Ben Settle

Recently a bloke asked why I don’t personalize emails.

In other words…

I don’t start each email with “Hi Chachi…” or pepper people’s first name throughout my emails to sounds like I’m writing a personal email to them, giving it that “human element” to make them more persuasive.

There are several reasons why.

(1) I’m lazy about it
(2) Since not collecting first names, I’ve gotten more opt ins
(3) I don’t think it’s as powerful as it used to be

In fact, want a FAR more potent secret than personalization?

That’ll have more impact?

And, can make you more sales?

(If you do it right…)

You do?

OK, what is FAR more powerful than personalization is…

Polarization!

My emails are very polarizing. I often draw a line in the sand and FORCE people to make a decision:

Their either on MY side.

Or the WRONG side.

Why?

Because the more polarizing you are, the more sales you’ll make.

History is full of examples of this.

The lion’s share of the dough goes to the people who aren’t scared to say “this is what I think, and if you don’t like it, there’s the door…” and force people to either love ’em or hate ’em.

That way, there’s no indifference.

No lukewarm flip-flopping.

And, no mistaking what they stand for.

Great emails do the same thing.

So polarize, baby.

Polarize…

To see exactly how to put emails together that polarize, revolutionize and “super size” your sales… check out the “Email Players” newsletter. It’s one of the world’s most expensive newsletters (not for price shoppers, but value shoppers). So it’s not intended for the average Internet marketing fanboy addicted to cheap WSO’s (Warrior Forum special offers) wanting to make sales without effort. And, it’s not intended for people who can’t think and only know how to swipe.

In other words…

It’s for business players.

Not spectators.

Which one are you?

Go here for more info:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Know how you know you’re doing it right?

When you get testimonials about products you sell, from people who don’t even own the product!

Check this out:

I used to sell a course called “Street Smart Email”.

It sold for $795.00.

And, it sold quite successfully.

But, the problem was, I was constantly having to update it with all the cool new email secrets (I have so many email secrets, even my secrets have secrets…) I am constantly discovering on a daily basis. For example, I have over 700+ text files in a folder on my computer — each containing a single tip, idea, test, tactic, trick, etc for increasing sales with email. And I’m constantly adding to it, sometimes 2-3 times per DAY! Thus I will never run out of material for “Email Players” content…

Anyway, my solution?

Stop all the silly mundane updates.

And, instead, create the “Email Players” newsletter.

And, with your subscription, you get a “paraphrased” version of Street Smart Email (i.e. all the evergreen “must know” info, with everything else stripped out — including the stuff that is now redundant and can actually hurt your sales, as things have changed since then) in my “Email Players Playbook”.

Which brings me to the testimonial.

It’s from Andy Moose who doesn’t subscribe to “Email Players”.

(Yet…)

But, possesses the old Street Smart Email system.

And, here’s what he said:

I’m not an email players’ subscriber. yet.

But I’ve been through Ben’s Street Smart Email course, and I’ve used what I learned in at least 5 different industries (personal and for clients).

From church camp signups, to cigars and coffee, to sticky lint rollers and more.

Hell, I even use it in personal correspondence. And why not? Since any conversation you have with someone has a desired result or action in mind.

What Martin said, I agree, some days it feels like it took longer to load up the email in the broadcast service than it did to write it out.

And I’ve seen a carryover into other skills as well. My (front of the crowd) speaking skills have improved massively in these past years of honing my email craft.

Case in point, at the church camp, I’ve given at least 5 campfire messages these past two summers and every one of those was first an email I wrote up. Based the talk on an email and adlibbed as needed – worked like a charm every time.

Tricks? Learn from the best, the ones who are Doing it. And then, go Do It yourself. That’s the only way it’ll work for you. Ya gotta go do it.

There’s the proof for ye Doubting Thomases.

Proof my system works. That it works for MULTIPLE products, services & niches. And, that it works for succeeding even outside of email!

(Like public speaking, etc.)

Like I said before:

I don’t teach how to “write.”

I teach how to communicate.

This is why it doesn’t matter if you flunked English 101.

Or hate writing.

Or think you’re not “creative.”

My system works whether you “believe” you can do it or not.

But, you have to put in the effort.

You also have to invest in the (admittedly high) monthly price, and let each month’s knowledge and experience compound on itself over time. (Buying one issue will do you little good, this is one reason why I don’t let people back in who quit after just 30 days of subscribing — it’s like taking a health supplement for 30 days and then thinking it’s going to cure you of whatever problem it’s supposed to fix — it’s both a dumb and shortsighted attitude to have in business, not the kind of people I want as subscribers, so I throw them back and let the lesser marketers & goo-roos catch them.)

And, you have to implement.

Otherwise, you’re right.

You can’t do it…

For everyone else?

Here’s where to subscribe:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

A subscriber wants to know about hate mail…

“Ben, I really enjoy your emails answering people who rag on you. Sometimes I get hate mail too and want to know if you can address how to handle it. Thanks!”

First off, hate mail is GOOD.

It’s almost like a yard stick for success.

If you never get it, you’re probably not doing your job. After all, if you try to please everyone you’re probably not pleasing anyone and so what’s the point?

So don’t FEAR hate mail.

Embrace it.

Learn to love it.

Now, there are a lot of things you can do with a hot, steamy piece of hate mail. You can…

1. IGNORE IT

Not good, no matter how idiotic the writer of the email is (you’ll see why in a moment)…

2. ANSWER IT

Usually a bad idea.

Why?

Because it’s like wrestling with a pig — you both get dirty and the pig loves it. If you’re a busy person, you got better things to do than wrestle with pigs.

(Yes I’ve made this mistake before.)

3. USE IT

You know, to make $ales with.

It almost never fails.

When I publicly talk about a piece of hate mail I (usually, not always) get more sales that day (and this spans multiple niches/markets).

Anyway, bottom line?

Give your hate mail some lovin’.

Don’t just delete it on sight (unless it’s some dork who sends you multiple rambling emails — they have deeper “issues”).

Instead WRITE about it.

And turn it into cash in the bank.

For more ways to turn emails into cash, go to:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

On today’s earth shatteringly sexy podcast, we rap about:

• The #1 book on time management ever written. (It goes well beyond just time management — it’s also one of the best overall business books ever written.)

• Why I don’t do business with people who aren’t punctual. (And why you won’t, either, after you listen to this episode.)

• The one attribute successful people have that unsuccessful people don’t. (If you JUST do this, you’ve already won. And no, it ain’t got nuttin’ to do with talent, time, money, persistence, or anything you’re thinking it is.)

• The exact time of the day when your brain wants you to do the most amount of work (and will reward you for helping you get it done faster and more efficiently than at any other time).

• Interesting fact: I can see a meth house from my home office window.

• What “Burgle time” is, and how it kills peoples’ success in the town I live in. (Just making this one change made a huge difference in my copywriting apprentice’s success almost overnight.)

• What to do during the first hour of every day to blow right past your competition.

• What the late (great) copywriter Gene Schwartz did to keep his work day down to just 3 hours per day. (While other copywriters sat hunched over a keyboard for 8+ hours per day, Gene simply did this, and banged out more successful direct mail campaigns than practically anyone else in a fraction of the time.)

• How to use an ordinary 3X5 note card to get the maximum amount of work done in minimal time. (I do this every Sunday night and never have a problem finishing all my work — even while simultaneously writing a novel, banging out ads & emails for multiple JV’s, and creating my own daily emails, newsletters, and products.)

• And that the list goes on…

Download it now (time is of the essence, babycakes) here:

www.BenSettleShow.com/itunes

Ben Settle

One of my all-time favorite books:

“NO BS Time Management”

It’s by Dan Kennedy.

He’s like the king of time management.

And, his book is not only the best time management book I’ve ever read (I use the principles to get enormous amounts of work done in a fraction of the time it takes most people I know — even while simultaneously writing a novel, banging out ads & emails for multiple JV’s, recording a weekly podcast, and creating my own daily emails, newsletters, and products)… but it’s one of the best overall business books I’ve ever read, period.

One of my favorite tips:

Dan Kennedy doesn’t do business with people who are late.

Why?

Well, the reasons are many.

But, doing just this one thing has saved me loads of time during my bid’niz ventures.

He teaches a lot of other cool stuff in it, too.

And, I highly recommend it.

More:

Tomorrow’s “Ben Settle Show” podcast contains the 5 most effective time management tips I use daily to out-produce my competition.

(Well, most of ’em…)

I’ll let ya know when it’s on iTunes tomorrow.

Download past episodes here:

www.BenSettleShow.com/itunes

Ben Settle

“The Matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy. But when you’re inside, you look around, what do you see? Businessmen, teachers, lawyers, carpenters. The very minds of the people we are trying to save. But until we do, these people are still a part of that system and that makes them our enemy. You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it.”

-Morpheus
“The Matrix”

The more I watch “The Matrix” the more I like it.

It’s chock full of great business wisdom.

Take the above quote, for example:

The world at large hates the business man. The business man is vilified. Lied about. Envied. And, worst of all, attacked for no reason whatsoever.

Attacked by WHO, you ask?

Your politicians.

Your attorney generals.

Your lawyers.

Your judges.

Your gazillion paper-pushing bureaucrats.

Other businesses who see you as a threat.

And, even your own friends and family who continue to vote against the business man’s best interests (i.e. higher taxes, strangling regulations, more stoopid forms to fill out, and other time & money wasting nonsense) even though without the business man they’d have no tax money to fund their silly little utopian dreams. (Cue up the creepers who’ll knee-jerkedly and incorrectly think I watch Fox News and vote Republican… they’re oh-so-predictable…)

Where was I?

Oh yes… I remember:

Everyone’s hand is against the business man.

Yet the business man is who provides their jobs.

The business man is who pays the bulk of the taxes.

And, the business man is the one making things go forward economically in spite of the government always trying to tear him down, place obstacles in his path, and tax him into oblivion.

Reminds me of Dan Kennedy’s “No BS Business” book.

There was a business guy overrun by taxes and mind-numbing forms.

Every day was another tax bill to be paid.

Another regulation to be followed.

Another idiotic “rule” to be obeyed.

Until one day…

They find his corpse at the foot of his mailbox dead of a heart attack — with tax forms clutched in hand!

Yikes.

Now, ‘lest you think me a pessimist…

Personally, I see the US like a burning forest.

There are 3 ways to react to it:

1.) Heroically (and exhaustingly) try to put it out using buckets of water filled at the stream “bucket brigade” style — even though you know it won’t stop the forest from burning down since it’s too far out of control

2.) Curl up into a fetal position and wait to die

3.) Grab some hot dogs and ‘smores and ENJOY it

Me?

I’m going with option #3, Alex.

One of the ways I enjoy the burning forest is with email.

While everyone has been out there freaking out about government shut downs, NSA spying and letting the news scare them into doing whatever it is their agenda-setters want you to do, my subscribers and I were shooting out emails that made sales, taking the pressure off, helping us prepare to do whatever we have to do once the economy crashes.

(It ain’t gonna be pretty for the unprepared.)

Plus, you know what else?

Email is kinda FUN, too.

Especially when you do it the way I teach.

If you want to join us for November, there’s still time.

It’s a great “jumping on” issue for new subscribers, too.

Why?

Lots of reasons.

Like, for example:

It shows how to write emails in as little as 4 minutes. And, how to make your emails more credible & believable. And, how to build lists with contests.

(In a bonus training.)

If you want in, go here today:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

I’ve heard people do this sort of thing.

Never actually believed it, though.

I mean, it’s just such a blatant insult of someone (anyone’s) intelligence, it boggles the mind marketers are doing it.

What do I speaketh of?

Ending an email broadcast (at the bottom) with:

“(Sent from iPhone)”

You know, as if it was a personal email typed and sent from someone’s iPhone, and not a broadcast message. Believe it or not, someone forwarded me an email (a list email, with an auto-responder company unsubscribe link at the bottom, under the “sent from iPhone”) like this the other day.

Hey, I’m all for making emails look personal:

Plain text.

(Or html that looks like plain text).

“From” line you’re actual name.

“From” email address that looks like a personal email.

No brackets or other indicators in the subject line to indicate it’s a list message, to give you that split second where people think it *could* possibly be a personal email message, and will at least open it to see.

I’m ALL for that.

But this “sent from iPhone” nonsense?

It’s nutzo.

Yeah, some people might buy into it.

But it’s phony.

(iPhony?)

And, totally unnecessary.

Just forget the lame ninja tricks.

Focus on the fundamentals, instead. They are FAR more powerful and important than any tips & tricks you will learn. It’s like the story of the young punk who sought out the old martial arts master to learn “advanced” fighting. The master then threw a punch so fast the speed of his movement put a candle out! So the punk kid goes “Yes! That’s advanced! Teach me that!” To which the master replies, “first, learn how to punch.”

So it is with email.

Or copywriting.

Or anything, really.

Get your fundamentals rock solid, first.

Then, you can play with tricks.

One of the single most important fundamentals you can learn is how to structure your emails so they (1) are easy to write (2) fast to write and (3) have built-in persuasion power.

Very few people know how to do this.

And, even fewer teach it.

But, I’m showing how in the next “Email Players” issue.

She goes to print in 11 days.

She goes to print in one week.

Subscribe while you still have time here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Today’s subject line is my new answer to:

“So what do you do for a living?”

Everyone I know in this business gets frustrated with that question. Not because people ask the question, but because we don’t know how to explain it to someone not familiar with this whole online business thaaaaang.

Sometimes I say “I publish books and newsletters.”

Or… “Internet marketing.”

Or… “I show business people how to get all the new business they can handle.”

Or… “I legally spam people”

(Just kidding…)

None of them really sounds cool, though.

Or even very fun.

So for now on I’m going with the bum one.

The way I see it, if you have the kind of freedom (to travel, play and do whatever you want whenever you want with whoever you want) most people in your life will never really “get” what you do.

Frankly, they may have trouble even imagining it.

So, you might as well have some fun.

What?

You’re not at the freedoom-from-a-job level yet?

What do you do then?

Remember this quote from Ken McCarthy’s “System Club Letters”:

“As entrepreneurs, we enjoy many things, large and small, that the average person – even someone with a ‘great job’ – can’t even imagine. Stay the course. It is worth it.”

Word up.

So keep on keeping on.

Never quit.

And, always fight the good fight.

Victory IS worth the struggle.

My “tool” for getting free from job (and client) work was email.

It’s cheap to use.

Fun to implement.

And, if you do it right, works fast.

Go here to take your game to the next level:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Got a request for “Zombie Cop” readers.

There have been two or three reviews out of the 36 so far that have mentioned there being some kind of minor plot holes. One of the people who claimed this hadn’t read it closely enough (I contacted him directly about it) and that happens sometimes with fiction according to other novelists I’ve heard talk about it.

And, that may be case with my book, too.

Or, maybe not.

Whatever the case, me no likey plot holes.

Plot holes suck.

And, they’re annoying.

To be blunt, I can’t find any plot holes in it. Neither can my editor/publisher Greg who read through it — out loud — half a dozen times when doing the audio book version.

But still, we wonder.

Did we miss any?

Thus, my request for “Zombie Cop” fans.

If you saw a plot hole can you reply back and let me know where,
exactly, you found it?

That way I can:

1. Fix any that really are there

2. Clarify if something is murky causing someone to think there’s a plot hole, even if there isn’t one

3. Include the changes in the next edition

But, a caveat:

Make sure they are “for real” plot holes.

One guy nit-picked it to the point of silliness.

For example:

The kid in the book thought about some pain he had feeling like a hangover. But since the book never says he’s ever drank alcohol one way or the other, he said that was a plot hole. Yet, even if he never had a hang over before (and the book doesn’t say either way, it’s irrelevant) even people I know who have never had one know what it feels like simply by description of it being a bad headache, etc.

That kind of nit-picky stuff is not helpful.

If anything, it’s counter productive.

On the other hand, if it says the boy has the power to see in the dark, but in a later chapter he is in a dark room and says he can’t see jack shit, well, that’d be a plot hole that needs plugging.

(That may actually be one, I’m researching it next.)

Okay, so that’s that.

Oh, wait, your reward:

If you find a “for real” plot hole (not a silly nit-picky one) I will send you a free copy of my new “Vampire Apocalypse” book when it’s ready.

Deal?

Okay then, let the monsters out…

Ben Settle

P.S. One more thing — completely off subject:

My “Email Players” subscribers have been asking about subject line ideas and templates. I haven’t been teaching this nearly as much as I should. So in the November issue (which mails in 2 weeks) I include an extremely profitable subject line template (that is about as far from “sexy” as you can get) that works like gangbusters.

I learned it from the copywriting genius behind Boardroom, Inc.

(Not directly, but via observation).

Hardly anyone else uses this template.

(That I’m aware of, at least.)

Like I said, just not “sexy” and “ninja” at all.

But, it works.

And, you know what?

I would bet someone else’s kidney, it’ll work for you.

Subscription info here:

www.EmailPlayers.com