Ben Settle

So, here’s the deal:

This is our last week in iTunes’ new show category.

We’re flirting with #1.

(We’ve been as low as #7 recently).

But to go the distance I’m told we gotta have more reviews. And, to get ’em I’m resorting to outright BRIBERY.

What kind of bribery?

Well, it breaks down like this:

Next Saturday (March 22nd) I will look at the reviews page.

Writer of the BEST review gets a copy of any product I sell.

I don’t care if it’s my $297 Copywriting Grab Bag product… a particular issue of “Email Players”… an eBook, Kindle book, my “Crypto Marketing Secrets” book (which is not for sale anywhere, for any price — and is a compilation of all 30 issues of my old “Crypto Marketing Newsletter”), or whatever it is I sell you want. (The only product not included in this offer is “The Email Players Playbook”.)

What do I mean by the “best” review?

Well, it doesn’t have to be a 5 star review.

It could even be a 1 star review.

I am judging it by how HELPFUL the review is.

Yes, my little droogie, I want genuine reviews.

Not ego stroking reviews.

Not troll reviews.

But market serving reviews.

And that means, you will have to have listened to a show or two and give specific reasons why you like (or don’t like) the show.

One other thing to keep in mind:

It sometimes takes a while for reviews to show.

That’s because I think iTunes actually screens them.

(Unlike kindle, where trolls abound as a result.)

So if you want to leave a review by the deadline next weekend, I suggest doing it today.

Just go to:

www.BenSettleShow.com/itunes

Again, this offer ends a week from today.

So don’t put this off thinking you have time.

You don’t.

See ya on the other side…

Ben Settle

P.S. Tomorrow’s show is chockful of cool advice.

Including how you can profit from when your auto-responder goes down (like Aweber did a couple weeks ago), amongst other things you won’t hear on other shows. Had people known what I teach tomorrow, they’d have been been greedily rubbing their hot little hands together when Aweber went down, anxiously looking forward to it happening again.

But that’s just one tip.

There are many more packed into tomorrow’s show.

Stay tuned…

Well, in my humble, but biased, opinion at least.

Here’s why:

I purposely structured my coming “Zombie Cop” novel to have 14 chapters, each with 7 “scenes” or parts.

Why so precise?

Because, for one, I have noticed in my copywriting & marketing ventures the human brain accepts and follows information more smoothly when it’s presented in 3’s and 7’s. This is nothing new. I have heard John Carlton teach for years on the power of putting 3 benefits, etc in headlines and bullet points. And I have done 7 part auto-responder series or used exactly 7 bullet points in short ads with a lot of success, too. And so, I decided to see if using this structure would make the book flow better and be more easily comprehended. (Can’t have you forgetting about it and not having nightmares — where’s the fun in that???)

And guess what?

When I did so, a funny thing happened:

I noticed the plot was MUCH easier to wrap my mind around.

It was very easy to fit the story into this exact frame work — while it was much harder to do so before I created this structure. For example, I started the first few chapters without direction, then, later, decided to outline it — when I did the outline, the plot practically filled itself in when I limited it to 14 chapters of 7 scenes.

Coincidence?

I don’t think so.

And, I will probably structure the sequel(s) the same way.

Anyway, the table of contents is below.

You can sometimes tell a lot about a book by its TOC:

1. Azriel

2. Chief Rawger

3. The Blue Pills

4. The Doctor Of Death

5. Dirty Revenge

6. Unholy Appetite

7. Belasco Woods

8. The Meat Locker

9. The Monster Hunter

10. Too Late

11. Finius

12. Second Helpings

13. The Zombie Cop

14. Azrael

Two things to note:

(1) At a glance the first and last chapters seem to be the same.

They aren’t.

They are different names.

With different meanings.

And, with different impacts on the overall theme. They also both play a part in the theme of future books.

(2) I don’t read a lot of fiction.

But, I do watch a lot of movies.

And, when I was in community college, I was obsessed with becoming a screenwriter. I even wrote a couple papers on the subject (which forced me to read and study several screenwriting books).

The point?

This novel is not structured like a “novel.”

It’s structured like a screenplay:

Tightly plotted, action-packed, and (hopefully) fast moving.

(Just like effective emails are, my little ghoul.)

My goal is not for this to be the best “written” novel.

(It’s not.)

But, perhaps, the most entertaining novel you read this year.

Will it accomplish that wicked deed?

Only time will tell…

She should be published in the next 2-3 weeks.

I will let you know when it’s ready here:

www.BenSettle.com/zombie

Ben Settle

Behold a 1 star review of one of my kindle books:

Disorganized and Frustrating

The content is solid…maybe some of the best expertise available on this topic. The format is absolute garbage though. The entire book is a transcribed conversation between the author and another expert. If someone had bothered to…..oh I don’t know…maybe at least add a table of contents and some topic headers, this book might actually be useful. You might be able to get away with this kind of laziness in your $2.99 books but if I pay $20 for a book I expect much more professionalism in the presentation. Shame on you, Author. I’ll tell you what….if you refund my $20 and apologize for your laziness I will donate the $20 to a dog rescue of your choice.

Amusing…

It’s some of the “best expertise available”… yet this reviewer spends 90% of his review droning on about the formatting.

The “shame on you” part is my favorite.

It’s mush cookie at best.

And just trollish at worst.

(A “trollhouse mush cookie”?)

If someone’s gonna natter on about how a $19 ebook (that used to sell for $97) that can be read in one sitting and easily make them thousands of $$ in sales (if they have a list and an offer people want) is (gasp!!) just a transcript and (double gasp!!!) has no table of contents, all the power to ’em.

Me?

Couldn’t care less about such things.

Kinda like when I bought Gary Halbert’s “Boron Letters”:

No table of contents.

Hard to read (it was written in his own hand).

No cover (literally).

Damaged binding.

Nothing “professional” about it.

Plus, it cost me $97 at the time I didn’t really have (it *hurt* spending that money at that time in my life).

But you know what?

I can attribute tens of thousands of buckaroos in sales to it.

(Easily…)

So let me be clear for the mush cookie reviewers:

If you judge content based on silly things like page count, if it has a table of contents or if its “formatting” is dolled up, then none of my Kindle books are for you.

Nor are any of my other products.

(Especially “Email Players”.)

Don’t waste your precious time.

As for everyone else:

I sell a lot of advanced marketing books at bargain basement prices (most less than $3) on Kindle. My “Crypto Copywriting Secrets” book, for example, is currently only $2.99 yet could *easily* be packaged into a $197.00 product.

Most of it’s not professional looking.

Or prettily formatted.

Or edited for spelling, grammar, etc.

(Some are just 12 pages or so long.)

But, the info works like gangbusters.

And has made many people lots of sales.

Also, one more thing:

Read my books’ 1 & 2 star reviews.

It’s entertaining stuff:

www.BenSettle.com/kindle

Ben Settle

Sometimes NON “Email Players” subscribers will ask:

“I’ve been doing emails using your strategy but I’m not getting sales.”

My answer:

One, if you’re not an “Email Players” subscriber then you aren’t really using my strategy, even if you think you are. And two, if you aren’t getting any sales then probably your offer sucks. Even crap emails will get at least *some* sales if you have an offer people want.

No, I’m afraid even brilliant emails won’t sell a turd.

Nor will brilliant videos.

Or brilliant sales letters.

Or, brilliant anything.

This is marketing 101:

Your list = 50%
Your offer = 30%
Your copy = 20%

(The late great Ed Mayer said it’s 40-40-20, but no matter…)

Point is this:

Email will not “create” sales.

It will simply multiply existing sales.

This is why I warn people who don’t have a business, or a product, or a list to not bother with “Email Players” until they do.

Email is not Miracle Max.

It won’t raise a crap offer from the dead.

Get your offer, product and list right, first.

Then, unleash the “Email Players” Kraken.

Otherwise you’re wasting your time.

And my time, too.

And you know daddy hates wasting time…

Bottom line:

It’s all good if you’re a newbie to join “Email Players” — but if you don’t have an offer people want, and don’t have a list (even if just a small one you can build upon), it won’t do you any good.

Save your money.

Get your act together.

Then, and ONLY then… a subscriber should you be.

If you’re ready, go here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

“Malcolm Gladwell says in his book ‘Outliers’, that to be great at anything it requires more than just raw talent, it requires time. Lots of time. His magic number is ten thousand hours. I fully agree.”

-Kirk DouPonce

The above is from my “Zombie Cop” novel’s cover artist.

Before hiring him I did my homework.

I didn’t want just “any” artist doing it.

I wanted the BEST artist to do it.

And, so, I looked into who was doing the book covers I already thought looked really cool and his name kept popping up. Turns out he is one of the best in the bid’niz (his “who’s who” of big publishing clients speaks for itself). And, it also turns out his philosophy about hard work and excelling at what you do are identical to mine.

For example:

I found an interview he did online.

And in that interview he was asked…

“What advice would you give to teenagers wanting to get into your field of work?”

His answer applies to ANY skill you want to learn.

Yes, including (especially!) email marketing.

He answered:

“Start cranking on those ten thousand hours. Keep sketch books and fill them up. Also study what other artists have done both from the past and present. Look at bank brochures, menus, business cards, logos, billboards, magazine ads, etc. Learning software is important too. If you only learn one program make sure it’s Adobe Photoshop. With Photoshop and a Wacom tablet, an artist can conquer the world, or at least recreate their own. The best thing you can do is do it and do it often.”

Let’s break it down:

1. Start on your 10k hours

(Daily emails are a great place to begin, babycakes…)

2. Study what other artists (past and present) do

(This is the real purpose of a swipe file — not to copy, but to study and get inspired, don’t let the swipe-n-steal goo-roos con you)

3. Look at brochures, menus, biz cards, logos, ads, etc

(Don’t limit yourself to just emails… study blog posts, sales letters, radio shows, public speakers, any kind of persuasive communication)

4. Best thing you can do is do it and often

(That’s where the rubber meets the dough — action)

Alright, enough.

I know 99% of people reading this won’t do a thing.

They’ll get inspired.

Get excited.

Then, say to themselves “I’ll get to this soon…”

Bah!

No, you’ll get to it NOW.

Today.

Right after deleting this email.

That is, if you’re serious about getting great at writing emails that can give you a comfortable living and de-stress your existence.

Otherwise, why bother?

Maybe go back to your job.

You know…

Putting your 10k hours in for your boss (and HIS family’s lifestyle)… taking orders, running errands and carrying reports to your superiors.

Brrr.

What a hellish thought.

If that’s what you want, I can’t help you.

If you want to master email marketing, go to:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Ladies’re gonna loooove today’s Ben Settle Show episode.

Why?

Because of our guest:

The esteemed Jim Clair.

Jim is the head copywriter of Tao Of Badass — the #1 company on Clickbank which sells products to men who want to get more dates and attract women.

Here’s what Jim reveals inside:

• A “magic email message” that gets 9 out of 10 women to respond from online dating sites.

• The single best way ever invented to put a rude woman in her place on a date. (Works even better for putting rude clients and customers in their place, too…)

• How Jim gets chicks to do what he says without having to whack them over the head with a club like a caveman.

• The only 2 things a woman has to do to keep a man. (Ladies, y’awl can throw out all the idiotic relationship advice on Oprah or Cosmo Magazine — just do these two things and he ain’t goin’ nowhere.)

• The world’s “most feared negotiator’s” secret for attracting (and keeping) women.

• A “jedi mind trick” for repelling dangerous psycho chicks.

• The “for real” mark of a strong, independent woman. (Nothing to do with having a fat masters degree or a 50+ hour per week job working for another man… just see if she does this, and if she does, she’s a keeper.)

• Why super hot chicks are often not worth the effort. (Sorry hotties, but y’awl got nobody to blame but yourselves — and happily married producer Jonathan reveals why.)

• What a “shit test” is… why chicks are always doing this to guys… and how to turn those tests into red hot attraction for you. (Assuming you want to put up with their nonsense and not just find a better and hotter woman with class who won’t try to test you all the time.)

• And a ho’ bunch mo’…

Get your Ben Settle Show lovin’ here:

www.BenSettleShow.com/itunes

Ben Settle

I’ll make this quick:

One of the surprise bonuses people who buy Big Jason Henderson’s “Email Response Warriors” course from my affiliate link before tonight’s deadline get is…

Access to Scott Haines’ brain!

Scott is a true recluse.

Very hard to find.

And, almost impossible to learn at his feet.

He’s also easily one of the world’s top direct response copywriters, who has written for everyone from infomercial gurus and New York Times Bestselling Authors… to $100+ million per year direct marketing companies… to even business giants like Jay Abraham and Donald Trump.

Plus, he was a Gary Halbert protégé.

And, is one of my copywriting “heroes.”

In fact, he is one of the 3 copywriters whose ads I used to copy out by hand his stuff was so good. I briefly got to hang with him in Vegas a few weeks ago at dinner, and it was like meeting a rock star. (I had to bug the hellz out of Big Jason to persuade him to get Scott to meet us for dinner that night… I was in copywriter “stalker” mode…)

Hey, a lot of us copywriters *think* we’re good.

And, some of us even have track records to prove it.

But guys like Scott Haines blow us ALL away.

And, he’ll blow you away, too, mi amigo.

That is, if you buy Big Jason Henderson’s “Email Response Warrior” product before midnight (eastern time) tonight, and get to be in on the private webinar with Scott, Big Jason and myself (where we critique and analyze your emails) that we’re having JUST for people who buy from my affiliate link below.

So anyway, to recap the offer:

1. Buy Email Response Warriors using my affiliate link

2. Pick an Email Players back issue (you’ll get the pdf sent to you upon buying the course) and send me your mailing address

3. Join us on our closed-door webinar next week (6:00 pacific, 7:00 mountain, 8:00 central, 9:00 eastern)

This is one helluvan offer.

And, it ends in mere hours from now.

(Midnight eastern time zone).

Here’s the link:

www.EmailPlayers.com/big-jason

Ben Settle

Alrighty then.

The special deal I cooked up with Big Jason Henderson and his big “Email Response Warriors” course ends tonight at midnight.

(Eastern time zone.)

If you grab it from my naked affiliate link below you also get:

1. A free “Email Players” back issue — a “for real” $97 value

(Click here to see what’s inside the catalog)

2. Access to a special webinar where you can ask your questions and have your emails critiqued by the both of us and a “surprise” A list copywriter I’ll be telling you about later today

(I’m kinda in copywriting “fanboy” mode over this one…)

More:

At the moment Jason’s selling his course for $200 off.

Normally it is $497.

You get it today for $297.

Plus, it’s done via Clickbank.

So you get their 60-day guarantee.

Here’s what to do next:

1. Look at the attached “Email Players” back issue catalog, and pick an issue you want (the two most popular are the December 2011 issue which explains my extremely successful launch process that even a certain product launch expert told me he’s super impressed by, and actually interviewed me about it for his site… and the April 2013 issue which outlines my business model).

2. Go to the link below and order

3. Let me know the issue you want and your mailing address

But time is short.

If you want in, you gotta hop to it:

www.EmailPlayers.com/big-jason

Ben Settle

On a recent Ben Settle Antipreneur Show podcast I tossed a term out there into the airwaves (cyber waves?):

“Email Infidelity”

Here’s what it means:

It’s when someone on your email list is too much of a loser to write their own emails, so they copy something you write word-for-word (or change juuuuuuuuuust enough where they think they can get away with it).

They are, in effect, cheating.

Not just on you.

But, on their list.

On themselves.

Yes, even on their market.

And like real infidelity, it may “feel good” for the moment you do the wicked filthy deed… but the consequences can be severe and life altering.

(Not in a good way.)

How?

Lots of reasons.

For one, if you do this sort of thing, you are just making yourself less effective. Less skilled. And, yes, less of a dude. That’s what happens when you cut corners, son.

Secondly:

You can get in legal trouble.

True story:

About a year ago some jackass who brags about how he makes 7-figures per year ripped one of my emails off word-for-word. When I showed it to my intellectual property attorney she said it was basically an open-and-shut case if I wanted to nail him and go after him for some fat stacks in damages.

And third:

Your own list will never trust you.

Nobody trusts an cheater, after all.

And, it’s no different with emails — in fact, in the example above, the cheater’s own list ratted him out.

Not a whole lot of loyalty going on for them cheaters…

Anyway, bottom line?

Don’t do the email infidelity thang.

The 5-second “reward” is not worth the potential lifetime hell of consequences to you as an entrepreneur, as a marketer and, yes, as a dude.

Moving on…

I’m doing a special offer this week.

Here’s how it works:

When you buy Big Jason Henderson’s “Email Response Warrior” product at my naked affiliate link below by Friday (tomorrow) night at midnight Eastern Time… I will send you the current “Email Players” back issue catalog and you can pick any one issue inside it and I will send it to your doorstep.

(Yes, via snail mail.)

You will also get access to a special webinar.

And on this webinar Big Jason and I will answer your email questions and rip apart, uhm, I mean critique, your emails.

By the way…

Not familiar with Jason?

He’s been in the email game for 18 years.

Seen thousands of tests.

Has worked with a bunch of “player” clients.

Plus, his course is $200 off at the moment.

But, this offer ends tomorrow at the stroke of midnight.

(Eastern time).

Get access here:

www.EmailPlayers.com/big-jason

Ben Settle