Ben Settle

Recently I saw an ad with an amusing headline.

It was from some marketing or copywriting goo-roo (forget which one) and was promising to show people how to use so-called “forbidden” persuasion secrets to sell more products or services.

Forbidden, eh?

Really?

Because I don’t know if I’d brag about that.

I mean, think about it.

The only way that description of a persuasion tactic makes sense is if the product teaches people to defraud customers or break the law.

Then maybe it’d make sense.

After all, there’s nothing “forbidden” about legitimate sales.

There’s nothing “dark artsy” about it, either.

Not if you do it right, at least.

In fact, real selling is the exact opposite:

Totally transparent.

Brutally honest.

And, yes, completely ethical.

I know!

But using terms like “forbidden” sounds sooooo coolio, right?

Hey, do what you want.

But just realize this:

The best customers balk at that sort of thing.

(In MOST markets, at least, there are exceptions…)

So SPURN me at your peril.

Before taking off, one more thing:

The September “Email Players” issue could get me in a bit ‘o trouble. No, there’s nothing “forbidden” inside. But methinks some people (especially women & mothers!) would like to see some of the info inside forbidden.

More:

It’s also a great “jumping on” issue.

Perfect for newbies and seasoned marketers alike.

Anyway, it goes to print in 2 weeks.

Subscribe in time at:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Oscar (NOT his real name) writes:

“I was hoping to receive more tips and free advice. I don’t want to buy anything. I just want to learn from what’s available on the net for free. If I want to pay for anything, I’ll sign up for a course at my community college to learn about copywriting.”

Funny stuff.

But, not all that uncommon.

A lot of people online have this kind of “allergy” to selling.

Yet, how can anyone possibly hope to sell their own products or services… if they shriek like scared little girls when someone sends them a sales pitch?

How can someone be a good seller if they’re not a good buyer?

Answer is you can’t.

At least, not long term.

For example:

How else are you going to know how it feels to stare at an order form, credit card in hand, hearing those two voices in your head — one telling you to buy, the other telling you to put it off until “later”? Seems to me unless you experience that feeling yourself (and often), you won’t know how to silence the “procrastinator” voice and magnify the “buyer” voice in your prospect’s mind.

I kinda feel sorry for Oscar, though.

(Don’t you?)

So, Oscar, here’s some FREE advice for you, amigo:

Quit being such a pussy and READ the sales pitches.

ALL of them —

Good, bad or fugly.

Why?

For one thing, you might learn something.

Heck — you may even want to BUY something.

And when that happens, make sure you keep that ad and dissect it line by line. Figure out exactly what it did to sell you… and then start using it in YOUR ads.

Trust me.

It’ll be one of the best educations you get.

Plus, unlike the community college…

It won’t cost ya a dime.

And hey, who knows?

One day you may even graduate to this:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

More and more, I get variations of this question:

My question is, since your writing emails everyday, and they appear to be up-to date and sent out within a week of when you wrote it (I’ve noticed) do you have emails that are in a email series, or do the same emails never get used again outside of that one day you sent it?

Example:

You send out Email X today, and then Johnny joins your list tomorrow.

Will Johnny ever be sent Email X?

I mean I guess if you writing emails everyday then email series aren’t necessary, but as you obviously know, some people have it set up where when someone joins their list, that new joiner will start recieving emails that were written a long time ago that the email series began with and will never catch up to the emails that early subscribers are getting now.

OK, let me ‘splain this.

The answer is:

It depends!

For example:

My BenSettle.com emails are fresh.

Other than the “welcome” email where I give you the free “Email Players” issue everything else is mailed fresh. Sometimes I may do an “encore presentation” email (where I recycle something I did before) but they are mailed fresh.

I recommend people do this for your “main” thing.

For other projects?

I recommend autorespondering them.

And, I recommend doing it FAST.

I did this for an eBook I sell.

I wrote some 94 emails over a month.

They are now going out daily to new subscribers.

And, that funnel converts like gangbusters.

I do this for another product, too.

And, I’ll soon be adding another to the mix.

Then another.

And another…

Until, one day, I have perhaps dozens of autoresponders with 30-90 days worth of pre-loaded emails going forth and working hard on my behalf, while I continue to write fresh emails for my main deal.

Emails are fun.

But, you don’t spend all your time on them.

(At least in my humble, but accurate, opinion.)

Make sense?

Of course it does.

So sally forth and do ye likewise.

For the “how tos” of writing email check out “Email Players” — where I show you how to write profitable emails fast… and in a way that’s FUN.

Ain’t nothing better.

Unless you (GASP!) h8 making sales.

More info at:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

What’s a Milquetoast Marketer?

Basically, it’s someone who is kinda wimpy in their marketing — always plays everything safe, never tries new ideas, and doesn’t experience the thrill of doing the OPPOSITE of established goo-roo orthodoxy with their silly rules and faux one-size-fits-all split test results.

Here are some “marks” of a Milquetoast Marketer:

• They test “whispers” instead of “screams”

• Are scared to try anything fresh, bold or original — slaves to the idiotic notion that creativity is bad

• Wimpy offers

• Fear of using take away selling (they ooze “neediness”)

• Not being relentless about following up (for “Email Players” subscribers — www.EmailPlayers.com — this ain’t a problem)

• Fear being personal or letting anyone see the “real” them

• And the list goes on…

Look, every market has its token goo-roo, right?

Maybe even several of them.

But what every market does NOT have is someone who breaks off from the bleating pack of follower zombies and shows a little backbone in their marketing.

A little originality.

A little bit of ingenuity.

Instead, all you usually see is a herd of Milquetoast Marketers running lame tests with headline colors.

Afraid to email their lists regularly.

And never get noticed by anyone.

Kinda creepy, IMH (but accurate) O.

Ouch.

Ben Settle

P.S. For more info on avoiding the dreary existence of Milquetoast Marketer-dom, check out:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Gary Halbert in his newsletters used to quote this old saying…

“No good deed goes unpunished!”

Case in point:

I hardly ever respond to email questions (Email Players subscribers being the exception). And if I do, they are addressed publicly as “fodder” for my daily emails so everyone can benefit from them.

But, one time I broke that rule.

And… I was reminded WHY I had the rule in the first place.

Here’s what happened:

I thought it’d be fun to mix it up and answer some of the dozens of questions that can accumulate over a week. Anyway, I answered one dude’s email question about auto-responders and he soon replies back with… a complaint.

Apparently, my “curt” answer bugged him.

Sure, he liked the info.

But he wanted a SALUTATION, dang nab it!

A friendly greeting.

And some fraggin’ “cordiality.”

Amusing, isn’t it?

And kind of useful, too — as it was a solid reminder of the “gimme gimme gimme” mentality created by the Internet Gary Halbert wrote about lo them many years ago, and why I should be trying harder to REPEL such people.

Hey, what can I say?

I see biz lessons in everything.

Even in dorky complaints.

I’m a glass half full kinda guy…

Ben Settle

P.S. Another cool thing that happened is it reminded me just how cool my “Email Players” subscribers are.

They ask great questions.

Are eager to learn and get better at email.

And rapidly apply the info taught.

They don’t whine and complain about info.

They use it.

And they’re a pleasure to deal with.

My kind of people.

To see if you qualify for this exclusive “club”, go to:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Let’s have a bit of fun today.

A few of my recent emails (specifically the ones when I was doing that “Copywriting Grab Bag” birthday sale) have gotten some very interesting feedback.

Some of it good.

Some of it nasty (yeah!)

And some of it… awesome.

Including a couple cool-cat testimonials, like the one from Michael Masterson (who I’ve been a huge fan of for years). And another from copywriter Mary Rose Maguire which was tongue-in-cheek.

But, at the same time, one of my favorites.

She said (in a linkedin group for copywriters):

“I’d run away with him if I wasn’t already married, was 15 years younger, and looked like Scarlett Johansson.”

Ha.

Hey, that’s how it’s done, ladies.

Hope you’re taking notes.

Remember, flattery WILL get you everywhere.

(So will food, gifts and, yes, cash…)

Anyway…

One more thing:

Recently I’ve been getting asked about consulting.

Do I do it?

And, how much does it cost?

The answer is yes.

And the cost is… pricey.

A cool $500 per hour.

But, I daresay it’s worth it.

In fact, Jonathan Rivera told me he did his first $1,000 day after taking the advice I gave him in a recent consulting session.

Not too shabby, eh?

No promises of results for you, of course.

So let’s not get nutzo here.

But, it’s proof I ain’t just whistin’ dixie when consulting.

If you’re interested, email me.

In the meantime, check out:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

People ask about auto-responders all the time.

“Ben, which service is best?”

“What do YOU use?”

“Why aren’t you an affiliate for one???”

I’m always cryptic in my responses — and some even think I’m blowing them off on it. But the reality is, I don’t endorse any one (or two or three) auto-responders.

Why not?

Well, for one thing, they’re always in motion.

I can tell you what I think is best today, but this could change tomorrow or, it may not be the best for your particular situation and business.

After all, lists grow.

Companies make bad decisions.

ISP relationships may crumble.

So I’m always open to changing auto-responder companies and testing new ones out (and you should, too).

More:

They each have unique strengths & weaknesses.

For example:

Some will let you import your lists, some don’t. Some let you have non-confirmed opt-ins, some don’t. Some have great built-in tracking mechanisms, some don’t. Most auto-responder companies have lots of cool features but lack other really cool features their competitors have, and vice versa.

The point?

Every business has different needs.

And there’s no one-size-fits-all auto-responder.

Sorry, chief.

But that’s just the way it is.

So my opinion is, look at ALL of the reputable ones.

Most let you take free “test drives” or only charge a few bucks to test them. Play around inside and see which ones are the best fit for you and your comfort level with technology and needs.

But you know what’s MOST important?

Learning to sell with emails in the first place.

Otherwise, even the grooviest, most kick gluteus assimus auto-responder won’t do you a lick of good. On the other hand, if you know what you’re doing, you can make out like a bandit every time you push that “send” button even with a crappy auto-responder.

That’s where I can help.

It’s why I created the “Email Players” newsletter.

The newsletter is NOT for the timid.

Or for people “playing” business.

(i.e. MOST Internet marketers)

But if you got the right stuff, it’s at:

www.EmailPlayers.com

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