Ben Settle

You might get a kick out of this:

A few years back, I knew of a guy who was about to launch a product and announced it on a forum he frequented.

He was NOT a “guru” in his niche by any means.

He also had a relatively small list of only about 1,000 people.

And, to make matters worse, he discovered (too late) he was launching his product at the exact SAME time a high falutin’ “7-figure” goo-roo was launching a similar product.

You should have seen it…

The goo-roo fanboys went nuts!

They even laughed at him and said he was basically a fool. One guy (a friend of the goo-roo this guy was competing against) flat out told him not to bother, and that he was wasting his time.

Oh yeah?

Well, he launched anyway.

And no… he didn’t outsell the goo-roo (not even close).

But he still kicked gluteous rumpus.

In fact, from what I understand, he got emails from customers saying things like, “there were 10-15 affiliate emails about [Mr. Goo-roo’s] launch. You were the ONLY email I read.”

Pretty cool, eh?

It didn’t matter that he lacked the goo-roo cape and tights — he cleaned up with his own list and made lots of the green stuff, anyway.

So why am I telling you this story?

What’s the point?

Because it’s a perfect example of why you don’t have to be a guru (or even a goo-roo) to make out like a bandit in your niche. If you know how, you can EASILY monetize even a small list with short emails that build trust and set you apart from everyone else.

Yes, even from ye olde gurus.

It ain’t rocket science, either.

Frankly, it’s easy.

And if you’d like to see EXACTLY how I do it with my own small list, then check out my Street-Smart Email system — www.StreetSmartEmail.com/500 — today while it’s still $500.00 off.

This is my entire system on a plate.

And it’s designed so you can be up and writing profitable emails in less than 5 hours. (No fluff or filler.)

Very easy.

But this $500.00 off deal vanishes soon.

So if you want in, check it out today, while you still can:

Ben Settle

The Street-Smart Email System is ready.

If you want it for $500.00 off, go ye forth today to:

This is my entire email methodology on a plate.

It’s what I use to write unusually high converting emails not just to my own lists… but also as the “chief conversions officer” of one of the biggest info publishers on the Internet (routinely writing and testing emails to multiple 100,000+ name lists).

Here’s the linkage:

Ben Settle

P.S. Below is what one of my “beta testers” for the course said.

Someone who has written ads for pretty much every “heavy hitter” on the Internet (including Tony Robbins, Jack Canfield, Armand Morin, Jeff Walker, Frank Kern, and Mark Victor Hansen). And who has quite literally “seen it all” when it comes to email marketing instruction:

I listened to all your modules on the email course today.

Best. Dang. Email. Course. Ever.

Really, really good stuff.

I stopped the RV and wrote tomorrow’s email. And now I’m about to write Monday’s.

Thanks!

Ray Edwards
www.RayEdwards.com

Grab it while the grabbin’s good at:

Ever hear of Netflix?

It’s got to be the coolest thing I’ve ever seen.

It’s basically a deal where they send you DVD’s through the mail for a low monthly fee. You watch them, send them back (at your leisure), and you’re done.

No late fees.

No leaving home.

And no driving to the stoopid video store.

But, that’s not even the cool part.

You see, what’s REALLY great about it is you can now also STREAM movies directly into your TV and not even have to wait for the mail.

Offers don’t get much better than that.

But you know what?

I didn’t hear about it from their advertising.

We discovered it by complete accident.

Because even though they’ve been advertising this service for months… their commercials are so mind-numbingly bad, you pretty much tune the commercial out before they get to the offer!

The current one is ESPECIALLY lame.

It’s a mock game show type thing, basically.

And by the time it gets to the offer, you’re already bored stiff. I would bet this has probably cost them MILLIONS of smackeroos, too. Frankly, methinks they’d probably DOUBLE their sales within 30 days if they simply said what needs to be said without all the fake game show nonsense and “hootenanny.”

Something really simple would do the trick.

Maybe something like…

“If you rent movies, then listen up: Netflix is now offering movies streaming right to your TV for just $8.95 per month. You don’t have to leave your home or even get up out of your chair to watch your favorite movies. Plus, you can use it free for two weeks without pressure or entering your credit card. However, this low price won’t last long. For details rush over to…”

OK, not the grooviest ad in the world.

But it’d get the job done better than the slop they have out now.

Anyway, the point?

If you have a REALLY hot offer, don’t beat around the bush.

Get it out and get paid.

Otherwise, you just sabotage your own sales…

Ben Settle

P.S. Street-Smart Email launches Monday. Grab it during the launch period and you get all my BEST, most profitable email strategies for $500 off.

It’s been happening more and more lately…

People have been “befriending” me on Facebook and then immediately trying to pitch me on their latest “ground floor!” business opportoonity or fancy-shmancy product.

In fact, it happened just the other day.

Some lady befriended me on FaceBook only to start spamming my wall with links to her site 5 minutes later.

Ugh.

I don’t know about you, but it’s kind of offensive.

No… not the spam part.

I speaketh of the the SALES part.

You see, it’s like in that episode of Seinfeld when Jerry’s dentist converts to Judaism just so he can get away with telling Jewish jokes, and Jerry tells the dentist’s ex-priest about what he’s up to.

The priest asks, “Does that offend you as Jew?”

And Jerry says, “No it offends me as a comedian!”

It’s the same with these social media carnival barkers screaming out links to anyone who will see it — they don’t offend me as a consumer, they offend me as a salesman.

It’s actually kinda brutal to watch.

I mean hey, I’m no social media goo-roo.

But I bet they’d have lots more success doing a few “sales 101” activities FIRST — like asking questions, getting to know people before pitching them, and finding out if someone even has the problem their product solves before mentioning the product in the first place.

Pretty simple, really.

Maybe that’s why so many hate true salesmanship?

Because they complicate it?

Ben Settle

P.S. A reminder… The Street-Smart Email System launches Monday, and early cats get a $500 discount.

To hop on the notification list, go to:

Yesterday’s email was… incomplete.

It was about how goo-roos are always inflating everything, and how that’s one way to tell the difference between a legitimate guru (a real teacher) and a goo-roo (a wannabe).

Well, guess what?

Here’s another page from the goo-roo “playbook”:

They COPY everything.

Case in point:

In a golf business I work with, someone recently decided to rip off (more or less) the entire look and feel of the site, products and blog. Everything from their ads… to their blog skin… to the claims they use… to their product design… to even the URL are (as one person observed)… “eerily familiar” to ours.

Of course, this happens when you’re top dawg.

You might as well expect it.

It used to annoy me, too.

But nowadays, I find it kind of amusing.

It’s entertaining to watch the goo-roo in charge of such sites (and yes, there’s always a goo-roo at the controls of such operations) try lifting certain words, designs, sales funnels, etc to create their own “Frankenstein’s monster” of sorts.

It always looks… fake.

And the best customers smell it a mile away.

It’s like looking at a xerox copy of a FAX — where even if the “form” is there, the substance is missing.

Which is why they’re never “the man” in their markets.

And are instead just faded copies of someone else’s original.

And let’s face it, the old saying is true…

“An original is always worth more than a copy.”

Ben Settle

P.S. Originality is VITAL in emails, too. Wannabes don’t last long at all. To learn how to bat out original (and highly profitable) emails in just 15-20 minutes per day (even if you can’t write your way out of a paper bag now), check out my Street-Smart Email System at:

Launch period customers will get $500 off.

Contrary to popular belief, I’m not anti-guru.

I think there are a lot of good ones out there (and have listed my favorite ones before on my site). And you can always learn something from just about anyone who’s had any kind of success (even if you learn from their mistakes).

So gurus are cool in my book.

It’s the goo-roos I don’t trust.

And one way to tell the difference between a legitimate guru and a mere goo-roo is EVERYTHING a goo-roo says is inflated.

Like, for example:

• Inflated sales numbers

• Inflated list size

• Inflated lies

• Inflated response rates

• Inflated claims about the number of people on a tele-seminar

• And so on, and so forth

Anyway, bottom line?

If you want a great “red flag” if someone is lying to you, just notice how much everything sounds inflated.

Do that, and you’ll be a-okay.

Ben Settle

Been thinking about AdWords lately.

I’ve written lots of AdWords ads (for other businesses), but haven’t actually got off my lazy gluteous rumpus to run any of my own campaigns yet.

But, when I do, I’ll have a big advantage over most.

What advantage?

Drum roll…

Batman.

And Spiderman.

And The X-Men.

And all my other comic books.

You see, one of the best pay-per-click ad “cheat sheets” you can find is no farther than the back issue bins of your local comic book store. In fact, whenever I write pay-per-click ads, I raid my box of comics and study the short, pithy direct response ads they used to run in pre-1990 comic books.

They’re masterpieces of persuasion, too.

Those guys were probably the best copywriters in the world.

They knew how to get into your psychology and push all the right buttons to make you buy the stoopidest things — including booklets about packing on muscle, X-ray glasses, sea monkeys, ninja training booklets, and everything in between.

Just excellent stuff.

And they make awesome pay-per-click ad “templates” that let you hammer out new ads in mere seconds.

But hey, don’t take my word for it.

Get ye to the comic book store.

Or check out “The Copywriting Grab Bag”:

I put a bunch of my best ones on the bonus disk.

Either way, I highly suggest trying it.

Ben Settle

Ever hear of the Bridgewater Triangle?

Me neither (until recently).

But for hundreds of years it’s been known as a “hotspot” for paranormal phenomena — with UFO sightings, and reports of Bigfoot (bring it!), giant snakes, poltergeists, phantom dogs (and hitchhikers), and other bizarre phenomena.

All in one spot.

And, in many cases, with multiple reliable witnesses, too (like police officers and local news teams).

I haven’t been there myself.

(At least, not yet!)

But methinks it’s not only a hotspot of paranormal activity, but also a hotspot of TOURIST activity, too (with local towns raking in plenty ‘o the green stuff as a result).

Anyway, why am I telling you about this?

Because your business can be a “hotspot” like this, too.

No, not with monsters (I hope).

But with customers.

And you can do it just like Bridgewater Triangle does, by telling people about your “legend” (your STORY) in a way that gets them buzzing and burping with excitement.

Frankly, you almost can’t not see success with this.

How can I be so sure?

Because I’ve tested this myself and seen the results.

In fact, can you guess what my blog’s most visited pages are?

It ain’t the content stuff.

No… it’s my bio (my story).

It’s nothing fancy, either.

Just a simple telling of my story, letting it all hang out. But even today (6 years after writing it) people email me about how they remember the story about going from living in an office to building a successful business.

It’s become my “legend”, in some ways.

And it STICKS in peoples’ minds.

You can do the same thing, my friend.

Just figure out your story and tell it to the world.

Yeah, it really is that simple.

Ben Settle

P.S. Many prospects (spanning just about every market I’ve ever seen) love buying from ads that tell a good story when told correctly. If you want to use this nifty “persuasion tool” in your ads or sales letters, check out the July Crypto Marketing Newsletter issue (which goes to print in less than 2 weeks) over at:

Sometimes this gets me in trouble.

Especially with the copywriting fanboys.

But it’s my contention (and I’ve seen it happen) that a story can potentially carry the entire sale in an ad even if everything else is technically “wrong” (no clear call to action, confusing copy, weak headline, no offer, etc).

Prove it, you say?

Okay, how about these oranges:

Back in 1986 a movie called “Top Gun” hit the theaters.

Top Gun is about a couple hotshot Naval pilots given a chance to train with the “best of the best” pilots in the world at the “Top Gun” fighter pilot school. Now, whether you like Top Gun or not (I love it!), it was, in some ways, an extremely profitable “sales letter.”

How so?

Couple reasons:

First…

After the movie hit the screens, Ray-Ban Aviator sunglasses (the kind Tom Cruise’s character “Maverick” wore) jumped 40%.

That’s a HUGE increase.

And secondly…

Air Force and Navy recruitment (both sometimes very “hard sells”) shot through the roof.

Crazy, isn’t it?

But apparently, the movie was so good at “selling” all the young whippersnappers of the day on how cool being a fighter pilot is, recruitment booths were set up inside many of the theaters it played in!

Hence, the selling POWER of stories.

And of giving people a fun, thrilling ride.

After all, there was nothing in the movie telling you to go buy Maverick’s brand of sunglasses or to join The Navy. Yet, the movie “sold” great hordes of people on wanting to be like Maverick.

To live his exact lifestyle.

And, yes, win over the hot babe at the end.

So anyway, what about you?

Would you like to tell stories that SELL like that?

Then check out the next Crypto Marketing Newsletter issue (that goes to print July 1), which is ALL about writing stories that sell in ads.

You can subscribe over yonder at:

See ya on the other side, Maverick…

Ben Settle