Ben Settle

I want to switch things up a bit today.

Check out this great question I got a while back from Email Players subscriber Joe Gilder:

“Do you have any advice on a business with multiple products? I have around 12 information products, and I’ve been promoting them somewhat randomly in my daily emails. I plug whichever product applies the closest to that day’s email topic. Would you suggest focusing on one product each week or something like that? Or just firing off helpful emails and linking to whichever product makes the most sense?”

That’s the million penny question, isn’t it?

Especially for affiliate marketers and anyone who has a big product line.

And, I will admit, it is something I struggled with for a LONG time.

After all…

If you are talking about products a large portion of your list couldn’t care less about, then you are very likely going to lose their interest.

Lose their readership.

And, probably lose their patronage.

(It’s the classic “meh. this isn’t for me… next…” phenomenon).

Happens ALL the time.

And it’s the silent sales killer nobody dares speaketh of.

So what’s the solution?

What do you do if you have a lot of cool products but you don’t want to risk boring anyone who might otherwise buy one of your other products?

Bad news is, there is no one-size-fits solution.

And don’t let any goo-roo tell ya otherwise.

The GOOD news is…

In the next “Email Players” issue, I am going to show you 4 ways to handle this “problem” so you (1) don’t bore your list and (2) increase the chances of them buying.

This baby goes to the printer Wednesday.

So there’s no time for dilly-dally.

Subscribe in time here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Hey, so no time for messing around today.

(In a hurry…)

If you haven’t checked out my media interview page in a while, I’ve added more content over the past couple months — including radio & podcast interviews giving unique spins on email marketing I usually only reserve for paid products.

Feed thy mind and profiteth:

www.BenSettle.com/media

Ben Settle

P.S. Of course, as profitable as this info is, it’s but a small taste of what’s inside the pages of “Email Players.”

If/when you’re ready to take the training wheels off, go to:

www.EmailPlayers.com

We’ve got trolls afoot.

Big, fugly trolls.

Trolls who have absolutely nothing better to do with their time than join lists and complain about anything and everything.

You think I’m joking?

Check out this blue flame special:

“Hi Ben as you know I receive many emails from you offering the products and services you sell and I must tell you I take everyone of them very seriously but then the thought occurred to me why couldn’t I ask the same of you after all we are both in this business and are always on the look out for new opportunities (or at least should be). So I think it is only fair that you give my opportunity the same attention I give yours, so I am asking you to take a few minutes of your precious time and have a look at [LINK REMOVED] your response positive or negative would be appreciated, if you prefer to ignore this then regrettably I must opt out of my subscription with you, since there is only a one sided interest in building a future relationship.”

To paraphrase my boy Tallahassee from “Zombieland”…

Here’s the deal, dude…

I’m not easy to get along with and I’m sensing you’re a bit of a bitch.

So I’ve already taken the time out of my busy schedule to unsubscribe you.

(You’re welcome!)

I don’t know where these trolls come from.

But I do know this:

I wouldn’t give guys like this one second of my time.

And neither should you.

A lot of people have a scarcity mentality where they think they need everyone and anyone on their lists.

That they should kiss everyone’s bootay.

And that they should reply to every email.

That’s a recipe for failure.

You can’t be all things to all people.

This is why I don’t answer questions except for “Email Players” subscribers — www.EmailPlayers.com — where asking me questions via email is one of the perks of subscribing.

Everyone else?

I don’t have time.

Nor do I have the time to join 5k+ lists, either.

Hey, your time is valuable.

But if you give it up for free, what’s it worth?

Something to think about…

Ben Settle

Holy shnikes do most TV ads suck.

I mean, they’re just awful.

You can lose IQ points just by watching them.

But, you know what?

There’s ONE commercial campaign that’s a persuasion masterpiece. A commercial so powerful, it’s beefed up sales in ways its competitors can probably only dream about, while making people tingle with excitement whenever it airs.

What commercial do I babbleth about?

The Dos Equis beer commercials.

Oh yeah, toots!

In fact, last year while overall imported beer sales were down 4%… Dos Equis sales were UP 22% (with sales tripling in Canada, even though it’s more expensive there).

How do they do it?

What’s their “secret”?

They give you an adventure.

In other words… these commercials don’t mess around showing a bunch of dorks hitting on chicks in a bar or whatever. Instead, they feature a man who is, well… interesting (“the MOST interesting man in the world…”)

All the women love him.

And all the men want to BE him.

Frankly, he’s so cool, he’s the life of parties he doesn’t even attend. Has awkward moments just to know what it feels like. And when aliens abducted him, they asked him to probe THEM…

Anyway, the ads are brilliant.

And, much of it’s because of this “adventure factor.”

They give you a dose of excitement.

And they let you live vicariously through someone cool (unfortunately for the Dos Equis dude, he’s SO cool, he has to live vicariously through himself…)

The result?

People BUY the product.

And not necessarily because it tastes good… but because they hope the Dos Equi man’s awesomeness will rub off on them.

This is the beauty of email.

You can give people a jolt of fun every day.

Something to look forward to.

And, a solution to their problems.

Anyway, something to think about.

A little adventure goes a long way in advertising.

To learn how to do this with email, go to:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Stay thirsty, my friend.

Ben Settle

If you got the ballz, I dare you to take this test:

Read the following “winner/loser” thinking list, and honestly assess what your answer would be (i.e. what your current beliefs are about email marketing).

If you get too many (or ANY) “loser” answers, don’t fret.

And don’t even tell anyone.

(It’s nobody else’s business.)

Just change your wicked ways by doing what the winner would do, and watch the money flow like lies from a goo-roo’s lips.

Hit it, maestro:

The loser says “The more emails I send, the more unsubscribes I get”

The winner says “The more emails I send, the more sales I get”

The loser says “This email got a 45% open rate”

The winner says “This email brought in $4,500 profit”

The loser says “I want to be a great writer”

The winner says “I want to be a great marketer”

The loser says “I’ll do what my favorite goo-roo says based on blind faith”

The winner says “I’ll do things MY way based on what experience has taught me”

The loser says, “I’ll ‘reverse engineer’ what others are doing and skip having to learn via investment of money, time and sweat”

The winner says, “I’ll invest money, time and sweat to learn my craft”

The loser says, “I’m going to write my ads with a swipe file”

The winner says, “I’m going to write my ads based on my market intel”

The loser says, “I have read over 100 marketing books 1 time”

The winner says, “I have read the 10 best marketing books 10 times”

The loser says, “I want to ‘manifest’ money by giving away lots of free information”

The winner says, “I’ll find out what pain my market has, and sell them the solution in a way they want to be sold by”

Ok, enough.

Tally up your scores.

How many times have you thought like the loser?

Be honest.

Change what needs changing.

And then, get your bootyus on the “Email Players” subscriber list, and start writing profitable emails using your own personality, experiences and market intel — and not a warmed over version of your favorite goo-roo’s leftovers.

Ready?

Subscription info at:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

So I had a brain fart yesterday.

There’s lots of “corporate espionage” out there — where people covertly sabotage companies for financial gain or to even outright destroy them.

I’m starting to think this goes on online, too.

Some of the advice out there is just too loco.

So I got to thinking…

If I wanted to destroy another online business I’d simply disguise myself as a business coach and tell them things like:

1. Only mail when you have something to say or sell (NOT daily)

2. Avoid offending anyone (at all costs)

3. Don’t show your unique personality (sound “professional”)

4. Never talk politics (or be controversial in any way)

5. Don’t give a firm opinion (just say “test it” regardless of logistics, list size, budget, low traffic, etc)

6. Spend mucho time tracking open and clickthru rates religiously (instead of sales — what’s most important is who reads and clicks links, not who buys your product)

7. No misspellings (everything MUST be perfect)

8. Always get your colleagues’ opinions on your marketing (who may or may not have the problem your product solves)

9. Obsess over “conversion” rates (ignore ROI and sales)

Yep.

I’d teach them ALL these things.

And then, with a twinkle in my eye, I’d collect my coaching check, give ’em a friendly swat on the arse, and watch the carnage unfold.

Oh yeah, baby!

Hey, this is serious stuff.

After all, if you study the above list, you’d realize ALL 9 items are commonly practiced (sometimes even taught!) as the way to do business online.

Freaky, eh?

It’s a dog-eat-dog world online.

And we’re all wearing milk bone underwear.

Protect your nutz, amigo.

I show you how each month in “Email Players”:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

It’s ghoulishly scary how little many “email experts” know.

It’s not even a case of “all theory, no practice.”

It’s “all blindly-follow-the-crowd, no practice.”

In fact, check out these mangos:

I once read a quote from a major email company rep saying how you should use email to grow your FaceBook, Twitter and YouTube followers. In other words… send emails out sending your list to those sites, instead of your site.

Methinks that’s a bit… backasswards.

Frankly, it makes no sense.

It’s like having customers in your store (standing at your cash register ready to buy!) and then sending them to someone else’s store to learn more about you and your product there, instead of in your store.

Not saying never to do it online.

Once in a while it can be strategic.

But usually, it don’t make no sense.

Moral of the story?

To dig the best hole, talk to someone who digs holes each day in the trenches instead of shovel sellers hawking the latest cutting-edge shovels.

Common sense?

Yeppers.

That’s why so few do it.

For ongoing advanced email training from a ditch digger (and not just a shovel seller) check out the “Email Players” monthly newsletter.

It ain’t everyone’s cup of Jack.

But that’s for you to decide.

Pricing and details at:

Ben Settle

Subscriber Esti Allina shouts from Israel…

I have to say that reading your emails has been enlightening:

1. I’ve become way less anal about grammar
2. allow myself to be more me and come through in my communications
3. I’m relieved to know you’re not an Obama fan-boy! (no, there was never any doubt in my mind).

You ain’t just whistlin’ dixie about Obama.

To watch an Obama fanboy mindlessly spin his policies as “good” is to behold cognitive dissonance at work.

His fanboys may even be worse with that than the GW Bush fanboys were.

And THAT is saying something.

(Yes, I’m getting low on hate mail… bring it…)

And speaking of interesting comments…

I once got the One Email Comment to rule them all.

The writer basically said I made him feel like a follower of Col Kurtz in “Apocalypse Now” — I broke ranks with mainstream email goo-roos with a loyal cadre of email soldiers, going forth deep into the jungles of the Internet, getting medieval on our competitors with brutal “guerrilla warfare” tactics. Yes, it makes the rest of the “army” (i.e. other mainstream online marketers) scared and nervous because we do things OUR way and not the way of the play-it-safe ex-spurts do…

Oh yeah, baby!

I get SUCH a kick out of that analogy.

Anyway, there’s no real point to this email today.

I just felt like bragging.

But, fret ye not.

You can get bragging rights, too, when you start emailing the “Email Players” way.

It’s so blessedly easy, too:

1. Subscribe
2. Follow my instructions
3. Let the rest take care of itself

Go here next:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Every once in a while…

I screw up.

I know, I know.

You find that hard to believe.

And hey, in your defense, let’s be honest here… it happens so rarely, it’s hard to believe it’s even possible.

But alas, I made a pretty dumb n00bish mistake.

What was this grave mistake?

Not having a birthday sale.

Duh, Ralphie.

Everyone should use their birthdays as an “excuse” for a sale.

I mean, why not?

Luckily, this is salvageable.

Because until Sunday at the stroke of midnight (eastern standard time), I’m giving away my bestselling “Copywriting Grab Bag” system for $100.00 off.

However, a word of warning:

This product ain’t no sippin’ tea.

It’s THICK with info.

Takes months to get through.

And, has gotten rave reviews from some true “players.”

Like Ken McCarthy (“founding father” of Internet marketing)… Terry Dean (Internet marketing pioneer)… T.J. Rohleder (Old school mail order jeenius)… And even professional copywriters who write ads for Apple Computer, Tony Robbins, and other “celebrity” clients, as well as full time direct marketers whose businesses live and die by their copy.

Anyway, here’s the deal:

It’s $100.00 off until Sunday at midnight.

And there’s no money-back guarantee.

It’s sink or swim ’round here.

Here’s where to get it for $100.00 off:

www.CopywritingGrabBag.com/birthday

Ben Settle