“Email Players” subscriber Jon Workman chimes in:

elBenbo,

Just wanted to send you some props for a couple of things.

1 – This week I’ve used your [NOTE: a method I taught in the January issue this month — elBenbo] teachings to sell my book and it’s working like a champ, with little to no shrinking of my list. If all goes as planned it will pay for groceries this month, or 6 months of email players. Either way, that’s a big deal to me.

It’s also produced an opportunity to use your “troll techniques” on one single, very mild, lonely troll. But I’ll use it nonetheless.

2 – Recently watched a few f-book videos of a marketing guru who says: 1 – Email is dead and everyone should move on. No one reads emails anymore. 2 – I don’t have a “real business” because I’m not making $500k a month like he does (insert video of him turning up his nose and getting into his Bentley).

I actually am glad he’s teaching that about email. That means my emails will be more noticeable and it won’t be so hard to get them opened. Everyone else can have the social media spotlights.

And as far as my “non-business” goes, like I said, it’s putting food on the table this month. My kids think that’s a big deal too.

Thanks for your teachings. Email players has been a fantastic investment (and much more affordable than the tens of thousands it would cost to work with said gooroo).

No regrets.

Thank you, Mr. Workman.

(What an apt last name…)

Anywhat, the February issue deadline approaches like a goo-roo racing to the newest marketing fad.

It’s all about building an email list.

Specifically, a way I use to (legally and ethically):

1. “Siphon” traffic from others (including from Facebook, Google, etc) — without these sites and their masters even knowing about it, much less have anything to say about it

2. Get this traffic 100% free — as far as paying money, there is a small one-time investment of time and energy

3. Nab only the best leads — the kind that are likely to want to buy from you before even getting on your list, and stay with you for many years to come if you follow my loving, tender email ways

You only have a little more time to subscribe to get it.

(Deadline is this Thursday 1/31/19)

Here’s the link:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

This is bound to (hopefully) get me in some trouble.

Even with people I highly respect.

But, not long ago, I had a discussion on someone’s podcast about this idea of haunting Amazon reviews as a way to do market research. After all, reviews are where people often voice their frustrations with a product (and sometimes even other products, too). Which means you can see peoples’ recently complaints, frustrations, and points of view in virtually any market you want.

All of which makes a lot of sense on the surface.

And, I won’t say there is zero value in doing so.

But, when you dig a little deeper, you will realize they ain’t all they’re cracked up to be, and there are many far better places to do research.

Here’s what I mean:

I can sum up the problem with Amazon reviews as market research in one word.

A word that also, incidentally, applies to YouTube comments, too.

And that word is…

Trolls.

I have many books on Amazon. And, the vast majority of negative reviews are simply trolls or people who are not good buyers to begin with. They don’t represent anyone’s legitimate marketing, with legitimate concerns, frustrations, or points of view. They are simply bored, have an axe to grind, or are maybe too foolish to form a coherent thought.

Example:

I have a book for brand new people on there.

This fact is literally in the title.

And the description readily and clearly admits there isn’t anything new in it, or whatever.

One of the negative reviews?

“There isn’t anything new here.”

Does that sound like a legitimate review from an intelligent person you’d want to sell to?

Of course not.

Most negative reviews — and maybe this is just in my case, but I doubt it, since I have seen it in many other authors’ cases — are simply bored trolls voicing their opinions, and not people in a market giving useful feedback you can actually use in market research. That’s not to say these trolls aren’t useful for other things. They are. And, in fact, next month I’ll be talking about how to profit from them.

But for now?

If you’re using Amazon reviews as your research, by all means continue doing so.

It’s not completely worthless.

But, there are far better places to do it.

And, especially, the way I mention in the bonus “Ravings of an Aman” insert that goes with the upcoming February “Email Players” newsletter. A place that will give you far better market intel (and without you paying for it) than Amazon reviews ever will. A place I use whenever I want to do market research — and want quick email ideas. A place that has, frankly, been extremely profitable for me.

Anyway, details on page 2 of the insert.

The main issue is all about building a responsive email list.

And, market intel info can make applying the list-building info even more profitable.

The deadline to get this issue is Thursday, January 31st.

Also:

I don’t cater to procrastinators and am an unrepentant tyrant about deadlines. I bring this up because, I won’t be letting anyone in after the deadline for any reason. And, this issue will become part of a high ticket product about list building eventually, which will cost far more.

Here’s the link:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Recently I was reminded about why Facebook groups are turning into swamps.

Yes, even the paid ones.

“Email Players” subscriber James G. elaborates:

I can’t seem to stop myself, but I paid for and joined yet another group. To my horror and surprise, I discovered after joining they meet up on Facebook.

Now I’ve started to notice a really annoying trend with these Facebook groups. Instead of genuine learning from each other, it turns into a macho shouting match to see who can get the gooru’s attention and coveted reply or like. It’s about who can be the biggest, boldest, brashest douchebag. It’s a bunch of wannabe shitheads acting like they’re the Zuckerbergs of copywriting. This is the last one, I swear. If I didn’t pay for it I’d leave already.

Thanks for not having a Facebook group. Whether it’s true or not, Email Players just feels more legit and less chest-poundy.

:vent over

Fun fact:

There was a time when I was a huge fan of marketing with Facebook groups.

In fact, I had (easily) one of the most engaged, rabid, and profitable Facebook groups in the marketing world at one time called “elBenbo’s Lair.” If you don’t believe me, simply ask anyone who was an active part of it. People used to call it “real life” and were so addicted to it, and saw so many concurrent threads inside it showing on their main FB timeline, they would mistakenly post things meant just for the group on their main FB timeline accidentally — and oftentimes to their red-faced shame. It was such a part of the existence of some of these members, that I had grown men literally whining like little girls on Facebook about me when I abruptly shut it down.

They can still be profitable, of course.

I even did an “Email Players” issue about the psychology behind what I did a while back.

But mostly they are swamps.

And while I am biased (having deleted my Facebook account back in November), I advise everyone I know to delete their accounts too. Or, at the very least, their Facebook groups and build their own groups on a private platform instead.

There are many reasons for this.

One, the utter disregard for your privacy.

Anyone willingly using Facebook who has their identity stolen, compromised, or used for nefarious reasons has nobody to blame but themselves at this point.

Another (marketing-related) reason:

You’re competing with too many people for attention.

Unless you have your own elBenbo’s Lair-like group going on, where you’re the only thing people care to read, you are competing with all the brain farts, advertising, virtue-signaling grandstanding, chest-pounding, oh-woe-is me whining, and posts just looking for attention.

This is especially true if you’re using groups for email list building.

You’re much better off doing what I teach in the upcoming February issue.

It requires no social media presence.

But, lets you (legally and ethically) siphon away the best social media leads.

The deadline to get this issue approaches fast.

Here is the link:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

A few years ago, I did a training at one of my pal Ray Higdon’s elite masterminds.

(i.e. the kind people pay thousands of dollars to attend)

And, I remember one of the people in the room asking him a question about generating traffic and leads, and building a list, and about paid lead generation vs free lead generation. And at one point in his answer, in his infinite wisdom he chanted the magic words:

“You can’t scale free.”

Very true.

Very, very, very true.

And at the time, I realized I was probably leaving many sales on the table by not doing paid traffic, and quickly went to work hiring the best people I know about the subject to do it for me using Facebook and Google AdWords.

At first, they generated quite a few leads.

And, also, quite a few customers.

But, over time, I started realizing something:

Paid leads mostly sucked for my particular business.

I could see how they would be great for many businesses, but not for all businesses. Especially if you want a business like your pal elBenbo has — where you don’t want to spend a lot time “warming up” leads, dealing with low class jackasses looking for “free”, and dealing with people you have to exert more effort into turning into buyers, dealing with people whining about getting too many emails, people who can’t even read in some cases (I exaggerate not about this).

This is why, unless something changes, I’ve switched to referral-based leads.

i.e. leads referred to me.

No, you cannot “scale” these leads.

Not in my experience, at least.

But, there is one method I use to get large “spurts” of leads at a time — and without giving the privacy-butchering powers-that-be at Google, Facebook, etc any of my money, but while still being able to siphon leads from those sites (and without even having a Facebook account, which I deleted months ago, I might add).

I am teaching it in depth in the February “Email Players” issue.

But, a word of warning:

There is nothing “sexy” about this.

There is nothing, really, even “secret” about it.

It’s something certain, very smart online marketers have been doing since the last 90’s, frankly, but that doesn’t get talked about hardly ever anymore for some reason.

Probably because it takes time.

And effort.

And, yes, patience.

If you have those attributes, this list-building method can work like gangbusters.

If you don’t have those attributes?

Save your money.

In fact, don’t buy anything from me.

You’ll simply be disappointed.

What I am teaching is very much an “evergreen” method that has worked for decades in all kind of selling, and that I will be including in a much higher ticket paid product about list-building either later this year or early next.

The deadline to subscribe to get this issue in time is Thursday, January 31st.

Here’s the link:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

It always astounds me how so many old school door-to-door methods of selling either work directly online, or are easily adapted to selling online.

Or to any kind of direct response marketing.

For example:

Referral lead generation.

The man the Guinness Book Of World Records says is the “World’s Greatest Salesman” (the great Joe Girard) consistently outsold every car sales man by a country mile year in, and year out.

And one of his big secrets?

Referrals.

He sold in such a way where his customers couldn’t help but tell all their friends, family, co-workers, even complete strangers about him. That meant, people came to him already trusting him, knowing he could help them, and eager to hand him the sale.

These are the best kind of leads you can get.

They readily buy.

They readily use/consume/implement what you sell them.

And then, assuming you give them a good experience and your product/service works, are far more likely to spread the gospel about you to everyone they know — including their email list, social media audience, colleagues, yada yada yada.

Enter the February “Email Players” issue.

I go deep into my all-time favorite referral list building method.

A method that has added many hundreds of subscribers to my list in the past few months alone. But, not just ordinary subscribers. These are, in many cases, cream-of-the-crop subscribers.

This is a method pretty much anyone can use, too.

Even if you’re a raw and “wriggling” newbie.

I won’t say it will build you a huge list really fast, necessarily.

(Especially if you’re brand spanking new to marketing.)

And it does take some elbow grease, time, and patience.

Plus, it’s not at all “scaleable”, either.

But it’s my #1 favorite method.

And, I teach it in depth, everything I know about it and everything I do to implement it, in the February “Email Players” issue. In fact, it will become part of a higher ticket product (along with the March issue, and a couple other back issues I’ve done about list building) later this year or early next year.

The deadline to get this issue approaches quick.

Here’s the link:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

For the February Valentine’s Day issue of “Email Players” next month I’ve decided to teach an important lesson for sensitive people:

Swinging.

What?

No, I am not talking about that kind of swinging.

Sheesh.

Get your head out of the gutter, Chuckles.

I’m going deep into what I call “list swinging”, to build your email list.

The entire issue is just about this topic.

And, specifically, it’s a way that not only delivers your business the very best kind of leads and customers (in my experience, at least), but is essentially free, and is 100% impervious to the wiles and whims of the paid advertising (and content creation) rules at Facebook, Google, Amazon, Twitter, iTunes, YouTube, and all the other SJW-converged platforms that thought-police, ban, and de-platform anyone who steps too far outside the Narrative they cultivate on their sites.

Even better:

Your business is not only immune to the powers-that-wannabe at these sites from banning your advertising, content, and even your very accounts… but it lets you:

1. “Siphon” traffic from these sites — with these sites and their masters not even knowing about it, much less have anything to say about it

2. Get this traffic 100% free — as far as paying money, there is a small one-time investment of time and energy

3. Nab only the best leads — the kind that are likely to want to buy from you before even getting on your list, and stay with you for many years to come if you follow my loving, tender email ways

Bottom line?

I can teach you all the best ways to write emails I know.

I can show you how to be the best copywriter you can be, too.

And, I can impart upon you lots of ways I know (and use) to convert more leads into long term buyers your competition will never use much less know about.

But, it’s all for naught if you don’t have a list.

And, even more important, a responsive list you are consistently growing.

Especially if, like Yours Unruly, you can’t be bothered to learn (or use) paid traffic. Personally, I refuse to give money to Facebook, Twitter, Google, etc and follow their draconian rules to generate traffic. Plus, they were never very good for generating the kind of leads I am specifically looking for, anyway. I have discovered over the years that all of my best customers find me through some kind of referral marketing — especially the methods I’m going to be talking about in the February and March issues.

Anyway, the deadline to subscribe to the February issue is coming fast.

After the deadline, I’m setting this issue (and the March issue) aside to make it part of a high ticket product I’m cooking up about list-building using my free and “evergreen” ways.

To subscribe in time to get the February issue before the deadline (1/31/2019) go here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

The long, rambling video below is for people who want to get paid (right away) more for whatever you sell.

I don’t care if it’s a product, a service, or even a commodity.

Ben Settle

On my 10-mile walk this morning I shot a 20+ minute video about what I believe to be the greatest list building “secret” ever invented is. It was used by the man the Guinness Book Of World Record says is the “world’s greatest salesman.”

And, it works just as well, if not better, to build an email list.

Check ‘er out below…

Ben Settle

“The age of Men is over. The time of the Orc has come!”

— Gothmog
The Return of the King

Just as ol’ Gothmog the orc declared the age of men was over, and the time of the orc has come… ol’ elBenbo says something similar:

The age of professionalism is over, and the time of the troll has come.

Why do I say this?

There are many reasons.

And, while at a glance that may seem disturbing and “bad”, it’s actually very good news for businesses that know how to profit from them. Especially, as explained in the video I shot recently at the link below on the subject.

Get you some of that troll money by watching here: