Ben Settle

It’s kind of funny to think about.

But a lot of highly successful online marketers still market like it’s the 1990’s. By that I mean, still using pop ups, still using plain text emails, still not encouraging people to subscribe to a blog feed (and instead insist on capturing emails in an auto-responder) and still refusing to drink the social media kool-aid.

Case in point:

A couple years ago I wrote bullets for a seminar ad.

Actually, it was for the CD’s of the seminar.

And the seminar had some of the world’s richest and most successful Internet marketers teaching (and attending). I specifically remember the guy holding the seminar saying (more or less):

“Most 7-figure online businesses are just doing the basics — squeeze page, follow up emails, and a sales letter…”

That’s not to say you can’t use the fancy stuff.

Like blogs.

Or videos.

Or even social media (which is highly overrated).

No, the point is the basics still work.

And they work better than anything else.

Forget them and die…

Ben Settle

P.S. The next Crypto Marketing Newsletter issue (which goes to print in less than a week from now) is ALL about the basics.

But, not just any old basics.

Basics most have forgotten.

Or, even if you know them, I would bet green money you are not using them all. To prove it, I’m including a short 26 page booklet that explains this in a way that is fun, educational and so powerful it has been recommended by advertising legends like David Ogilvy and Gary Bencivenga.

Subscription info at:

I get a lot of newbie questions.

And probably the most asked question is… how do you get started in business (online) if you’re broke as a joke, with not even enough money to buy a $12 book at the bookstore, much less one of the big “must have!” goo-roo info products that cost $1,997 a pop?

How do you get started?

What should you do?

Lucky you I gots me some experience with this.

It wasn’t all that terribly long ago when The Nerd Girl and I were so broke we were sleeping on one of those blow-up aero beds. And then, a few nights after blowing it up, were sleeping on the floor again after her wedding ring (with the sharp, dinky little stone that was all I could afford) punctured it in the middle of the night.

I’ll never forget it, either.

“Nerd Girl, what’s that hissing noise? You got gas?”

“Shut up Ben! I think it’s the bed!”

And then we started sinking….

Ugh.

Not-so-fun times.

Anyway, we were broke from being in debt up to our eyeballs. And so I had no money to buy a lot of products or even books. Instead I did all I COULD do — keep writing, studying ads, reading free resources (like Gary Halbert’s newsletters), etc.

And each dollar I made was then reinvested.

That’s how I built my info product library.

And why I don’t have any nonsense goo-roo products.

When all you have is a set amount of cash, you gotta discriminate big time and ruthlessly ignore BS.

Anyway, so that’s my advice.

There IS light at the end of the tunnel.

You just gotta keep moving towards it.

Even if just one inch at a time.

And speaking of which…

If you can afford .90 cents per day, then the May Crypto Marketing Newsletter issue is a great “jumping on” point for newbies and pros alike.

There’s no sexy goo-roo “super persuasion” stuff inside.

Just solid fundamentals.

Including things even seasoned pros forget.

Frankly, I go out of my way to re-read the short booklet that comes with this issue on a regular basis so I don’t forget them, and always get fresh new ideas I can actually USE in my business (and not just nod and say, “oh how nice… what’s next?”)

It’s extremely valuable info if you want it to be.

And, it’s only 26 pages long.

Easily read in one sitting.

Maybe that’s why the legendary David Olgivy recommended it to his employees and why Gary Bencivenga told me he keeps a stack of them on hand?

Just a thought.

Anyway, you can subscribe at:

Ben Settle

Last week I saw something kinda funny.

Maybe not everyone will think this is funny, of course. But I couldn’t help but laugh out loud when I read an article about how, somewhere up in Canada (I think it was Canada) the marketing people for the hit zombie TV show “The Walking Dead” put up a billboard ad… right next to a funeral parlor!

I have no idea if that was done intentionally.

But the funeral parlor was pretty mad.

And they demanded it be taken down.

But, I wonder if that billboard actually helped their business?

I guess we’ll never know.

But being unconventional like that is powerful.

It makes you stand out.

And, it breathes fresh new life into your business while all your competitors lurch around like zombies, aimlessly wandering to and fro looking for a warm-fleshed meal.

Oh well.

Just food for your brain…

Ben Settle

P.S. I almost forgot!

I’ve been doing a series of free (but advanced) copywriting trainings this week on Ryan Healy’s blog. If you’re interested, you can read them at:

Donald Trump may run for president.

Is that a good thing?

A bad thing?

Make any difference whatsoever?

Personally, I don’t care either way if he runs. But there is something happening with his talk about him maybe running for president that I’ve noticed. And that is people who hate him keep mindlessly prattling on about how his business has gone bankrupt multiple times.

They got no clue whatsoever.

It’s actually kind of funny.

Because you see, nobody who succeeds on that level does it without lots and lots and lots of big, fat, embarrassing failures.

Could be personal failures.

Could be professional failures.

But either way, they will fail (probably several times).

And you know what?

It’s the same with you and me.

You think you’re gonna make it big without the cold bite of failure sinking its teeth into your arse?

Right.

Good luck with that.

Failure is a big part of winning at anything — sports, business, whatever it is you do.

Fail hard and fail BIG.

That’ll make it all happen quicker.

Anyway, that’s all I got for today.

The next Crypto Marketing Newsletter is probably the most fun issue I’ve written to date. It also includes a booklet Gary Bencivenga recommends that I believe every single marketer should possess and read several times.

It goes to print in less than 2 weeks.

Subscription info at:

Ben Settle

So I recently took a personality test.

And turns out I share the same personality type as some of the worst and most vile people you’ve ever heard of (both real and fictional).

Like Emperor Palpatine.

Lord Voldemort.

Hannibal Lecter.

And (gasp!) even Hillary Clinton!

Anyway, why should you care?

Because while reading about all these different personality types, it dawned on me how USEFUL this information is to anyone who sells for a living. In some ways I kinda jumped the gun, because a couple months back in The Crypto Marketing Newsletter I did an entire issue about doing market research.

Like how to know exactly what they want.

What they’re thinking.

And how they want to be sold to.

If I could go back in time, I’d add this personality stuff.

Specifically, you could find out what your market’s occupations are, and then cross reference them with personality types that tend to gravitate towards those occupations.

Maybe not an exact science.

But the insights would be incredibly useful.

Take my personality, for example.

You’d know we come off as arrogant and elitist (we’re not really arrogant and elitist, we just know we’re ALWAYS right…)

Have little interest in others’ thoughts or feelings. (Not really true, but whatever.)

Want closure with everything.

And spend ALL our time inside our own heads.

That’s invaluable intel when selling to my personality type — since you could “custom fit” your pitch around all these psychological hot buttons and show how your product fits into our world.

Kinda deep research, isn’t it?

And it holds all kinds of possibilities for marketers.

In fact, it’d be interesting to create a software program where when someone opts in for really valuable free info they’d have to take one of these kinds of personality tests, first.

Then have an ad tailored to each type.

Just something to chew on.

For more secrets like this, go to:

Ben Settle

P.S. By the way…

There are lots good people on the list mentioned above, too — we’re not all evil wannabe super villains who want to take over the world or whatever.

Yet, some like to argue the fact.

And in one guy’s case, no matter how much I tortured him, he still didn’t understand my point…

Recently, in the Crypto Marketing Newsletter private forum, a subscriber and I were talking about how to add proof and credibility to ads.

Sometimes it seems like it might be hard to do.

But really, it’s easy.

In fact, here was my advice:

… you can easily get some credibility elements by getting on the radio or in a newspaper your market respects (even if it’s just local)

Once you get in a couple media appearances, you’re good to go.

If the radio/newspaper host says good things about you and your info, you can say in your headline how your stuff is praised by radio talk show hosts, newspapers, etc which can add a lot of weight to your claims.  

And if you ask the reporter if you can use their quotes as testimonials, that’s even better.

By the way, this is very simple to do.

It may seem like voodoo getting in the media but, believe me, it’s actually pretty easy if you know your topic.

Prove it, you say?

OK, fine!

A few months ago I gave my print newsletter subscribers a valuable training about how to get publicity using nothing but… email.

No press releases.

No phone calls.

No faxing or SEO tricks or mailing anything.

Just plain old, “retro” email.

Basically, the training was done by my friend Mike Dolpies who has gotten his ugly mug in Entrepreneur Magazine and on his local Fox News station, as well as getting on a bunch of radio shows, in print articles, and other media.

He’s no dumb bunny when it comes to this stuff.

Anyway, here’s what I decided to do.

I’m going to give it to you… free.

Not sure I’ll leave it up forever, though.

So get your PR lovin’ while it’s hot:

And go get ’em…

Ben Settle

P.S. The next Crypto Marketing Newsletter issue is going to be all about a short book Gary Bencivenga once sent me (and I’m including the little book itself with the issue), and all the cool (and profitable) secrets I’ve used inside it.

Very valuable stuff.

And, it’s info anyone can implement, too.

To subscribe before it mails, go to:

Some wonder why I’m so cynical about goo-roos.

Do I have an axe to grind?

No, no… nothing that sexy.

But, my goo-roo cynicism is two fold:

1. I end up hearing lots of horror stories (from people on my list) about how they got ripped off, spent $2k or whatever on recycled garbage, or got stiffed for money owed (as affiliates, service providers, etc).

This stuff irks me.

And the other reason?

2. Something a former client once told me, who has masterminded with a lot of these goo-roos in the past. He goes, “Ben, one thing I’ve learned this year dealing with all my Internet marketing asshole friends is they’re all full of shit!”

Not MY words.

That’s what he said.

Then, he told me about some more dirt.

Like how, for example, someone may be making $10 million per year gross, but only netting 10% of that (specifically, we were talking about some of the “moving the free line” people).

Or how one goo-roo’s “7 figure launch” had like a 70% refund rate.

True, he could have been lying about this.

But I don’t know what the motive was.

(He does not even sell business-to-business).

More:

I don’t like how certain goo-roos disrespect copywriters.

Case in point:

A few years back, a guy in my mastermind group wrote a long sales letter for a VERY big name goo-roo.

He slaved over that thing.

And, it was a pretty good.

So what did the goo-roo client do? He took it to his other goo-roo friends and, since they drink their own kool-aid and think they know what they’re talking about with copywriting (hint: few if any of them do) they slashed it up!

It was a complete mess, too.

Like drunken carnival clowns wrote it.

It’s one thing if this IMPROVES an ad, but they massacred it.

So yeah, goo-roos suck.

’nuff said.

Ben Settle

P.S. Lately the private Crypto Marketing Lounge (for paying Crypto Marketing Newsletter subscribers only) has been buzzing with all kinds of great tips and topics.

We’re looking at each other’s ads.

We’re looking at each other’s ideas.

We’re even looking at each others’ wives! (Well, I’ll just leave it at that…)

To join the party, subscribe at:

Got some more headline fodder for ya.

They are from my favorite rag “Sun Magazine” and this last issue had an especially large amount of headlines that seemed interesting enough to write down (and share with you).

Anyway, they make great idea starters.

And you never know what they’ll morph into in your ads…

TITANIC SURVIVOR FOUND
ALIVE ON REMOTE ISLAND!

THEY’RE BACK!
‘ESP spies’ are hard at work helping
Pentagon foresee coming events

ROYAL CORPSE UNLEASHES
TERRIFYING CURSE…

GOV’T DOCS GAVE DEADLY
DISEASES TO PATIENTS!

BANISH BACK PAIN FOR FREE
No drugs… No exercise… No dieting…

DOCTORS USE PATIENTS’ OWN CELLS
TO MAKE NEW BODY PARTS

TORTURED TEACHER HAUNTS
DESERTED CEMETERY

WILL YOUR CITY BE NEXT?
Scientists and seers predict huge
disasters to hit U.S.

CREEPY MASK CLUE TO MURDERER!
Identity thief charged with slicing
victim to pieces

BURGLAR CALLS 911 FOR PROTECTION
FROM HOMEOWNER

BIRTHDAY BOY SHOOTS HIS FAMILY
WHILE THEY LIE SLEEPING
…with rifle he received as a gift

SUPERCAR CHANGES TOMORROW’S HIGHWAYS
…with a whopping 313 miles to the gallon!

Ancient Indian secret lets you…
SING YOURSELF LUCKY!

STRAP ON A HAIRCUT HELMET
– for the perfect short-back-sides…
with no nicks!

HIGH ON THE HOG!
Welcome to Piggy Island… where the waters
are brimming with swimming swine

FRANK SINATRA’S GHOST
APPEARS ON SATELLITE TV

SELF-OFFING CHICKENS!
Farmer’s amazing breakthrough saves having
to slaughter his flock

20 WAYS TO WASTE YOUR MONEY

TREAT YOUR VARICOSE VEINS NATURALLY
Easy ways to banish unsightly lumps

WANT TO BE A BETTER LOVER?
Free the wild sexual beast within you!

Hey, I didn’t say they’d make you more sane.

Just better at writing copy.

For more in-depth headline writing training, check out:

Specifically, the report inside about why many so-called “killer” headlines will do nothing but kill your sales.

It’s a doozy.

Check it out at the above link…

Ben Settle

Today I got something… special… for you.

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about ways to protect my assets and sites, especially since I’ve been delving into higher risk markets involving health and fat loss.

Below is an interview with a top Internet marketing lawyer.

His name is Mike Young.

And he specializes in helping entrepreneurs grow lawsuit-free Internet businesses. He’s created several Internet Law products (a few of which I am VERY glad to own), has an advanced international law degree from Georgetown University and more than 16 years of real world legal experience.

So he’s the “real deal.”

Anyway, take it away Mike…

BEN SETTLE: What are the biggest mistakes you’re seeing Internet marketers doing online from a legal point of view?

MIKE YOUNG: The top mistakes made by online entrepreneurs involved failing to treat their company like it is a business. Instead, it is common to find newbie Internet marketers playing with their websites as a hobby. They will put up a website hoping to make some decent bucks but don’t take the effort to protect themselves in the process. This leads to lawsuits and even “friendly” visits from government agents.

BEN SETTLE: Why is it so important to have legal documents on your sites?

MIKE YOUNG: Website legal documents tell your prospective customers that you’re running an online business instead of a hobby. If you’ve taken the time to put the right legal protections in place online, chances are you made the effort to make sure your products and services deliver as promised.

Your privacy policy tells your prospective customer to trust you because you respect the information he’s providing to you when he visits your site.

In addition, by having the right website legal documents on your site, you’re also reducing your risk of being sued or investigated by the government. Even if you goof up, the fact you’re trying to do the right things when running your business makes you a less attractive target than the sleazeball who set up his website with the goal of cheating as many people as possible.

BEN SETTLE: What are a couple real life examples of what happened to people who thought they could get away with not having these documents on their sites?

MIKE YOUNG: This is a sticky one to get into because of attorney-client confidentiality. Here are a few general examples…

There are people who will never do business with you if your website is missing website legal documents because the site looks like a fly-by-night hobby instead of a business.

Not having a privacy policy is an invitation to be sued if you’re collecting any info and using it without disclosing what you’re doing. And it’s important to realize that your ISP might be automatically collecting some website visitor data for you even if you haven’t asked it too. Thinks like visitor IP addresses, search queries, pages, visited, etc.

Selling health-related products with blog posts discussing medical conditions can lead to claims you’re providing medical advice to customers without being a physician. Health disclaimers pretty much make this a non-issue.

Lacking the right legal terms can jeopardize your rights when someone decides to pirate content (text, video, audio, pics, etc.) from your website.

Not having the right disclosures on your website/blog can lead to a government agency coming after you for engaging in deceptive business practices when you promote a product or service as an affiliate.

Frankly, there’s countless ways that you can get screwed over when you don’t have the right website legal documents.

Does this mean you will get hurt? Of course not.

It’s a risk like playing Russian Roulette with a revolver that has one bullet in the chamber. You might get lucky…at least for a while.

BEN SETTLE: Where on a blog or website should the legal disclaimers go?

MIKE YOUNG: The footer is the primary place to link to them. Maybe 5% of blogs link to legal disclaimers in the sidebar.

The key is to use text that’s the same size (or bigger) and color as your main text on your site. Don’t hide it in 6 point font white text on a white background. That’s deceptive.

BEN SETTLE: What legal dangers should people know about social media sites like Facebook and Twitter?

MIKE YOUNG: For Facebook, assume that whatever you post there is no longer private and you no longer own exclusive rights to it. If you wouldn’t want your grandmother to see it on the front page of her local newspaper, don’t post it on Facebook. And don’t let your “friends” post it for you either.

For Twitter, the biggest risk is promoting products and services without the right disclosures. With the character limit, you’re kind of restricted in what you can say. Some use “spon” or “ad” as abbreviations to inform readers the tweet is piking something. The safe bet is to also disclose it on the sales page you’re driving traffic to with the tweet. Sending someone to a product “review” that happens to be an affiliate pitch without disclosing affiliate status is crossing the line.

BEN SETTLE: What mistakes are you seeing Internet marketers making with testimonials?

MIKE YOUNG: Fake testimonials, testimonials that discuss atypical results as if the average customer will achieve those results, and testimonials by someone who gave it as a friend or in exchange for something of value.

The last is a bit tricky. For example, if you got a free ticket to a seminar that would have cost you $995, and you gave a glowing testimonial while at the seminar, you should have disclosed the fact you received a freebie ticket. And if you were the one comping the ticket and soliciting the testimonial, you’d want to disclose the circumstances too even if the person giving the testimonial failed to do so.

The government wants full disclosure of key facts so the person looking at your testimonial can make an informed decision.

BEN SETTLE: What is a DMCA Notice and who needs to have one on their site?

MIKE YOUNG: DMCA Notices are a way to provide information to website visitors that lets them contact you (or your ISP if necessary) to resolve copyright infringement complaints. Having a DMCA Notice with a designated agent to handle complaints is one of the easiest ways to stay out of court if someone thinks you’ve stolen their sales copy, photos, videos, etc. and placed them on your website.

Remember that there are some dishonest copywriters and web designers out there who will steal from other websites and charge you for “work” they never did themselves. Don’t assume that an infringement complaint is bogus until you’ve investigated it.

And if you’ve got a website that does business in the U.S., having a DMCA notice is extremely important…unless you just like getting sued instead of handling

BEN SETTLE: Will having the right disclaimers help keep bureaucrats and “sue happy” people off their backs? Or at least off their radars?

MIKE YOUNG: The right website legal documents reduces your chances of getting sued or hassled by bureaucrats. There’s always risk in business that you do online and offline. But legal documents make you a less attractive target than someone who doesn’t have them. If nothing else, the person considering making your life difficult will assume you’ve got a lawyer.

For some people, that’s enough to stop them dead in their tracks. It’s like locking your door, having a burglar alarm, a guard dog, and floodlights on at night. You could get burglarized but the thief is probably going to move on to easier pickings at some place with less protection.

BEN SETTLE: What happens if people don’t keep current, up-to-date legal documents on their sites, and how would they know they even need to be updated?

MIKE YOUNG: That’s like not updating your anti-virus software on your computer. Your website legal documents should reflect where Internet law stands and provide key protections against major risks. As for staying updated, keep in touch with the source of your website legal documents, whether it’s an Internet lawyer or do-it-yourself software.

Taking the advice of some “guru” non-lawyer is too risky. Many so-called gurus think building a big email list for piking products makes them experts at everything else, including Internet law. That’s silly and too dangerous to bet your business on.

There’s one jackass out there who is giving away his lawyer’s legal documents to anyone who opts into his email list. What’s scary about this is the documents are of questionable value, there’s no indication his lawyer ever gave permission for the documents to be given away, and there’s no way to tell if the lawyer owned the rights to the documents in the first place.

A couple years ago, another Internet marketer sold legal documents that were owned by an Internet lawyer. They were sold without the lawyer’s permission. The seller had to make a public apology and his customers paid $3,000 to $5,000 bucks each to the lawyer for using the documents without permission. What a costly “shortcut.”

BEN SETTLE: Why should people avoid using boiler plate legal forms or trying to write them themselves?

MIKE YOUNG: There are some risks that are simply unacceptable. Practice medicine without being an experienced physician? Fly a plane without being a pilot? Why practice Internet law without knowing what you’re doing?

The source of “boilerplate” legal forms says a lot. If you’re not getting them from an Internet lawyer, you have to ask yourself what exactly you are getting. Something old? Defective? And does the seller even have the legal right to sell them to you?

BEN SETTLE: Tell us about your legal form generator software?

MIKE YOUNG: Website Legal Forms Generator software quickly and easily generates privacy policies, DMCA notices and other important website legal documents in about 10 minutes. You simply type a few pieces of key information (such as your website’s name) and click the “Generate” button.

The software instantly creates all the legal documents for you. Simply upload them to your site and link to them in the footer. That’s it.

Here’s two key points you need to know.

First, these website legal documents were created by me based upon the latest key changes in U.S. Internet law. If you have U.S. customers, that’s important for reducing your risks.

Second, my law firm owns the registered copyrights for all of these documents and has licensed the documents for use in the software. This means that customers can use the software legally to create legal documents for websites they own.

Pretty cool, eh?

I have Mike’s legal form generator software and I love it, use it all the time for multiple sites, and it’s one of the best investments I ever made.

In fact, I like it so much, I’m an affiliate for it.

And, if you buy it from my affiliate link:

… I will give you some rare bonuses.

(Just email me your receipt to collect them).

And here they are…

Bonus 1: Gary Halbert Secrets From Beyond The Grave
(Length: 1 hour 57 minutes)

This is a 2 hour interview with Doberman Dan Gallapoo about the real life marketing “adventures” he had working with the late copywriting genius, Gary Halbert. Includes “nuts and bolts” training as well as surprisingly deep success tips you won’t easily find anywhere else.

If you’re a Gary Halbert fan, this’ll be like solid gold for you.

Bonus 2: How To Make Ten Times More In Copywriting Fees:
(Length: 46:37 minutes)

This is a lesson I once taught about a secret way to make ten times more fees from copywriting clients. This is without playing any negotiation games and without getting any resistance whatsoever.

When I was a broke newbie this info helped pay off my car!

Bonus 3: Sales Letter “Jam” Session:
(Length: 1 hour 12 minutes)

This was a “round table” talk between myself, Doberman Dan Gallapoo, and Caleb Osborne (a copywriting whiz who won Clayton Makepeace’s “best ad” contest in his $7k seminar… and who makes a TON of profit for his clients in multiple competitive niches like dating and health products).

And it’s all about the exact processes we use to write ads.

Including little-known ways to make writing easier, more profitable and more FUN.

Bonus 4: The $997 Email Mini-Manifesto:

This is a 5 page email I sent to some (prior) business partners about email strategies I use to stand out like a sore thumb in peoples’ inboxes. It was written totally “off the cuff”, yet one of the guys said this information could easily be expanded into a $997 course.

Will it really be worth that much to you?

I honestly don’t know.

But this info has been worth much more than that for me.

Bonus 5: How To Get Booked Solid With Clients In 30 Days:
(Length: 1 hour 15 minutes)

This is a lesson by John “Angel” Anghelache about getting freelance copywriting clients. John used these exact techniques when he was a total newbie to nab assignments from guys like the late Gary Halbert, Michel Fortin, Yanik Silver, David Garfinkel, Peter Stone, and more.

This is perfect for anyone who wants clients — fast.

Again, this IS my affiliate link:

But, if you order from it this week, I will give you all the above bonuses free.

Just email me your receipt for your bonuses…

Ben Settle