Ben Settle

I once got in a fight over sales.

No, not a FIST fight.

What I mean is, I was debating a person who was saying having special discount sales wasn’t very fair to people who had bought the product at full price, and that there was something unethical about it.

Like I told him…

He is simply wrong.

Take “Black Friday”, for example.

That’s supposedly the biggest shopping day of the year here in the US (the day after Thanksgiving). You can get HUGE deals on just about anything — clothes, gadgets, big screen TV’s, bicycles, whatever.

It’s quite the shin-dig.

But nobody ever gets mad at the deals, do they?

You don’t ever see “Occupy Walmart” protests with people pooping on the assistant manager’s car in RAGE at having special deals.

My point?

People buy when they’re ready.

Or when it’s most convenient.

Or, simply because circumstances dictate NOW is the time, even if they know a big sale is coming tomorrow. (Not everyone’s a price shopper…)

So sales can be mucho powerful.

They’re not the devil.

They’re just smart business.

And guess what?

Next month’s “Email Players” newsletter is ALL about how to do a kick gluteus assimus sale (or product launch, I use the same method for both) that brings in the dough quickly and in bigger numbers than you’ve probably ever seen before.

A bold claim?

Hey, the proof’s in the jello.

People I show this to make out like bandits.

If you want in on this info, go to:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

I’m a big fan of the AMC channel.

They have cool shows like “Breaking Bad” and “The Walking Dead”. And, believe it or not, they do something I’ve used for the last few years to create some seriously profitable product launches and special sales with email.

Something easy and simple.

And that gets exponentially more sales than normal.

Want to know what it is?

Well, I’ll give you a hint:

If you watched (for example) AMC throughout the day they launched the second season of “The Walking Dead” a few weeks back, you probably noticed a count down timer on the screen moving towards the time when the new episode airs.

It counted down ALL day.

And it was there constantly during all their shows.

Plus, they continually plugged the premiere episode in commercials throughout the day, too, so you couldn’t possibly NOT know about it.

The result?

Extremely HIGH ratings!

(The highest ratings for a drama in basic cable history.)

People couldn’t help but watch.

(Even if they had no desire to before).

Anyway, so there’s the hint.

It’s a powerful concept that’s one part of my email launch/special sale process (I use it for both) that has worked like gangbusters.

Not just for me, but clients, too.

(Plus, also friends I’ve shown it to.)

And you know what?

I’m teaching this in the December “Email Players” issue

And, I’m teaching it with a real-life example — with the entire process (and all the emails used) psychoanalyzed and handed to you on a silver platter so you can sally forth and do thou likewise.

But this baby goes to print soon.

To subscribe in time go to:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Sometimes I’m asked about my favorite email teachers.

Who are they?

How can one get on their list?

And it’s amusing how many times people seem genuinely surprised when I don’t rattle off their favorite IM goo-roos. When they ask me “What about (fill in any big name goo-roo)??!!” my answer is always the same:

Yeah, so what about them?

Does that seem flippant?

I suppose it is.

But I almost always get my most profitable email marketing ideas from hardcore door-to-door or phone salesman, and very rarely from anyone online.

Take, for example, guys like…

1. Stan Billue

2. Barry Maher

3. Jim Camp

4. Frank Bettger

5. Fred Herman

6. Joe Girard

7. Tom “Big Al” Schreiter

8. Gerry Spence (not really a “salesman” but still…)

9. Harry Browne

10. Dale Carnegie

And the list goes on…

And even though some of these dudes are long deceased (and had never even heard of email) I usually am studying them and figuring out how to apply what they did/do in face-to-face or phone sales to emails.

True, not everything translates over.

But a surprising amount of it does.

And when I do learn something new, I’ll test it out, see if it works and then eventually share it with my “Email Players” newsletter subscribers.

(Not every issue, but often…)

Hey, just another reason to subscribe.

(In my BIASED, but accurate, opinion.)

You can read more about it at:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Been doing lots of podcasts lately.

By that I mean, people have been inviting me on their podcasts to talk about emails and copywriting and other marketing topics.

And one question keeps popping up…

“How do I sell in emails without readers thinking I’m just trying to squeeze money out of their wallets?”

Interesting question.

But, methinks a bit… skewed.

You see the real problem here ain’t selling.

It’s people seeing themselves as money-grubbing marketers out to squeeze money from peoples’ pockets. That’s not a problem readers have, that’s a problem marketers have.

Alas, most people see selling as dirty.

Like a “necessary evil.”

But you know what I think?

I think if you sell something that SOLVES someone’s problem, then you not only should be perfectly comfortable selling (every day) to that person, but you have a moral and, yes, ethical obligation to do so. You ain’t doing them any favors keeping your product a secret.

In some ways, you’re causing them pain.

So hey, don’t FEAR selling.

Embrace it.

Enjoy it.

And start mastering it.

For how-to email sales guidance, see “Email Players”.

Each month I show real-life examples of emails I’m using to sell to various markets in a way you’ll feel warm & fuzzy doing (instead of like you’re some kind of evil con artist).

It’s truly an art & science.

And it’s yours to learn at:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Sometimes people ask how FAST email really works.

Does it take a lot of time?

Or can you see fairly quick results?

Well, let’s put it this way:

Yesterday Email Players subscriber Jerry L. was saying how he recently needed some extra cash to buy a ticket to Washington DC for a martial arts seminar.

So he asked himself:

“How can I make the money?”

That’s when a light went off in his head.

(Your brain is groovy like that — ask it a question, and often an answer will come…)

He has an email list and some DVD’s he sells.

So he sent off 4 emails over the weekend.

By Monday morning he had raked in $1,500 smackeroos.

Not bad for 4 emails.

Best part?

He said the sales came in while he was watching TV.

It’s amazing to think about, isn’t it?

I’m not making you any specific promises.

(I cannot — and will not — do that.)

But one of my friends and I were talking about this recently as he was saying how his sales are now consistently coming in at around 5 or so per day since doing daily emails the “Settle way.” And he did the math and was saying how, if you sell a $29 eBook and sell just 5 per day, you make way more $$ (with way less effort) than the average Joe who clocks in at a job slaving away 8+ hours per day and 40+ hours per week.

(And that’s not even counting back end sales…)

Again, can’t make you any specific promises.

And you still need a good list.

(It’s not ALL email…)

But it’s interesting to think about.

To learn how it’s done, go to:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

So I’ve talked about “The Game” before.

That’s the blockbuster book written by Neil Strauss about the underground “pick up artist” (PUA) community. A fascinating book one of my clients had me read a couple years ago (he was toying around with helping a famous PUA sell his course, and wanted me to write the copy…)

Anyway, the whole game concept is fascinating.

And for some guys, much needed these days.

(However, that’s a topic for another time…)

But here’s why I bring it up:

One of the things PUA’s use is a tactic known as “bouncing” — where the guy takes the girl he’s gaming to multiple different places in one night, which leaves her feeling very COMFY with him, like she’s known the dude a lot longer than she really has.

And you know what?

This works like gangbusters with email.

This isn’t a “technique” I’ve consciously used.

I just always knew daily emails worked.

But the effect is the same:

When you send daily emails the right way, people feel they’ve known you forever even if they’ve only been on your list for a few days. It’s no wonder I sometimes get emails (even voicemails!) from brand new subscribers wanting to hang out or saying, “we’re like long lost friends, I feel I’ve known you forever…”

It used to kinda creep me out.

But now I get it.

That’s just what happens when you do email the right way.

The key is “the right way.”

Just lobbing emails every day won’t cut it.

You have to know HOW to do it.

And in the next Email Players issue I’m teaching how to write a special kind of email that can help your readers bond to you like super glue the very FIRST time they hear from you (with that bond deepening more each email after that…)

It’s a VERY profitable method.

And Email Players are gonna profit handsomely from it.

But there’s no time for dilly-dally.

This baby goes to the printer next week.

To get in on time, go to:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Since it’s Halloween time, how ’bout a horror story?

Recently, I was talking to Doberman Dan about merchant accounts. Dan has been selling health supplements for over a decade, has an impeccable “money trail” record to look at as being ethical and transparent. And basically runs a business as honest as the day is long.

But, that didn’t stop ’em from shutting him down!

Talk about a horror story…

Imagine having your business running like normal, then one day waking up to dozens (maybe hundreds) of “declined” orders.

With no warning.

And no “heads up” whatsoever.

Someone at the bank decides your business is suddenly “high risk” (even though you have zero charge backs or complaints on file) and your business is effectively shut down… in the blink of a bureaucrat’s eye.

Yikes.

That’s scary.

(Don’t worry about Dan though, he’s a smart cookie, and in the next Email Players issue I’m including a bonus audio CD showing how he escaped that situation, and how you can, too.)

Anyway, where was I?

Oh, yeah, now, you may be thinking:

“But Ben! I don’t sell supplements. I sell an eBook — information — with nothing controversial about it…”

You think that makes you safe?

Forget regular merchant accounts for a second.

Even 3rd party payment processors that have been selling info products for years are following suit.

Take yours truly, for example.

I’m gearing up to promote a high ticket product with affiliates.

It’s a physical product.

And I don’t want to mess with paying affiliates myself.

So I thought I’d use 2Checkout.

They been around a while and are reputable.

Plus, I have even been an affiliate for info publishers who have used them to sell products very similar in content and price as my product.

But Saturday, I get an email that says:

(And I quote…)

“Unfortunately, we can no longer support sales from any website that would be classified as a direct marketing website by Visa and MasterCard regulations. This is a policy that has been passed down to us from our merchant provider.”

Application denied!

(Notice, their merchant account made the decision, not them.)

Again, you may be thinking:

“Yeah, but I use clickbank and paypal…”

So?

Who’s to say clickbank won’t do this?

Or even PayPal?

What makes you SO sure they won’t decide to ban selling products from “direct marketing” sites?

Fortunately, there IS a solution to this.

A very simple one, too.

And it is explained (in minute detail — I left no stone unturned) in the bonus audio CD that comes with the November “Email Players” newsletter issue.

It goes to the printer next week.

To get in on time, go to:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Recently, I got some amusing hate mail.

The woman who sent it sounded REALLY peeved.

Amongst her inane babblings (such as I’m a “huckster” blah blah blah) she ranted on about how I never send any content.

Am just full of hype.

And never share anything of substance.

(She even nagged my use of slang haha).

Anyway, she sounded plumb grumpy.

So for S&G’s, today I thought it’d be fun to put these “no content/substance” claims to the test by pulling out the subject lines of the last 10 emails I wrote (prior to the one that set her off) — along with the valuable tip(s) contained in each of those emails.

Ready?

OK, here they are…

• Why I’m such a fart about endorsing auto-responders
  (The tip: How to pick the right auto-responder)

• Zombie bureaucrats who want to eat your business
  (The tip: Awareness of people who want you to fail)

• 3 “plug ‘n play” email templates for your bad self
  (The tip: a link to 3 proven email templates)

• Exotic Chinese email secrets
  (The tip: create an exotic personae to be more persuasive)

• Re: my “bogus” double your income with email claim
  (The tip: True, this one was a pure pitch, but no serious marketer would begrudge me showing off how an Email Players subscriber doubled her income in a few weeks using my methods)

• Why nobody likes you no more
  (The tip: How to sell to skeptics)

• Might as well just set fire to your bank account now
  (The tip: A kick in the butt to stop procrastinating)

• The no-headache guide to selling physical products
  (The tip: What printer to use for physical products)

• How to get people physically addicted to your emails
  (The tip: Send more emails the right way, and peoples’ brains might literally “feen” for more)

• Why stoopid emails make more sales
  (The tip: Writing “escapist” emails can make you more sales)

Hmm.

Smells like content to me.

But here’s what was really amusing:

As one of my friends (we enjoy reading each other’s “hate mail”) pointed out, in the time it took to write her complaint, she could have written an email that sold her product.

Now there’s a marketing lesson.

Hey, what can I say?

I have that effect on the ladies…

Ben Settle

P.S. She was also bothered by how I am always promoting my “Email Players” newsletter. So at the risk of pissing her off even more… here’s the link to get inside my inner sanctum of email marketers:

www.EmailPlayers.com

I love reading me a good email.

But I have to admit, much of my inspiration these days for writing emails comes NOT from being on goo-roos’ lists (actually, I’m not even on any) or anyone else’s email lists. Instead, I get most of my inspiration from certain (mostly controversial) blogs, Internet forums and, believe it or not… direct mail.

Direct mail is coming back in a BIG way.

Maybe it’s because the post office is treating it better.

Or maybe it’s because some goo-roos are starting to teach it like it’s “new” (I always get a kick out of that).

But I dig reading direct mail.

That’s all email really is, anyway:

A single piece of white paper delivered digitally.

And it makes awesome email fodder.

For example:

In a certain mens health niche I sell in, I started getting on a lot of different health lists for men to see what the sales letters were appealing to. But instead of using them as inspiration for sales letters… I found myself combing through the pitches, highlighting certain emotional hot buttons they were targeting, and then creating emails around those.

And I mean LOTS of emails!

I think there’s 94 emails in the sequence.

And most are from reading direct mail.

That auto-responder converts, too.

Last I checked, that baby converts at around 19% (over time).

Not too shabby.

Hey, want email ideas?

Raid thy snail mail box.

Remember what it looks like?

Ben Settle

P.S. Another offline source I get a LOT of email ideas (and persuasion tips) from, is telephone sales people.

Weird, eh?

Using phone selling ideas to sell in email?

Maybe so.

But if you do it right, it can make your emails almost impossible for prospects NOT to read. In fact, the next “Email Players” issue contains a secret I learned from the world’s greatest telephone sales coach (sales masters Tom Hopkins and Zig Ziglar use this guy’s training materials when selling seats to their own seminars).

This puppy goes to the printer soon.

To subscribe in time, go to:

www.EmailPlayers.com