Ben Settle

I dig Earl Nightingale’s style.

(The dude who co-founded “Nightingale-Contant”).

I don’t drink his kool-aid as much as most people I know, but a LOT of his teachings were spot on. And I’ve used many of them to break through some pretty big obstacles in my bid’niz career.

He had all kinds of cool insights, too.

My favorite was probably this:

(Paraphrased):

“Wherever you find yourself, look around you and see what everyone else is doing. Then, if you do the exact opposite, you’ll probably never make another mistake for as long as you live.”

Ballz yeah!

That’s SO true.

And it applies to marketing, too.

I love it when some goo-roo fanboy who can’t make a sale if his life depended on it (despite buying from all the big old fatty product launches) challenges me on something like mailing daily, etc.

It’s a perfect example of cognitive dissonance.

That’s a $50 term that basically means:

People will KEEP believing (and with even MORE conviction) something even after whatever it is they believed has been thoroughly debunked and disproved.

Think doomsday cults.

They predict the end of the world.

The end doesn’t happen.

So their little minds now scramble to make sense of everything, adjust the “deadline” (ha) and believe it even more.

Hey, a wise man once said:

“The masses are asses.”

Hard to disagree with that, eh?

To get the skinny on email marketing (no theory or guessing — just real, provable information you can test yourself) check out the “Email Players” newsletter.

The next issue is “must reading.”

It’s one of my most profitable teachings ever.

Subscription info at:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

This is kinda funny:

A few days ago I read an article about how that T-Mobile chick and “Flo” (the chick who does all the Progressive commercials) are so highly searched online that a bunch of advertising ex-spurts are saying that PROVES those ads campaigns are successful.

Amusing, isn’t it?

Methinks they should wake up and smell the perfume.

First, the fact people search for info about those women has nothing to do with the success of the advertising.

Only the popularity of the women searched.

Secondly:

There was no mention of sales figures.

So how can they know it was successful or not?

Otherwise, by their reasoning, a business is successful if the voice of the company is popular even if sales tank and it goes bankrupt. Kinda reminds me of something I heard Gary Bencivenga (universally acknowledged as the world’s greatest living copywriter, who has been involved with over a BILLION dollars of tests…) teach in an interview several years ago.

He said:

“You are not the star of the ad. The PRODUCT is.”

Someone send the ad ex-spurts the memo already.

Anyway, there’s a point here somewhere.

And really, I’m preaching to the choir.

You already know this.

But there’s few things more fun than having a hearty laugh at the mainstream advertising world together.

OK, that’s it for today.

Enjoy your weekend.

For advanced email training, go to:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Sometimes people think me an email snob.

Here’s what I mean:

They have a question or comment and send me multiple emails, and after a while start to sound like they’re beginning to HULK out… getting very angry and/or distressed about my not emailing them back.

But, there are many reasons I don’t respond.

Like, for example…

1. Time

I simply cannot answer every email.

We rapped about this not long ago when that dude whined about how I didn’t give him a salutation and cordial greeting while answering his question.

(Which I was not even obligated to answer).

But it bears repeating.

For more on this, see:

www.BenSettle.com/blog/why-i-delete-your-emails

2. Message not received

I love email.

But, it’s kind of like being in love with a highly promiscuous woman — you may LOVE her, but you can never fully TRUST her…

And so it is with email delivery.

So when in doubt go here:

www.BenSettle.com/blog/contact

3. Reply not received

In other words…

I did receive your email (this usually applies to customer service, not general questions which I rarely respond to) and emailed you back, but you never got my response probably making you think perhaps I never answered your email in the first place.

Again, try the URL above.

Anyway, bottom line is this:

If you want your emails to be a priority, then you’ll have to be an “Email Players” subscriber. That’s part of the deal — ask me questions whenever you want.

No, I won’t be your pen pal.

And I can’t always answer right away.

But I do personally answer questions.

For more info, go to:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

“It doesn’t look good,” said the doctor examining his patient’s x-rays. “Everything is swollen except your wallet.”

Ha.

Got a kick out of that one.

Saw it in a comic strip in “Sun” Magazine.

I’ve rapped about “Sun” before in the hallowed pages of these emails. And about how you can find the grooviest headlines for idea-generation and inspiration.

Here are some from the recent issue:

Attack Of The Kelpie!
Teens discover supernatural horse is all too real

3 Easy Ways To Be Smarter

Herpes Virus Could Treat Cancer

Pollution-free, 90 cents-per-gallon fuel is a
MIRACLE AT THE PUMP

New Military Tech Lets Soldiers…
SEE THROUGH WALLS

What Do You Do With A 90 Fingered Robot?

Where else but Australia…
RUBBER SIDEWALKS FOR DRUNKS!

Duct-taped Airliner Forced To Turn Around During Flight
“The pilot could have been sucked out mid-air”

Real-Life Doogie Howser College Bound At Age 11

Townsfolk baffled by…
MYSTERY BLOBS FROM OUTER SPACE

Taxidermist survives 30 years on…
ROADKILL DIET!

Caviar Cologne Reels In The Cuties
“A dab of beluga behind your ear is all you
need to drive women wild”

ROYAL BLOOD
Prince Charles saves forests
in honor of Uncle Dracula

Never a dull moment with “Sun”.

Anyway, for lots of email subject line/headline inspiration, check out the “Email Players” newsletter where I include examples galore to learn, study and model for your own campaigns.

Next issue is a doozie, too.

It’s all about launching products with emails.

I just used my method to nab a 22% conversion (probably more, that’s a conservative estimate) over the holiday weekend.

It’s simple, fast and, yes, fun.

And it goes to print tomorrow.

Subscribe in time at:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

I’m quite bloated today.

Ate way too much last night and, frankly, I don’t even want to THINK about food today, much less eat, smell or so much as look at it.

But, I can WRITE about it.

And there’s a FAT email lesson within.

Here’s what I mean:

Feeling bloated after Thanksgiving has the same affect on people as sending them a large, content-packed email — you’ve filled them up, they’re “full” and still trying to digest your information for days in some cases, during which time they ignore all the other emails you send them (and are less likely to buy).

It’s like the supermarket cheese cube lady.

(The chick giving away cubes of cheese on a toothpick.)

She only gives you a TASTE of cheese.

It’s not nearly enough to get full so you aren’t hungry anymore. After all, if she gave you a POUND of cheese, you’d be far less likely to buy.

And so it is with email.

Most content emails are WAY too long.

I’m not saying long emails never work.

They can and do.

But just like you wouldn’t eat a Thanksgiving feast even a couple days per week and expect to be hungry (and not feel bloated)… you can’t serve the email equivalent of a Thanksgiving feast to your list regularly and expect them to be hungry enough to buy or not be so bloated they don’t want to even look at your next several emails.

Anyway, this email is getting a bit long itself.

So bottom line is this:

Writing pithy (yet profitable) emails is an art.

It rarely comes natural.

And few know how to do it.

To see how it’s done, check out:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

It’s happening more and more.

Someone skeptically subscribes to the Email Players newsletter, goes through the bonus “Email Players Playbook” that comes with their subscription, reads their first issue… then starts applying the info and seeing a nice sales spike.

Sometimes HUGE sales spikes.

Then cometh the question…

“Ben WHY does this email stuff work so well???”

Good question.

There are probably hundreds of answers.

Here’s one to think about:

Email (when done correctly) is the “oil” in your sales funnel.

(Especially when done daily.)

And it’s kinda like a giant machine.

It has multiple moving parts that keep everything going and if even ONE part fails, the entire machine grinds to a screeching halt. So in order to keep that machine going, you have to make sure you regularly grease and oil all the parts and you’ll probably never have a problem with anything rusting off or even going wrong.

You may need MINOR maintenance at times.

But mostly, it’s smooth sailing.

And so it is with email.

It’s the “oil” in your business machine.

Shooting out a daily email (again, assuming it’s written in the right way) keeps your sales “machine” functioning properly.

Keeps sales coming out smoothly.

And keeps the profits flowing like lies from a goo-roo’s lips.

That’s been my experience, at least.

What about you?

Do you want to learn how to keep your “sales machine” pumping out profits with email… with everyone wondering how you do it?

In just 15-20 minutes per day?

And while having FUN?

Then check out:

www.EmailPlayers.com

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