Ben Settle

A response to yesterday’s why chicks dig Email Players subscribers email:

“Spare me. Im outta here. Not a. ‘chick.’”

Her flirting skills need some work…

But you know what?

There’s actually a valuable lesson here:

You know you really got someone — i.e. elicited an emotion in them, which is always the goal of an email — when they take the time to drama queen and write you they’re leaving instead of, you know, just leaving, clearly hoping you’ll give them a little ego boost by apologizing for no reason and begging them to stay on board.

Dames and dudes alike do it all the time ‘round here.

And, I have especially noticed many times dames like her come back.

(And, sometimes, even let elBenbo know they’re back in subtle or not-so-subtle ways.)

Thus the power of my email methodology.

When someone gets mad or pissy or whatever, and leaves and then goes out of their way to tell you they’re leaving… there’s a 50/50 chance they’ll be back in my experience. Your milage will vary, of course. But, there’s also a chance they’ll end up buying something, too, once they realize the error of their wicked ways.

Doubt me all ye want on this.

But I’ve seen it so many times I’ve lost count.

And, so have certain “Email Players” subscribers who tell similar tales.

To join in our fun, go here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben “Mr. Sensitive” Settle

I couldn’t make this up if I tried:

A little while back, a guy in one of my flakebook groups told me about a discovery he made doing research on his competition. Turns out www.EmailPlayers.com is one of the most frequently visited sites by users of his site where he shows men how to, er, last a lot longer in ye olde bedroom-io.

As he said:

“that’s a whole new fan base you never knew you had! Or did ya . . . ?”

Coincidence?

Hmm…

Anyway, you can draw whatever conclusion you want about this.

But, I have to wonder:

Is there a correlation between having more stamina while doing the horizontal polka and going longer in this great game of email marketing? Could it be the mechanism that makes dudes perform longer minute after minute and hour after hour without running out of steam… also be the same mechanism that lets men bang out emails day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year (and, yes, decade after decade) — without running out of ideas, content, or inspiration?

Of course there is.

It’s ALL related, babycakes.

But you know what?

There’s only one way to be sure.

And that’s to test my wily ways out for yourself.

The March issue goes to the printer soon.

One of the many lessons inside shows you how one of the world’s top Twitter gurus (not a goo-roo) pounds out articles for his blog that sell tens of thousands of copies of his books on Amazon each year.

It’s easily adapted to email, of course.

And, if you use this method (which I spell out for you, and show you examples) you can bang out all the profitable emails you want, for as long as you are in business, and sell a boatload of your products, too.

All in just minutes per day.

And, without the usual frustration, anxiety, or struggle.

Subscribe here to get it in time while you can:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Over the past 9 months (give or take) my podcast Producer Jonathan and I have been experimenting with how to combine the podcasting with email to jack up response on affiliate promos we run through the show.

And when I say “jack up” response, I ain’t just whistlin’ dixie.

Here’s the story:

It started off as a brain fart I had when I asked the esteemed Ken McCarthy (who is basically the “founding father” of Internet marketing as we all know it — yes, there was a time when you could fit all the people who thought you could actually sell on the Internet around a small table, and they were all considered the village idiots of Silicon Valley, and he was one of them) if I could interview him on the podcast about copywriting.

This was last July.

(Give or take a month).

And, I figured we could sell his copywriting course (one of my favorites) using a secret method that I (as far as I know, at least — I haven’t seen anyone else do it before we did) invented for monetizing a podcast using email.

The result?

We ended up getting $28 a click.

And, it was such a raging success considering our list dynamic and how hard of a sell Ken’s course was (very high ticket, and he’s not known as being a “rock star” or whatever to the bright shiny object chasers ninja-trick chasers) Ken asked if he could license my email sequence for his other affiliates so they, too, could sell a bunch of his courses.

Best part:

My method is ridiculously simple.

(I don’t do complex, I’ll let the podcast ex-spurts do that.)

And, strange as it sounds, you don’t even need a podcast to my method. So, even if you don’t have a podcast, you can still profit like gangbusters from it.

Anyway, I ain’t giving this info away free.

But, I am teaching it to my “Email Players” subscribers.

And, specifically, I’m teaching it in the March issue next month.

To get on this action in time, subscribe here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

About a year ago, I had a chat with my ex-copywriting apprentice about…

“Positioning”

She had been intensely interested in figuring out ways to position herself in her market as someone who can (1) charge the most amount possible (2) attract nothing but the best, highest quality customers and clients and (3) leverage her time while making the most profit (i.e. servicing a small handful of premium clients/customers vs a horde of low class jackass clients/customers — adhering to the concept I told her about, where it’s better to have 4 quarters than 100 pennies).

Anyway, my (admittedly crude) advice to her?

This:

“Be the bitch at the top of the mountain, not the hoe at the bottom”

In other words…

• Don’t be easily accessible

• Be productive, not “busy”

• Don’t respect anyone who doesn’t respect you

• Guard your time like it’s worth money (because it is)

• Have standards for who you allow to buy from you

• Sell to value shoppers (not price shoppers)

• Put funnels in place — to sift & sort the good from the bad for you, so you only deal with people ready to buy, and with automated back end sales, offers, etc, in play, working hard on your behalf, freeing up your time, and giving you true freedom.

Most of this is self explanatory.

Except, for the funnel part

That’s a mystery to nearly everyone.

Enter my pal:

Todd Brown.

He’s the sales funnel guy that other sales funnel guys go to when they need help with funnels. While practically everyone else (including me) is playing checkers with their funnels… Todd plays Monopoly, and he always builds a hotel on Boardwalk, and he always wins.

(If’n you catch my drift.)

For example:

He’s co-orchestrated multiple six-figure launches within the internet marketing community (not just for people with huge lists and “guru status” — but people who were new and/or struggling before he got a hold of them)… has been a partner at Strategic Profits with Rich Schefren (where I hear tell they did $3 million in just 7 days, using Todd’s launch magic, not too shabby)… Was a faculty member for Jeff Walker’s $10,000.00 per person Product Launch Manager Training… And has presented his ideas and methodologies on the same stage with best-selling authors, Brian Tracy, Michael Gerber, etc/

And you know what else?

He’s a helluva cool cat, too.

But, even more important:

He’s also the newest member of the elite Oceans 4 mastermind March 25th and 26th next month, along with my droogies-in-crime Andre Chaperon (master at building multi-million dollar earning auto-resoonders), Jack Born (who is not only Perry Marshall’s affiliate manager, but he’s like the “Walter White” of cooking up tools for marketers to use — hunched over his desk in his motor home, gas mask on, smoke billowing out the top…)

More:

It’s not just us blokes above attending.

We also have media buying wizard Steve Gray coming.

(He was one of our special trainers in Vegas, and buys something like $10 million per year in media — he will be there as a guest sitting in this time, too. You can ask him any questions you want about media buying, funnel building, and all the other solid gold bars of knowledge he has running a supplement business and also a business in the survival niche, the guy has seen it all and is like an encyclopedia of knowledge, wisdom, and experience.)

Still more:

Our special guest trainer this time is Rich Schefren.

Rich is the guy all the other gurus you hear about go to for advice on their businesses (he’s been called “the guru’s guru”.) And, you can name any TV or cable network or major newspaper, and they’ve probably done a feature on Rich or one of his businesses. He’s been profiled (i.e. he didn’t just run an ad and then say he was “as seen on” like all the wannabes do, he was interviewed and profiled) on the front page of the Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Entertainment Tonight, ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, MSNBC, Vogue, GQ, MTV, VH1, The Discovery Channel, The Learning Channel, Cosmopolitan, The Daily News, The New York Post and many others…

Finally, there are the other attendees.

Each time we attract the best of the best.

For example, our “roster” of previous clients have included:

• Agora Publishing ($200+ million newsletter empire)

• Bad Ass Ventures (One of the biggest companies on Clickbank)

• The founder of the biggest job portal in Australia’s multi billion dollar mining industry

• A New York Times Bestselling financial author (Ramit Sethi who sent his right-hand-marketing chick to attend)

• One of the world’s top marketers for PGA Tour Players

• Russell Brunson (Quite possibly the savviest online direct marketing genius I’ve ever met — just hanging out with this guy will make you a better marketer by “osmosis”)

• One of the world’s top affiliates in the hyper competitive weight loss niche

• Other leaders in their respective industries (like LinkedIn job training, building brand awareness, etc).

• And the list goes on.

(With all the talent that shows up, nobody — not a single one of us in the room, not even the 9-figure earning business owners who have shown — walks away without at LEAST a dozen or so “ah ha!” moments and ideas to implement, with some clients even reporting all time sales highs just weeks after)

Now, for the details:

1. It costs $5k to get a hot seat

You can bring one guest free, but only one of you gets the hot seat. However, if you’re thinking price vs value you don’t belong in the room, anyway. There are plenty of low cost and more conventional events and so-called “masterminds” to attend instead. They’ll be happy to take your money, give you a cheer-leading session to pump you up, and then give you a swat on the butt and send you on your merry way.
2. We’re capping it at 9 people

We keep things small and intimate.

(i.e. a true interactive mastermind, not a lecture or conference)

But, since these few spots are going lickety split that means time is short. After all, I’m not the only person mailing about this. Andre, Todd, and Jack (all of who have much bigger lists and many more connections than I do) are, too. With our combined lists, those last spots are going to vanish like a fart in the wind before you know it.
3. There probably won’t be a next time

I never say never.

But, I’m kinda surprised we’re doing this since everyone’s schedules conflict and the low price we charge makes it not really profitable for us. We’re also all getting burned out on doing it, too (we like doing it, but it’s, you know, work). I bring this up because we were doing so many of them (3 one year alone) people started thinking they could just “catch the next one.”

But, I wouldn’t count on that happening.

So, that’d be a foolish attitude to have this time.

Anyway, that’s that.

To apply to attend, or if you have questions, reply to this email.

Word up.

Ben Settle

Lend me your ears for a second.

Recently I was having a conversation with my ex-copywriting apprentice about podcasts. Even though I’ve hosted a podcast for 2 years and 107 shows… I hardly ever listen to other podcasts. Maybe once in a while I do, but it’s rare. And so I asked her how good (or bad) some of these other podcasts are she listens to.

“They suck,” she said.

“They’re that awful?”

“Yes, especially the ones where they’re interviewing someone. They are painful to listen to. I don’t get why people don’t interview more like you do on your podcasts!”

And so the conversation went.

Apparently, there are people who don’t know how to interview.

(Shocking!)

And, so, I vowed to my ex-copywriting apprentice I would do my part to help the podcasting community by teaching not only how to conduct interviews that get people lost in an almost “trance” like state (literally)… but, if you’re selling something (as an affiliate, etc), you’ll get a ton more sales, too.

How can I be so obnoxiously arrogant about this?

Because I know what I’m doing with this, my little droogie.

I’ve been doing audio interviews since almost before the term “podcast” was invented… and I learned directly from studying the best (like Michael Senoff — who’s been selling with interviews for almost as long as the Internet has been around, and Paul Hartunian who is the king of selling his own products on professional radio shows, for example) for years.

And, I’ve made a pretty penny doing it, too.

Like when we sold Ken McCarthy’s copywriting course on my podcast last July.

We nabbed $28 per click.

Yes, email had a lot to do with that, but so did the interview, and techniques I use to draw info out of people, etc.

Anyway, so that’s what today’s new podcast is all about:

How to interview and make sales.

If you do podcasting, this (free) episode can put more smackola in your hot little hand than probably some of the paid courses you’re buying. (And if you have clients, you can use the exact same techniques to draw a ton more info out them during research.)

A bold claim?

You be the judge, Fonzy.

It’s free to listen to, and will only take 24 minutes:

www.BenSettleShow.com/107

Word out.

Ben Settle

Amusing opt-out of the week…

Dude I have no idea what this letter is about nor do I care do not send me anymore emails or scam letters anymore I am not interested. THAN OR NOW!!!!!!!! LOOSE MY EMAIL ADDRESS. ……..DO NOT SEND ME ANYTHING ELSE. EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The lad sounds a tad too tightly wound for his own good.

Usually I just delete these.

But, in this case, I wanted to track where he came from.

And, sure enough, he came from Pay-per-click (back on December 23rd, with his IP address and general location where he opted in at recorded) where we don’t use double opt in. Plus, he used a free yahoo address. That probably means he joined just to “get the free stuff” (i.e. the bribe to join my list), then probably just checked his email again for the first time after almost a month, saw a few dozen emails from me piled up, and proceeded to go into full-on nutzo mode.

It’s ironic, too.

Why?

Because emails like the above are the real “spam.”

Guy opts into my list willingly and on his own volition, then sends me an unsolicited shrieking complaint (some of it in ALL CAPS which means he’s serious) about getting emails he asked me to send him.

Even more ironic:

I not only say “you’ll be getting daily promotional emails” at the opt-in box (clearly, so the Google AdWords powers-that-be see it) but you also have to check a box acknowledging you read the terms before my form lets you opt-in, and the first email with the bribe link outright says I mail a lot, etc and how to opt-out if that’s going to give someone acid reflux.

Anyway, I ain’t mad at the guy..

It’s probably not his fault he’s stupid.

But if you’re going to email using my system, best brace for similar emails.

Especially if you use paid traffic and single opt-in.

(If you don’t occasionally get these, you ain’t trying hard enough, Bub.)

All right that’s it for today.

Go here next:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

In today’s podcast we wrap up the first 70 “Email Players” rules.

We talk about:

• How to wisely (and ethically) use “hype” to side-step lagging attention spans.

• Why credibility is only the second most important thing in email marketing (hardly anyone talks about the #1 thing and it costs them lots of sales).

• Arguably the single best movie ever made for would-be entrepreneurs and business school students to watch before spending a single penny getting started.

• What copywriters working on commission need to be aware of.

• When never to get involved in a joint venture — even if the person your JV’ing with is honest as the day is long and has no intention of screwing you over. (I wasted over a ever of my life with nothing to show for it that I can never get back not knowing this.)

• Why I don’t segment my list but insist on everyone else segmenting theirs.

• The dangers of trying to “reverse engineer” marketing and copywriting systems instead of just paying for them.

• The big mastermind group lesson I learned while eating lunch with Brian Kurtz (former Executive VP of Boardroom, Inc).

• How you’re hurting your leads, customers, and clients by not emailing them daily.

• The dead comedian’s counter-intuitive guide for keeping good people in your life. (Clients, customers, friends, girlfriend, etc.)

• And lots more…

Get your lovin’ here:

www.BenSettleShow.com/antipreneur

Ben Settle

Following story is 100% true.

Only the niche and names have been changed to protect the guilty.

Here’s the scoop:

Back in mid 2014 I got involved in a major project taking on part ownership in a company in a very rabid niche I’ve sold in before. My two partners and I have our marketing down pat, and stand to have a lot of fun and adventures (the profitable kind).

But, it’s taken us almost 1.5 years to get started.

Why?

Because we made a terrible mistake.

A mistake I have made many times before.

(What’s that definition of insanity again…?)

And, a mistake that has cost us each over a year’s worth of lost profits, lost sales, and lost time we can never reclaim.

The mistake?

Doing business with the wrong people.

By wrong, I don’t mean “bad” people.

Nor do I mean incompetent people.

These particular people we wanted to do business with are as honest (as far as we know, at least), professional, and sharp-as-a-whip smart as they come for the most part. No, by “wrong” I mean they simply didn’t want the company to succeed as badly as we did.

Thus, they got in their own way.

Slowed progress up for months to get things “perfect.”

Would not send us the content we needed in a timely manner.

(If at all, and even then we had to almost nag ‘em to do it.)

And, basically, didn’t care about it working as badly as us.

Thus, we had to “fire” several talented people.

And, cut the side of the business they would have been in charge of (and which would have made the company a lot more sales a lot more quickly) out altogether and change things around.

All because we didn’t “vet” the talent.

We didn’t really need these guys.

But, we thought we could change them and make them see the big picture.

(Obviously that didn’t work.)

Anyway, again, that’s almost 2 years we can’t get back.

And, it’s an important lesson for anyone doing joint ventures.

It’s also one of the 7 new “Email Players” rules I talk about on the next exciting episode of “The Ben Settle Show” podcast — streaming to a device near you tomorrow.

These Email Players rules have become fan favorite episodes.

And we wrap up the first 70 of them tomorrow.

In the meantime, listen to prior shows here:

www.BenSettleShow.com/antipreneur

Ben Settle

In the name of fairness:

Below is an email written to his list about how methods did NOT work (well, briefly, at least…) from a man who is a Gary Halbert and Dan Kennedy-approved marketer, Agora Financial copywriter, and one of my best marketing chums… Doberman Dan Gallapoo.

After busting my chops for years about not emailing my list every day, I finally gave in.

And only a few months ago I started sending a daily email.

Guess what happened after the first month.

Nuttin’ honey.

I sooooo wanted to prove Ben wrong. So I told him my results.

He told me to stop trying to sell surreptitiously, grow a pair and pitch in EVERY SINGLE EMAIL.

Since I wanted to prove him wrong, I did exactly what he said.

Guess what happened after two more weeks of daily emails… but this time with a blatant pitch in every email.

Nuttin’ honey.

So I kept doing it. ‘Cuz I couldn’t wait to tell Ben his system failed.

But guess what happened two weeks later.

The floodgates were opened.

And I’m happy to say that the number of knights in the Marketing Camelot has never been higher.

Ben Settle, ya big beautiful bastard. I soooooo wanted to prove you wrong.

But dammit… your email system worked.

Sure, it took a while to get it tweaked and build some momentum. But it’s now generating a steady, predictable and reliable flow of new knights into my Marketing Camelot.

I shoulda done this when Ben first told me about it YEARS ago.

Gawd knows how much money I’ve missed out on because I didn’t.

You really need to study the email marketing Jedi mind tricks Ben reveals in his Email Players newsletter…

www.emailplayers.com

No, that’s not an affiliate link. Ben doesn’t allow affiliates to sell his newsletter.

And no, we don’t have any kind of rev-share agreement.

In fact, he has no idea I’m even mentioning his newsletter. (Until he reads this email.)

I’m just sharing it with you for two reasons:

It’s excellent and it’s making me a lot of money.

I don’t have a scarcity mindset.

In other words, I don’t believe that promoting Ben’s newsletter to the people on my list is going to negatively affect enrollment in my own membership program and newsletter, The Marketing Camelot.

Ben’s newsletter is something I believe in so I wanted to share it with you.

Simple as that.

(Ben, I’m not breaking your rule of pitching in every email. I DID pitch. I just pitched YOUR newsletter… probably much to your surprise.)

Look, I’m not gonna lie to you and tell you that doing an email every day is a walk in the park.

There are some nights when I’m sitting in the family room with my wife at midnight, staring at my laptop half asleep, wondering what the hell I’m going to write for tomorrow’s email.

But I do it.

‘Cuz I made a commitment to do it.

And it’s worth it.

Listen, I’ve heard all the objections for not sending a daily email. Hell, I said them all myself.

But I tried it and now I’m a believer.

Try it. You’ve got nothing to lose.

All the best,
Doberman Dan

P.S. Ya know what?

I think Ben has been using his mind manipulation tricks on me for YEARS…

…knowing I would eventually pull my head outta my posterior and start emailing daily.

I bet that smug S.O.B. is gloating right this very second.

I SHOULD be mad. But his system is making me so much money I can’t be anything but happy.

I think you’ll be happy, too.

Pax vobiscum.

Sheesh.

Even my best pals doubt me.

But, that’s okay.

I actually dig it.

Because, it’s the people trying to prove me wrong (the intellectually honest ones, at least) who apply the info, and who end up making out like bandits (some of them even go on to out earn my own results using my own methods!)

Anyway, today’s the deadline to get the February issue.

Whether you want to test my methods yourself or are just looking for an excuse to get started, now’s the time.

After today, it’s too late.

Subscribe here tonight before the deadline is over, and before it’s too late:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle