Ben Settle

I’ll make this one a “quickie” today:

Crackerjack Selling Secrets is now available and, if you grab your copy today, you can get it for $20 off:

Here’s what a few other top marketers have said about it:

“Excellent book”

– Ken McCarthy (quoted from his blog)
Internet marketing pioneer
And consultant

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Hey Ben,

Yesterday I used tip #6 to make 1 small, quick change to my website and sales immediately went up. It was crazy. I didn’t do anything different except that change.

As you know, I WANTED to give your book negative feedback for ripping my sales letter to shreds recently, but I really can’t. It’s perfect for someone like me. I was going to critique it, but instead got into it… so that says something!

– Rich Bryda
Top Article Marketer &
Internet Entrepreneur

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Hi Ben,

Bloody brilliant! Dude, I learned so much from Crackerjack Selling Secrets and I want to use some of this stuff in my landing pages to try and increase optin-rates.

-Jim Yaghi
Computer Scientist &
World’s #1 Google AdWords Marketer
In The Home Business Industry

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Ben,

Wow! I LOVE your Cracker Jack Selling Secrets book, and as always, I learned some new things – some of which I never put my finger on before.

My favorite was #25, which I will consciously use now.

One particular ‘guru’ could have used it on me and easily earned my $6,000 and respect, instead of my disgust and lost business.

– Gina Parris
Professional Speaker &
Peak Performance Coach
To Pro Athletes, Market Traders
And Entrepreneurs

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Ben,

I enjoyed your book a LOT.

Short, easy lessons…I have absolutely NO critical suggestions and that is rare for me who sticks my nose in people’s writing often when not even asked.

I think the wisest was using skepticism to our advantage.

I bet my eBay listings will be better now that I understand that.

Greg Perry
eBay Powerseller &
World’s Most Published
Author Of Computer Books

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Anyway, you can get your copy today at a $20 discount here:

Ben Settle

Not long ago I was on a rather interesting consulting call.

It was interesting for lots of reasons.

For example, Terry Dean was also on the call and I ALWAYS have my “antenna” up whenever he talks. It was also interesting because Terry and I were helping a marketer who’s in a niche I really dig selling to already.

But you know what the most fascinating part was?

It was the “synergy” of the call.

There’s just nothing like 3 or 4 people on a call hashing it out like that — letting the ideas fly with reckless abandon and finding real solutions to tough problems in 30 minutes or less.

Very cool.

Anyway, here’s the point:

If you have a tough marketing, copywriting or sales problem driving you bananas… and you just don’t know what to do or where to turn… gather ye together a roundtable of other people and watch what happens.

They don’t even have to be “marketing” people, either.

In fact, I suspect you’d get all kinds of ideas for solving your biggest “nightmare” marketing problems by casually rapping with someone in your market than you would from some highfalutin’ consultant, anyway.

Be worth trying it one day and seeing what happens.

After all, what have you got to lose?

Especially since consulting your market is free.

Ben Settle

P.S. Something else kinda weird happened on that call.

I realized I didn’t despise consulting as much as I thought.

You see, up until then, I kind of dreaded doing consulting because usually I get pretty drained when on the phone like that. It’s like having my blood sucked out by leaches. But this time was different because it was for a niche I already enjoy working with and with people who were a joy to talk to.

So I’m hereby hanging out my consulting “shingle.”

And if you happen to sell something I’m not “in” to, I’ll let you know up front and probably be able to refer you to someone who can help.

I want to try something different today.

A “Do’s and Don’ts” list (about email marketing) — this’ll be fun for me to try this new email format, and hopefully you will be able to pick a few tips out of it.

Sound fair?

OK then, let’s boogie.

Your results may be different, but I am finding when it comes to email marketing, it’s best if you…

DO: Mail often (even every day).

DON’T: Only mail when you have something to sell.

DO: Be yourself — “warts” and all.

DON’T: Try to ape your favorite goo-oo.

DO: Give good information.

DON’T: Bore people with that good information.

DO: Plug something in every email.

DON’T: Cater to freebie seekers.

DO: Use controversy (if relevant).

DON’T: Let anyone who whines about it suck up your time.

DO: Keep your emails pithy.

DON’T: Think that longer emails can’t work, too.

Whew!

I’m getting dizzy writing in this “DO — DON’T” format.

Anyway, that’s all I know today.

If you want a more detailed email marketing lesson (by one of the Internet’s top email copywriters) check out The Affiliate Trump Card

Ben Settle

Once in a while I get asked about my favorite gurus.

No… not goo-roos.

I mean gurus — with a “u” instead of an “oo”.

There is a difference, ya know.

In my way of thinking, goo-roos are not the same as gurus.

That’s why you will often see me say “goo-roo” when pointing out something I believe you should probably NOT do, or a type of marketer whose claims and business practices I believe you should be skeptical of.

But it’s the exact opposite with “guru”.

Anyway, today I thought it’d be cool to list the “gurus” who I believe you can get mucho value from listening to.

This is all just my opinion, by the way.

Always do your homework before buying someone’s products or services (mine or anyone else’s).

I suspect one person’s guru is another’s goo-roo.

(And vice versa.)

Also, as a side note — I PURPOSELY omitted friends, mastermind members, etc to make this objective. I do not personally know most of the people on the following list and some are dead. But I am acquainted with a few of them (like Ken McCarthy, Terry Dean and Doug D’Anna, for example).

Ready?

OK, here goes… some of my favorite gurus:

• Gary Halbert
• John Caples
• Gary Bencivenga
• Terry Dean
• Jim Camp
• Doug D’Anna
• Paul Hartunian
• Ken McCarthy
• Eugene Schwartz
• Bruce Barton
• Michel Fortin
• John Carlton
• Jim Straw
• Dr. Glenn Livingston

There are more, but this should do for now.

These are some marketers who have A+ info and have never done me wrong on subjects like selling, marketing, copywriting and overall business success.

I suggest checking them all out (just google ’em).

You won’t be sorry.

Ben Settle

P.S. A quick update:

My books The Copywriting Grab Bag and Crackerjack Selling Secrets are still out of stock. Some people think I’m purposely not selling them to create “scarcity.”

Once again, my marketing just ain’t that sexy.

I’m simply in between printers right now and making sure the proofs are up to my standards before releasing the “hounds.”

Let’s have some fun today, shall we?

A little dissection of words even the marketing ex-spurts fear:

1. Work

Many marketers are terrified of admitting there might be work involved in using their product. And yet, I bet few (if any) have ever tested, you know, telling the TRUTH about their super duper way of making money or whatever they sell.

If they did, they may be surprised by the response.

2. Hard

As much as I despise the gummint mafia testimonial rules, I’m digging the way some people can’t just slap testimonials up of their bought-and-paid-for buddies saying how easy and effortless making a gazillion buckeroos is with their product.

It’s kind of amusing.

3. Expensive

I sometimes admit products are expensive up front in ads.

Why?

Because (A) it’s usually true.

And (2), saying it EARLY in the ad removes the objection later.

In the end, it often gets buyers who are “doers” and lovers of quality, instead of price shoppers always looking for cheap.

4. Don’t

Someone once said you should not use “negatives.”

Such as not saying stuff like, “Don’t Do XYZ” in a headline.

Is that true?

Maybe in some cases — but definitely not all of them. There have been many responsive headlines that were pure negative statements. Guess the copywriters writing those successful negative statement headlines never got the “memo.”

5. Effort

Ditto #1

6. Need

Lots of people say never to sell “needs”, just wants.

I don’t know about that.

When my car engine imploded a couple years ago, I NEEDED another car — and fast. I did not “want” one. In fact, I’d have been quite happy to not have had to think about it.

Needs vs wants is just semantics.

OK, so there they are — the 6 “Lord Voldemort” words even the ex-spurts dare not speaketh.

See?

They’re not so scary after all, are they?

Ben Settle

Lately, I’ve been hard at work on a supplement ad.

Totally new territory for me, though.

I’m more of an info product kinda copywriter and not liking these strangling rules I have to follow to make this ad FDA, FTC and probably even KGB compliant.

Bah!

It reminds me of what I call the “spider incident.”

Back when I lived in humid “swamp land” Illinois, we had just sprayed the hell out of the apartment and thought we were “safe” from any spiders and other critters.

But guess what?

That very night, around 3 am, a big ol fatty spider dropped right onto my bare chest and started scurrying down towards my belly.

I instinctively came awake and flung it off me.

Tanna woke up.

“What’s wrong?”

“A f*%*$! spider just landed on my chest!”

She flipped the light on and yep, there it was — hunched on top of the thin sheet she had over her legs (apparently, I flung it right on her — sorry baby!)

I STILL get the creeps thinking about that.

Anyway, all these gummint boogeymen are like that spider.

Even if you think you’ve “sprayed” your business with bureaucrat-repellant… even if you think your marketing is “hounds tooth” clean… and even if the lawyers knight your operation “compliant”… it really doesn’t matter.

If the mafia wants to make an example out of you, they will.

And there ain’t nothing you can do about it.

What’s that?

You aren’t worried because you’re a freelancer and have a “no fault” contract with your clients?

I wouldn’t get too comfy.

Chase Revel (founder of Entrepreneur Magazine and freelance copywriter) got nailed for making a 100% true and documented claim in his ad — even with a solid “no fault” clause in his contract

Yikes.

Something to think about when going to bed tonight 😉

Ben Settle

P.S. Just because you break the law every time you turn your computer on doesn’t mean you can’t try and stay off the goon radar.

For example, The Affiliate Trump Card includes an interview with Ray Edwards that reveals something he does (when selling as an affiliate) that can not only keep you off the “grid”, but can increase your sales, to boot.

It can be good to know this kind of stuff…

Recently got this question about selling on the Internet:

“Ben, I’m just not having any success selling online. I’ve tried everything but no luck. Any advice?“

I can’t really help you without more info.

But usually people who ask this are complicating things.

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

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

George Bailey got himself in quite a mess, 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 even considered suicide!

But remember what happened?

George got paid a visit by his guardian angel: Clarence.

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 when you’re 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 enough times and you can’t help but be successful.

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 sales and marketing easy.

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.

One of my best selling products (that I hardly ever promote) is my Affiliate Trump Card product.

You can read more at:

I’m gonna get medieval on you today.

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about info-publishing.

Not only how to create extremely high quality (and high ticket) info products… but how to create them really FAST.

As in 24 hours or less fast.

Because if there’s one cool thing about all this technology right now, it’s that you can make a product today and literally sell it online tomorrow.

Would you like to be able to do this?

Then let me ask you a question:

Remember King Arthur and the Knights of the round table?

According to some legends, whenever “Arty” had a problem that needed solving, and didn’t know where to turn (I guess maybe when Merlin was too busy or on vacation) he would turn to his trusty knights. And they’d gather around King Arthur’s “round table” and, one by one, take a whack at the problem with their solutions.

By the time everyone was done, the king had his answer.

And guess what?

You can do the same thing to create your products:

If you want to create a valuable product that sells like hot cakes really fast, just gather a panel of experts in your niche on a teleconference (your cyber “round table”) and have them each answer a series of questions about whatever problem it is your market wants solved.

Everyone answers each question.

And, when you’ve gone around the table with all the questions, you got yourself a hot little info product you can (depending on the market) charge a premium for.

Sounds simple, doesn’t it?

Hey, it IS simple.

Maybe not necessarily easy.

But definitely simple.

And if you want some exact “how to’s” to guide you along, check out this free 80 minute training I did with audio marketing “maestro” Michael Senoff:

Ben Settle

P.S. Also, don’t forget, I’m interviewing copywriting superstar Scott Haines soon. If you’d like to submit a question for me to ask him, shoot me an email by clicking here.

I’m gonna go into copywriting “fanboy” mode here.

Like most people, I’ve got my favorite copywriters.

The ones whose ads I read over and over and over, trying to deconstruct what they were thinking and doing every step of the way.

And one of my favorites is a guy named Scott Haines.

You may not be aware of him because he keeps himself out of the limelight and doesn’t want to do the guru thing. Yet, he is easily one of the top copywriters on the planet, and was one of just a SMALL handful of the late (great) Gary Halbert’s personally trained students.

His client list is crazy impressive, too.

Scott’s written for everyone from infomercial gurus and New York Times Bestselling Authors… to $100+ million per year direct marketing companies… to even marketing and business giants like Jay Abraham and Donald Trump.

And guess what?

Scott has agreed to let me interview him (via email) about his most profitable copywriting tips.

But here’s the thing.

I don’t want to just ask him any old questions.

I want to ask him YOUR questions.

What is your most burning hot copywriting problem right now?

If you could sit down with a guy like Scott — whose copy has literally created fortunes selling everything from $19.95 books to $10k investment courses, in every field known to marketing kind (business opportoonity… business improvement… health… financial, etc) — what would you ask him?

No question is off limits.

And he won’t just answer the “easy” ones.

This is an extremely rare event, as again, he shuns the spotlight and doesn’t grant many interviews.

Just send your question(s) to:

Obviously, Scott won’t be able to answer every question.

But I’ll send him all the best ones.

And you never know, he may very well answer yours.

Ben Settle