truth is, you’ve helped me more than you’ll ever know.

Sure, your material is valuable to me, and I joined [a product no longer for sale).. even though I’ve been in this for 16 years and have people who work for me.

But I’ll always invest in your stuff… because of not just your material is valuable, but also because I resonate so much with you and your experience.

When you speak of trying your hand at MLM years ago.

Yep, that was me.

16 hour days and copywriter burn out. Yep, that was me.

Spending 11 years “figuring” things out. Yep, I’m raising my hand to that one too.

The fact is, I’ve been reading your emails for about 5 years now, or about that. Only Matt Furey have I read for a longer time.

And an email you sent out about how you went through burnout… and started doing the “one email a day” system… when I read that, it resonated so much… I thought “I can do that”

I was going through a rough patch.

Just had a $10,000 bill for skin cancer surgery. Was battling a painkiller addiction just so I could make it through another 15 hour work day.

My marriage was on the rocks, I was raising my son and spending as much time as I could.

And I was paying for not one, but TWO houses because of my wife having to move to a new city for a new job.

I was fucking in over my head, hating my copy life, and was so burnt out… I was lost.

But then I got that email you wrote, about your burn out and how your income went up, even when sending one email a day.

That email gave me hope.

And I started reading everything you had, investing in your books and some of your videos… specifically both of your “How to Make Six Figures a Day” products.

Like I said, they’ve given me hope again… at a time when shit looked pretty glum.

And even though I’m not quite at the “One email a day and six figures yet”… it’s mapped out and planned… and I’m implementing it.

I have an ad agency, and write copy for clients… so I’m using your materials and system to slowly get out of that.

And it’s working. I’ve gone from 15 hour days and close to 7 figures a year… to 2 hour days, closer to six figures… and slowly getting things down to super tight niches, where I’m building my list to get the “one email a day” system going.

So, thank you again for giving me hope, and letting me know that one email a day is doable.

It’s not magical unicorn and fairy shit like the slick goo-roos try and sell u…

like you said in your video… it takes work to get set up, but once in place… it’s all doable.

Thank you for what you’ve done… just wanted to let you know, you’ve mattered a lot to me, and my family, for slowly helping me slowly get my “balance” back.

See?

It’s not *just* about the sales.

I couldn’t do this if that was the case.

I’d be as miserable as Shawn was (been there, done that).

Anyway, if you want to learn my ways of writing emails (in just minutes per day) that your list looks forward to reading and buying from… the August “Email Players” issue goes to the printer in less than 48 hours.

It’s chock-full of sweet gooey-ness.

And, with the bonus and content, a good issue for people new to my “world.”

Here’s where to subscribe:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

P.S. The two “how to six figure” products Shawn mentioned will be available for purchase to “Email Players” subscribers eventually, not sure when (whenever I get off my bootay). But are not for sale right now.

Let’s talk about pain:

One of the things I taught (that I had never taught in depth before then) at world class supplement company Real Dose owner Buck Rizvi’s “Health Profits Summit” event in April was about why pain is your pal. In fact, I was going to name the slide for that part of the talk something about a “PainPal” account (instead of PayPal).

Why?

Because pain is your pal in marketing, babycakes.

It sucks to have it, but if someone’s in pain, they’re looking for a solution and it’s easier to sell to them than trying to convince someone that one day they *may* have pain. Plus, there’s a psychological side to it at work, too.

Here’s what I mean:

Remember Kevin Trudeau?

The infomercial guy who’s doing time?

Well, one of his *legitimately* helpful products was Mega Memory. Using the techniques in that program took me from straight C’s in college, to almost all A’s my last year. Anyway, one of the things the program teaches is using pain to remember things. For example, if you wanted to remember a hotdog (it could be anything), you mentally picture you or someone else taking a hammer and a long rusty nail and…

Hammering into your kneecap!

Ouch.

But you know what?

Your brain will never forget that.

It’s burned in forever if you choose.

And so it is in your marketing.

Want your list to never forget your emails?

Then simply learn how to (tastefully and correctly) incorporate physical pain into your emails, and not only can they not forget you, they won’t be able to “un-see” whatever it is you wrote.

Again, there’s a right and wrong way to do this.

(Most people who try do it completely wrong.)

But, in the video above I explain all this in detail (with subject line and concept examples) so it’s easy for you to write, hard for your list to forget you, and simple for them to buy from.

What?

You want to know where you can get that video?

Okay then, check out the August “Email Players” issue.

It includes a bonus transcript of my talk, and a link to a video where you can watch it.

Deadline to subscribe to get it is Sunday.

Hurry:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

One of the big “duh, Ben!” moments I had in business was when I rapped with Danny Iny a few years ago about lists.

Before Danny (B.D.) I was all about the list.

And, only the list.

After all, the money is in the list in direct response marketing.

And, I still believe that.

But, I also believe the *fortune* is in the audience. Your audience being much bigger than just your email list — like your blog readers, social media followers, people from other peoples’ audiences who hear you being interviewed, your podcast, those who watch you speak on stage, your customers, your direct mail list (you do have one of those, right?), and the list goes on.

Your email list is part of your audience.

(In my case it’s the part of the audience I talk to most.)

But, it’s much bigger than that.

And, my goal is to get as many people in my audience to get their bootays on my email list because email is my main customer acquisition method.

Enter the August “Email Players” issue:

A chunky part of it is about how to get your audience on your email list.

By that I mean, this:

1. You send your audience to your website
2. They opt in
3. You send them emails using my wicked ways

Very clean, and very simple.

And the next issue shows you how to convert those visitors into your email subscribers.

I won’t promise my methods will give you a huge list.

But, I do think it will give you a ridiculously *responsive* list.

She goes to the printer soon.

Subscribe here to get it while you still can:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Let me tell you about my copywriting pal Nate.

He’s a copywriter at Agora, and when I visited their offices a while back to teach some of their writers and editors some ideas about storytelling, infotainment, and email copywriting, I got to talking to him about their health offers. Specifically, how to make health offers compliant to steer clear of running afoul of any government rules or laws, etc.

Anyway, he offered to look at my copy selling a prostate product.

Of course, I jumped at the chance.

(They have strict lawyers there, making sure everything is kosher with the law.)

And, I sent him the ad.

A few days later I get an email from him worried about his prostate! Whether or not that was in his head (he seems kinda young to have those kind of problems), I don’t know. But he was convinced. And, in fact, he bought both my eBook and the supplement!

More:

When I originally wrote the ad, I sent it to some of my copywriting pals.

And, they too, wondered if they had prostate issues.

Anyway, usually I am more of a “sell to the sick, not the healthy” kinda guy.

But, there are ways to sell prevention.

And, in the August “Email Players” issue (on page 13) I reveal how.

This issue goes to the printer soon, though.

So time is short.

Subscribe here today, while you can still get it:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Reader Naomi S. writes:

Hi Ben,

I subscribed this week, but I must admit it: good stuff you’re writing! My compliments.

I think you made your point very clear with the goo-roo fanboy story – I will certainly keep this in mind during my email campaigns 😉

Also, your style of writing is appealing and I get that you also need to do the same when writing to possible/existing customers. I’m working for an IT company, and as you may assume, this is not as sexy as selling shoes for example. But I will make sure not to bore them with too much technical specifications (also something I learned from your tips).

Looking forward to the next one!

Sincere regards from Belgium

Reminds me of something I read in a Dan Kennedy book.

He had a customer who sold mechanical parts for something.

Real dry, and real boring.

So, the guy made his product exciting by writing an ad with a headline (and I am going on memory here) “69 things to do after you’ve bought your xyz part” — followed by a list of 69 sexually-themed things (within the bounds of good taste, I don’t think it went too crazy) they could do with their spouse that night after they didn’t have to worry about getting the part they ordered.

Does this work for everyone?

On every market?

For every customer?

Of course not.

And it’s the same with my email system:

Always *modulate* to your market.

Don’t get caught up with what you see me do to *this* list. I can assure you that, for example, when I wrote to overweight females in the weight loss market I didn’t write with this exact kind of flair and attitude, etc. I adapted the system for them. And, in the voice of the author of the products I was selling. But, I still made them interesting and stand out in the inbox using my methods.

Anyway, important email safety tip.

More:

I talk more about this in the bonus video/transcript that goes out with the August “Email Players” issue which goes to the printer in less than a week.

Get your lovin’ here while there’s still time:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Last month I finally ate at a Benihana restaurant.

(Yes, I know I’m late to this party, shush.)

And, I must admit, I was fascinated by the kind of talent it must take for the chefs to do what they do without losing a finger or accidentally impaling a customer’s eyeball with a steak knife. I watched this bloke work what looked to me like magic with the food and cutlery.

It was like watching a magician.

And then…

He started talking.

Just wouldn’t shut up.

Was one badly timed and executed sarcastic joke after another. At one point I had to use a few techniques I use to shut people up on social media who act like idiots on the guy, just so I could enjoy the meal and experience.

(I always say nothing will ruin a good meal like dumb people.)

Anyway, here’s why I bring this up:

I couldn’t help but be reminded of how much this was like a super talented copywriter or email writer who can dazzle someone with all kinds of persuasion and sales choke holds… only to have the entire sale ruined by a crappy offer. The offer is 40% (some say 30%, tomato to-MAH-to) of the battle. Without a good offer people want even the most talented copywriter is dead in the water.

Too basic for your advanced marketing bootay?

Tough.

We can never get enough of the basics.

And, I daresay even the Benihana chefs practice their basics each and every day.

It’s also why, in the August “Email Players” issue (which goes to the printer in less than a week) I show a very basic (yet hardly anyone I know of does it) way to do daily emails, podcasts, articles, videos, etc without slicing and dicing and chopping and chipping at your brain.

It’s VERY fundamental stuff.

Yet, again, I would be that chef’s left testicle you aren’t doing it.

Subscribe before it goes to the printer here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle