Ben Settle

Lately I’ve been reading a lot of Biblical prophesy.

It’s always been an interest to me.

But over the past year or so, it’s become even MORE captivating to me. And one of my favorite Bible prophesy researchers is a guy named Lynn Marzulli whose stuff is always a meaty read.

Anyway, here’s why I bring it up:

Lynn is VERY good at getting on radio.

I ain’t just talking about “Christian” radio shows, either.

But also on secular shows with huge audiences — like “Coast 2 Coast” with George Noory, for example. And every time he gets on these shows, he does something anyone in marketing can use to get more response, more sales and more customers.

What does he do?

He makes the “ordinary” fascinating to the mainstream.

In other words, he makes ideas that normally only excite Christians appealing and intriguing to non-Christians (who he’s always trying to reach out to).

Example?

The big one is when he talks about the Bible.

He doesn’t call it The Bible.

That terminology has very little appeal to non-Christians. And judging by how few Christians read their own Bibles these days, it’s probably not all that exciting to them, either. So instead Lynn calls it something else:

“The Guidebook To The Supernatural”

Booyah!

How cool is that?

Just by reframing the name of The Bible, he captures the interest of those who’d normally have no interest in it at all (or who may even be hostile to it.)

This gives him a fair hearing every time.

Opens minds that are normally closed to such ideas.

And makes what might seem dry, dusty and boring to some people, and makes it fresh, exciting and, yes, cool.

Again, you can do the same thing.

Take your ideas and product titles and inject energy into them.

Make them interesting.

Make them unique.

And make them hard for even your hardcore skeptics to ignore.

Yep, it’s work.

(Thinking often is, after all.)

But it’s always well worth the effort.

Ben Settle

P.S. Speaking of the Bible…

If you want to know a secret way to use your Bible, your bathroom and The National Enquirer to put your creative juices on steroids when creating your ads, emails and products, check out chapter 2 of “The Copywriting Grab Bag” at:

I sucked at getting dates in high school.

I mean, it was truly pathetic.

No, not because I was awkward or full of acne or a “social leper” or anything like that (at least, no more than any other snot-nosed little punk at the time).

But I couldn’t get a date with a pocketful of $50’s.

Yes, I could charm the women.

Yes, I could flirt with them.

And yes, I could even get them wanting to go out with me.

But, in the end, I got very few dates.

I couldn’t figure out the problem at the time. But now it’s crystal clear what the “snag” in my game was. And it just so happens to be the exact same thing that keeps most marketers from “closing the deal” online, too.

What do I speaketh of?

Not asking for the “sale.”

Or, at least, not asking for it in the right way.

I made that mistake many a time back in my teenage “angst” years, and whenever I do ad critiques, I see the EXACT same mistake being made online, too.

Sometimes, they just ain’t asking for the sale at all.

But usually, they are asking but doing it wrong.

And because of that, they make little or no sales (or their sales are FAR lower than they should be).

Anyway, why do I bring this awkward subject up?

Why broadcast my lame teenage failures?

Because the next issue of The Crypto Marketing Newsletter is about closing the sale in ads — complete with word-for-word examples of how to do it. Including one way I never see anyone else doing, but that works like gangbusters.

Frankly, I have yet to see it fail.

Anyway, this issue goes out in a couple weeks.

You can subscribe at:

Ben Settle

P.S. When you subscribe, you also get a pile of bonuses to get your learn on with while you’re waiting for your first issue to arrive.

Lots of people want to know more about “pipeline” income.

Specifically, doing continuity type programs.

Like a membership site, print newsletter, CD-of-the-month, DVD-of-the-month, consumable products, etc. Everyone seems to know “what” to do, question is HOW do you get paid subscribers?

That, my friend, could fill 500 emails up.

But here’s a “hidden” way I’d never considered before.

And that has helped me tremendously.

(Even though I didn’t fully realize it.)

What am I yapping about?

Well, instead of me explaining it, I’ll hand the mic over to new Crypto Marketing Newsletter subscriber Andrew James (who just joined yesterday).

I thought this was really cool (and useful info to have):

Ben,

I’ve been through your email course, and writing daily emails has sooo many benefits. I think it’s a discipline that makes you a better business owner and strategist more than anything.

Also, I’m realizing something interesting.

After being on your list, the idea of being on a paid monthly list, becomes very easy and obvious to swallow.

So, as a continuity subscriber getting technique goes, I think daily emails is a great way to go….

Veddy interesting, isn’t it?

Again, not something I’d really considered.

And the beauty is, anyone can do daily emails (yes, you can!)

Plus, consider ye this:

If you’re positioning yourself as an “expert” or a “leader” in your niche, and you don’t have something (anything) to say on the subject every day, then, well…

Just something to chew on.

I know what I’ll continue to do.

Laters.

Ben Settle

P.S. To be notified when my Street-Smart Email system is available again, hop on the notification list at:

About the only time I watch TV is when eating.

Methinks it’s a bad habit from growing up as a Gen X “latchkey kid.”

But, it’s kind of useful, too.

Here’s an example of why I say this:

For a while now, I’ve been noticing how certain stations obnoxiously jack up the volume during commercials. So in other words, you could be cheerfully watching Seinfeld and then, when a commercial comes on — BOOM! — the volume pumps up way louder than the TV show.

I can only assume advertisers do this on purpose.

But, is it a good idea?

I haven’t seen any tests or data on it, either way.

But I will say this:

Pumping up the jam of a terribly crafted advertisement ain’t gonna help their sales any more than when a goo-roo fanboy writes and ad that “screams” (in all caps) giant, obnoxious claims that bear no resemblance to reality whatsoever.

In fact, the result is the same online as it is on TV:

The consumer simply turns the channel.

(Or clicks away).

So what’s the moral of the story?

It’s far better to jack up the quality of your salesmanship in your ads than to jack up the “volume” on your claims. Because online or on TV, if you blast your prospects with a “sonic boom” that’s also a terrible sales message, the channel is instantly changed.

Or, at least, the “mute” button is pushed.

And either way, the sale is silenced.

Ben Settle

P.S. The next issue of The Crypto Marketing Newsletter is all about closing sales in sales letters. The best copywriters spend a LOT of time on the close (while most others just brush through it, as an afterthought). In fact, the late, great Gary Halbert said he spent at LEAST 25% of his ad space on JUST the close.

It makes sense, too.

After all, a sale is a very “fragile” thing.

To grab ye the next issue, flip the channel over to:

Remember when I wrote about finances last week?

And how, one big financial mistake was “carrying buckets instead of building pipelines”? And how a pipeline is income that “flows” to you, instead of you having to go out and get it?

Well, let’s rap about that some more today.

Below are some ways to build “pipelines.”

This is not an exhaustive list (not even close).

But this should get the ol’ juices flowing, and hopefully give you some ideas to start implementing:

• Strategic partnerships (where you get paid based on recurring sales — such as writing an ad and getting paid on ongoing commissions)

• Setting up affiliates and joint venture relationships where other people are constantly selling your products for you

• Give your product rights to someone else to sell (who knows marketing, of course) where they are paying you ongoing royalties on sales

And so on, and so forth.

Anyway, here’s the big idea:

To build financial “pipelines”, do activities where you do the work (or make the investment) once, and then get paid on it perpetually, forever and ever.

And when you build one, start building another.

And another.

And another…

Until you’ve got MULTIPLE pipelines coming in.

That way, if one craps out on you, the others are still strongly in place and you won’t miss a beat.

Simple, but effective.

And, if you want some help, then check this out:

When you subscribe to The Crypto Marketing Newsletter, you get 12 valuable bonuses instantly upon subscribing — including a $97 product (I negotiated the rights for) called “Audio Marketing Secrets.”

It shows you EXACTLY how to create digital products FAST.

Sometimes in just a couple hours!

And it’s perfect for creating “pipeline” income like membership sites, a CD-of-the-month, etc.

You can subscribe at:

Ben Settle

I dunno about you, but I love taking LONG walks.

I do it partly for health reasons, of course.

But also, because I get many of my BEST, most profitable ideas while taking these walks. Like headlines, product ideas, topics for my emails and Crypto Marketing Newsletter issues, and solutions to problems in my life — business or otherwise.

Anyway, my favorite walking spot is a nearby beach.

And on this beach are boulders that jut out of the water.

If you’ve ever been to the Northwest, you know of what I speaketh, as the coast is lined with these things. But this particular beach contains one boulder that stands out from ALL the other ones I’ve ever seen.

I call it “poop rock.”

No, not because it looks like a giant turd.

But because the seagulls and other birds in the area really seem to enjoy “doing their business” on it.

I mean this thing is almost PURE white.

Frankly, it kinda looks like a giant iceberg!

And even though it’s ugly, and crude (and probably smells bad, although it’s too far out there to tell), your eye is drawn to it.

Heck, you can’t NOT look at it.

And guess what?

Strange as it sounds, there’s a powerful marketing lesson here.

In fact, want to know a “dirty” little secret?

Often times, the highest converting websites are NOT the “prettiest.” It’s often the exact opposite. I’ve seen some tests where ugly killed pretty in conversions, and it happens a LOT more than you may realize.

Why?

Why would ugly pull better than pretty?

It probably goes back to what the late, great marketing genius Gene Schwartz once said:

“In a world of beauty, the ugly thing stands out.”

So true.

So very, very true.

Just like that mutant, poop-drenched rock on the beautiful beach I walk each day, the ugly website will often get more attention than the beautifully designed one. And in many cases, that extra attention equals extra SALES.

Not ALL the time, of course.

But it’s probably worth testing, isn’t it?

Ben Settle

P.S. For more “ugly” (but effective) ideas for putting more of the green stuff in ye olde pocketses, check out The Crypto Marketing Newsletter:

Recently, I’ve started buying from Omaha Steaks.

At first, it was to send “thank you” gifts to people (nothing says “you rock!” like a box of juicy steaks). And later, when the Nerd Girl and I saw some of their deals, we partook of their meaty fruit for our own enjoyment, too.

But then, the inevitable happened:

We started getting HAMMERED by email ads from them.

Now, don’t get me wrong.

I love reading email pitches (including spam, sometimes). Heck, some of my best ideas come from other peoples’ junk mail. But there are some things Omaha Steaks does that just irritates the living you-know-what out of me.

We’re talking “nails on chalkboard” irritation here.

The biggest irritation?

They POUND you with offers day after day after day…

Hey, I’m not saying that can’t work.

Frankly, it DOES work if you have the right list, product and traffic generating systems in place, and are only targeting the 5% of “low hanging fruit” (a BIG mistake, IMHBAO).

But I suspect they could do better.

Maybe even a LOT better.

In fact, methinks doing JUST these 5 things below could potentially double their sales in the next 30 days:

1.) Quit pounding people with JUST straight offers

2.) Talk up the benefits of buying food by mail

3.) Give helpful tips about cooking steaks and other meals, nutritional facts, show how protein melts away flab, recipe eBooks, etc (all related to Omaha Steaks’ products, of course…)

4.) Have a personality “writing” the emails

5.) Don’t make everything look so commercial (test using plain text or HTML that looks like plain text — i.e. Gary Halbert’s “A pile/B pile” theory applied to email)

Look, I know Omaha Steaks ain’t listening to this.

And who knows?

Maybe they tested this stuff already.

I don’t much care, either way.

What I care about is you.

And these are just a few of the things I teach in Street-Smart Email that I’d bet someone else’s money would increase any business’s sales lickety split.

Yep, including YOURS.

Ben Settle

P.S. To be notified when Street-Smart Email will be available to the public again, sally ye forth over to:

Got a couple questions about yesterday’s email.

Specifically, about #’s 5 & 6 of the “financial blunders” list — giving up too soon and clinging to bad ideas.

One was how to discern between the two?

And the other was about whether they’re in conflict?

Let’s tackle the discernment one first.

Check out these grapes:

When I was in MLM, I HATED every second of it. But I was drinking the company kool-aid (see #4 on yesterday’s list), thought there was nothing else to do, and stuck with it through sheer force of will. Eventually, after a prayer while sleeping on the floor of an office I lived in (ugh!), it dawned on me what I SHOULD do (direct marketing and copywriting) and I never looked back.

The point?

I KNEW something was rotten in Denmark.

But I stubbornly clung to MLM anyway, despite the obvious signs I should have bailed long before.

So my advice?

When you just know something’s wrong, let it go.

Walk away.

And don’t even think about it.

Now, for the second question:

Are #5 and #6 in conflict?

Well, let’s take the example above. I never would have been truly successful in MLM because, even if I had a bunch of money fall in my lap, I still hated doing the business.

Not so with copywriting, though.

No, I didn’t see quick success with that, either.

But I LOVED doing it.

I enjoyed every second while learning it (yes, even while tediously copying out sales letters, ads, and, in one case, an entire book, by hand).

And it just felt “right.”

But you know what?

I almost quit that about 4 years ago, too, after a particularly bad year where NOTHING went right.

It’s like I was cursed!

And I still don’t know how we made it that year.

But then something strange happened.

Literally a week or two later a project I’d slaved over on pure commission that I thought was a dead deal sprang to life (I’d had a falling out with the client). I also did a profitable JV around that time, and even landed a big client, too.

All within 45 days of wanting to quit!

I was millimeters from success and didn’t know it.

Anyway, that’s all I know today.

For more marketing ideas, check out:

Ben Settle

Let’s change things up a bit today.

Let’s rap about finances.

However, before going any further, a disclaimer:

Here at Casa de Settle we’re FAR from being “rich” and nowhere NEAR our financial goals. And so the only reason I feel even somewhat qualified to discuss this at all is because the Nerd Girl and I have made so MANY dumb financial mistakes, we could fill an entire 500 page book.

Below are 10 “doozy” mistakes we made.

If you’re doing them, then as the proverbial Monopoly game says…

STOP.

Do not pass “go.”

And do not collect $200 (you’ll probably just blow it).

Frankly, just by NOT doing these 10 things, you can often reverse even the most dire of financial situations over time.

At least, that was the case for us.

Ready?

OK then, here. we. go…

1. Purposely staying in debt

2. Blaming others for your problems

3. Falling for hype

4. Drinking biz opp “kool-aid”

5. Giving up too soon (most people are just INCHES away from success, and don’t even realize it)

6. Clinging to bad ideas

7. Not being open to new opportunities

8. Listening to naysayers

9. Letting your emotions control you

10. Carrying buckets instead of building “pipelines.”

OK, I think the first 9 are self explanatory, but number 10 probably needs a bit of ‘splaining.

Especially if you haven’t read much Robert Kiyosaki.

Basically, it breaks down like this:

Imagine you’re on an island village and have been hired to bring that village water. Most people would go to the lake, fill as many buckets as they can carry, and bring them back. But not so the savvy person. Instead of laboriously filling and carrying water buckets, he’d instead take the time and energy to build a pipeline to bring the water to the village — greatly freeing up his time, energy and resources.

This is a BIG game-changer when applied to finances.

And is definitely worth some serious study.

(Just Google “Kiyosaki pipeline”)

Anyway, again, I’m no financial guru (or even a goo-roo!)

But I’ve made a TON of mistakes.

Mistakes you can now easily avoid.

Ben Settle

P.S. Another big financial mistake (for entrepreneurs) is not keeping up on proven marketing strategies. You can easily avoid this hum-dinger by going here: