Ben Settle

There’s been a great disturbance in the force.

Apparently (in a roundabout sort of way — via my “Email Players” newsletter), I’ve been helping lonely dudes the world over get more dates, and didn’t even know it.

How?

Well, check out this recent testimonial:

“Hey Ben – wanted to reach out to say Thank You. We are subscribers to your paid newsletter after a friend, Keith Evans recommended it to me. I liked what I saw so I put it in the hands of our head writer (Jim Clair) at thetaoofbadass.com. He loved it and has been using your methods to grow our open rates and responses (and is mailing daily now!) It’s added a steady, predictable yet growing multi-5 figures to our monthly income. Jim will be attending your workshop with Andre. Looking forward to hearing what he learns.”

-Tim Houston

An extra multi 5 figures per month?

Not. too. shabby.

And by the way…

Tim ain’t exactly a newbie.

He owns one of the world’s biggest (maybe THE biggest?) and most successful websites for helping dudes be successful with chicks, and they’re also the #1 selling business on ClickBank, to boot.

(If that tells ya anything.)

The point?

If my system is good enough for a dude of that caliber and success… maybe it’d work for you, too.

Only one way to find out.

Details at:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Next issue goes to print in a couple weeks.

See ya on the other side…

Ben Settle

An inquiring mind wants to know…

“Ben, I notice some big name marketing guys giving their new subscribers an option with how frequently they receive emails from them. You mail daily but what are your thoughts on this?”

Yeah, I’ve heard about that.

Makes zero sense to me.

But maybe they have a purpose I’m not aware of, so I say if it works for them, all the power to ’em.

Me?

I don’t let my customers steer my ship.

I do the steering.

If you let your customers steer your ship, you’re going to end up on the rocks. And letting them tell you how often to email them (by what they say, and not by their buying habits), how much to charge, or how to conduct your business in any way, is committing a classic marketing mistake:

Believing what people SAY they want vs what they buy.

Want to know what someone really wants?

Observe what he buys.

How much he pays for it.

And, how happy he is with his purchase.

For example:

I’m sure if Gary Bencivenga had charged $50 for his farewell seminar instead of $5000 he would have been listening to “the people” — only to have his product treated like just another copywriting product that would be put in the closet with all the other $50 products they bought and didn’t consume.

Same with my “Email Players” newsletter.

If I took a survey, people would probably want it for $19.

They’d want it in PDF.

And, they’d want bells & whistles (online forums, etc).

But I do it the way I have it for a purpose:

To get it consumed.

To get it valued.

And, to get it making subscribers money.

The pricing, formatting, page count, and everything else about that newsletter (even the sales page — which breaks several copywriting “rules”) are all carefully structured to give them what they need, not necessarily what they want.

Now, before you even ask:

I ain’t saying not to ask your customers’ opinions.

Or to avoid listening to their feedback.

Or to ignore them.

Not at all.

Just don’t let ’em tell you how to run your business.

Don’t let ’em steer your ship, Skipper.

Otherwise, you WILL end up on the rocks.

To subscribe to “Email Players” go here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

This ought to rile folk up.

Especially since, according to alexa.com, the VAST majority of my list is in the “baby boomer” generation. But it’s my observation that GenX’ers are the best Internet marketers.

In fact, methinks we’re the best entrepreneurs, period.

How can I say such a thing?

Well, first off, I’m biased.

But besides that, I don’t think baby boomers and Gen Y’ers or today’s whiney little “Gen Texters” have the advantages my brood have.

Here’s what I mean:

1. We were the “latchkey kid” generation

i.e. we fended for ourselves.

When I was in middle school and high school, I came home to an empty home. Made my own meals. And was alone with my brother (usually fighting) until my mom (who worked her fingers to the bone as a waitress) got home around midnight or 1 am.

Many of my droogs had similar lives.

You can’t help but be more independent growing up like that.

And so we’re a generation of individualists.

We dig freedom over security.

Have zero tolerance for meddlesome bosses/clients.

And, basically give authority the “finger.”

All are traits that serve entrepreneurs well…

2. Work ethic

Many of us GenX’ers came from divorced homes and watched our parents work their cans off, only to have the corporate world chew them up and spit them out when they were done with them. As a result of watching them work so hard, we ended up with work ethics I just don’t see in other generations (as a whole) since my grandparent’s time.

We also learned (early on) there is no true “job security.”

That you cannot trust politicians.

And, if you want something, go out and seize it.

Nobody’s gonna do it for you.

(And even if they did, it wouldn’t be as good as doing it yourself…)

3. No Internet

We didn’t grow up with an iPhone in our hand.

In fact, I remember as a kid we took a field trip to the library where we would get to see (gasp!) the Apple 2! It was a huge deal to even have an Atari that played Pacman (and you were considered to be well-to-do if you could even afford that).

Cell phones?

Please.

I had a sticker in my wallet that had a special 4 digit code I could dial from a pay phone that allowed me to call collect without going through the operator.

I think this gives us a HUGE advantage today.

Why?

We like and understand technology.

But we don’t rely on it.

(I doubt many baby boomers do, either.)

I dare say many of us don’t even trust technology (probably thanks to growing up with movies like “The Terminator” and “War Games”…) Which is why many of us online GenX’ers (I’ve noticed) tend to be more likely to study old school marketing studs — like Halbert, Kennedy, Schwartz, Bencivenga, Carlton, etc — and not some flash-in-the-pan goo-roo who makes their living doing JV’s with other online marketers with big lists.

4. Not afraid to get our hands dirty

We didn’t have the Internet when I was in school.

I mean, it existed.

But it wasn’t anything anyone got excited about. And most of us hand wrote out our research papers (putting ideas down on 3X5 note cards) and then went to the library to type them up.

(Yes, on typewriters.)

Since then, we’ve had the “cut & paste” generation:

No real attention to detail.

No real desire to do the job right.

And thus, (I’d bet) no real joy in earning what they take.

Anyway, that’s my opinion.

And, as usual, I’m right.

Even so, I suppose I should brace myself for the onslaught of “yeah but!” comments that will zing into my inbox from members of the other generations.

But that’s okay.

That’ll simply prove my point.

And daddy enjoys being proven right…

Ben Settle

P.S. I think growing up this way has given my “kind” a tremendous leg up in the realm of email marketing. We don’t take email for granted, and yet we don’t rely on it as anything more than a tool to be used (and not a way of life that, when disrupted by Internet or power outages, throws our world into complete chaos).

So yeah, it’s just a tool.

But, it’s a very powerful weapon if you know how to wield it.

You can learn how here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Got this great question about the economy:

“Ben I was reading through one of your older blog posts where you said you believed we would be hitting a major economic depression and that the government is doing nothing by spinning numbers right now. Can you write more about this and what you think this will mean for those of us still stuck in corporate America?”

Sho’ ’nuff.

Let’s put it this way:

Many moons ago the late marketing genius Jim Straw claimed:

“The next depression
will be a ‘white collar’ depression”

Meaning:

The economy has become too “top heavy.”

There are FAR too many overpaid (and under qualified) managers, pencil pushers, ass kissers, supervisors, paper shufflers and, yes, office politicians running around in the average American corporation today.

There’s also a revolving door of CEO’s.

And, a lot of money being paid out for no real value.

What that means is this:

When the big hit happens (and it’s not a matter of “if”, it’s now a matter of “when”) the first people to be SOOL are going to be the very people I mentioned above. While the people who bring the most value to any company will be way better off — like top producing sales people (they’ll be treated like gold), the manual laborers, and those who have so-called “lowly” blue collar skills the ivory tower college grads turn their noses up at.

These are the people who can fix stuff.

Who can build stuff.

And, who aren’t “above” doing manual labor.

All the rest (managers, supervisors, pencil pushers, etc) will be out on the streets, with their hand out to Obama asking him to deliver on his bullshit promises.

There’s no other choice for these companies.

Money doesn’t grow on trees.

And it’s more cost effective to eliminate (or severely cut) bloated higher earning management (who don’t technically “produce” anything) salaries than it is to let the lower paid production and people on the floor (who do produce) go.

It was the exact opposite in the last depression.

But, back then, you didn’t have top-heavy companies.

So anyway, it’s either that, or companies go bust.

Now, this REALLY makes white collar workers bristle.

They simply do. not. want. to. hear. it.

(Not that I blame them, necessarily…)

Example:

I used to date a girl who was otherwise smart and had good sense (she was a financial analyst with a Masters degree in accounting — and naturally good with numbers)… except when it came to her new customer service manager job.

It was like talking to someone in love with an axe murderer:

The facts didn’t matter.

The (many) historical precedents didn’t matter.

And sound logic, reason or rationality didn’t matter.

She was in sweet, blissful denial that her “job security” is paper thin at best (they’d already tried screwing her out of money when she started the new job), that the company didn’t really “need” her, or that they’d sell her down the river in a second if/when it becomes expedient to the right people.

(Amusing how everyone thinks “their” job is different.)

Don’t get me wrong.

She’s FAR from being the only one.

I have talked with many an ostrich like this.

Both friend and family members.

And they are (mostly) all the same way — they shoot the messenger and take it personally, instead of as a warning. (It’s a thankless job trying to save the world…)

They are also, quite frankly, screwed.

They just don’t know it.

But, soon the party WILL end.

The game of musical chairs WILL stop.

And the ones standing with their pants down won’t be the independent entrepreneurs and business owners, or the blue collar workers, or those who can sell and produce.

It’ll be the managers.

And the supervisors.

And the bureaucrats.

And any other middle management job holders.

Hey, I take NO pleasure in saying this.

And amongst my non-business friends, I’m like a lone wolf howling myself hoarse in the wilderness trying to get them to NOT rely on one source of income — especially a job (as Dan Kennedy loves to say: “1 is the most dangerous number”).

But, like I said, they don’t want to hear it.

They assume the government will take care of them.

And, they get irrationally combative if you bring it up at all.

So anyway, that’s my opinion.

Do with it what ye will.

I know what I’m doing to prepare.

But what about you?

Do you have a plan if it all goes to hell?

Are you prepared?

Do you have a product to sell online, or know how to write simple emails you can bang out in 15 minutes or less, to make enough money each month to feed yourself and your family if you lose your job without severance?

God help you if you don’t.

Because nobody else will.

At least, not if the LAST depression is any indication.

On a lighter note…

I recently got this other email from new “Email Players” subscriber Martin Stellar about how he’s preparing (whether he knows it or not):

I’ve received two issues of the Newsletter now.

And man, you are a wizz.

Email players is not just a system. It’s more than just a marketing strategy. It’s a way of looking at business and learning, and it has had a massive impact on my work. I’m brimming over with ideas and more importantly:

It’s now become incredibly easy and fast to write daily emails.

Usually it take me 10 or 15 minutes, just like it says on the box.

That’s how good Email Players is.

But it gets better:

People LOVE the emails I’m sending, they even take the time to email me and say so.

There you have it:

More proof I ain’t just whistlin’ dixie with this.

My system works.

But, you have to be willing to work it.

Subscription info at:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Aweber vs Infusionsoft.

It’s like a monster movie hearing people debate which is better, considering one is far more simple than the other, yet the other has far more advanced features than the one. But, if you use Aweber, and want to give it some cool Infusionsoft-like features (like advanced list segmentation, which alone is worth many times the small cost of the tool), then today is your last day to get Jack Born’s “AwProTools” at a discount.

Here’s what you do:

1. Go to this link (my naked affiliate link):

http://awprotools.com/a/players

2. Take the free 7 day trial

3. If you likey, it’s yours at a unique discount only available to my website subscribers.

Jack Born’s offer ends tonight at midnight.

After that, no discount for you.

(The “Born Ultimatum?”)

Anyway, next time:

Something else…

Ben Settle

Behold a cautionary tale.

I don’t want to unnecessarily freak you out.

But, the following does happen.

It could happen to you.

And, if it does, you should be prepared.

Anyway, here’s the story:

There’s an Internet marketer I know who once had a huge, thriving email list. He made a decent income from that list (probably more than 95% of other online marketers). And, all was well in his business — with the birds chirping, the pigeons crowing and the sun smiling.

Then, one day, his biggest nightmare happened:

His auto-responder company shut him down!

They didn’t even give a reason.

It was simply there one day, and the next they dropped his account (which he’d had for several years) like a bad habit.

Worst part?

He never backed up his lists.

He knew he COULD back up his lists.

It was just kind of a pain in the gluteus assimus manually logging in and doing it. (I am the same way — it just is not one of those things I was ever motivated to do — too tedious).

His entire business wiped out.

In a single day.

All because of some nervous nellie he’d never meet.

It was a huge wake up call for me.

Enter Jack Born’s “AwProTools”.

It lets you auto back up your Aweber list daily.

You don’t have to “do” anything to back it up.

It’s done in the background.

That way, if something goes wrong and you lose your account (which can happen with ANY auto-responder service, and for any reason — especially with today’s cyber attacks, etc, nobody is immune to this) you can go to another service that will let you import your list and everything is status quo.

This is one of AwProTools’ most basic functions.

But, in some ways, it’s most important, too.

Your list IS your business in direct marketing.

Hellz… it’s your legacy.

And Jack Born’s AwProTools lets you protect that legacy.

(The “Born legacy”?)

So treat it like gold.

Because, frankly, it is.

If you want to try AwProTools for 7 days free, and then, if you decide to stick with it (and I can’t imagine why you wouldn’t if you use Aweber), use the link below and get it for a unique discount available only to my subscribers.

Here’s the link:

http://awprotools.com/a/players

This discount expires Friday at midnight.

Cheerio.

Ben Settle

Few months ago I got this question about list segmentation:

Hi Ben.

Once somebody becomes an EMAIL PLAYERS subscriber (like me)… Do you keep everybody on your PROMOTIONAL list? Originally I thought about giving paying customers a new list that drives them to usage of the product.

Then… after watching what you do… I thought:

“No, he’s not being lazy… he’s doing this intentionally… this is genius.

He’s teaching AND building anticipation for the next issue.

He’s making it absolutely impossible to unsubscribe.”

Is my analysis accurate?

Would you recommend that paying customers get a new, non-pitch daily email list?

Variations of this question come in a lot.

And, it’s a good question.

Segmentation is extremely powerful.

It’s the main force behind the billion dollar direct mail industry.

But, here’s the thing:

Mine is kind of a unique situation because the daily emails still serve as a way to (1) teach (2) give inspiration to people learning my system (and endless examples to study in context — non subscribers are seeing the examples out of context and don’t get even 10% of the value from reading them) and (3) lets both current subscribers and would-be buyers know what’s to come in the next month.

I do NOT do this with other ventures I’m in.

(I don’t just sell email training… I actually do what I teach.)

With any other business, selling any other kind of product, I stick with segmenting buyers off onto a buyers list. “Email Players” subscribers go on both a 1shopping cart list for buyers and stay on my aweber list, too. It’s always good to segment buyers off the prospect list. But, sometimes it’s good to keep them on the main list, as well.

(Like in my case.)

More:

This is the problem with “reverse engineering” what others do.

It’s impossible with just observation.

Each situation is unique.

There is no one-size-fits-all.

My solution is not necessarily going to be your solution.

(And vice versa).

The ONLY exception to this is list segmentation.

Everyone should do it.

And a tool like “AwProTools” Jack Born (seasoned marketing and programming pro and affiliate manager for Perry Marshall) created lets you play the segmentation game like a puppet master pulling strings. It allows you to move buyers (or just people who have shown interest in something) to their own list while removing them from one list or keeping them on both.

And, it lets you do it seamlessly.

The subscriber doesn’t have to double opt in again.

In fact, they won’t even know you moved them.

Very powerful stuff.

It’s marketing supremacy (the “Born” Supremacy?) at its finest.

For example:

You have 4 product ideas.

You want to test which ones your list wants before going through the time and expense of creating the product.

What do you do?

Used to be you’d have to guess.

(Or ask, which can be very misleading, people often say they want one thing but really want something completely different.)

Or, use a complicated and expensive auto-responder service.

But now, you can just use AwProTools.

It lets you send an email out and say something like:

“Which of these types of products
have you bought in the last 30 days?”

Then bullet point, say, 4 different kinds of products with a link.

When they click on the appropriate link, they can be “tagged” and/or moved or copied to a separate list. Now you can see which ones are buying which exact kinds of products and only sell the products people have admitted to recently buying to them. And as list brokers will tell you, the best list to rent is the list of buyers of the kind of product you sell that is less than 30 days old.

You almost can’t lose doing this.

Hey, do you see the power here?

No?

Then you’re not ready for AwProTools.

I suggest reading more about lists.

Gary Halbert taught it in his Boron Letters.

(It may still be free on his site, I dunno.)

But, if you DO get it… and if you DO use Aweber… and if you DO want to start maximizing your sales using list segmenting, here’s what to do:

1. Go to this exact link (my affiliate link)

http://awprotools.com/a/players

2. Take the free 7 day trial

3. If you buy from my link above you will get a special discount Jack Born has agreed to give my website subscribers.

Anyway, this is exciting stuff for Aweber users.

It lets you segment like a boss.

And, some biz partners and I are gearing up to put it to work hardcore (using every feature available — the segmenting is just ONE feature of the software) in a venture I’m involved with that spans multiple niches.

(Including super competitive ones — we’re gonna kick ass).

Again, here is my affiliate link:

http://awprotools.com/a/players

It lets you try it free for 7 days.

And, gets you a discount just for my subscribers.

Deadline is Friday at midnight.

Ben Settle

Lately I’ve been re-watching the Jason Bourne movies.

They’re entertaining flicks — the first of which is about a dude who is found in the middle of the sea with a couple bullets in his back, and no memory of who he is. All he knows is he’s got a bunch of bad ass skills and abilities that help him elude people who are trying to kill him.

Anyway, we have a “Jason Bourne” in the marketing world.

Except is name isn’t “Jason.”

It’s Jack.

Jack Born.

Jack is a programmer and marketer (and also Perry Marshall’s affiliate manager) who got kicked out of corporate America (literally) and had to figure out a way to make a living.

And find a way he did.

His focus is now on creating tools that make marketing easier.

(i.e. making yours and my job easier).

Recently he’s used his experience working with Perry Marshall’s business, and selling his own successful products and services for over 10 years, to create a very powerful tool anyone who uses Aweber should know about.

It basically gives Aweber InfusionSoft-like “powers” called:

“AwProTools”

This software is really cool.

And it’s getting rave reviews from people like traffic guru Justin Brooke, auto-responder master Andre Chaperon and even Tom Kulzer (founder of Aweber) himself.

And it lets you do things like:

• “Tag” subscribers (all they have to do is click a link) and you can seamlessly and automatically move them to another list in Aweber without them having to double opt in (or know they were moved — which lets you segment them however you want)

• Move subscribers to another list with a single click

• Easily format emails for mobile phones

• Daily list back ups (automated, you don’t even think about it)

• And more (see the link below)

And on the horizon he’s adding advanced features like:

• Ability to split test auto responders

• Ability to integrate Google Analytics data into optins automatically

• Ability to trigger a move, copy, tag when someone hits a page (not just clicking a link)

• Integrated optin forms for easily turning any Aweber form into a sexy optin

This is advanced stuff.

Especially if you do heavy email marketing.

And, he’s constantly adding new features.

If you have a request, just ask him.

For example:

I recently requested he create a way to use this tool for ClickBank affiliates to seamlessly add their buyers in Aweber (which normally only go to the Publisher of the product they’re selling’s list, one of the big weaknesses of affiliate marketing) to their own list.

It’s not part of the tools yet.

Point is he listens to his customers.

And the more ideas we send him, the more $$ we all make.

How much does it cost?

Right now it’s still inexpensive.

That won’t last, though.

(He’s already raised the price a couple times.)

Plus, if you take the free 7 day “test drive” he offers using my affiliate link below, you’ll get it for even less, as I’ve worked out a special discount just for my website subscribers.

All right enough.

To get the full scoop, use this link:

http://awprotools.com/a/players

Again, use this exact link and get a 7 day free trial.

If you buy, you get it at a special Ben Settle discount.

Also, one more thing:

This offer expires Friday at midnight.

Word up.

Ben Settle

…so read a thread title on Warrior Forum a friend showed me.

But, I say:

Why not learn from us both?

Here’s the dealio:

Andre and I are going to Ryan Deiss’s “Email World” conference in late September in San Diego. If you’re going to be in the area on September 23, we’re thinking of doing our own private, “closed door” (i.e. no recordings) training teaching advanced email marketing — including helping you personally with your emails.

We’re also being joined by a couple marketing geniuses:

Jack Born and Ryan Levesque.

Jack’s a programmer and Perry Marshall’s affiliate manager. He’s also like the “Walter White” of marketing — cooking up software and tools in his motor home that let the rest of us luddites multiply our sales online. And Ryan has studied advanced neuroscience at an Ivy League university (and has taught college level classes on the subject) who’s been using all kinds of interesting ways to build lists and funnels using those neuroscientific principles.

Together, we’re gonna help you from “A” to omega.

Including:

• Email (duh)

• Ad copy

• Landing page

• Opt-in strategy

• Front-end sales funnel

• 1-Click upsell sequence

• Prospect & customer email sequences

• And everything in between…

More:

Afterwards, Andre and I (both beer aficionados — maybe it’s an email thing?) and Ryan and Jack are taking attendees to a pub, grab a table and just… talk marketing.

I can’t speak for these guys.

But, in my experience:

The BEST marketing ideas and solutions come from a relaxed “just talking shop” atmosphere on the phone or over dinner anyway.

Sound interesting?

Well, before you get too excited, here’s the catch:

It’s expensive.

VERY expensive.

We’re looking at charging $5,000.

Plus, we are capping it at 10 people — with each applicant (we have to screen so we can make sure we can even help your business) paying a $500 application fee.

(The $500 is refundable if we don’t accept you.)

Anyway, how do you apply?

You can’t.

Not yet, anyway.

This is just a “feeler” email to see how many people are interested and qualify for this, and are willing to jump through these hoops.

So if this interests you, go to:

www.BenSettle.com/contact

And let me know.

If we get enough interest amongst are lists, I’ll give you the details on how to apply soon.

Alright.

That it’s for now.

Carry on with your Friday…

Ben Settle