Ben Settle

Ever hear that freaky quote about reading?

I don’t know how true it is, exactly.

But apparently, something like 42% of college graduates never read another book after college. In other words, many of the people society holds up as the “educated” ones never crack open another book after leaving school.

There are many reasons for this.

Laziness is one.

Illiteracy is another (some people go clean through college without ever learning to read).

But a BIG reason is probably neurological.

Ken McCarthy (who studied neuroscience at Princeton) told me while interviewing him for The Copywriting Grab Bag it’s very hard for most people to read. (And that neurologists still don’t even fully know we can even do it!)

Freaky.

But kind of a pity, too.

Especially with all the great books out there.

Take, for example, the 8 books below.

These are sort of “underrated” books you probably won’t see in the usual marketing “echo chambers” and forums.

Two of them are almost impossible to find.

Many aren’t even “business” books.

And one is actually a comic book.

But all are extremely valuable to us marketers — as they contain everything from business and marketing lessons… to storytelling examples… to ways to reel in lagging attention spans… and even instructions on how to sell to multiple different age groups and professions.

And who knows?

You might even have some fun reading them…

1. “The System Club Letters” -by Ken McCarthy

2. “26 Instant Marketing Ideas To Build Your Network Marketing Business” -by Tom “Big Al” Schreiter (written to MLM’ers, but the info can be applied to ANY business)

3. “Ten Greatest Sales Persons” -by Robert Shook

4. “The Dark Knight Returns” -by Frank Miller (even got a whole chapter dedicated to it in The Copywriting Grab Bag)

5. “How To Argue And Win Every Time” -by Gerry Spence

6. “The Game” -by Neil Strauss (perfectly illustrates the dangers of copy-catting goo-roos)

7. “Psychological Nudity” -by Michael Savage

8. “Gary Halbert’s Guide To The Core Secrets And Desires Of Different Groups Of People And How To Exploit Those Secrets And Desires To Make Yourself A Lot Of Money” -by Gary Halbert

Diverse list of books, isn’t it?

And I simply can’t recommend them enough.

Go ye forth and profit from ’em.

Ben Settle

Ever see “A Nightmare on Elm Street?”

I haven’t seen the new one yet.

But the original basically went like this:

A child murderer (Freddy Krueger) is burned to death by all the neighborhood parents, and then comes back to finish his evil by murdering those parents’ teenaged kids in their dreams. And so, to avoid being killed in their dreams, they desperately try staying awake lest they fall asleep and get scragged by Freddy.

Well, guess what?

We kinda-sorta got this in “real life”, too.

You see, lots of people today (specifically the people referred to by the media talking heads as “Main Street”) have their own “Freddy Kruegers” attacking them and keeping them awake at night, almost paralyzed with fear and frustration. Like bill collectors, bankers, politicians, “trigger-happy” tax collectors, bureaucrats, back-stabbing co-workers, bullying bosses, etc.

Anyway, in many cases, nobody really cares about them.

Nobody’s in their “corner”, so to speak.

And you know what?

That opens a HUGE opportunity for you.

Because when you genuinely care about your customers (and demonstrate it) YOU automatically become that person in their corner.

The one they trust.

And the ONLY choice to BUY from.

It doesn’t take much, either.

Usually, it’s just asking a few questions.

In fact, The Nerd Girl just went through this.

She was having trouble getting our QuickBooks software to sync up with our bank account, and went through one idiot after another on both the QuickBooks and bank side.

Nobody — not even “supervisors” — were any help.

Nobody seemed to care, either.

They just went through the motions — constantly shunting her over to someone else who knew even LESS than the last person. Until finally (hours later), a low ranking bank teller solved the problem by asking The Nerd Girl a few questions and getting the bank’s IT guy on it.

Problem solved.

It’s hard to forget people like that bank teller — people who take the time to listen and help.

And it’s the same with you, too.

Give good service and show you care.

And when it’s time to buy… you’ll be remembered, too.

Probably the easiest way to sell ever invented.

Ben Settle

P.S. For dozens more easy ways to sell, and that make you the ONLY one to buy from, check out:

Ever talk to a catfish bait copywriter?

These are copywriters (usually newbies who know just enough to be dangerous to themselves) who have taken a course or read a book and all the sudden think they’re “the man.”

They use LOTS of attitude.

And they love doling out the “tough talk.”

Usually, they are copying their favorite goo-roo’s words, phrases, attitude, tonality, etc. (People who can actually back up their bragging).

And as a result, they end up being like catfish bait:

They “smell” good to all the bottom feeders and scavengers who think it’s “cool” (but who have no resources to hire them)… but stink to high heaven to everyone else.

I feel kind of bad for them, actually.

They usually MEAN well.

But they’re sabotaging themselves.

So here’s some advice for catfish bait copywriters reading this:

1. Drop The Attitude

If you can’t back up your mouth with results yet, don’t fake like you have any results. People can smell catfish bait a mile away — especially in today’s skeptical market place.

2. Be Yourself

Not a grainy xerox of someone else.

3. Be Likeable

Instead of acting like the obnoxious wannabe everyone feels the urge to slap upside the head… tone down the tough talk and be a human being.

It’s not hard when you give it a try.

4. Finally… Realize It’s NOT About You

Or your “killer keyboard” or whatever.

It’s about serving people, understanding their pain, and demonstrating you’re the one to get the job done (and not a tough guy Fonzi personality or whatever).

Hey, it’s not rocket science.

(I know… I used to BE a catfish bait copywriter once.)

But it’s very important and not always clear if you’ve never done deep market research before. In fact, this is why the next Crypto Marketing Newsletter contains a 2 page (quick to read and implement) bonus report showing you how to do to just that:

Research your market to find out what they REALLY want.

What their most PAINFUL problems are.

And EXACTLY what you need to do to persuade them your product (or service) is the solution to those problems.

No trumped up attitude required.

Anyway, this issue goes to print in about 10 days.

You can subscribe at:

Ben Settle

Got a little surprise today.

Check this out:

Yesterday I rearranged some stuff on my sites, switched out some of the opt-in gifts for better ones, and started experimenting with some new ideas. And one of those ideas is giving new email subscribers a free issue of The Crypto Marketing Newsletter when they opt-in.

Specifically, it’s the first issue.

Until now, it was an “unadvertised” bonus for Crypto Marketing Newsletter subscribers (since I ended up launching with the March issue, issue #2, and didn’t want this first issue to go to waste).

But I decided it’d make a better opt-in gift, instead.

Certainly a more valuable one.

If you’re on my daily email tips list, you should have gotten a link to download it at. If not, check your spam/junk folder (if it’s not there, then your ISP or “trigger happy” spam software is blocking aweber email, nothing I can do about that).

And if you’re someone who only reads this site via a blog reader?

Well, you’ll have to bite the bullet and opt-in to get it.

But don’t worry, it’s painless.

You can subscribe in the right hand sidebar on this page…

Ben Settle

Do you know who Methuselah was?

In the Bible, he was the oldest living human being — clocking in at 969 years old before joining “The Choir Invisible.” And recently, researchers have discovered what they’re calling the Methuselah gene, because they think it’s the gene that keeps even people who abuse their bodies for 50 years alive until 100+.

All of which got me thinking.

Wouldn’t it be cool to have a “Methuselah” sales letter?

An ad that just runs and runs and runs?

And that’s profitable not just for weeks and months… but for years and maybe even decades?

Does such a letter exist?

I don’t know.

But you can give yourself a fighting chance with a little testing.

Like, for example, testing your headline.

I know a copywriter who has one of those guarantees where he’ll keep rewriting your ad until it pulls or whatever. When I asked him about what he does when rewriting, he said he just changes the headline and that usually does the trick.

So that’s one way to do it.

Another way to do it (that hardly anyone talks about) is the sale letter “lead” — the opening paragraph or sentence.

Almost nobody tests this.

Yet, it can sometimes make as big a difference as your headline!

Anyway, just something to ponder.

You can potentially keep an ad running for a LONG time just by testing the headline and lead.

And you want to know what?

The lead is what the next Crypto Marketing Newsletter issue is ALL about. In fact, it covers 10 “monkey simple” (but extremely effective) ways to create a lead for just about any kind of product or service imaginable.

Know what else is included with this special issue?

A “shortcut” way to research your market.

Research is my numero uno priority when writing ads

It’s truly what separates the men from the boys in this crazy business, and nothing else even comes close to it in importance (in my opinion, at least).

Get your research right, and ye old ad almost writes itself.

Yeppers, it’s that powerful.

Anyway, next issue goes out soon.

You can subscribe over at…

Ben Settle

Not that this shocks me, but…

Apparently, they discovered some schmuck mailman in Philadelphia (I keep picturing Newman from “Seinfeld”…) stuffed 20,000 pieces of mail (going alllll the way back to 1997) in his apartment — including IRS notices, college acceptance letters, paychecks, Social Security payments… the whole brick of wax.

Ouch.

That’s gotta HURT to be one of those recipients.

But you know what?

This tomfoolery happens ALL the time ONLINE, too.

I call ’em “cyber Newmans.”

ISP’s, junk mail software, spam arrest services, etc.

And they basically do the same thing:

Steal, intercept and “hide” emails (somewhere out there in cyberspace…) — including sometimes important ones where people are sending you money and business correspondence where time is of the essence.

There are lots of ways to thwart these cyber Newman’s.

But none are completely foolproof.

After all, the merry plump cyber thief is always cooking up new tricks. And just because a word or phrase or punctuation mark is “safe” from spam filters and software today… doesn’t mean it will be tomorrow. Nor can you always count on things like spam assassin to 100% protect you, either.

All of which is why I do daily emails.

(Well… usually, at least.)

In fact, you want to know something?

I’ve noticed that just by doggedly sending out something every day, people who might normally not have seen my emails end up getting them eventually.

It’s strange.

And I don’t pretend to know exactly how it works.

But I’ve had people who signed up months earlier tell me they started suddenly getting my emails out of the blue.

Who knows?

Maybe their ISP farted or something?

But whatever the case, this is why I’m big on mailing daily.

Not junk mail, of course.

But emails people enjoy reading (and buying from).

Anyway, I rap a lot about how to write emails people enjoy reading and buying from (and how to write them daily, almost without strain) in ye old Street-Smart Email course, which should be ready next month.

To get on the notification list, go to:

Launch day customers get a BIG price break.

So if you’re interested, watch for my email.

And tell cyber Newman to back off…

Ben Settle

This may sound kind of strange.

But one of the most profitable email marketing lessons I’ve ever learned did NOT come from a goo-roo.

Or a book.

Or even from turning on my computer.

No… it came from my dog.

Check out these oranges:

When we first got our dog (Zoe), and she wanted to go out in the morning, it didn’t take much to get us up and moving. This was before she was fully potty-trained. And so any movement prompted us to jump out of bed and take her (even at 2 or 3 am).

But as the months went by, that changed.

We started figuring out her schedule.

And we knew when she really NEEDED to go out and took her… or just WANTED to (because she smelled a skunk or whatever) and rolled over back to sleep.

So what did Zoe do after that?

Give up?

Hardly.

She simply got more “inventive.”

Instead of just moving around or sniffing our hands… she started doing things like scratching at the wooden bed frame. Shaking her body. Running up and down the stairs (again and again…). Sighing real loud. And even (and this one takes the cake) using her claws to rap the base of the metal antique lamp in the bedroom and making a loud “DING!” noise.

Clever little dog, eh?

She seems to think so.

But clever or not… one thing she definitely is, is RELENTLESS.

Even 2.5 years later, when this dog gets the idea to wake us up (no matter the reason) she usually doesn’t stop until mission accomplished.

It’s a true battle of wills.

With Zoe getting more obnoxious, and us struggling to ignore her.

In the end… Zoe usually (not always) wins.

Anyway, what’s the point?

You gotta be relentless.

I’m not saying to hammer your list with obnoxious sales pitches… but I do think you should mail often. Send out interesting info that fascinates (and inspires) them. And every time you do, ask for the sale.

Do it boldly and relentlessly.

That’s how the big dogs do it, after all.

Ben Settle

P.S. If you missed yesterday’s announcement about my coming “reveal everything” email course, click on over to:

Launch day customers get a HUGE discount.

OK, first thing’s first.

Gotta little piece of “housekeeping” to get out of the way before we barrel into the powerful email marketing tip below.

And that is:

In the coming weeks I’m launching my “reveal all” email marketing product. It’s everything I know about email on a plate.

And yes, it WILL be expensive.

But, launch day customers will get a HUGE discount.

How much?

I’m not exactly sure.

But make no bones about it, the “early bird” discount will be big.

If you want to be notified when it’s ready, go to:

Now, onto our regularly scheduled program…

Here’s a recent email question (how timely!):

“Ben, why in your emails do you not always include a PS? Everyone else I’ve seen who uses a lot of email uses a PS. Is that a conscious thing?”

Yeppers.

I like to mix it up.

People get bored of stuff they see over and over.

Take “Star Trek The Next Generation”, for example.

In the second season, they introduced a really nasty villain called “The Borg”. They are a freaky race of cybernetic drones stripped of any trace of individuality or decision making. Instead, they are linked to a collective that does their thinking for them, while they sally forth across the galaxy assimilating and consuming everyone and everything in their path (turning other beings into drones like themselves and taking their technology).

They were extremely popular, too.

And fanboys couldn’t get enough of them.

Yet, they usually (if memory serves) had no more than one or two “Borg” episodes per season.

Why?

Why not put them in every week if they were so popular?

Because it’d get OLD fast.

And it’s the same when emailing.

That’s why I try keeping things (like link placement) varied up.

If you email a lot (especially more than once per week)… and someone sees a link after the PS in every. single. stinking. email… it becomes easy to ignore.

Almost like it’s invisible.

Hey, if you don’t believe me, test it.

Maybe you’re market likes sameness (such as if you’re selling to the Borg, for example).

But most I’ve seen don’t.

Anyway, more on this in the email course.

Meanwhile, strap in and warp speed on over to:

Ben Settle

Took the Nerd Girl to see Iron Man 2 yesterday.

Was a GREAT movie, too.

And I highly recommend it.

In fact, on the way home (after my “nerdgasm” wore off and I could think rationally again), something occurred to me about the movie that’s directly applicable to selling, marketing, copywriting or any kind of persuasion.

Here’s the skinny:

Iron Man 2 had some extremely good special effects.

But, they did not take away your attention from the story.

In other words, they weren’t the focus of the movie, the story was (as it should be).

And you know what?

That’s exactly how selling should be.

All the cool sales “fireworks” are well and good.

But what a lot of marketers do (and it’s especially rampant online) is get so caught up in the hot new sales and persuasion “techniques” their favorite goo-roo has been using (usually on them)… they forget about the REAL part that makes the sale:

Helping people solve a problem or eliminate a pain.

To paraphrase the late (great) Eugene Schwartz:

You want the person to look through your sales pitch like they are able to look through a glass showcase and see the product inside. If that glass becomes dirty, reflective or calls attention to itself, you’re dead in the water.

No sale for you.

And that’s what focusing on the tricks and tips do:

Dirty the glass.

Just like too much attention on special effects does to a movie.

Anyway, the point?

It’s not about us and our fancy tricks and tips, it’s about them — their problems, needs, desires and pain.

Focusing on THEM is the key.

That’s the whole secret to speeding ahead on the highway of selling and leaving your competition eating your dust (while making more of ye old green stuff, too).

You can learn more about selling like this at:

These principles have been used by some of history’s most persuasive salesman, marketers, copywriters, politicians and negotiators.

They’ve even worked for geeky pick-up artists.

And you know what?

I’m pretty sure they’ll work for you, too.

Ben Settle