Ben Settle

Let me tell you about a “for real” copywriter.

His name is Richard Armstrong.

(Whazzup Richard?)

Richard has spent the last 40+ years slugging it out in the hyper competitive direct mail world and is quite a cool cat, too. Anyway, he once wrote a control I remember getting in the mail (but didn’t realize he’d written it) that had me mesmerized. I had to read that sucker front to back. Later, I saw that same control shown (in the “pick the winner” contest) by Gary Bencivenga in his big going away seminar.

And the interesting thing is, the headline had no benefit.

(The advertising critics wept…)

No screaming exclamation marks.

And, not even a whiff of hype.

OK, so here’s why I bring this up:

Richard did something in that magalogue I’ve been using to seriously crank up my email sales in certain niches for the past few years.

Something very simple.

Something people LOVE to read in email copy.

Something, people enjoy buying from, too.

Yet, hardly anyone ever does it.

And guess what?

I write about Richard Armstrong’s secret (with email examples so you can see it applied) in the August “Email Players” issue.

This bad-boy goes to print in 1 week.

So time’s getting short.

Subscribe here in time while you can:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

I speaketh the truth here:

Probably the single biggest “mistake” I see in emails I critique is being too plain vanilla. By that I mean, the email isn’t “bad” and WILL nab any low hanging fruit (i.e. people ready to buy without needing any extra persuasion). But as Ken McCarthy said in his copywriting course (and I believe it is true after studying multiple different markets) about 5% of most markets will buy anything.

They are the hyper buyers.

They are ready to go, with their credit card out.

And mailing daily can often nab that 5% relatively quickly.

BUT…

There’s also another 10%-25% wanting to buy but are hesitant.

Maybe they’re skeptical.

Maybe they’re procrastinators.

Or, maybe they have “analysis paralysis.”

Whatever the reason this is 2-5 times bigger than the hyper buyer section of your market. And so, it is very wise to target them in your emails by going beyond the “plain vanilla” email approach and adding some flavor in there.

Doing so can be like night and day for your sales.

And, put a big, fat, sloppy smile on your face.

And guess ye what?

In the August “Email Players” issue I show you how to go back through any plain vanilla emails you’ve written and give ’em some spice to get sales from them.

(With a real life “before and after” example)

It can save you lots of time, too.

Simply go through old emails and spice ’em up.

No “new” email writing required.

Subscription details at:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

A subscriber asks:

“Ben, what are your top 10 recommended marketing resources?”

Ask and ye shalt receive.

Behold…

In my humble (but accurate) opinion, the list below contains the top 10 marketing books/courses/products. Well, they have been for me, anyways. Fact is, the best ones are kind a subjective. The “best” ones are whatever ones appeal to your unique personality and learning style.

Anyway, here’s my list:

1. Gary Bencivenga’s “Farewell” course

2. Gary Halbert’s “Boron Letters”

3. Dan Kennedy’s “NO BS Time Management”

4. Ken McCarthy’s “System Club Letters”

5. Eugene Schwartz’s “Breakthrough Advertising”

6. Gary Halbert’s “The Gary Halbert Letter” issues (all of them)

7. Paul Hartunian’s “Million Dollar Publicity” course

8. John Carlton’s “Kick Ass Copywriting Secrets” course

9. Dan Kennedy’s “Magnetic Marketing” course

10. Yours Truly’s “The Email Players Playbook”

Hey, you wouldn’t begrudge me a plug, would you?

Besides, many have told me they think this book (you can ONLY get by subscribing to the “Email Players” newsletter) is the most profitable resource they own.

And really:

What kind of marketer would I be if I didn’t plug my own product?

No marketer, I say.

No marketer at all.

You can read more about it here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

So there ya go.

My top 10 favorites.

Enjoy…

Ben Settle

I figured someone would ask this after Monday’s client email:

“Can you close high paying clients right in an email?”

Can’t say as I ever have.

I mean, when you’re talking about someone writing a check for 4 or 5 figures, they’re gonna (rightfully so) wanna talk to you to make sure you’re not one of the many sociopaths skimming the shadows online.

But, chin up, Batman.

Because email CAN do 80% of the work for you.

I’ve experienced it.

Where I was basically an “order taker.”

My emails got ’em calling.

I had a pleasant chat.

The next day they hired me.

And, this was for high ticket (and high class) clients.

Frankly, doing email right (i.e. the way I teach) can go a long way towards getting would-be clients contacting you and ONLY wanting to hire you. The phone call is more of a formality than anything.

But, you still have to close the deal.

And, you still have to know how to sell them.

So let’s assume a phone call is in hand first.

What do you say?

What do you do?

Well, a whole book could be written (and many have) just on this subject. But if you’ve done everything else right, and if they have called you, then there’s a good chance they’re as much as 80% “sold” anyway.

And it’s more your job to not mess up more than to sell them.

Anywho, I teach this in the August “Email Players” issue.

Yes, I show you how to sell em via email, obviously.

But also, what to do after that.

Including what NOT to do. Exactly what to say if they ask about your fee right away (I learned this one from the world’s “most feared” negotiator). Some questions to ask them. And how to close them (in print) after the call.

Valuable stuff.

Especially if you sell a high ticket service.

And it’s all in the next issue.

Subscribe here to get it in time:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

A freelancer wants to know…

“Ben do you have a client overflow policy where you farm out client work you don’t have the time to handle?”

Few things….

1. I don’t do client work right now

2. When someone inquires I refer them to a copywriter friend in 9 out of 10 cases (we have an agreement where he pays me a portion of his fee). If it’s an email-related assignment I tell my “Email Players” subscribers. That’s a perk of joining. When someone comes to me looking for email writing services I send ’em to my subscribers. For the other subscriber perks read the sales letter at www.EmailPlayers.com

3. Instead of begging for farmed out work, get your own clients

For one, you’ll make more $$.

And secondly, you’ll have more control over your business.

In fact, when someone asks if “Email Players” will help them get clients they seem shocked when I say not only is my system great for getting new clients… I would argue it’s actually better for selling services than for products.

Why?

Lots of reasons.

But the main one is because few service providers are emailing at all, much less doing it daily and in a way people want to read.

Enter the August “Email Players” issue.

It shows you exactly how to get booked with clients with email.

(No matter what kind of service you sell.)

And before you even ask:

The info can be easily applied to selling products, too — as well as any other kind of marketing or selling you do in any other industry or format you use.

(Offline, online or the sidelines, it matters not…)

Plus, the August issue also reveals:

• What exactly to say when selling expensive products or services

• How to make sales even from “plain vanilla” emails

• A secret way to turn 1 email into 3, 4, 5 or MORE emails (and make 3, 4, 5 or MORE times more sales)

• How to milk money from misery with email (and in a way your customers will love and appreciate you for)

• The “symptom” secret of one of the world’s top direct mail copywriters

• A little-known email secret straight from the person once called “The most persuasive man of the 20th century”

• And a ho’ bunch mo’…

She goes to the printer in a couple weeks.

Hop onboard here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Last week’s treaddesk email has prompted lots ‘o disappointing feedback in my inbox, such as:

“I’m too clumsy for that…”

“What if I hit the wrong speed…!”

“I can’t type and walk…”

“Too expensive…”

“I’d break my neck!”

Wowzers.

What a bunch. of. pansies.

Sigh.

For one, you set the speed REALLY slow.

You’re not jogging or running, you’re not even strolling.

I started at .5 mph and was banging out copy and emails without much trouble within a few hours.

Is it a bit awkward at first?

Yes.

Just gut it out for a few hours, Wimpy.

Or, if you’re really fragile, just start by using it to surf the Internet or waste time on Flakebook or whatever — passive activities. Soon you’ll start replying to emails and doing other light writing and not even notice it. After that, when .5 mph gets too easy (you’ll know because it will feel TOO slow, kinda awkward, as you’re not really used to walking that slow) you ramp it up to 1 mp.

Then 1.5.

Nowadays, I do it at 2 mp.

Probably, I’ll go faster one day.

More:

If you get a good one it will track your miles walked and calories burned. If I’m at, say, 375 calories burned and done writing, I’ll crank it up to 4 mp and bang out those last 25 within minutes.

So it becomes like a game.

Something you look forward to.

I’ve also found it boosts my productivity.

(REAL work, not just being “busy” activities.)

I have WAY more energy, too.

And, now I get in a groove where I’m listening to music and walking and don’t even notice it anymore. Plus, instead of setting kitchen timers and forcing myself to get up, I simply let my body tell me when to take a break (where I have to sit down, instead of walk around).

I also have more motivation to do other exercising.

All these cool benefits.

Yet, the majority of responses have been lame excuses.

Well, with ONE exception.

Amidst the naysaying, I got this email:

Hi Ben,
Thank you for the link to Chris Kresser’s post. You have most likely saved several lives, probably including mine.

Word.

Anyway, here’s the article again:

http://bit.ly/TGzhoh

Ben Settle

Well, I stand corrected.

Remember recently when I told a reader that with really crappy traffic, you could lock all the best email writers in a room and still fail converting them?

Well, methinks I spoketh too quickly.

Check out the comment below.

It’s from my “fringe” traffic scientist droog Jim Yaghi.

And, if you use PPC, then behold:

bro,

Your Email marketing tricks are off the chain.

They work even with dead cold, heartless, ugly, hateful PPC traffic. Although, PPC is the gentlest of all cold traffic…but it’s a BIG difference between traffic discovering you through the recommendations of others and such. anyway, been tracking the numbers closely every day and even checking buyers against date of subscribing and source to make sure that COLD traffic is converting and not residue from my warmed up list…

dude there’s people buying after being on the list a week.

and they’re not buying some cheap $20 product.

for every dollar i spend on PPC, i get $2 with your email trix.

that’s my average at the moment. i am hoping it will increase too, cause i’m nowhere NEAR tapping the full potential of those coldies…in 90 days i’ll let you know what the factor’s up to.

once again, you da man.

~j

Not too shabby, Professor Yaghi.

And, by the way:

Jim also happens to be an SEO master, too.

He teaches a (VERY simple) way to “outwit” Google (using its own rules and algorithms) to get a steady stream of hot, qualified “ready to buy” leads.

At least, that’s been the case when I use it.

And, it’s all explained in the July “Email Players” bonus.

What?

You think it’s too late to get in on that action?

Ordinarily, you’d be correct.

But, I’m extending the deadline to subscribe in time to get the July issue to Friday, July 5th at midnight (PST).

Two more glorious days.

After that?

Too late.

Subscribe here while you can:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Writing’s a dangerous bid’niz.

Sitting there on your rumpus for long stretches of time… letting your legs form dangerous (life ending) blood clots, and wreaking havoc on your entire nervous system — which all can lead to some really NASTY pain.

Leg pain.

Neck pain.

Shoulder pain.

Elbow pain.

Wrist pain.

And, especially BACK pain.

In fact, I knew this one copywriter who was spending sometimes 8-10 hours straight in front of his computer in a small “closet like” office — writing copy, editing video/audio, messing around with website design etc, who was always in excruciating back pain.

Every movement hurt like hell.

Every shift in his seat like white fire up his spine.

Every turn of his neck agony.

He suffered like this silently for months, but figured it’d just go away on its own.

It didn’t.

It actually got worse.

In fact, it spread to his assimus and then down into his hamstrings making running (something he loved doing) impossible, and even walking to the kitchen from his office was exhausting and excruciating. Even sleeping was fitful at best as he had to lay in just the right position (and not move) in order to keep the sharp, “dagger like” pain away.

Eventually he sought help.

Doctors.

Orthopedic surgeons.

Chiropractors.

Acupuncturists.

None were any help.

(One of these doctors even said it was just “phantom pain” and sent him on his merry way with a bottle of pain killers…)

All his tests — MRI, EMG, X-rays — came up negative.

Yet, the pain was getting worse.

And his livelihood (writing) was at stake.

One of the doctors said whatever the problem is, it could be permanent if he didn’t figure it out soon… and to see a neurologist who told him there was nothing they could do and that humans are not built to sit for long stretches of time like that (and he was lucky he hadn’t developed any blood clots…)

Anyway, the point?

Writing for a living really CAN be dangerous.

To your health.

To your sense of well being.

Even, to your life…

But, fear ye not.

There’s a solution to this.

Something I’ve been doing for weeks now.

And, the link below explains it.

Clicketh ye here, Writer…

Ben Settle

The facts are weak with this one:

“And just what do you do that’s different from the gurus you rail against? You say not to trust them but do trust you. Why? You sell a pricey product – just like the other gurus. You profess to “tell it like it is” – just like they do. You sell Kindle-flavored books on Amazon – just like they do. Many have been around longer than you. Why should I trust you over them?”

Where to begin…

First, I don’t tell people to trust me.

Just the opposite.

I say don’t trust anyone (including me) until proven innocent:

https://bensettle.com/blog/big-steamy-pile-of-goo-roo

I don’t rail against gurus, either.

“Goo-roos”?

Yeppers.

Gurus?

Nada.

Here’s the difference:

https://bensettle.com/blog/signs-that-a-goo-roo-is-lying

Why listen to me at all, then?

To disqualify me as someone worth listening to.

It’s easy, too.

There are 1000+ blog posts on my blog  and almost a dozen hours of audio/video content — https://bensettle.com/blog/media-interviews — packed with tips you can freely test. Not to mention the free “Email Players” issue you get when you opt in and, yes, my daily emails.

Plus, there’s this:

https://bensettle.com/blog/faqs-for-the-uninitiated

And this:

https://bensettle.com/blog/testimonials

Bottom line?

Nobody’s holding a gun to your head to stick around.

If you don’t trust me then scram.

Study those you DO trust.

People have profited handsomely just from the free stuff I give away, and we’ll continue to bend the marketing world to our will with or without you.

It’s all good, either way.

And if you want the advanced stuff?

And take off the training wheels?

Go ye here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle