Ben Settle

I’m a sucker for good TV.

But often, I come to the best shows late in the game (i.e. 2-3 years after they debut). This happened with “24”, “Dexter”, “Burn Notice” and, most recently… “Breaking Bad” — about an underachieving chemistry genius who gets cancer and, to take care of his family, starts cooking the purest and most expensive meth in New Mexico.

And you know what?

That got me to thinking about YOU, recently.

Here’s what I mean:

While back my pal Ryan Healy wrote an article about how scientists discovered reacting to a never-ending stream of “information bursts” (you know, like checking your email…) literally “excites” your brain to the point where it dumps dopamine into your system — the stuff that creates feelings of happiness.

It makes you feel goooood.

And the MORE you release it, the MORE you crave it.

And the MORE you crave it, the MORE you want to keep doing whatever caused ye olde “pleasure dump” in the first place.

Hey, I’m no health goo-roo.

And maybe I’m just watching too much “Breaking Bad.”

But know what this sounds like to me?

Checking email is like taking drugs!

Freaky, eh?

But at the same time, it sure explains why so many of my “Email Players” subscribers are kicking booTAY (in the past 24 hours alone two subscribers told me how doing email the way I teach has doubled their sales).

Because people LOVE a good email.

They look forward to it.

And (if you do it right) their brains FEEN it.

They need their fix, Heisenberg.

Give it to them!

Anyway, food for thought.

To start writing “addictive” emails like that, go to:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Ever see the movie “Transformers 2” (2009)?

Arguably one of the dorkiest movies ever.

No doubt it’ll leave you a few IQ points dumber. But, at the same time, as dumb as it is, it’s easily one of the most entertaining movies I’ve ever seen, too.

I loved every idiotic minute of it.

And apparently so did a lot of other people.

(It grossed almost a billion dollars in sales!)

Question is, how?

How could a movie so blatantly stoopid, make so much money?

What’s the big secret?

Answer:

Mindless, escapist fun!

That’s right, baby!

I remember reading an interview with the main actor and he even said the movie was just mindless, escapist fun. You weren’t SUPPOSED to come out thinking about the meaning of life or have some kind of artsy-fartsy mind-blowing experience you could tell your children’s children about some day.

You were just supposed to have fun.

Mindless fun.

ESCAPIST fun.

And guess what?

It’s the exact same with emails.

People wonder why I sometimes write mindlessly pointless emails about things like 10 goo-roo fanboy commandments… or about the time I farted in study hall and looked at the kid behind me (so everyone thought he did it haha)… or about how FaceBook is turning grown men into whiney little sissies… etc.

It’s the fun factor.

The escapist fun.

No, you won’t win any awards.

And you won’t get passed around social media land.

But it can make you more sales.

(If you do it right.)

Maybe even LOTS more sales.

Anyway, more advanced email training at:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

So here’s my theory.

Not sure it holds water.

So if you see some “holes” in my theory, feel free to treat it like a George Lucas movie and ignore the plot holes and just enjoy the show. Anyway, so I was talking to my pal Jim Yaghi about why people will go around and promote really bad and complicated products for goo-roos even when they don’t get a commission.

It’s practically an epidemic.

Mayhaps you’ve seen it?

Some goo-roo comes out with a shiny new object product, the gullible (predictably) snatch it up and start telling everyone how great it is… even though the product sucks, and even though the goo-roo “evangelist” knows it.

Why would they do that?

Especially when it hurts said goo-roo evangelist’s rep?

Here’s my theory:

Misery loves company, right?

So the goo-roo evangelist bought a bad product and spent a TON of money on it. Now in order to justify his purchase and not feel like a fool, he warps everything around in his tired, confused brain (Google “cognitive dissonance” for more on this) to make it sound like the best thing since sliced watermelon.

He then goes forth and tells everyone about it.

Raves about it on forums.

And sells it HARDER than the product author does!

This happens a lot in MLM.

People get into a bad deal, drop a lot of money, and then feel compelled to get other people in so they won’t be alone in their misery.

Jinkies!

Anyway, that’s my theory.

Take it for what it’s worth.

(About 100 “bytes” of info).

For something far more valuable, go to:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Ever hear of a “phantom” email list?

Of course not.

I just invented the term.

And I invented it to describe a list that does not exist, but is still there in a “disembodied” way much like the way in movies how a ghost exists, but is not really there. In this case, I speaketh of a website that has traffic… but no names are being collected.

This, my friend, is pure HORROR.

Especially if it stops you from writing emails.

In fact, people ask me all the time, “Ben, I don’t have much traffic, when should I start building a list?”

The answer is…

Yesterday!

Start collecting them names!

And, even MORE important, writing them emails.

Yes, write emails before you even have a list — while said list is still a “phantom” floating around your website.

Why?

Well, think about this:

Earlier this year I created a new site in the male health market and had zero traffic coming in. So every day I started writing emails and putting them in an auto-responder sequence.

I’d also put them in article directories.

And, I’d put them on my site.

If I would have had the time, I’d have also read those articles into a recorder and put the MP3’s on iTunes, and turned them into YouTube videos with screen capture software.

That way you kill three birds with one stone:

1. Creating content
2. Generating traffic
3. Having emails pre-loaded into your autoresponder

So get crackin’.

Give your list a flarkin’ BODY.

And then check out “Email Players”:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Otherwise you’ll be haunted by “phantom profits.”

And those are TRULY scary…

Ben Settle

A little while back I put up a “media” page.

This is a page on my site which has copies of various audio interviews I’ve done on radio shows (as well as podcasts). And there are many strategical and profitable reasons for having such a page — like attracting more traffic, generating high quality prospects for your email list, rock-solid credibility, and the list goes on.

Mucho benefits.

Zippo drawbacks.

Anyway, someone asked how to get on radio like that?

Do you have to mail & fax press releases?

Call reporters up?

Have connections?

Absolutely not!

In fact, while I AM a big fan of faxing press releases, I no longer do it that way. Now I use plain old “retro” email to do it. It’s free, it’s fast (I have gotten interviews lined up within minutes of sending an email to a reporter) and it’s highly efficient.

More:

The same method can get you on podcasts, too.

Podcast interviews are list building GOLD MINES.

Especially if they have big audiences.

(After all, podcast listeners are near their computers…)

Plus you can be a total luddite to do them. Frankly, for building my email list I am finding podcasts to be my favorite (and probably most profitable) method for adding new people to my list who are prospects and not merely “suspects.”

The key is knowing how to get booked.

What do you say in the email?

And who do you contact?

Well, guess what?

This is one of several list building secrets taught in the next “Email Players” issue and its accompanying bonus reports and audio CD training.

It goes to the printer tomorrow.

To subscribe in time, go to:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Here’s a timely question:

“Ben, what’s your best list building tactic?”

Good question.

In my humble (and always accurate) opinion, it’s:

Building a list of PROSPECTS not SUSPECTS.

Creating a big list of SUSPECTS is easy.

Just do some free ad swaps and sweepstakes and other gimmicks and you get thousands of email addresses in your database very quickly for little or no money.

You won’t make jack from it.

But by thunder — you’ll have a big list!

Building a list of PROSPECTS is different.

These are people in need of what you sell, and are in the mindset where they’re “pre sold” on you, and seeking your website out.Then, when they get there, actively search for your opt-in form so they can join your list as fast a humanely possible.

Now you’re in bid’nis!

I mean, let’s face it:

You can’t hardly lose like that, can you?

Well guess what?

This is what the next “Email Players” issue is all about:

Building a list of prospects (not suspects).

I’m also including a PILE of bonus’s too.

These bonuses include ways to build your list using email… YouTube… an ordinary ball (yes, a ball)… your local news media… the telephone (gasp!)… and even a 74 minute audio training (on a CD) showing you ways to tweak your website to make people far more likely to give up the goods (i.e. their email address) and eagerly join your list.

This next issue is THICK with information.

But time is short.

It goes to the printer Saturday.

Subscribe today (while there’s time) at:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Sometimes I actually get emails that say things like:

“Ben I don’t waaaaant to do an email every day, can’t I just keep doing it once every month or whenever I have something important to say or when I have something to sell?”

And the answer is always the same:

Yeah, go ahead.

Mail once per year for all I care.

But if you want to as much as double your sales (like a lot of frequent emailers do) then you gotta sac up and mail more.

IMH(BA)O this is mandatory now.

Especially in this flakey economy.

It’s sort of like in the TV show “LOST”. There was a plot gimmick where this dude stuck in an underground bunker on the island had to push a button every 180 minutes or the island would blow up (something like that).

It didn’t matter if he was tired.

Or if he “felt” like it.

Or even if he wanted to do it.

None of that mattered.

What mattered was pushing that stupid button every 180 minutes (night and day) to stay alive.

And so it is with your business.

You can’t rest on your can.

In my opinion, you gotta keep pushing that button each day. Specifically the “send” button — writing an email to your list designed to sell, but that also makes people want to read your email and KEEP reading them ongoing.

We’re talking 15-20 minutes per day — max.

If you don’t know how, check out the “Email Players” newsletter:

www.EmailPlayers.com

But definitely write more emails.

Push the button already…

Ben Settle

Talk about ironic…

Many people weeping and gnashing their teeth over building their email lists are already extremely good list builders. Much better at it than they give themselves credit for. I’d even call some of ’em EXPERTS at it.

There’s just ONE little problem.

One TINY little “snag”:

They’re building the WRONG list.

Here’s what I mean:

Instead of sending emails out plugging their products, they send their lists (on a disturbingly frequent basis!) to someone else’s website. For example… they’ll send ’em to FaceBook. Or YouTube videos. Or Amazon. Or Warrior Forum Special Offers. Or affiliate offers, etc etc etc…

Not saying this is ALWAYS bad.

There are times when that makes sense.

But to do it regularly?

Or even more than once in a while?

Seems a tad… skewed… to me.

After all, there’s a lot MORE power (and profit) in having your own product and website and mailing your list about it every day, instead of someone else’s.

I know I know!

It’s not very shiny-new-objecty, is it?

But I’m fairly certain you’ll put more of the green stuff in your hot little pocket doing that than you will by sending the people already inside your store (near the cash register!) to everyone else’s store and cash register.

Anyway, just my opinion.

You can, of course, do whatever you want.

But if you want to build your own list to mail and profit from, check out the next (October) “Email Players” issue.

It’s ALL about list building.

And it goes to print soon.

Get it (while you can) at:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Last week Doberman Dan had me on his private coaching call teaching how to break free of freelancing (or working for someone else), and going full time online with your own business.

A merry time was had by all.

But one thing discussed was especially valuable.

Something everyone can do.

And, I daresay, something everyone SHOULD do.

What do I speaketh of?

Paying yourself first.

But wait!

I’m not talking about this from a financial point of view (although I believe that’s also mucho important).

Here’s what I mean:

When I was doing client work I ALWAYS did my stuff first.

In other words, no matter how much work clients threw at me (and when I was on retainer this was crucial) the first hour of every day was MINE to work on my own projects.

No, clients did not always like this.

But tough titty for them.

Hour #1 belonged to me.

Did it make a difference?

Hellz yeah!

And yet, it’s the OPPOSITE of what most freelancers do. Usually people pour all their energy and time into their client’s stuff first, and then hope they have the energy to do their own stuff later (when they’re tired, burned out, etc).

Big mistake.

Big, big, BIG mistake.

I always gave my stuff #1 priority.

Client stuff came second.

I’m not saying to shirk doing a good job.

I’m just saying to pay yourself first.

Hey, this tip may not be “sexy.”

But it’s got TEETH.

Big SHARP teeth.

And the payoff is enormous.

Of course, in my case, the first hour was writing an email to my list (actually, two lists).

Shocking, huh?

IMH(BA)O email is TOPS.

The #1 MOST profitable activity.

To learn how I do it, go to:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle