Ben Settle

Okay, this is probably a tad controversial.

So let me begin by saying I am against spam.

I hate it as much as anyone.

And it sucks how spammers ruin it for us legitimate emailers.

In fact, because of these idiot spammers I may have to change my email address.

BUT…

… at the same time, it can’t hurt to observe how spammers get their trash emails through while our legitimate emails are often banished into the Internet “nether-world.”

Which is why, despite numerous pleas from my sanity and conscience, I’ve started doing the unthinkable:

Actually reading my spam email.

And although most of it is bizarre (and creepy), I did notice something useful for us legitimate marketers:

Sometimes obvious “red flag” words get through because the spammers are taking the offending word and joining it with the next word.

So instead of saying:

“Make Money With Copywriting”

They say:

“MakeMoney With Copywriting”

Or, instead of:

“Click Here Now!” (A HUGE spam filter red flag)

They might say:

“ClickHere Now”

Now, to be honest, I haven’t done a whole lot of testing with this other than to run some of these phrases through spam assassin.

And usually it doesn’t recognize them. (At least not yet. These things are always changing.)

So it may be worth testing in your own (legitimate) email campaigns if your email delivery rates are poor because of overzealous spam filters.

P.S. Speaking of beating the spam filters…

One of the interviews in “The Affiliate Trump Card” is with email copywriter Jay White — who writes email copy for a bunch of top Internet marketers like Alex Mandossian, Stephen Pierce, Rich Schefren, and Jeff Walker.

One of the things Jay talks about is how he gets his big money clients’ emails past those pesky spam filters.

You can check it out at:

Couple days ago I threw up a rather sloppy ad held together by “spit and bale wire.”

You can read it at:

I put less than 20 minutes into writing this ad (if that much).

And (as you can see) there is no “killer” headline, body copy or overall theme.

In fact, the only copywriting “technique” (although I don’t consider it a “technique” — just honest marketing) I consciously included is “candor.”

The result?

According to Google Optimizer it’s converting at over 19% response so far.

Now, here’s the question:

Is the (blatantly crappy) “copy” giving it a 19% conversion?

Or is it something else?

For example:

• It’s only been seen by people on my own list (a warm market, who have been thoroughly prepared for it for the last couple months — and many were actually looking FORWARD to its release).

• The $10 price is extremely attractive — especially to many non-US customers whose money is much stronger than our dollar right now.

• And, as icing on the cake, it’s sold via ClickBank, which means you can refund it very easily, and still keep the product anyway since it’s digital.

My point?

I seriously doubt the “copy” was responsible for most (if any) of the sales.

And while copy is important… it is not “king.”

Just like you can read in any decent marketing book, it’s FAR more important to sell a product people already want, to people who are already willing to pay for it, with an offer that’s hard to refuse.

P.S. Speaking of “The Affiliate Trump Card”…

Here are a couple customer comments so far…

“Shameless” Shamus Brown posted a video on his blog I believe everyone in direct marketing should see.

It’s short, it’s funny, and it’s a great example of how a lot of marketers “think.”

(It’s a How “Not” To Lesson)

You can check it out at:

And while you’re there, don’t forget to sign up on his list.

As I’ve said before, Shameless Shamus’s teachings are tops — whether you’re copywriting or (as he calls it) “full contact” selling.

Always thought provoking, always fun and… of course… always shameless.

And speaking of “shameless”…

I’ve got a couple links I’d like to shamelessly plug:

1. My “Affiliate Trump Card” product is ready.

Eventually I will write a “for real” ad for it (the ad up now is sloppy and way incomplete).

And when I do, the price will shoot up dramatically (probably $97 or more).

But for now, I’m basically giving it away.

Details at:

2. Ryan Healy and John Angel opened their freelance copywriting coaching program today.

If you want in before the doors close (sounds like they have a line already), go to:

(They actually give away two cool strategies for finding clients right in the ad. So even if you don’t want to buy, it’s well worth checking out anyway).

OK, that’s it for now.

Next time:

Something else…

Got some interesting “Q&A” today.

Some required longer-than-usual answers.

So no time for dilly-dally, let’s get it on…

QUESTION: I heard you talk about the benefits of going through the best copywriting and marketing courses 10 times at least. How do you get through all that material so many times? I hardly have enough time to get in 15 minutes much less an hour. What is your secret?

BEN: You just have to think outside the box a little.

For example:

Let’s say you bought a copywriting course that is made up of audio CD’s.

But you don’t have the time and/or the patience to sit there and listen to them.

What you do is simple:

You go for a one hour walk each day and… you listen to those CD’s during your walk.

There’s an extra “power hour” right there.

If you have a dog, this is a no-brainer.

If you live near a dog shelter (where they often encourage volunteers to walk dogs who have been cooped up all day) then you can turn this into a “double whammy” good thing.

Plus, here’s how to speed things up even more:

I recently had a long and pleasant talk with Daniel Levis — if you don’t Daniel, you really should. He writes articles for Clayton Makepeace’s site and is a truly brilliant marketer).

And one extremely valuable thing he suggested was to get a decent audio editing program and use it to put your audio course on a slightly higher speed.

That way, you can listen to more content in less time.

Pretty cool concept, eh?

Michael Senoff actually has an interview about this at:

Now, you may wondering what to do if the content you want to study is text — like a copywriting book or written transcript.

What can you do in this case?

Do what Ryan Healy recently did with Claude Hopkins’ “Scientific Advertising”:

Read the book into a digital recorder and turn it into an audio book.

That way you can listen to the book during your hour walk.

In your car when commuting.

Or when working on something mindless in your office.

Heck, if you’re REALLY ambitious, you can do what Ryan did (if it’s public domain, at least) and SELL your recording to other copywriters who couldn’t be bothered with such a task of reading it into a recorder themselves.

In fact, you can buy Ryan Healy’s recorded version of “Scientific Advertising” for $15 at:

Anyway, I think you get the point.

Just think outside the box and you’ll be amazed at what you can get done in 24 hours.

And hey… speaking of Ryan Healy…

QUESTION: I heard John Angel’s and Ryan Healy’s copywriting coaching program is about to open. You mentioned you would be giving some bonuses to those who buy it from you. Was wondering what those bonuses were?

BEN: If you join their coaching program from the link below, I will give you the following bundle of valuable of bonuses:

1. Copy of my “Copywriting Grab Bag” book — $49.95 value

2. One hour consultation on anything I’m qualified to talk about.

Including: Marketing, copywriting, publicity, press releases, audio marketing, affiliate marketing, positioning, selling face-to-face (or over the phone), product creation, book marketing, and anything else I’m qualified to talk about — $500.00 value

3. One individualized (just for you) press release you can fax or mail to the media (along with instructions on what to say and how to use it to get new clients).

In other words, I’ll write the press release for you, and show you how to use and adapt it however you like — $350.00 value

4. The contact info of at least (there may be more) 5 potential copywriting JV partners who I either don’t have time to help, or they sell something I’m not interested in.

These people were LOOKING for a copywriting JV partner just a few months ago. You don’t need any fancy sales letter or verbal tap dance to approach them. They are already looking for a copywriter to work with — or were a few months ago — and are at least somewhat “pre-screened.”

5. Access to all the free bonuses I give customers of Ryan Healy’s “How To Get Your First Paying Client In 14 Days” eBook.

This includes a whole bunch of valuable information about getting new clients. Including a lengthy interview (you can’t find anywhere else) about properly setting up copywriting joint ventures.

All you have to do to get these bonuses is sign up on the announcement list at:

If you buy using that link, and say you found them through me (they will ask before they let you buy), all the above is yours.

Easily $1,000+ in value.

QUESTION: I am a network marketer and am interested in learning copywriting. What do you suggest as the starting point for beginner copywriters?

BEN: You can never go wrong with reading (and re-reading… and re-reading… and re-reading…) the classics first (Hopkins, Caples, Ogilvy, Collier, Schwab, Eugene Schwartz, even Dan Kennedy’s “Ultimate Sales Letter”).

We’re talking less than $200 for all of these books.

And you can probably get them all dirt cheap on eBay.

Also, all the copywriting issues of Gary Halbert’s newsletter: www.TheGaryHalbertLetter.com

Gary Bencivenga’s newsletter: www.BencivengaBullets.com

Doug D’Anna’s newsletter: www.DougDanna.com

If you want to get into the more advanced stuff, you can check out more copywriting course recommendations here:

The key is to find a teacher whose personality and teaching style fits YOUR personality and learning style.

That will always be the “best” resource.

QUESTION: I have a question about the Michael Senoff swipe file deal at www.SwipeFileSecrets.com/senoff

It sounds good but what form are the ads in and how do I access them (Is it all online? Do I download them?).

BEN: You access them in a big, fat zip file of Microsoft Word files. Michael paid to have all those ads typed out word-for-word. It’s perfect if you want to be handed a giant swipe file for less than $100.

QUESTION: Up till now, I have only written copy for my own products but now I want clients. What do I do? I also want to go into Catalog copywriting. Do you think it will be possible for me to offer copywriting services to my clients as well as be into catalog copywriting at the same time?

BEN: Lots of freelancer questions this time. Sheesh!

Anyway, if you want to get clients “the easy way”, then seek out marketers who **already** hire copywriters and ask if they need any extra copywriting help.

Think of the big name marketers you know and hear about.

Many of them hire out their copywriting. They have to since they have so many projects going on.

I would contact them and just ask if they need any freelance help.

Don’t expect them all to answer you back.

But all you need is one or two to get the ball rolling.

As for your catalog question:

I know Jay White does both regular client work as well as catalog projects on the side, plus his own projects.

So it’s definitely possible (and being done).

It’s all about how hard you want to work, and how badly you want it, my friend.

You can learn more about Jay White’s catalog writing methods at:

OK, that’s it for today.

See you next time…

I don’t know why…

… but it still surprises me when so-called “business people” get their underwear in a wad when they see an offer.

You’d think they would realize the whole point of having an email list is to run a business, and not just give away endless amounts of free content forever.

Take, for example, my last email/blog post about copywriting joint ventures.

I basically gave away some extremely valuable information that has been worth well over $10,000 to me personally.

And yet, here’s an email I got almost immediately after sending it:

I hate these misleading articles that lead to a pitch. Pretty cheap. I’m unsubscribing. – M.

Apparently, the fact I put an affiliate link in the email that sends people to a website with nothing but MORE free content (there’s nothing even for sale there right now) hurt poor “M’s” delicate sensitivities.

And while I found his email amusing (hey, don’t let the door hit you in the arse, M)… it was also kind of annoying, too.

Of course, I have nobody to blame but myself.

I probably give as much “for real” useful free content as anyone. The interviews alone are worth more than many products you can pay for on those particular subjects.

And yet, I am no longer sure giving all this away is a good thing.

There are two reasons I say this:

1. My site is like “catnip” to people who only want free stuff.

This doesn’t make them bad people, by any means. But they tend to complain an awful lot and make for lousy subscribers.

And, even more important than that…

2. All this free stuff I give away doesn’t help you as much as if you paid for it.

Now, your first reaction to that may be, “NO BEN! It DOES help!”

And, in some ways, I am sure it does.

But rest assured, free is NOT better.

I’ll give you a “real life” example.

Once upon a time I bought the late Gary Halbert’s “Boron Letters” (back when he charged $97 for them — and didn’t give them away free on his site).

And because I bought those letters (and it kinda stung my pocket book to do so), I studied them night and day for several months.

In fact, I read them at least 20 times (probably more, but lost count).

I even sat down and copied the book out by hand just to get inside Sir Gary Of Halbert’s “head.”

This experience was invaluable to me.

I cannot put a price tag on how much it was “worth” — but I do know my income went up significantly after that.

And yet, I never would have studied them like that had I got them free on his site.

Which brings me to the point:

Free is costing you money.

It is NOT saving you money.

Especially long term.

And if seeing a sales pitch bothers you — even though you are in marketing and/or copywriting — then it could be you’re in the wrong business.

I mean, how can you possibly be a good seller… if you’re not first a good buyer?

Just something to think about.

P.S. Like anyone online, I often get hate mail (or “dork mail” as I consider the one I quoted above).

But I also get a lot of good mail, too.

In fact, right after the email I got above, the following response — to the exact same email the other guy was crying about — came in:

“Ben, I am continually amazed at the wealth of information and the imaginative nature of your e-mails on copywriting, etc. Even when I can’t use one of your e-mails, which is often because of the nature of my writing, I am so very impressed by the thoughtfulness of the content — and how spritely it’s written. Thanks for strong writing and strong ideas! Best, Tim”

Thank you, Tim.

Coming from you that means a lot (Tim happens to be a “for real” business professional, by the way, with the career history to prove it).

QUESTION: Ben, I heard you got your start in copywriting by doing joint ventures so you would not be paid a fee but on the sales. I am a new copywriter and would like to know how you set that up?

BEN: That’s a great question.

It’s an extremely important one, too.

Because while copywriting joint ventures can be VERY profitable if you find the right product and partner, they can drive you to the brink of insanity if you don’t.

Which is why, if I could do it over again, I would not just do joint ventures.

Instead, I would do what I do today… which is have three projects going at all times:

A fee-based project, a joint venture project, and one of my own projects.

So far, this has proven to be WAY more profitable than just doing joint ventures or just fee-based work.

Now, I will give you one piece of advice that, if you really follow it, will save you a whole bunch of aggravation.

And my advice is to ONLY do copywriting JV deals with people who:

1. Are as motivated (or more motivated) to make money as you are.

2. Have a list of at LEAST 5,000 people — many of which are actual buyers.

3. Have a history of mailing their lists regularly and often.

4. Have a product that is proven to sell.

There’s actually more to it than that.

But in my humble (but accurate) opinion, these four things are mandatory.

Otherwise you are setting yourself up for a potentially nasty fall.

What you want is to write an ad for a product that you already know sells, to a list of people that you already know are capable of buying, for a client who you already know will run your ad.

This doesn’t guarantee you success, obviously.

But it does dramatically beef up your odds.

On that note, let me say one more thing.

Probably the best person to ask about copywriting JV deals is not me… but my buddy John Anghelache.

These are actually John’s specialty and he has done far more of them than me.

Had I learned John’s method of doing these JV’s in the beginning, I would have saved myself from making a pile of dumb mistakes that cost me a small fortune in time and money.

And here’s the good news:

For the first time ever, John is going to reveal his exact method of setting up profitable copywriting JV deals in a special coaching program he and Ryan Healy are soon launching.

If you’re serious about making it as a freelancer, I highly suggest checking it out at:

I was reading Brian Clark’s latest blog post today at www.CopyBlogger.com about bullet points (one of the BEST bullet point tutorials ever, IMHO), started to draft a comment, and, before I realized it, my comment was a full fledged lesson in itself!

So instead of posting it as a comment on Brian’s blog, I decided to post it here.

But before reading my “add on” lesson, I HIGHLY encourage you to read (even print out) Brian’s post at www.CopyBlogger.com/bullet-points-for-bloggers.

Ready?

OK, here we go…

1. Give-Away Bullets.

These are sort of like the lady who hands out cheese cubes at the grocery store. She gives people a little “taste” of food that keeps them alert and shopping — and many times they end up with the thing they tasted in the shopping card.

You can do the same thing with your bullets.

Every now and then, just flat out give away one of your secrets.

For example:

• How to use simple cartoons to explode your sales…no matter what you sell or who you sell to. (For example, you’d be amazed at how easily a picture of a phone operator with her headset on can jack up your response!)

Another play on this is to give half (or even most) of the secret away… and then add a little “twist.”

Like this…

• Two proven “cures” for writers block. (The first one is simply doing a lot of research. The second one is much easier… and can be found at your corner grocery store.)

2. Expansion Bullets.

I LOVE using these in ads that have lots of bullets.

Not only do they break up the “sameness” of the page (when you have several pages of bullets) — but they also add more tease, demonstration and curiosity.

Plus, they give a nice little “loop” effect to your ad that keeps sucking the reader back in.

Here’s an example:

Speaking of stopping diseases… chapter 32 of “Why You Should Never Give Your Dog A Bone” will show you…

This is no joke.

In fact, if you want to kiss those sky-high vet bills and expensive pet medications goodbye forever… then turn immediately to page 92 and discover:

Why some colleges will perform veterinary services for your dog (as education for their veterinarian students) at a reduced cost (and sometimes free!)… A special website where you can buy dog medications for as much as 50% off… A secret way to get high-quality veterinary services 100% FREE for the rest of your dog’s life… How to save a HUGE amount of money on your vet bills by asking your vet one (almost laughably simple) question… And more.

There are actually 12 money-saving secrets in this chapter.

And each one can save you a pile of money the next time your dog gets sick, hurt or just needs a routine checkup.

Here are a few more of the little-known secrets revealed in this hot new book for dog owners:

And then it just goes back to hitting them with more bullets.

3. “Can’t Be Done” Bullets.

This is my all time favorite bullet point technique.

I first heard Eugene Schwartz talk about this in a video speech he gave, and have used them with reckless abandon ever since. (In fact, I like it so much I dedicated an entire chapter to this in my book “The Copywriting Grab Bag.”)

Basically, this is where you say something that is “almost” unbelievable.

Something 100% true, but that is so whacky and “out there” it makes you say,
“How in the heck can you do that???”

Here are some examples:

And so on, and so forth.

Anyway, those are three more techniques to add to Brian Clark’s excellent list (which, again, you can get at www.CopyBlogger.com/bullet-points-for-bloggers).

I hope you enjoy (and profit!) from them.

Just got back from seeing “The Hulk.”

Holy crap I love these comic book movies! (And my “fanboy” hairs are all a tingle about the upcoming “Batman.”)

Funny thing about “Hulk” though… is how much it reminds me of certain copywriters.

When I hear some of the mega claims certain copywriters make about “their copy” bringing in millions of dollars (without any mention of list, offer, positioning, company credibility, product quality, market place timing, ad design, etc), I see this image of the copywriter ripping off his shirt, pounding his chest like the Hulk and screaming at the top of his lungs…

“COPYWRITER SMASH!”

“RRRRRAAAAAARRRRR!”

And let’s face it.

Just like the Hulk, the more excited they get… the STRONGER their hype gets.

Which is kind of a pity.

Because no matter how much we copywriters think otherwise, copy is merely a sales multiplier.

It’s not going to make a crappy product better.

It’s not going to magically force people to buy something they don’t want.

And it’s sure as heck not going to “hypnotize” someone into buying something against their will.

Yes, copy IS extremely important.

And if you have the right traffic, positioning, product and offer it can blast your profits through the roof.

But copy is not “king.”

Heck, it’s not even queen.

(It’s more like a jack or 10 of spades.)

In fact, Ken McCarthy nails it in his “System Club Letters” book:

“… All things being equal, the prize goes to the person who writes the best ad. But the reality is ‘all other things’ are rarely equal…and the so-so letter to the hyper-responsive list is going to wipe the floor with the brilliant letter sent to the so-so list.”

Words to live by for ANY copywriter.

Even if your copy really is “super.”

P.S. If you’d like a free MP3 of the interview I did with Ken McCarthy about copywriting (that he contributed to my “Copywriting Grab Bag” book), simply buy “The System Club Letters” from his site at:

And then send your receipt to: ben [at] bensettle.com

An no… I am NOT an affiliate for his book. I just think it’s one of the single best marketing books I’ve ever read, and I think the marketing world would be a much better place if everyone owned (and read) it.

P.P.S. Speaking of “The Copywriting Grab Bag” book…

Yesterday I got a testimonial for it from Internet marketing “legend” Terry Dean.

You can hear what he said in a 30 second MP3 clip here:

It was a real honor to get a testimonial from Terry.

Frankly, if anyone has the right to be called an Internet marketing “guru”, it’s him.

Anyway, I’m soon raising the price considerably (probably to $97) when I write a “real” ad for it. So if you want the book while it’s still relatively inexpensive, just go to:

Lately it seems unsubscribing from lots of email lists has been all the rage.

It makes sense, too.

I mean… not being on dozens of lists frees up your time and inbox so you can focus on important things (like running your business and making more dough) — instead of wasting your time reading one hyped-up sales pitch after another after another after another.

But you know what?

If you’re an email marketer, getting off some of those lists can be a HUGE mistake.

Strange as it sounds, I believe all this unsubscribing is costing you dearly — especially if you’re leaving the really hard-core, “frothing-at-the-mouth” hypey lists.

In fact, I believe you should join every single stinkin’ hype-filled list as possible.

The more full of BS the better.

The more they insult your intelligence the better.

I’m dead serious about this, too.

Let the onslaught of hype and BS hit you every day, day in and day out.

Examine every plead, gimmick and “excuse” for contacting you they concoct.

Notice how they treat you like some kind of drooling biz-opp lunatic whose only reason for existing is to give them your money, put their slapped-together product on the shelf (unopened), and then buy something else from them.

Anyway, why would you want to subject yourself to this madness?

What will this do?

Depending on how you conduct your email campaigns now… it could do a LOT.

You see, after being treated like a cyber “doormat” like this, you might start writing totally different emails to YOUR list because you will genuinely empathize with them and value their time.

You might also think twice before thinking of your list as just a “herd” (as many Internet marketers call their lists). And maybe think of them as people with real problems, desires and things to do besides sit down and read emails all day.

If you are an affiliate marketer, you might realize sending your list the exact same “form” email (that every other affiliate is sending) makes it almost impossible NOT to delete your emails.

Heck, you might even start to see how your list thinks of YOU (if you’ve been doing the above things).

And… if that is the case… you might NOT like what you see.

Anyway, I did this “list torture” exercise a while back and it was a real eye-opener.

And if your email response is poor, it may make a big difference for you, too.

P.S. I’m almost done with my Affiliate Trump Card product. To be notified when it’s ready (and get an “early bird” discount when it is) go to: