Grab The Booty

So recently my dad visited town.

And being from the Tucson desert, he spent mucho time in the tourist shops on the coast. One thing he bought (and that I now must have) is a pair of boxer shorts with a picture of a treasure chest and pirate “jolly roger” skull & cross bones on the rear end with the words:

“Grab the booty”

Ha.

I’m getting me a pair of those!

Turns out I’m not the only one, either.

That phrase “grab the booty” is popular ’round here.

Not just on boxer shorts, though.

But also plaques, shot glasses, mugs, and other collectible items in these seaside tourist shops.

I guess the idea just took off.

And smart retailers are milking it.

Anyway, so how does this help your email sales?

Are you kidding?

The lesson is staring you in the face like a pirate’s greasy glass eyeball:

Sometimes when you’re NOT expecting it (and when you are just hammering out an email just to get it out there) you will stumble onto an idea that sells lots of your product.

And when that happens… milk it!

And KEEP milking it!

Milk it until you’ve gotten all the “booty” you can from it.

But, it all starts with getting those emails out.

Trying new ideas.

And, keeping after it persistently.

That’s what “Email Players” is all about.

You can read about it here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Until next time…

Ben Settle

No Blog Posts For You

So no blog posts this week.

I’m ONLY sending this week’s tips to my email list. And, not only am I only sending my email subscribers tips, but I am also giving them a free advanced email marketing book. So if you’re one of these stiff web 2.0 RSS lurkers afraid to (gasp!) subscribe to my email list (for whatever wicked reasons you have) then you’re truly hurting your own bottom line.

Subscribers are rewarded, lurkers are ignored this week.

Hey, don’t worry — I don’t bite.

Not hard, at least…

Click Here To Subscribe To My Free Email List

More proof I speaketh the troof:

“Ben, your methods continue to kick butt for me. I had my biggest single month ever after starting mailing daily in July. The constant creative communication keeps people focused on me and makes me the only logical solution. It is hard to stay sitting on the fence when I reach out daily with an interesting message that hits on exactly what they are thinking about. And since I have so many messages to send, I’m able to tackle all the major issues in their minds and then rotate back through them. Thanks for everything.”

-Tom Zeeb
TractionRealEstateMentors.com

That’s what I’m talkin’ about, Willis!

I know most people don’t want to hear this.

But that’s just too bad.

The TROOF will set you free:

More follow up = more sales.

Just make sure you’re doing it like Tom and my other “Email Players” subscribers are.

And the only way to do that is to… subscribe.

And, also APPLY what you learn each month.

(Hey, the newsletter won’t do you any good sitting on a shelf, unused.)

Anyway…

The October issue goes to the printer Monday.

It’s a great jumping on point.

(For newbies and seasoned pros alike).

Subscribe in time here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Lately, I’ve been doing lots of interviews.

And, during these interviews, the topic of how emails affect overall response from sales letters rears its beautiful head.

My opinion (and I’m right) is always the same:

Emails do most of the heavy lifting.

In some cases, they make (GASP!) testing ads obsolete.

For example:

After doing emails the way I teach in “Email Players” — www.EmailPlayers.com — I couldn’t beat my own controls. This spanned at least 3 different markets, too (including a copywriting product, weight loss product and another product in the male health market).

And I wasn’t testing “whispers”, either.

(Like font colors, or whatever).

I was testing screams.

Big spreads of ideas, formatting or structure.

But, other than a small percentage difference, it didn’t matter.

I still write the best sales letters I can.

But now it’s more of a pride and ego thing than something I do out of necessity.

So I don’t worry about every little jot and tittle.

And, I don’t obsess over them.

Remember the old Dan Kennedyism:

Money is attracted to SPEED, Boss.

And so, if I was a betting man (and I am), I would bet green money the “C” level copywriter with a decent command of email would wipe the floor in a market dominated by “A” level copywriters who don’t.

Hey, argue all you want.

But I’m not gonna shut up about this.

At least, not until ALL ye copywriter types have changed your evil ways — and that starts with the monthly “Email Players” newsletter.

The October issue goes to the printer Monday.

Lots of cool stuff in this issue.

(Including a nifty bonus report about infotainment).

Grab it here while you can:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Writing’s a dangerous job.

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. Eventually his doctor recommended some common sense tips like getting up every 20 minutes and leaving his office, sitting on a 3-legged stool (instead of a chair), simple stretching exercises, etc.

Pretty good advice.

And now he tells everyone he knows about it.

Still, I think he’s got it all backwards.

Instead of seeking ways to work longer hours online without pain, why not seek ways to work shorter hours?

This is why I dig email so much.

You sit down.

Bang out an email.

Send.

If you have a growing list and know what you’re doing, you can probably make more $$ doing that (20 minutes per day, tops) than you ever will hunched over a computer editing videos, writing 30 page sales letters, tweaking your blog to perfection, etc.

Methinks your back will thank you.

(And your bank account, too…)

Learn how it’s done at:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Grow Some Ballz

A subscriber gots to know:

“Ben, I have to know if you get freaked out when writing controversial emails? You must have a thick skin! Doesn’t the feedback get nasty and angry? Does it freak you out sending emails like that?”

Yeah I used to get nervous.

And it can definitely be hair-raising.

But now it’s just pure fun.

I even get a strange sort of “thrill” from the feedback.

It’s sorta like the movie “True Romance”.

Easily one of my all-time favorite flicks.

There’s a scene where a mobster (ironically played by Mr. Soprano himself — James Gandolfini) explains to the character he’s about to whack how it feels to kill someone. The first time was hardest — he puked the first time. The second time was also rough, with the same feeling, but it was better this time — more “diluted.”

Now?

He does it just to watch the expression change.

Freaky, eh?

But it’s similar to how being controversial in emails is.

The first few times put my stomach in knots.

No doubt about it.

It was nerve-wracking pushing “send.”

But each time it got easier.

And easier…

And easier…

Until now, I do it just to read the amusing replies from people who are obviously way too wound up for their own good.

Anyway, it’s not for the “thin skinned.”

But it can be extremely profitable.

In fact, I write about this in the next “Email Players” issue:

www.EmailPlayers.com

The article is called:

“Grow Some Ballz”

Very profitable info.

Anyway, it goes to print in a week.

Grab ya some…

Ben Settle

Busted!

Okay so here’s the thing:

Many of the people who donated to my local dog shelter in exchange for a copy of “Crackerjack Selling Secrets” last week have been asking how much was generated.

And, really, I did not know.

I have kept track of all the replies, but it was over 240 donations and I just haven’t had the time to go through each one and add them all up (most were $5 some were $10 and $20 and one person donated a whopping $200, it was awesome).

Anyway, I just found out the other day the number.

Not because I counted or even asked, though.

In fact, I really wanted to keep it anonymous.

But they somehow found me out and posted the amount on FaceBook.

Here’s what they said:

AWESOME NEWS! We just checked our PayPal account. Since September 4th, we have received over $2000 in online donations alone.

They said some other nice stuff, too.

But I messaged them and said those who donated are the ones who really deserve the thanks.

After all, y’all did the real work.

I just held the “clipboard.”

So if you donated, thank you!

You have really helped a great cause.

And I know this because I got my own dog from this very shelter about 5 years ago.

By the way…

I teach doing these sorts of sales in the “Email Players Playbook”.

Why?

Especially since it does not directly benefit you?

Because there’s more to life than just our own self interests.

And it’s good for the soul to give back without ANY expectation of anything in return. When you do email the way I teach you can raise hundreds or even thousands of dollars for any cause you want. Just model what I did with this last one — give your list something valuable in exchange for them donating to whatever cause you want, and ask them to send you their PayPal receipt as proof.

Pretty easy.

Plus, it lets you give back far more than if you did a one time donation.

(And your customers will love it, too.)

To subscribe to “Email Players” go to:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Giddy-up.

Ben Settle

A subscriber pops the question:

“I am a tailor, I sell bespoke suits via a home visiting service and they are very expensive…but I just can’t seem to convert them without resorting to special offers and discounts. Will your email players be able to help? Just one of these days I would like to test something that actually works for selling things other than marketing services.”

Hmmm.

My first thought is…

Why not keep using special offers and discounts?

If they’re working, why stop?

But secondly, I want to address his question:

“I have such-and-such a business, will ‘Email Players’ help?”

The answer is…

Maybe.

Fact is, I don’t know if you are going to have the will to apply what the newsletter teaches or the persistence to keep doing it or the wisdom to be able to adapt & improvise, instead of treating it like a mechanical “one-size-fits-all” solution.

One thing I WILL promise is this:

It’s not for people looking for a paint-by-numbers system.

Such a thing doesn’t exist in email.

It can’t.

Email (and thus, “Email Players”) is about adaptation.

I have a certain style I use on many lists that works.

But I adapted it, for example, for weight loss because (1) it was 99% women (as opposed to my other lists which are 99% men) and (2) their problem and how they want to be sold is different than my other lists.

Look, you don’t have to be “funny” or be entertaining.

You can if you want (and if it works).

But that’s not what it’s about.

Those things can help in many cases, especially since so many people are tight asses and need to lighten up (and will often appreciate you doing it for them). But if you are in a more serious-minded market (there’s nothing “funny” about being 100 lbs overweight and being laughed at and ridiculed, for example), then adapt the system accordingly.

You can still use ALL the stuff I teach.

You just have to adapt it.

So let’s take these high priced, quality suits.

I know nothing about this market or the product.

(The last time I bought a suit was for a job interview in 1998.)

But, I DO know the market has a problem.

That it wants to solve that problem.

And, they are WAITING for someone to help them.

So if I was selling in that market, I would write emails each day, and they would talk about (drum roll)…

The problem!

What are all the frustrations suit buyers have?

What causes them stress?

What kind of hidden pitfalls (they don’t even know about) exist you can warn them of?

What are their fashion insecurities?

Who are they trying to impress?

Who are they trying NOT to look like?

Etc, etc etc…

I would ask these questions, then “tailor” (ha) my emails around them.

So for instance…

I might talk about the guy who bought the wrong kind of suit and lost a job as a result. Or the guy who hasn’t bought a suit since 1998 (heh) and why he should have a nice one on “standby” in case of an important event. Or which styles of suits go with certain body types. (i.e. ectomorphs, endomorphs, and mesomorphs.) Or how to match colors so people don’t look like social rejects. Or what materials are used to make suits and how to know if you’re buying a piece of crap that’ll fall apart or a quality one (extra points if it is cheaper than the flimsy one) that will last for 50 years. Or how to tell if a tailor is any good (and some horror stories that have happened as a result of picking the wrong tailor).

Or… or.. or…

Ah screw it.

You get the point, right?

It’s ALL about adaptation.

Improvisation.

And, yes, imagination.

The Settle system for writing emails is not about necessarily being a smart ass.

Or trying to generate hate mail by being controversial.

Or trying to be funny, clever or sarcastic or whatever.

(This is why it’s so stoopid to try to reverse engineer what you see me doing each day in these emails without first knowing my entire system.)

It’s about matching your message to your market with email.

That’s it.

Pretty easy to do.

Of course, the devil is in the details, right?

The “how to” stuff.

And that’s where the newsletter comes in.

When you subscribe you get a short book (130 pages) showing you the CORE of my way of writing emails — the evergreen principles. The newsletter then shows you all the stuff I currently use and learn from and experiment with ongoing.

Not just stuff I used in one market, either.

But stuff I’ve used (and keep using) in several.

I’ve written emails for everything from golf, weight loss and dog training… to self defense and mens health… to biz opp and, yes, marketing services (mine and others’). Plus some obscure products so unique I don’t even know what classification they fall under.

And you know what I found?

They are mostly ALL the same.

But, you will always have to adapt the system to your market, your personality and your product.

It takes a bit of thinking.

So it’s not for lazy people.

But it’s very simple.

And that’s why many of my subscribers are kicking so much a$$.

For example:

Recently, Ryan Healy and I started a private online forum for our paying customers. And in some of the introduction emails members are sending to the group, they are including unsolicited testimonials about the newsletter.

One guy said “Email Players” has *tripled* his business.

He’s got TOO many customers!

(How’s that for a problem?)

Another subscriber said “Email Players” saved his bacon during the last Google SEO spank.

Anyway, my point?

This stuff works.

But, only if you work it.

I can’t do it for you.

There’s no mechanical paint-by-numbers, “assembly” line nonsense.

And yes, you will have to sac up and take a risk.

This is real life, not fantasy land.

So you will also have to study it.

Apply it.

And, be willing to STICK with it.

This isn’t a “try for a month and see if it works” thing.

If you have that mindset, you’ve already lost.

Don’t even bother.

Neither I nor anyone else will be able to help you.

It’s the same mindset a lot of people have with their health. They buy a supplement, use it for 30 days, don’t suddenly feel like Superman and then sally forth and complain how “it doesn’t work!” Yet, at the same time, there are a bunch of people who stuck with using it for a few months, let it build up in their system, then noticed a radical change in the way they feel and their overall mood and health, etc.

It’s the same with “Email Players”.

You learn the system.

You APPLY it.

And then you KEEP using it, ongoing, month by month — letting all the knowledge and experience and extra sales build up and compound.

It’s like going to the gym.

Say you wanted to gain size and mass.

You wouldn’t go to the gym for 30 days then decide to stop for the rest of your life, would you?

Of course not.

You would KEEP going.

You would push through the growing pains.

And, if you were serious, you would hire a personal trainer to help you blast through plateaus and gain far more size and mass than you would trying to do it on your own.

That’s exactly what “Email Players” does.

In this case, writing emails is the gym.

And I’m your personal trainer.

Pushing you, giving you new ideas, and guiding you to the next level in your sales, then taking you to the next level after that, and so on…

Including granting unlimited questions by email.

(Some subscribers tell me that alone is worth 10 times the price.)

Okay, ’nuff said.

The next issue goes to the printer in less than 2 weeks.

This issue is a great “jumping on” point for newer people and seasoned pros alike. It explains a very simple (almost unbelievably effective) email persuasion formula that works like gangbusters every time I use it.

Just crazy powerful stuff.

And only Email Players will know it.

Go here to subscribe in time:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Behold the POWER of the “F-Word”:

Ben, man that one tip you gave about emailing frequently is so frigging worth a million bucks. i’m starting to believe it might just convert everyone. check it out – at first i started seeing regular sales, but then things got curious-er and curious-er when i started to see a few of my friends names turn up as buyers….and today a RELATIVE!!!!!!

know why that’s funny?

they have just been sitting on my list as curious “observers”.

i don’t think any of them ever intended to become a customer.

dude it was classic!

i laughed my ass off. can’t believe my relatives would start buying from my emails. lollll

Oh how I love getting emails like this.

Especially from people who once SPURNED my advice about frequency.

But it’s ALL about the “F-Word”:

FREQUENCY, babycakes.

More emails sent = more sales.

Of course, just sending emails won’t work.

Any idiot can push “send.”

(And many idiots do…)

But there’s an art and science to writing emails that bring in sales day in and day out — like clockwork. Many people try “reverse engineering” my emails to figure this out… only to end up more frustrated and buying my products anyway.

Specifically, the monthly “Email Players” newsletter.

It shows you everything I know about email.

No holding back.

No dorky gimmicks.

Just learn, apply… cash the checks.

Anyway, the next issue goes to print in exactly 2 weeks.

It reveals a VERY simple 3-part email persuasion formula that almost can’t fail.

But that ain’t all.

It also reveals a huge mistake a disturbingly large number of people (even MY subscribers!) are doing in their email “P.S.” that’s like robbing yourself of money.

Plus, a valuable surprise bonus.

Very cool stuff.

Subscribe here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

So yesterday I talked about affiliate marketing.

And one of the things I said is, it’s my (100% accurate) opinion it’s much better to sell your own products on the front end, and sell affiliate products on the back end for the most part (exceptions always exist, of course).

Well, guess what?

It was kind of a timely topic.

Because I recently put my Crackerjack Selling Secrets book up on ClickBank.

I don’t know how big the market is for it.

It’s always been one of those products that made a great “bribe” offer (such as for the dog shelter donation offer last week).

But, to other lists?

I don’t know.

Guess we’ll find out!

What I DO know, is this:

If you know how to use email it should be a much easier sell..

(Especially with all the bullets as “fodder.”)

Anyway, if you want to sell it, here’s what to do:

1. Sign up on Clickbank to be an affiliate

www.clickbank.com/affiliateAccountSignup.htm?key=

2. Use this “hop link”:

http://AFFILIATE.vantagenet.hop.clickbank.net

(Swap out “AFFILIATE” with your affiliate ID)

And that’s it.

You’re ready to go.

Also, it pays 75% commission.

Other than that, one final suggestion:

Use email hardcore to sell it.

I doubt it’ll convert much with cold traffic.

If you want to learn how to sell with email, go here;

www.EmailPlayers.com

See ya.

Ben Settle

P.S. If you bought the $5 dog shelter donation Crackerjack Selling Secrets offer last week, and have read it and liked it, and are willing to send a testimonial… I’d definitely appreciate it.

BEN SETTLE

Publishes ridiculously high-priced books & newsletters about online marketing, writes twisted horror novels & screenplays, and trades options & invests in companies he thinks are cool – like BerserkerMail, Low Stress Trading, and The Oregon Eagle newspaper.

Yours FREE:

World Leader In

Email Copywriting Education

Gives Away His Best Tips

For How To Potentially

Double, Triple,

Even Quadruple

Your Sales Online

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WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING

Even when you’re simply just selling stuff, your emails are, in effect, brilliant content for marketers who want to see how to make sales copy incapable of being ignored by their core market. You are a master of this rare skill, Ben, and I tip my hat in respect.

Gary Bencivenga

(Universally acknowledged as the world’s greatest living copywriter)

www.MarketingBullets.com

I confess that I have only begun watching Ben closely and corresponding with him fairly recently, my mistake. At this point, it is, bluntly, very rare to discover somebody I find intelligent, informed, interesting and inspiring, and that is how I would describe Ben Settle.

Dan S. Kennedy

Author, ’No BS’ book series

Ben is one of the sharpest marketing minds on the planet, and he runs his membership “Email Players” better than just about any other I’ve seen. I highly recommend it.

Perry Marshall

Author of 8 books whose Google book laid the foundations for the $100 billion Pay Per Click industry, whose prestigious 80/20 work has been used by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Labs, and whose historic reinvention of the Pareto Principle is published in Harvard Business Review.

www.PerryMarshall.com

I think Ben is the light heavyweight champion of email copywriting. I ass-lo think we’d make Mayweather money in a unification title bout!

Matt Furey

www.MattFurey.com

Zen Master Of The Internet®

President of The Psycho-Cybernetics Foundation

Just want you to know I get great advice and at least one chuckle… or a slap on the forehead “duh”… every time I read your emails!

Carline Anglade-Cole

AWAI’s Copywriter of the Year Award winner and A-list copywriter who has written for Oprah and continually writes control packages for the world’s most prestigious (and competitive) alternative health direct marketing companies

www.CarlineCole.com

I’ve been reading your stuff for about a month. I love it. You are saying, in very arresting ways, things I’ve been trying to teach marketers and copywriters for 30 years. Keep up the good work!

Mark Ford

aka Michael Masterson

Cofounder of AWAI

www.AwaiOnline.com

The business is so big now. Prob 4x the revenue since when we first met… and had you in! Claim credit, as it did correlate!

Joseph Schriefer

(Copy Chief at Agora Financial)

www.AgoraFinancial.com

I wake up to READ YOUR WORDS. I learn from you and study exactly how you combine words + feelings together. Like no other. YOU go DEEP and HARD.”

Lori Haller

(“A-List” designer who has worked on control sales letters and other projects for Oprah Winfrey, Gary Bencivenga, Clayton Makepeace, Jim Rutz, and more.

www.ShadowOakStudio.com

I love your emails. Your e-mail style is stunningly effective.

Bob Bly

The man McGrawHill calls

America’s top copywriter

and bestselling author of over 75 books

www.Bly.com

Ben might be a freaking genius. Just one insight he shared at the last Oceans 4 mastermind I can guarantee you will end up netting me at least an extra $100k in the next year.

Daegan Smith

www.Maximum-Leverage.com

Ben Settle is a great contemporary source of copywriting wisdom. I’ve been a big admirer of Ben’s writing for a long time, and he’s the only copywriter I’ve ever hired and been satisfied with

Ken McCarthy

One of the “founding fathers”

of Internet marketing

www.KenMcCarthy.com

I start my day with reading from the Holy Bible and Ben Settle’s email, not necessarily in that order.

Richard Armstrong

A List direct mail copywriter

whose clients have included

Rodale, Boardroom, Reader’s Digest,

Men’s Health, Newsweek,

Prevention Health Magazine, the ASCPA

and, even, The Limbaugh Letter.

www.FreeSampleBook.com

Of all the people I follow there’s so much stuff that comes into my inbox from various copywriters and direct marketers and creatives, your stuff is about as good as it gets.

Brian Kurtz

Former Executive VP of Boardroom Inc. Named Marketer of the Year by Target Marketing magazine

www.BrianKurtz.me

The f’in’ hottest email copywriter on the web now.

David Garfinkel

The World’s Greatest Copywriting Coach

www.FastEffectiveCopy.com

Ben Settle is my email marketing mentor.

Tom Woods

Senior fellow of the Mises Institute, New York Times Bestselling Author, Prominent libertarian historian & author, and host of one of the longest running and most popular libertarian podcasts on the planet

www.TomWoods.com

I’ve read your stuff and you have some of the best hooks. You really know how to work the hook and the angles.

Brian Clark

www.CopyBlogger.com

Ben writes some of the most compelling subject lines I’ve ever seen, and implements a very unique style in his blog. Honestly, I can’t help but look when I get an email, or see a new post from him in my Google Reader.

Dr. Glenn Livingston

www.GlennLivingston.com

There are very, very few copywriters whose copy I not only read but save so I can study it… and Ben is on that short list. In fact, he’s so good… he kinda pisses me off. But don’t tell him I said that. 😉

Ray Edwards

Direct Response Copywriter

www.RayEdwards.com

You’re damn brilliant, dude…I really DO admire your work, my friend!

Brian Keith Voiles

A-list copywriter who has written winning ads for prestigious clients such as Jay Abraham, Ted Nicholas, Dr. Stephen R. Covey, Robert Allen, and Gary Halbert.

www.AdvertisingMagicCopywriting.com

We finally got to meet in person and you delivered a killer talk. Your emails are one of the very few I read and study. And your laid back style.. is just perfect!

Ryan Lee

Best-selling Author

“Entrepreneur” Magazine columnist

www.RyanLee.com

There’s been a recent flood of copy writing “gurus” lately and I only trust ONE! And that’s @BenSettle

Bryan Sharpe

AKA Hotep Jesus

www.BooksByBryan.com

www.HotepNation.com

I’m so busy but there’s some guys like Ben Settle w/incredible daily emails that I always read.

Russell Brunson

World class Internet marketer, author, and speaker

www.RussellBrunson.com

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