Ben Settle

Someone made a request last week.

He wanted me to NOT use the word “goo-roo” for a while. Of course, I told him his request was received… processed… and — BZZZT!!! — denied!

I just can’t help it.

There are too many lessons to be learned.

And I ain’t talking about “how to” lessons, neither.

Case in point:

A while back someone asked me what I meant when I said the word “goo-roo.” Who am I talking about? Is that code for ripping on anyone specific?

Uhm… no.

It’s simply a way to describe a certain kind of “teacher.”

Probably the best definition for a “goo-roo” I can think of is someone who brags about having $10,000 worth of info products on their shelf they’ve never actually consumed… and thinks they’re an expert by “osmosis.” Kind of like sleeping with a book under your pillow and thinking all that knowledge is going to seep into your brain.

Just doesn’t work that way.

But really, I like goo-roos.

They make me (and a lot of other people) look good.

For example:

I’m enjoying watching all the email “experts” popping up. Some are even trying to recycle what I teach and then pretending to be masters at it, even though they rarely even write to their lists.

Back in the day, it’d irritate me.

But now?

It’s amusing.

And it’s amusing because I know as soon as they see you can’t fake it, they’ll move on to the next shiny new object (probably social media).

Happens all the time now.

Anyway, so that’s that.

If you want to learn email at my feet, go to:

Ben Settle

Ever see “Faces Of Death”?

It’s a 1980 “cult classic” horror film.

It’s basically nothing but a movie (with narration) about animals and people… dying. It was deemed so disturbing it was banned in several countries, and even though most of it’s fake (the flesh eating “death cult” scene is my favorite), there are some scenes that were real.

Fake or not, the movie is quite gruesome.

And the filmmaker was just obsessed with dying.

Anyway, reason I bring it up is because I was recently thinking about how easy it’d be to create a movie about all the ways businesses die.

Kind of a “Faces Of Death” for entrepreneurs.

It might include such grisly horrors as:

• Zero customer service

• Mindless swiping

• Relying on “one” of anything (i.e. Dan Kennedy’s “1 is the most dangerous number in business”)

• No long term planning
  • Moving free lines (instead of selling)
  • Never thinking outside the box
  • Listening to people who have never actually done what they’re advising (i.e. consultants with lots of book smarts but no “street smarts”)
  • And the list goes on…

  There are millions of ways to kill a business.

  Probably the easiest-to-avoid business death is simply not following up enough. No follow up (or weak follow up) can kill a business lickety split.

  That’s why I’m big on email.

  It makes follow-up a no-brainer.

  And it’s one reason I’m creating the “Email Players” newsletter (coming soon).

  To get it at a discount go to:

  www.EmailPlayers.com

  Ben Settle

It’s Independence Day weekend here in the US.

And I want to celebrate by giving you a special gift: A free (digital) copy of the FIRST “Email Players” newsletter issue (it’s normally in hard copy print format, but this issue is digital).

To get your email lovin’ simply subscribe to my daily tips at:

They’re proven.

They’re pithy.

And they can increase your sales quickly.

Ben Settle

P.S. This is actually the August issue.

Due to a number of reasons, I won’t be launching the newsletter until mid August (with the September issue). So I figured, “why not give this issue to my list free, to give you a taste of you can expect from it?

Anyway, I hope you enjoy it.

And (even more importantly) PROFIT from it…

“Ben, why do you block AOL, MSN and Hotmails?”

A very good question — and timely, too, as recently I decided to change this policy due to it outliving its usefulness.

Here’s the dealy-ho:

A few years ago I noticed a weird trend.

For some reason, whether sending personal email across the house (we had MSN at the time) or via my aweber account, a lot of people using AOL, MSN and hotmail addresses were not getting my emails.

This wasn’t the case with everyone.

But it happened enough.

Both with free info and customer service emails.

It’s not a huge problem with free tips.

But it IS a problem for delivering paid products.

So what I did was use aweber’s blocking feature to block AOL, MSN and hotmail emails. The way I see it, if you use those emails you’re not going to receive the information you asked for, anyway.

However, here’s the rub:

I don’t know if this is the case anymore.

Mayhaps spam filters are getting less aggressive.

Or maybe they’re more intelligent.

But with my 1ShoppingCart email program, people get their emails at those blocked addresses all the time, with little or no problem (if anything, yahoo emails get lost…)

So I decided it’s time to change my policy.

We’ll see what happens…

Anyway, here’s the take-away:

Email is ALWAYS in flux.

It’s one reason I’m doing an ongoing hardcopy newsletter just about email, so my subscribers and I can stay informed of changes, what’s working (what’s not), what spam filters are up to, etc.

For details sally forth over to:

Ben Settle

Today’s client tip should make you happy.

Especially if you hate writing long ads.

Check out these grapes:

A while back in the private yahoo forum for my Crypto Marketing Newsletter subscribers, someone was asking for advice on how to sell their services. He was thinking (like a lot of people do) that you need a long form sales letter to get the job done.

My advice was to go the opposite way.

And that a long pitch is unnecessary,

Sure, you can do that if you want.

But it’s kind of a waste of time.

This is especially true with copywriters selling their services who spend all their time trying to “convince” people reading their ads why they need copy (a big mistake IMHBAO). Instead, just put up a menu of services, and go after people already spending money on ads by demonstrating and pitching your wonderfulness with samples, testimonials, and tips via your blog and emails.

Hey, it works.

That’s all I can say about it.

On a related note…

Tomorrow is Jason Leister’s webinar:

Jason is “the man” with profiting from clients.

Plus, check this out:

As a “carrot” to get you to check out his webinar, if you use my affiliate link to attend at:

… I’ll give you two kick assimus bonuses.

One is by Ryan Healy.

And the other by John Anghelache.

Both are masters at getting new clients and the information they reveal in these MP3’s (which you can usually only get via buying my $297 Copywriting Grab Bag product) are intended to get you paying clients (especially copywriting clients) right away.

I’ll send them to you free.

Just email me your receipt when you use this link:

(My affiliate link)

Ben Settle

What’s with the swipe file obsession?

Seems people only want to know where they can “swipe” good ads and emails, where they can find all the best ads to copy and steal from (yes, people actually use that verbiage) and how can they get their hot little hands on more swipes, etc.

Sigh.

Look, I’m not against swipe files.

Got one myself.

And it’s endlessly useful.

But probably the biggest mistake people make (besides breaking copyright laws) is swiping anything and everything without really knowing if the ad worked (hint: if you’re swiping from big goo-roo launches, I feel sorry for you).

Sad, but true.

Most swipe files are really “wipe files.”

(i.e. the ads are about as useful as toilet paper…)

Plus, things change so fast nowadays, it’s amusing when someone swipes an ad I wrote 2-3 years ago, when the appeals that worked then no longer apply today.

Anyway, I know most will ignore this warning.

Much easier to swipe than think, after all.

But so be it.

At least I tried…

Ben Settle

P.S. Incidentally, my upcoming email marketing print newsletter will do hardcore swipe artists no good whatsoever. Yes, I’ll be including templates and examples to learn from, but people who can’t form an original thought don’t qualify.

It’s ONLY for people who think for themselves.

Have something original to say.

And can make a move without raiding a swipe file.

In fact, I know some people already who are planning to subscribe who I will not let join simply because I know they’re more interested in being a pirating copycat than an original voice.

For those One-Eyed Willy’s membership is denied.

Anyway, enough.

To hop on the notification list, go to:

So I’m gonna do it.

I’ve been kicking the idea around for months and several people have been asking about it off and on since launching The Crypto Marketing Newsletter back in March of 2010.

But due to time constraints I delayed it.

Well, methinks now’s the time.

What do I speaketh of?

I’m launching a SECOND print newsletter.

And this one is about… email marketing.

It’s much more expensive than The Crypto Marketing Newsletter, and is really only for hardcore “doers” who already know the power of using emails… how quickly and cleanly it brings in sales (when done right)… and want ongoing education on the subject (as well as a few other “perks” subscribers get).

Anyway, it’s not ready yet.

But FAQ’s are up if you’re interested.

Details at:

Ben Settle

P.S. Be sure to sign up for the early bird discount list at the above link. That way you won’t miss the window to get the discount when it launches.

Sometimes people ask about my sales letters.

Usually, they want to know where they can find them online so they can “swipe” them (which I HIGHLY discourage, BTW) and probably to get on any other lists. Anyway, one person was recently asking about the The Crypto Marketing Newsletter ad.

He wanted to know why it lacks testimonials.

People asking that are often a bit brainwashed.

They assume testimonials MUST be used, but they’re wrong. Not only are testimonials often ignored but sometimes they even lower response.

Plus, there’s the FTC rules.

They make using testimonials with teeth obsolete.

So online I don’t always use them.

Still, I understand the need to see 3rd party validation. And a while back one of my subscribers, Courtney Houde, made a short little video about it. Courtney writes ads for one of the biggest and most respected marketing training sites on the Internet.

A serious student of the game.

I suspect he doesn’t give testimonials lightly.

You can see it here:

Ben Settle

P.S. To check out the newsletter go to:

Unlike Courtney, I won’t call you a dork for not subscribing.

But, I might for other reasons.

For example…

Lately, a few losers (dorks) have geeked their way in, and I’m thinking of making it harder to join and taking away some of the bonuses people get until they’ve demonstrated they’re serious business owners, and not goo-roo fanboys (i.e. people who join just to get the free stuff, think they can join today and be making a gazillion dollars by next week, etc)

We’ll see.

I’m more interested in quality of subscribers than quantity.

Got asked about email & non-info businesses.

In other words, most of us online tend to sell books, CDs, DVDs, eBooks, MP3’s and that sort of thing, and thus, most of the stuff I write about here with email is with those businesses.

But what about brick & mortar businesses?

People who don’t sell information at all?

And who instead sell services or classes or physical products like sporting goods, or whatever?

What about them?

Can they use email like this?

Hey, does Bigfoot poop in the woods?

Listen, in the town I used to live there was a natural health food store with excellent products, great customer service (very knowledgeable) and were quite likable, with lots of customers.

But they NEVER captured emails.

Didn’t even try.

Frankly, they did zero marketing at all.

It was all word of mouth.

And they eventually went under.

Kinda sad, too.

Because it COULD have been avoided with email.

For example…

They could have captured the email addresses of everyone who came in for their free tips and special offers newsletter. (Of course, they’d have had to consult with their auto-responder company about adding names manually, or maybe have customers subscribe from a laptop at the cash register.) Then, have a daily tip/offer/special to get people in the door.

Each day a new health tip.

And each tip selling a product related to the tip with an offer…

“Come in today and get two
bottles for the price of one…”

Irresistible.

See, no problem.

To step and use email more profitably, go to:

Ben Settle