Ben Settle

Behold…

My all-time favorite Eugene Schwartz headline:

“Should Any Man Be Given This Much Sexual Power Over Women?”

This baby was on the outer envelope.

And it pulled MUCHO orders, too.

Here are a few (of many) reasons why:

• Isn’t “salesy” (doesn’t make your guard go up)

• Question (it’s almost neurologically impossible to ignore a question you want to know the answer to)

• Short (easy to process)

• Curiosity provoking (I mean, c’mon…)

• Amusing (has entertainment value — but not “slap stick”)

• Has none of the usual hype & non-sense most ads talking about sex have (you can say many things about this headline, buy “hype” ain’t one of them)

How many Internet goo-roo headlines do you see like this?

The answer is zero.

That’s because most goo-roos hyping themselves up as copywriting experts wouldn’t know a good ad if it bit ’em in the prostate gland.

Anyway, I can rap about this all day long.

But the best way to write headlines like Schwartz did is to listen to HIM talk about 3 of his best-selling headlines himself in his famous Phillips Publishing speech.

This speech isn’t cheap, and normally costs $297.00.

But you can get it for just $20 (for the next few days) at:

Yes, this IS an affiliate link.

And if you buy from it, you also get a huge 527 ad swipe file (with some Gene Schwartz ads include), plus a copy of “The Sales Letter Jam Session” I did with Doberman Dan about the process of writing ads (how to build an ad from the ground up).

Hey, like him or not Gene Schwartz was THE MAN.

This speech is in my top 3 copywriting trainings.

And today you can get it for just $20:

Ben Settle

P.S. Another of his headlines that kicked bootay is:

“71-Year Old Man Has Sexual Congress 5 Times Per Day”

He talks about this one in this speech, too.

Grab it for $20 here:

Some copywriters are big on the so-called “7 deadly sins.”

In fact, many copywriting teachers and coaches will insist you work them (i.e. wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony) into your ads whenever possible.

Does that really work?

I wouldn’t know.

I can’t remember ever sitting down and thinking, “okay, now I’m going to work some wrath in… then slap in some gluttony… and top it off with some lust…”

That’s not the way I roll.

And I don’t think about it, either way.

BUT… there is one emotion I always, Always, ALWAYS work in to my ads… that I think every single person who tries to sell anything (online or offline) MUST learn about.

And that emotion is… belief.

No, it doesn’t sound as sexy as the 7 deadly sins.

But this is the one big “AH HA!” secret I learned from the late, great copywriter Eugene Schwartz that’s been responsible for more winning ads than anything else I’ve ever used. In fact, Schwartz discovered a way to arrange his paragraphs and sentences so they oozed credibility and belief, with or without testimonials or other “proof” elements, and even as he packed them with hundreds of big claims and promises.

Very cool stuff.

And very PROFITABLE, too.

You can hear all about it in his famous Phillips Publishing speech.

This 90-minute teaching helped me compete against FAR more experienced and better trained copywriters when I was just starting out.

And it (quite literally) saved my bacon!

Usually, it sells for as much as $297.00.

But for the next few days, you can grab it for just $20.

For the details go to:

Ben Settle

P.S. If you buy from my affiliate link above, you will also get a copy of “The Sales Letter Jam Session” (which shows you a simple process for writing sales letters — from “A to Z”) and a 527 ad swipe file stuffed with top-performing ads from Gary Halbert, Joe Karbo, Ben Suarez, Claude Hopkins, Eugene Schwartz, David Ogilvy, Maxwell Sackhiem and hundreds more.

It’s all just $20 if you jump on this today.

So stretch forth thy hand and grab it while you still can at:

Got this question a while back:

“Ben, I’m just not having any success selling online. I’ve tried everything, bought thousands of dollars in info products but no luck. Any advice?”

Not really.

I need more info.

But I’d bet you’re probably complicating things.

In most cases, people who say they’ve “tried everything” are simply not taking marketing and sales to the primal level that the great persuasion expert Bernard Baruch did when he said:

“FIND OUT WHAT PEOPLE WANT,
AND SHOW THEM HOW TO GET IT”

Kinda like the movie “It’s A Wonderful Life.”

George Bailey got himself in quite a pickle, didn’t he?

Old man Potter put him in a financial bind and he was facing scandal and jail and worse. The dude was so scared and miserable he didn’t know what to do.

In fact, he even considered suicide!

But remember what happened?

He got paid a visit from Clarence, his trusty guardian angel. And while Clarence may not have been the “coolest” cat in heaven, he knew how to help George out by showing him what the world would be like had he never been born.

In the end, Clarence saved George’s bacon.

And guess what?

That’s all you have to do in selling.

You just gotta be like Clarence looking around for “George Bailey’s” to help. Prospects who are desperate to end a problem your product solves.

And once you find your George Baileys, go after ’em.

Show them you understand their problem and demonstrate how your product or service is the best way to solve it.

Do that and marketing is cake.

And it’s a lot more fun, too.

Doesn’t matter if you sell online, offline or on the sidelines, either. In fact, when you get this, and I mean really “get” it, I think you’ll find selling to be a breeze.

Maybe even “routine”, in some cases.

OK, that’s it for today, my friend.

See ya in the funny papers.

Ben Settle

P.S. I feel like plugging a product.

How about…

Last week I had a semi-interesting adventure.

I was driving through town and noticed a dog running away from an elderly lady holding a leash who was chasing after her. The dog was a local shelter dog, and the lady was walking briskly after it, as it crossed the busy road, never letting her get very close.

So the Nerd Girl and I stopped and joined the pursuit.

No luck.

The dog skillfully avoided us, too.

And it was especially interesting how determined she was to keep going in the same direction (as if on a mission).

Well, guess what?

Turns out there was a rhyme to this dog’s reason:

She was going back home.

In other words, she’d just been dropped off at the shelter recently. And, when she got away, she instinctively started making her way back to her former master’s home.

Sucks when perfectly good dogs are dropped off like that.

But still, it was fascinating to watch this phenomenon.

And it got me to thinking about business.

How many customers do you have with that kind of devotion to you, your products and your brand? Who, if you had to change your website, physical location or they simply lost your contact info, would do the same thing?

How many would sniff you out?

Track you down?

And do whatever it took to find you?

Hey, let’s face it:

With that kind of market bond, you almost can’t lose!

And speaking of which…

One of the best ways to bond with your market like this in my humble (but accurate) opinion is old fashioned, “1990’s style” email.

It’s far more intimate than social media.

A lot more visible than blogging.

And, when done right, makes lots of the green stuff.

Get your email learn on at:

Ben Settle

There are lots of lies in the marketing world.

Lots of exaggerations, too.

And in some cases, even outright hoaxes.

The biggest is probably people claiming to be testing.

I’ll even give you a real life example:

For over a year and a half I worked with a big, and fast-growing info publishing business. And early on, I remember the main marketing guy bragging about testing and measuring everything. However, while things may have changed in the last couple months (I don’t roll with them anymore), do you know how many “tests” I saw in that 1.5 years?

I could count them on one hand.

In fact, the entire time I was there, I only saw ONE headline test.

This is VERY common in Internet marketing.

People claim to test, but really don’t.

And even those who do usually only test two turds against each other (based on what they see a goo-roo doing, foolishly believing that just beause someone is a great marketer they are a great copywriter, and vice versa) to see which one doesn’t stink as bad, instead of testing bold, fresh and… yes… contrarian ideas that often lead to big response.

My point?

Many people who claim to be big testers simply aren’t.

They might SAY they are.

They might THINK they are.

They may even BELIEVE they are.

But they’re not.

And if you’re studying them, you’re sabotaging yourself.

Ben Settle

P.S. If you are going to study other test results, I suggest ignoring Internet marketers and seeking out OFFLINE marketers, instead, who test with their own money on the line.

Only the BEST survive in that climate.

And just having a “rock star” persona won’t cut it.

One of my favorite offline marketers is Doberman Dan.

He worked side-by-side with Gary Halbert.

He tests promotions offline with his own money.

And he has more “real world” business experience than any of the high falutin’ Internet goo-roos who are one bad launch away from poverty.

And guess what?

He just created an info product for people who want to be “kitchen table entrepreneurs” (people who make money online or offline in just a few hours each day, whether at your desk, on the couch or even at your kitchen table).

You can grab a free lesson he’s giving away at:

Let’s talk about hype today.

Crypto Marketing Newsletter subscriber John Iams recently asked:

“Given my tenant about too much hype in copy these days who’s stuff besides yours are you most impressed with? I’d appreciate your candid opinion given I expect it’ll be a short list.”

That’s a great (timely) question.

Here’s a list of my favorite “no-hype” copywriters:

• Gary Bencivenga
• Bob Bly (his simple & tight copy is mega genius)
• Ken McCarthy
• Ryan Healy
• David Deutsch – David’s the man, check out his new blog at: www.DavidLDeutsch.com/blog
• Richard Armstrong – he’s the man, too: www.freesamplebook.com
• Jim Rutz
• Doug D’Anna

I’m probably forgetting a bunch more, but if someone is looking for some great “no hype, no BS” copy to look at, you can’t go wrong with these blokes.

Read ’em.

Study ’em.

Profit from ’em…

Ben Settle

P.S. Speaking of “no hype”…

Doberman Dan’s “Kitchen Table Entrepreneur“ product is easily one of the best “no hype, no BS” ways I’ve ever seen to build a business.

Yes, it takes effort.

And no… it’s not “get rich quick.”

But if you want to a safe (and very simple) way to build a business at home, check out the free lesson he’s giving away at:

Once upon a time I wanted to be a screenwriter.

I just thought it’d be neato to write movie scripts.

In fact, I even once wrote a long research paper on how to write a screenplay for an English class (the only time I enjoyed doing an assignment — as I really was doing it for my own education as opposed to getting a good grade.)

Anyway, there’s a cool sales letter lesson in screen plays.

Some call it “the 10 minute rule.”

This means if the first 10 pages of a screen play don’t grab the reader, it not only has no prayer of being made into a movie, but it’ll likely never even make it to a producer or director’s desk at all (and be promptly tossed in the trash).

That means those first 10 pages have to be TOPS.

No slow build up, no messing around.

If you want a shot, you must get. to. the. point!

And you know what?

This rule applies even MORE to sales letters — except, instead of a 10 minute rule… it’s more like a 10 WORD rule. Those first ten words can often times make or break readership when competing against tweets, IM’s, FaceBook updates, emails, yada yada yada).

Point is, ten words is all you get these days.

So use your 10 words wisely.

And don’t mess around with fluff…

Ben Settle

P.S. On a completely unrelated note…

My friend Doberman Dan recently created a product for people who want to become “kitchen table entrepreneurs.”

Dan is the MASTER at doing this.

He knows how to START them (on a shoe string budget), BUILD them real big and then, either enjoy the sales from it, or SELL it for a big chunk of change (someone recently offered to buy one of his little “kitchen table” businesses for a cool million).

Not too shabby.

Anyway, if you’re interested, check out:

Just got back from a short road trip.

I left Monday, got back last night, and went to a town that’s over 3 hours away just to get my car looked at (since it hit the 75,000 mile mark and needed some work done on it).

But… why drive 3 hours away?

Why not just get the car checked on locally?

Because (1) I live out in the boonies and (2) I have this “thing” about making sure only people who specialize in my kind of car do any expensive work on it (and the closest dealer for my kind of car is 3+ hours away).

Yes, it’d have been faster going to a local mechanic dude.

And yes, I’d have saved a bunch of the green stuff.

But it ain’t about money or time.

It’s about getting the job done right, by people who SPECIALIZE in the exact kind of car I drive.

In this case, I don’t care about cheap.

And I don’t even care about friendly service, either.

I just want the job done right.

Because, let’s face it… if something goes kablooey while driving down the highway, the fact I saved $100 and a few hours of time won’t be much comfort whatsoever.

Yes, it’s true — not everyone wants a good price.

Or fast service.

Or even to be greeted with a smile.

Lost of people just want a specialist.

If, for example, they need brain surgery, they probably won’t care if the surgeon charges through the nose or is a complete jerk who wouldn’t know good customer service if it ran up and bit him on the bum.

And you know what?

There are people in YOUR market like this, too.

People who want the best.

Won’t feel satisfied buying from anyone else.

And are willing to pay big for it.

Hey, just something to chew on…

Ben Settle

P.S. A few people have been asking me when I’m going to accept new Crypto Marketing Newsletter subscribers again.

Answer:

Most likely in early January.

If you want to be notified when it’s open again, opt-in at:

There are 3 words I highly suggest not using in your ads.

I never say never, of course.

Especially since, as long as you put these words in the proper context, they are perfectly fine. But generally speaking, they should be avoided.

Or, at least, used sparingly.

What are these 3 words?

1. Any

2. Every

3. The “deplorable word” I teased the living you-know-what out of you with the last couple weeks which Crypto Marketing Newsletter subscribers will soon know.

What?

You don’t understand?

You’ve seen me using these words before?

Yes, you probably have.

But it’s all about context, baby.

In other words, telling people something works “every” time or for “any” person will do nothing but sound like utter BS. After all, no product or service works for “every” person under “any” circumstance.

And even if something did, it’d still sound bogus.

So if I use them, I qualify them first.

The point?

A little context goes a long way.

Anyway, that’s that.

Ben Settle