Ben Settle

Let’s shake things up a little, shall we?

Couple days ago I babbled about “The Matrix” and breaking rules.

Remember that?

Well, check out THESE apples:

Not long ago a friend told me about an ad selling a “make money online” product (yeah, I know… yaaaaawn). And they tested two versions. One was full of screenshots “proving” their income using their super duper system, with some bullets, and an offer.

The other was just a story, same bullets and same offer.

In other words, no fancy shmancy screen shots. No “proof” of income. And none of the bells & whistles showing bank statements, PayPal accounts, and all that jazz.

Which version won?

Drum roll…

The winner was the “plain Jane” version.

Now, this ad broke a major “rule” (i.e. not using a bunch of proof) and yet it kicked rumpus when tested against the proof letter.

What gives?

Isn’t proof the “end all be all” in advertising?

You bet your underoos it is.

And smart marketers pack their ads with lots of proof and credibility elements (although personally, I rarely ever use the “usual suspect” kinds of proof anymore — like screenshots or testimonials, etc).

But in this case, I guess the proof wasn’t in the pudding.

And, in fact, it got beaten to a pulp.

Question is… why?

Who knows?

Mayhaps all the photoshopped bank statements looked phony. Or maybe people just thought, “anyone can do a photoshop job, this is BS”. Or maybe… just MAYBE… an irresistible story is more persuasive than flashing dry facts and figures?

I guess we’ll never know for sure.

But one thing is certain:

Breaking rules can be very profitable.

And sometimes… the bigger the rule you break, the bigger the winner that breaks the bank.

Giddy-up.

Ben Settle

P.S. If you want to learn how to tell stories that sell, check out the free sales story-telling bonus that comes with “Crackerjack Selling Secrets”:

I gotta be blunt with you.

Right now, I’m not really all that much in the mood to write an email… the sales letter on my desk that needs to get done this week… or even so much as a grocery list right now.

Hey, sometimes that’s just the way it is.

So instead, let’s do something else that’s both fun… and kind of useful.

Below is a short video a friend sent me about how to (and how NOT to) behave on FaceBook.

It should be required viewing, IMHO.

And it makes a great “gift” you can send people who spam your FB wall with virtual cards, irrelevant tags and other impersonal (i.e. no impact) tricks people use to try to get attention.

Anyway, just click here to grab it on YouTube.

Ben Settle

P.S. And don’t forget to grab some more marketing lovin’ over at:

A few weeks ago, I wrote about movies and marketing.

Remember that?

It was about how some of the world’s best marketing geniuses (like Eugene Schwartz and David Ogilvy) were heavily influenced by the movie industry and, in Schwartz’s case, watching all the highest grossing flicks at the box office.

Anyway, there’s another person’s name to add to that list.

And that is David Bullock.

Now, I don’t know David.

Nor do I (yet) own any of his products.

But he once did an interview with Glenn Livingston and said something that’s had a HUGE impact on my little ol’ business ever since.

What did he say?

Simply that he watches the movie “The Matrx” once per month… and gets ideas for his testing and Internet business each time.

For example, he talked about the character Morpheus.

And how Morpheus was talking to Neo about when you’re in a situation where there are rules (such as in marketing, testing, software, copywriting, etc) you can bend them depending on your thinking and your belief in yourself that you CAN bend them successfully.

That opened my mind in ways no other book or course ever had.

And it completely changed the way I market and write ads.

So anyway, the message is clear:

Movies can be awesome “marketing fodder.”

Watch ’em, enjoy ’em and, yes, profit from ’em.

Ben Settle

P.S. Movies are also great for getting sales story ideas, too.

Believe it or not, some of my highest pulling ads were influenced by ideas from movie characters and plots.

And guess what?

You can get an advanced teaching on using stories in your sales and marketing when you grab your copy of Crackerjack Selling Secrets. This MP3 bonus puts 5 different kinds of stories I’ve used to successfully sell products under the microscope (including a .pdf of the stories themselves)… and shows you how to adapt them to whatever YOU sell, too.

It comes by immediate download when you buy the book at:

Yesterday’s email (about swipe files) prompted a question.

And that is why I don’t “swipe”?

Since I like to talk about swipe files, and own a swipe file and USE my swipe file (often), I thought that was a great question, and I think an explanation is due.

So here are just a few of the reasons:

1. It can sometimes be borderline copyright infringement

2. Kinda makes me mad when people do it to me

3. No need to swipe anyway, if you know your market

4. Usually makes for weaker ads than if you think and work (yes, I realize that’s the opposite of what most goo-roos say)

5. It’s laziness and lazy copywriters have skinny kids

Now, don’t get me wrong here.

Swipe files are fine and I still use mine for ideas, inspirations and ways to structure my sales arguments.

So I’m definitely not “anti” swipe file.

But there’s a right way and a wrong way to use them.

The wrong way is (for example) taking whole stories or entire paragraphs from one ad… and then using them verbatim (or almost verbatim) and creating what someone (I think it was Peter Stone?) once described as a “Frankenstein monster” ad.

I realize that’s a secret goo-roo way of doing it.

But even if you get away with it, it’s still a big fat mistake.

Why?

Because copywriting is not really about the words and the “writing” — it’s about the IDEAS and how you arrange those ideas to persuade someone to buy.

So that’s why I don’t do the swipe thang.

Ben Settle

P.S. If you want to know the right way to swipe (the legal, ethical and, yes, most profitable way), check out Appendix 1 in “The Copywriting Grab Bag”:

Been talking to lots of experts over the past few months.

No… not ex-spurts.

Experts.

Those rare types of people (especially online) who sally forth and actually walk the walk, instead of just talk the talk. And one of these experts is an article marketing genius I interviewed to create a bonus for subscribers to my soon-to-be-released offline print newsletter (more on that in a couple weeks).

Anyway, one of the things we discussed was speed.

He and I are both big believers of the Dan Kennedy quote:

And one of the secrets the article guy above taught in this interview is a way to write a dozen or so ezine articles per DAY in about 8-10 minutes each.

In other words — FAST.

He said because he wrote his articles fast (and didn’t necessarily get them “perfect”) he knocked out 1100 articles in about 8 months. And those 1100 articles turned into a $70k per year self sustaining (i.e. “auto pilot”) business. He hasn’t even written a single article in about a year now, and yet his business keeps growing without him touching it due to the SEO, back links, traffic, etc, from those articles.

Pretty sweet gig, isn’t it?

And it’s all from speed.

And by not sitting around “pondering” every detail.

By the way, this is NOT a lecture.

I’m as guilty of pondering and perfectionism as anyone.

In fact, by taking my sweet time launching The Copywriting Grab Bag and Crackerjack Selling Secrets last year, I probably left at LEAST an extra $10-20k on the table.

Maybe even more.

(Not my proudest accomplishment, let me tell ya.)

Anyway, here’s the point:

If you got something to do, do it and do it FAST.

This isn’t a license to make crappy products and create weak marketing campaigns or anything.

But waiting around accomplishes nothing except maybe stealing money from yourself.

Ben Settle

Lately I’ve been doing more joint ventures than usual.

I’m not against JV’s or anything.

However, besides the last 30 days, I rarely do them anymore (it’s much more profitable to sell my own products). And when I do it’s usually on the back end.

But this last round of JV’s has caused a problem:

Suddenly lots of other people are pitching me to JV now, too.

Which is perfectly fine, by the way.

It’s wise to approach people who are actively doing affiliate offers since they are the ones most likely to be interested in JV’ing with you.

Even so, I must make something clear:

Doing these JV’s is not “business as usual” ’round here.

These last few deals were for specific products people on my list had already asked about, and not me blindly throwing products out there hoping people might want.

Take, for example, the Scott Haines copywriting offer.

Lots of people have asked about an “A to Z” copywriting course.

And Scott’s course is one I’d actually lobbied him to sell about a year ago — mostly due to his reputation as a teacher and because his system is far more affordable than other courses from people of his caliber (he was personally trained by Gary Halbert and his client base includes “heavy hitters” like Jay Abraham and Donald Trump).

You can read about it here (it ends tomorrow):

So anyway, here’s the point:

If you’re one of the people who recently approached me to JV, don’t take it personally if I passed on your offer.

I’m not being a jerk or whatever.

It’s simply that my relationship with my list is priority #1 and everything else (including the almighty sale) is a distant second.

Yes, I know that’s not what’s taught at “goo-roo school.”

But, as I keep telling people, I’m no goo-roo.

Nor do I play one on the Internet.

Ben Settle

Remember last week’s tip about the Bible’s marketing secrets?

Well, another big one just occurred to me.

And that is storytelling.

Just about everything Jesus taught was in “parable” form. And I reckon that’s probably one of the main reasons why the Bible is one of the longest enduring texts in human history — and why even people who have never so much as flipped through it can recite some of its stories (i.e. Adam and Eve, the nativity, etc) due to hearing them told as kids.

Not too many dry, “lecture” texts that do that, are there?

And guess what?

Stories can give your marketing lots of “staying power”, too.

I don’t fully know exactly why they work so well.

But it probably has something to do with the way our minds are “hard wired” to process and remember stories (or so I’ve been told by some smart people who study neurology). And that makes it very easy for people to start reading (and KEEP reading) ads in story form — regardless of how good your actual “writing” is.

I’ve seen this phenomenon many, many times.

Frankly, the ads I’ve written with stories weaving in out of them have always put a beating on ads I’ve written without that “story factor.”

Same with other marketers & copywriters I know, too.

So what’s the big lesson here?

Facts tell… but stories sell.

Use ’em and watch your sales multiply.

Ben Settle

P.S. If you want to learn how to use stories in your marketing, check out the free bonus that comes with Crackerjack Selling Secrets. This (immediately downloadable) 60 minute audio lesson contains 5 kinds of stories (including “real life” examples from sales letters I’ve written) that work like gangbusters in advertising.

You can see exactly what makes them “tick” and even use them as guides for your own ads, emails, blog posts, podcasts, videos or however you sell.

But this valuable lesson is NOT for sale for any price.

You can only get it free when you buy Crackerjack Selling Secrets:

I’m a tad rushed for time today.

So no messing around with small talk or dilly-dally.

In fact, all I’m going to do is copy and paste a question someone sent me last month about the testimonials on the sales letter for my “Copywriting Grab Bag” book — www.CopywritingGrabBag.com — and my answer.

Methinks you’ll find this tip quite profitable if you use it, too.

Ready?

OK, here’s the question:

QUESTION: Hi Ben, How do you do your testimonial audios? Love the link buttons and the quality of the audio is great! I am looking for just such a system…

BEN: Sure, here’s pretty much all there is to it:

I have an Internet voicemail and I asked customers to call the number and leave a testimonial at their convenience (day, night, doesn’t matter since nobody answers it). The voicemails are emailed to me in .wav format automatically. I just converted those into mp3’s using “audacity” which, if you do not have it, is open source software that is so easy even I can figure it out (and I’m a complete luddite).

The software that made the buttons is “Sonic Memo Pro”.

It’s also “Ben Settle proof” and costs about $67 or so.

Hey, told you this’d be a quickie today.

And you know what?

It might not be the most fancy pants sophisticated way to do audio testimonials ever invented.

But it gets the job done in a pinch.

Ben Settle

How about a change of pace today?

Instead of yapping about “how to” sell more, what if we rap about “how NOT to sell” stuff?

Sound good to you?

OK then, below is a list of some ways to “unsell” your products and services.

In other words, these are things that could take you from the brink of making the sale (in any medium — online, offline, whatever) to snatching defeat from the proverbial jaws of victory.

It’s happened to yours truly many times.

And let me tell ya, it ain’t fun.

So if you find yourself doing any of these things in your sales and marketing, you may want to reverse course — pronto:

• Lecturing (instead of telling stories — for more on sales storytelling, check out the free bonus that comes with “Crackerjack Selling Secrets” www.CrackerjackSelling.com – described in the PS of the sales letter)

• Not doing enough research

• Slathering your pitch with hype

• Being too product centered (and not market centered)

So there you have it.

Eight freakishly easy ways to “unsell” your product.

And you what?

I bet if you ONLY avoided making these 8 mistakes, you’d find your profits go way up… and your frustration levels going way down.

Try it and see.

Ben Settle

P.S. One quick note about yesterday’s email: Justin Christianson’s site wasn’t fully functional when I plugged it. Apparently the shopping cart was not ready. He fixed it up a little bit after I sent the email, but some people may have given up trying to take him up on his coaching offer.

I guess I kinda jumped the gun.

So just in case for those interested, you can try again by clicking here.