Ben Settle

Got this comment from website reader Paul Mawdsley.

He was responding to my “sexist testimonials” email (about why there are no chick testimonials on the left hand side bar on my blog).

His email (and my reply) below:

Hey Ben,

I’m a bit of a why’s guy. I like to uncover the underlying causes in life and figure out why things and people behave as they do. I play at reverse engineering things and testing what I come to see. I’m curious what you think of my brief reverse engineering of your dual personality: Ben and el Benbo.

Here’s a note I sent to my girlfriend in response to one of your emails:

Hey babe,

Not one of his earth shaking emails but it’s fun enough to share anyway…and a great way to show anyone who can read with any insight that he’s got some powerful testimonials from some real power hitters in the biz and, despite the reputation of his ironically sociopathic facade, he’s actually a thoughtful, decent, non-sexist human being.

Interesting thought: having a sociopathic sub-personality as a protector-self creates a powerful filter and set of programs to keep a core-self safe enough to be open, flowing, creative and vulnerable in a world that can fuck you up.

Remind you of anyone?

Mawds 🙂

Do I think his assessment is accurate?

I think most of it is.

Except for the sociopath part.

I don’t think people really understand what a sociopath is.

And that makes for some people getting called “sociopath!” or “psychopath!” by overachieving finger-pointers (not talking about Paul here but, for example, the dude who once called me a psychopath to his list and I had to give him a verbal beat down on my blog as a result, revealing what a fool he sounded like).

Anyway, even elbenbo isn’t a sociopath.

He’s just a grouchy grinch-like figure.

Nothing more, nothing less.

The side of me that wants to be left the hellz alone.

Is easily irritated with people.

Demands perfection from himself (and, thus, others).

And, would rather jump naked on a huge pile of thumbtacks than do things like talk in front of 500 people (like he’s gonna be doing in June at the “No Excuses Summit” in Las Vegas…)

As for what a “for real” sociopath is?

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s “Ben Settle Show”.

I explain what they are.

How they think.

And, some examples I’ve dealt with.

I also walk you through some of the red flags to look for in people you suspect of being a sociopath. (I’ve had “dealings” with several over the years and it is not hard to pick them out anymore.)

This is important stuff.

Especially since they ABOUND in direct marketing.

(Particularly online.)

Probably the most important show to date.

So look for my signal tomorrow.

In the meantime, check out past shows here:

www.BenSettleShow.com/itunes

Also:

Today is the last day to get your review in.

Whoever writes the best show review (judged not by how many stars — but by how genuinely helpful it is) gets a free copy of any product I sell.

(Except for “The Email Players Playbook).

So get in there.

Write a review.

And then, let me know which is yours.

See ya tomorrow Kitty-Kat…

Ben Settle

Well, at least according to the head copywriter of one of the biggest and most successful direct response companies on the Internet.

Carl Harvey writes:

You kept me up til 3 am… last night reading Zombie Cop!

Haha – dude, it’s genuinely epic.

Well done man.

Best opener to a book in ages. I read tons of Jack Reachers, John Grishman, David Baldacci etc etc… and your hook is WAY more addictive.

It’s real funny too.

I love the wigga kid. That motherfucka is a G.

Will write a review when I’m done… 48 hours tops!

Reads like a movie so far. Powerful.

Again — sincere congrats and excited to read more.

Peace

There ya go.

If you want in on some “Zombie Cop” action go ye to:

www.BenSettle.com/zombie

Giddy-up…

Ben Settle

Okay, not really.

I wish it was just a trick.

But fact is, I dropped the ball on something. And, if you bought the “Zombie Cop” Kindle version (this does not apply to the print version, the print version is kosher) yesterday, please check to see if yours has chapter 13. We made an update yesterday and at least one person said theirs is missing that chapter (which is the climax of the book – doh!) From what we can tell, this should only have affected a few customers, though.

(Most should have the chapter).

That’s the bad news.

The good news:

1. He must have REALLY liked it to read 200+ pages in one day (A good sign… as he said he couldn’t put it down)

2. If yours is missing chapter 13 reply back and let me know

I’ll send you a new Kindle file ASAP.

And, you’re good to go.

Again, my bad about that.

Like Marvin (a character in the book) says:

“Pimpin’ ain’t easy.”

And, well, neither is selling on Kindle sometimes.

Let me know if you’re missing the chapter.

And if you haven’t got the book at all yet, check out:

www.BenSettle.com/zombie

Ben Settle

Alrighty, my new “Zombie Cop” novel is now live on Amazon in both Kindle and hard copy. Preliminary feedback (from all of 2 people, but, hey, it’s a start…) has been good:

“Reading your book and designing the cover were a lot more fun than most of my work!”

– Kirk DouPonce
(The book’s cover artist — who works for all the big publishers like Simon and Schuster, McGraw Hill, Harper Collins/Zondervan, Thomas Nelson, etc, and has designed almost 1,000 book covers)

And, my editor’s (admittedly biased) review:

“It succeeded the way a good book succeeds – I wasn’t ready for it to end. I find myself wondering, ‘How fast can he write the next one, I need more of this!’ It is so far over the top from what we we’re expecting… Hundreds, maybe thousands of zombie books have been published in the past decade alone and while even run-of-the-mill zombie books can still be good, this one moves the genre light years forward. To keep up with Zombie Cop, book writers and Hollywood are going to have to step-up their game. The bar’s just been raised.”

– Greg Perry

Anyway, here’s where to get your copy:

www.BenSettle.com/zombie

Also, please leave a review.

It helps me get the word out.

And, I want the feedback.

(The good, the bad and the fugly).

’tis the only way to do it better next time…

Ben Settle

One of my best “Email Players” students Jim Clair writes:

So I entered into a contest recently.

Chris Haddad’s.

A lot of the other top guys entered the email ring.

Only one man can win.

Email Player Jim Clair won.

Even with our email server going wacky… sending to barely a quarter of the mega list. I drove qualified clicks… and won.

Some guys sent for 7 days.

I just sent for 3 days.

No gimmicks.

No “oh my god it’s done at midnight and puppies will die if you don’t buy!!! Sent from my iPhone” crap.

Three short emails.

Time to celebrate by watching Season 4 of Miami Vice.

Jim

I got a kick out of the iPhone part especially.

Why?

Because while it’s a victimless trick to play on your list (sending an email out using your autoresponder software, that says “sent from my iphone” at the bottom, to make it look like you sent your email personally, from your phone), it’s the mark of not knowing how to sell.

Or how to persuade.

Or, even, how to write a decent email.

When you know my system you don’t have to use tricks and manipulative “chokeholds” in your emails.

In fact, that stuff just works against you.

Yes, the gullible will fall for it.

But, the majority shake their head. Dial down their trust for you a few (or several) notches. And, buy from guys like me and Jim, instead (thanks, btw).

Sigh.

Is any of this getting through?

Or do I have to go all elbenbo on yo’ azz?

No?

Okay, good.

So do away with the tricks.

Forget the phony scarcity.

And sac up.

Learn to sell (not manipulate) and make more sales you will.

Oh, and one more thing about credibility:

The April “Email Players” issue shows you a “counter intuitive” way to write emails that will make them ooooooze believability.

And, yes, even if your claims are outrageous.

Subscribe in time here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

So sayseth one of my favorite podcasters (Dante Nero).

Real life story:

One of my past chicks and I recently got to chatting and she admitted to something I had long suspected due to some of the bizarre choices she has made:

She’s a bit emotionally damaged.

That doesn’t make her a “bad” person.

But, emotionally damaged she is.

Now, that is no crime.

Bad things happen.

(Hey, “everyone gets got”…)

No, her crime (IMH-but accurate-O) is staying damaged.

And, giving up.

She has no desire to make herself whole again (which she could do, she’s not that damaged — she said, for example, she quotes me to her friends a lot, so she’s got that going for her at least… heh)

Of course, I told her it was dumb to give up.

And cowardly.

And, yes, disappointing.

Thus, when she asked if we could be “friends” I said not a chance. Damaged people who don’t even try to better themselves can’t be trusted, and I am not friends with people I don’t trust. To me, a true friend will have your back no matter what — not just when it’s convenient or opportunistic (to paraphrase my boy Optimus Prime: “a friend will rarely call on you at a time of your choosing…”) And if my back is to the wall, and I really need someone to have my back, am I gonna call someone who admits they’re damaged goods, and has no desire to change?

Hellz naw…

Anyway, here’s the point:

A lot of people cling to their pain.

Many a damsel looooooves their distress.

(As I once wrote in “Email Players” — the song “I’m only happy when it rains” from the 90’s band “Garbage” is one of the best songs you can study to understand human nature.)

And yes, this carries over to your business, too.

There are people in your market that are “damaged.”

By that I mean, they’re in pain.

They behave as if they’re seeking a solution.

But, they never implement anything.

And, in some cases, won’t even open your product.

They LIKE their pain too much.

It’s weird.

And I don’t fully understand it.

(When I have a problem, I wanna solve it STAT.)

But, it is what it is.

And it can be annoying and irritating and extremely frustrating if you care about your market. (And if you don’t then you’re selling to the wrong market.)

Just don’t take it personally.

Or get mad.

Or, let it affect you at all.

Why?

Because it ain’t you.

It really is them…

Alright.

Enough of this negative banter.

Let’s talk about something positive:

The email you just read is a powerful format (and no, you won’t be able to reverse engineer it, don’t even bother) I teach in the April “Email Players” issue next month.

It’s a format that’s made me lots of sales.

And, can make you lots of sales, too.

Get the low down here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Here’s what’s on today’s Ben Settle Show episode:

• How to profit next time your auto-responder service goes down. (If people using Aweber when it went down a couple weeks ago had done this, they’d have made out like bandits, and anxiously await for it to go down again…)

• Why my best customers cuss at, curse at and profane me.

• Why I’ve gone from emailing my list 5 days per week to 6-7 days (and how it’s impacted my sales).

• The best copywriting course you never heard of.

• How to “spin” 1-star Amazon reviews into sales.

• A near-perfect TV commercial for email writers to study. (It’s pro-American, anti-foreign and is guaranteed to piss of hippies, liberals and European socialists… yet sell the hellz out of the high end car it sells).

• How to get your URL plugged on the air.

• The only kind of person who get’s “offended” at our show.

• The 2 most popular (and profitable) “Email Players” back issues.

• And lots more bid’niz lovin’…

Here’s where to get ya some:

www.BenSettleShow.com/itunes

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