Ben Settle

This will sound like copywriting heresy.

But if I don’t profane the false goo-roo gods sometimes, life ain’t much fun.

Here’s the story:

I recently finished my yearly read-through of the late, great brilliant copywriter Eugene Schwartz’s book “Breakthrough Advertising.” It is by far one of the single most valuable copywriting books I possess. There is very little in it I disagree with, and even those disagreements have to do with the times he lived in and nothing else. A time which I describe as Third-generation marketing warfare on page 12 of the upcoming April Email Players issue, whereas I believe we now compete in the theater of Sixth-generation marketing warfare, with many of the old “weapons” still necessary, but not nearly as important or powerful as they were then.

Take the almighty headline.

Old GS says it’s 90% of your ad in the book.

Get that wrong, and nothing else matters.

And at the time, he was absolutely right.

Today?

It’s different.

Headlines are about as important to your overall advertising now as swords used by world class swashbucklers in 17th century sea battles were then – when it was the canons that did the most damage – with the swords being used afterwards to secure the ship and clean out the survivors.

Which brings us back to 6G marketing warfare.

The headline is still extremely important.

But you can win many copywriting battles with a crap headline or even none at all if you use the heavy artillery that wins the day in the current business and marketing world. The only thing a better headline will do you for now is help you win a single battle against someone whose ads you happen to go head to head against, but not even come close to winning the war.

Enter the April “Email Players” issue.

It’s all about Sixth-generation marketing warfare.

And it is, in many ways, the most valuable content I’ve ever written.

Certainly it’s been more valuable to my business than anything else I’ve written about. Whether it will be to anyone else I can’t say. Especially since, it’s actually quite low on “how to” info, and is mostly just an intro to something I have yet to see anyone else write about in my industry, but that I’ll be writing a lot about in the months and years ahead, applying it to various different aspects of business, marketing, email, copywriting, launching products, list building, and everything else I like to talk about and implement in my own businesses — in both the info publishing and software spaces.

But a warning to the goo-roo fanboy chasing hacks & tricks.

There are zero of either in Email Players.

And that’s especially true in this upcoming April issue.

It’s exclusively big & dramatic concepts combined with pure strategy — both of which will take a lot of thought, work, and patience to implement. However, I truly believe those who take it to heart, who read it multiple times, and, most important of all, doggedly APPLY the info over the coming months, years, and decades will see that patience and work rewarded in ways mere money cannot measure.

For now, I will just say this:

For the longest time, I’ve treated business as WAR & not merely business.

And if this issue does nothing but impart that on its readers I’ve done my job.

But the deadline to subscribe is in just 2 short days.

That means if you want in, you can’t procrastinate.

And if you’re a current subscriber whose credit card is expiring or you need a new one because of some low life hacker, put it on whatever card you use to pay for your phone and other entertainment bills then switch it later if need be.

You gotta get your shyt together to stay subscribed.

This is the One Email Players Issue to rule them all.

And its “fingerprints” will be on all future issues henceforth.

Here’s the link:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Let me tell you a story.

Specifically, about comicbook creator Robert Kirkland who is the writer & creator of the ghoulish & popular comicbook & TV show “The Walking Dead.” When he first wanted to break into Image Comics with the Walking Dead he knew it would not be accepted at face value. The reasons for this were many, and if you want the full story simply watch “The Image Revolution” on Amazon Prime. But needless to say, in order to get his story accepted and his comics made he had to outright lie, deceive, and entrap.

Here’s how:

He did not say what his story was REALLY about.

He told a bald-faced lie saying The Walking Dead zombies were actually an alien invasion. And that his stories would contain lots of hidden Easter Eggs teasing it for a while before the readers would discover it.

Apparently, this was a big turn on at Image.

And, so, his comics were made and the rest is history.

But, what is not common knowledge about that history is, eventually he was asked about when these aliens were going to finally show up (which, if you read the comics or watch the TV show, you know are not there, and never have been).

To which he answered something like:

(Paraphrasing)

“Oh that? I was just saying that so you’d give them a chance.”

Anyway, here’s why I tell this story:

It’s a great example of what I call Sixth-generation marketing warfare.

And that concept is what the entire April “Email Players” issue is about – what it is, what it means, and how you can start using it in your business. No, I’m not saying you have to lie or deceive. Nor should you. In fact, the best Sixth-generation marketing warfare is totally transparent and easily observed even by your competition. But, there are come things you’ll have to do that may make you uncomfortable.

And so it goes.

Listen, there are no tricks or hacks in this issue.

And there is no “how to” info to celebrate.

It’s pure strategy.

Strategy, I believe, will make or break businesses in the years ahead.

Here’s the link to subscribe by the looming 3/31/21 deadline:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Last year one of my readers sent me a screenshot of someone teaching what to do after someone opts-in to a list.

It went something like this:

Day 1: Tell them what to expect + a free gift

Day 2: Share your story in a dramatic way

Day 3: Share the epiphany you had + free basic solution

Day 4: Share the hidden benefits of solution

Day 5: CTA to full solution i.e., your offer

All these supposed “clever” checklists of things to do to get a checks coming in that try to gameify & hack their way into the sale are simply a waste of effort & energy to anyone who knows how to actually market, sell, and close deals.

The reason for their clumsiness:

They are making it about the marketing instead of the market.

Once you realize it’s about them and not the marketing, the whole game changes.

Example:

When I wrote the 14-day sequence for Learnistic, I didn’t sit down and say, “on day 1 I’m gonna tell them what to expect over the next 14 days. On day 2 I’ll give them this other free gift to show what a swell guy I am. On day 3 I’ll tell them about that time I was sitting on the toilet and had an epiphany. On day 4 I’ll tell them about how Aunt Martha in the grove found the hidden benefit to…”

No, no, no.

What I did was ask:

“How can I build a relationship with these people?”

And then that dictated the content, the strategy, and the approach.

It ain’t about checklists, it’s about relationships with your list.

And on that note:

If you want some advice on list-building — both free & paid — that bring them in with an at least somewhat established relationship before they even hear from you… I go deep into both in the upcoming March “Email Players” issue. Including some ways I am experimenting with myself, and that I highly recommend you do too.

The deadline to subscribe in time is tomorrow 2/28/21 when I send it to the printer.

Here’s the link:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Came a great question from an “Email Players” subscriber:

In the Email Skhema book, you talk about always plugging something in every email. Since I am an email copywriter, I always write something interesting and transition into a product pitch. But I feel the list may not be happy in the long term. What is a good ratio mix of sales and educational content in a week? Should I write blog posts and link them instead from time to time?

Your daily email horror hosts’s take:

He is making the exact same mistake a lot of email marketers — probably 99% of ‘em — are making. And that is, projecting one’s emotions & hangups about being sold to on to a list.

Listen up, listen good, and always remember:

Buyers want to buy.

Lurkers want to lurk.

Lukewarm people want to complain, whine, & bytch.

You have to decide which of those you want to focus on and serve.

If the answer is buyers, then write for & TO them.

That means, giving them something to buy.

Of course, that doesn’t mean not to make your emails worth their time to read. That is what my Email Players Skhema book is for — to give that foundational info on how to do just that while also selling. But it does mean at least giving your subscribers the opportunity to know your offer exists each day. Or, at the very least, sending them somewhere that will lead to a sale.

There is no perfect ratio of selling & content.

The art & craft is in seamlessly & naturally combining the two.

The last thing I do when I write an email is say:

“All right, I gotta make sure x% of this email teaches, and y% sells…”

Some of my emails are 100% teasing.

Others are even 100% pitching.

Once in a great while (2 or 3 times per year, max) they are 100% teaching.

But 90%+ of the time it’s a combination — all based on the content, the market, the market’s awareness and/or sophistication levels (ala Gene Schwartz’s teachings), what I want to write about, what I think my list needs to know, what is on my mind, what is on the market’s mind, the offer I want to tell them about, and a whole slew of variables that make any kind of perfect ratio of selling & teaching a complete myth with about as much basis in reality as Asgard.

That’s my take.

If you want more on all this, subscribe to the newsletter.

Not only do you get the Email Players Skhema book mentioned above, but you also get email access with questions (not critiques or “quick looks” at your emails/content, it ain’t coaching) to me directly like the gentleman who asked the above question took advantage of.

Plus, if you subscribe by the coming deadline you’ll get the March issue.

(Sunday, 2/28/21)

And that is all about list building.

Specifically, building lists of those wanting to buy vs lurk or just want free stuff.

Here’s the link:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

i.e., Tested & curated.

A true story for the lovelorn ages:

Not long ago, Stefanie sent me a series of screenshots from the Flakebook from a guy Virtue Signaling about how he dated, planned, and married his wife. Complete with all the timelines and dates one can imagine in such a post meant to get likes, high-fives, and that extra 5 minutes of business time per month from his wife.

Here were some of the more amusing highlights:

~ He showed up at her job with lunch

~ He found out what interested her, and took an interest in much of it

~ He spent a bunch of money on a ring for her

~ He called her dad and asked for his blessing before popping the question

~ He took her to several countries from Africa to Asia to South & Central America because, and I quote, “IF SHE IS “MY WORLD,” I SHOULD SHOW HER “THE WORLD!”

~ He scratches her back, rubs her feet, and draws her bath

~ He makes it so she always knows where he is and what he’s up to

~ And ending with this ditty:

“A Man will never reach his fullest potential without the presence of a GOOD WOMAN! To short her is to short self! To deny her is to deny self!”

Stefanie’s comments with the screenshots:

“It was more like, you put me through a set of trials, some by fire, by water…and, at the end, I was allowed to bear your child.”

Indeed.

She’s the first to say the above is 180 degrees switched over here.

For example:

+ Not only did I not ask her dad for his blessing last year, I didn’t even ask Stefanie — I told her it was time and that was that.

+ I spent a grand total of $400 on her wedding ring she cherishes more than any other jewelry she possesses, that she picked out and simply sent me an email with a link to buy it. (SIDE NOTE: her mom wanted me to spend $30,000+ on a ring last year during the lockdowns while I was working my azz off to come up with the cash to invest half a million in 2 mobile app companies… )

+ She wouldn’t even dream of letting me draw my own bath — in fact, she won’t even let me shade myself from the sun. Another true story: she once stood next to me for over an hour straight holding up a menu over my face to shield my milky white skin from being burned while sitting in the sun at an outdoor bar during a mastermind in Napa, CA (with lots of attendees & a few of their not-so-amused wives sneering at me as my witness).

+ She even declared it’s her goal for me to never even see — much less change — one of Willis’ dirty diapers. Frankly, she had to remind me (when she discovered I was writing this email) the only time she asks me to feed the child is when she’s making ME food.

+ Stefanie is obsessed with my interests and hobbies to the point of constantly watching how I curate and collate information — from what I look at on my phone to what I watch on TV to what sections of the paper I read and in what order (while, unlike Screenshot Guy with his wife, I couldn’t even tell you what her favorite soccer team is).

+ I’ve never taken her outside the U.S., and the couple road trips we’ve gone on were cut short to get back to my dog.

+ She not only shows up with my lunch — but she gets viscerally angry at the mere thought of anyone else BUT her fixing me a plate (my mom, her mom, and my step mom excluded).

+ As far as knowing my every movement: Although she probably won’t hire any attractive housekeepers tip-toeing around here (will not explain), knowing my every move and being privy to every conversation I have with everyone I come in contact with would bore the hades out of her.

+ Shortly after discovering I was writing this email she also requested I add to it that when she makes us vegetable trays to snack on, she takes the time to peel off the parts of celery that would otherwise get stuck in my righteous teeth.

+ And the beating heart pounds on…

Anyway, the point of all this?

The principles behind what she said I did to conquer her mind.

(i.e., trials by fire & water).

By her own admission, it’s because of those trials that she has far more respect & is far happier than if I was like one of those schlubs who used to chase her around New York who treat women like celebrities and, thus, more often than not get treated like fans.

Which brings us to your business, Romeo.

These same principles can apply to your list building, customer building, and client building… whereby I cannot imagine you not having a much more responsive, more eager-to-buy, and more happy to refer customer base doing so.

The March “Email Players” issue explains how.

(In the bonus elBenbo’s Lair insert.)

More on the newsletter here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

If you’ve been reading these emails for very long, you will no doubt have noticed I not only do not cater to newbies, but in some cases it looks like I might even show contempt for some of them.

Not all of them, of course.

I am specifically only referring to the ones who think they can start with “advanced.”

These are the ones who have some contempt of their own when it comes to learning the “boring” basics & fundamentals first. These particular types of newbies are the ones who do nothing but waste my time & waste their money, ask questions which would be answered if they picked up a marketing/copywriting 101 book or stopped being scared to take chances & of failing, and who demand coddling, handholding, a checklist to cling to, and everything spelled out, with as little thinking as possible. All while proclaiming to their other newbie friends on social media how they are an “eNtRePrEnEuR!”

Yes, it can be – and is – quite entertaining.

But sometimes it’s annoying, too.

Especially when these types sneak into my world and subscribe to “Email Players”, which is not only clearly not intended for them (it says so right in the deck copy on the sales letter), but they don’t yet have the skill or experience to use it, nor the desire to quickly get up to speed so they can use it.

Like this blue light special, who said:

“I messed up. I should’ve signed up when I had a list and an offer. And now I know why. You said that many times over and even bolded it but I didn’t listen.”

No shyt, Sherlock.

The irony:

It never occurs to low information consumers like this to use the situation they just got themselves into to treat their business like an actual business and not just a hobby to talk about on social media. By that I mean, they already have the info, so they might as well use the opportunity to sac up, and start building a list & creating or finding an offer to sell – which anyone with a bit of ambition can start doing in as little as a few hours using just a smart phone and social media, or even free article sites and/or JVs with other newbies, if that’s all they have. Then, they can use the info in the newsletters to write emails selling said offer.

But these particular types of newbies don’t think that way.

Their first & only reaction is roll over & surrender.

Thus, I find their lack of vision & ambition to problem solve worthy of my contempt.

Also thus, I ban them from coming back later.

In fact, in the not-too-distant-future, technology has made it so I can start finally blocking these do-nothing types not only from buying other books & products I sell, but also even start denying them access to my free email list, as well as the free info on my mobile app by locking them out altogether from everything.

Lots of other businesses will happily take their money.

Me?

I prefer they go haunt someone else.

All that said, not all newbies are created equal.

Like, for example, “Email Players” subscriber Fotis Chat.

(Hiya Fotis!)

I remember many years ago when he was a raw, “wriggling” newbie, with no experience, offers, or list to speak of. He asked about subscribing to “Email Players” and I told him not to, it’d be a waste of his money, etc. I don’t remember the exact email thread, but that was the gist of it.

Anyway, I swatted him on the arse and sent him off on his merry way.

But, instead, he defiantly ignored my commands and subscribed anyway.

And, since then, he made things happen.

One time a few years back, I remember writing an email warning newbies away and he reminded me of his accomplishments and that not all newbies are the same. And he was right. There are a few such types such as himself and, when I was getting started, Yours Crotchety, who were able to figure things out without needing checklists, an endless string of coaches, constant coddling & handholding, everything spelled out, etc, where we found what resources we needed, bought them, and used them, figured things out, made mistakes, learned from said mistakes, and plowed forward.

Just like business owners have been doing since the dawn of commerce.

I have to stress though:

These types of newbies are as rare as honest politicians.

And if you are a newbie reading this, chances are you are NOT one of them, no matter how much your rationalization hamster after reading a self-quoted Gary Vee meme on Facebook may be telling you otherwise. And, thus, you should not be buying the newsletter, and would be better off educating yourself with the free training in my mobile app, in my daily emails, and/or via my low cost Kindle books, and implementing those first, instead.

That way, if/when you are ready, you can hit the ground running.

How can you tell if you are one of the chosen few (fewbies?) who is ready?

If you have to ask, then you’ve answered your own question.

I don’t teach email “hacks” newbies endlessly chase and prattle on about. I know hacks are all the rage these days. Email hacks, copywriting hacks, funnel hacks, this hack, and that hack, or whatever.

But my newsletter doesn’t teach said hacks.

Neither do any of my other books.

In my experience, only two types of people chase hacks & tricks:

(1) experienced marketers who have mastered the basics, for whom a legitimately ethical & valuable hack/tactic/trick can potentially add some significant coinage to their pockets. And (2) hapless newbies with no list, offer, or business to speak of who think they can use shortcuts or advanced info without the experience needed to use said hacks or understand them in context.

Thus, I prefer newbies wait until they get out of the diaper & baby bottle phase of craving hacks & swipes, and hold off until they are ready for solid foods before subscribing.

After all, there are no “hacks” to learn.

No subject lines, body copy, or closes to “swipe.”

And, no secret ninja tricks to run on your customers.

i.e., It’s mostly far more strategical than tactical.

All right, that’ll do it.

If you want more info on the newsletter, go here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Last week an “Email Players” subscriber doing a bit of freelancing copywriting in the Biz opp niche asked a question about why her emails were getting hundreds of clicks, but only a few sales.

She was following the methodology.

Yet, sales were worse than when just lobbing nonsense at them.

Is it that her emails suck, or something she’s doing wrong?

My answer:

“It’s not you, biz opp is literally full of prospects wanting and indeed even expecting to be bull shatted and lied to, sold the dream, buy, refund or complain… rinse and repeat with another offer. Email Players won’t work unless you’re willing to get down in the dirt with the market and get in their heads. Otherwise might as well just lob typical biz opp copy emails at them.”

And so it goes in the wonderful world of Biz opp.

It happens in the nonsensical “make money online!” niche too.

Those customers don’t want the truth.

They want sweet, candy-like lies.

Thus, I do not recommend selling in those niches and actively warn “Email Players” subscribers if they are going to be in those niches, there’s nothing I can do or teach to help them. And this is especially the case with the upcoming February issue for reasons I’ll be yapping about soon.

Until then, a word to the wise is sufficient…

Okay enough of this.

More info on the newsletter here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

One of the more intriguing biographies I once read is called:

“The Narnian: The Life and Imagination of C. S. Lewis”

Obviously, about the late, great writer and Christian thinker C.S. Lewis who was known to be an especially great debater — both when he was an atheist, then a pagan, and later on when he became a Christian, creating some of the most influential Christian writings ever published.

As a religious man, he often debated atheists and pagans.

And, he often “won” these debates.

Yes, from what I’ve read, even according to the atheists & pagans he bested in these debates, who were simply no match for C.S. Lewis’s dialectal persuasion prowess. He was revered for his skill at such things far and wide by everyone except… himself.

Here’s what I mean:

One thing he admitted was, the more he “won” these debates, the more his own faith suffered, and the more he began to doubt his own beliefs.

This is a little-known psychological “bug” in the human brain.

It can effect everyone to some degree.

And, this is especially true, if you but observe, in direct response copywriting.

Yes, Reepicheep, it’s true.

It’s why so much otherwise persuasive sales copy fails — because it tries to “convince” rather than influence. There is a very distinct difference between these two things that is lost on, I would guess, 99% of copywriters or people who do any kind of direct response selling in any media.

Yes, writing copy that “convinces” works on the hyper buyers who buy everything.

They are, after all, looking for reasons to believe.

But, it turns off the skeptics – who make up 2-5 times more people than the hyper buyers – looking for reasons NOT to believe.

And the reason why it turns off the skeptics is because convincing copy always comes off as Needy, as if the copywriter doesn’t fully believe everything he is writing. This is a very insidious copywriting problem nobody seems to ever address. But now that you know about it, you can adjust your copy as needed.

Don’t know how to do that?

You can start with the upcoming February 2021 Email Players issue.

The entire issue shows how to write copy that isn’t convincing but influencing.

Huge difference between the two.

More on this later.

In the meantime, to check out the newsletter, go here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

A little while back I wrote an email with the subject line:

“Worshipping the open rate fairy and calling it science”

The email broke apart the entire “oOoOPeN rRrRrAAAAAtEs” schtick from multiple points of view, not just from my experiences and my customers’ experiences, but in the experiences of trained computer scientists and engineers, as well as Gmail’s own particulars, the realities of Android phones mostly not even knowing if you opened an email, and the list goes on.

A big theme in the email was:

Focus on what you can control, not what you can’t.

This goes 100% against virtually all sales, marketing, and copywriting dogma — with their obsession with sales quotas, freaking out over vanity metrics like open & opt-in rates, and confusing a mere result with failure.

Enter daily email reader Jameel Paul.

Jameel is a former hardcore door-to-door “make the sale to these ice cold leads who are calling the cops on you or you don’t eat” salesman.

His reply is reprinted with his permission below.

Hit it, Jameel:

elBenbo you’re 100% right,

focusing on what you “can control” was literally beaten into me from my direct-selling days. 8 years I spent in that industry.

Eight hours a day going door-to-door, or approaching people in the street cold, selling whatever service I had at the time.

All on 100% commission.

An in a day you’d have *so many* variables:

* working outside in poor weather conditions, literally hail, rain, sleet n snow, (and having to smile at customers when you have frozen feet, fingers and you’re suit’s drenched through)

* people not answering the door to you

* the police being called out to stop and question you because you look “suspicious” – when you’re just trying to earn a living like the next man

* would-be customers failing a credit check (for the few people who were interested)

* or other would-be customers who were just leaving as you were approaching, or just getting home as you were leaving

But we got drilled like military to “focus on 3 things”

1. Improve your sales Pitch
2. Increase your Pace (speak to more people)
3. Improve your Attitude

All within our control.

And the sales would take care of themselves. (With the right actions, done long enough)

But after 8 years of selling like this, I left with no list and nothing to export. – That’s why I like what you teach so much.

Anyway, this just a long way just to say I agree wid ya, wise ol’ elBenbo

Something I want to say about this:

I don’t know if Jameel used it or not in his sales adventures, but the secret persuasion technique in the January “Email Players” issue is something that works like gangbusters even on the kind of leads so skeptical of you they call the cops on you.

If anything, the technique thrives under such situations.

But tomorrow – 12/31/20 – is the deadline to get this issue.

After that, too late…

Here’s the URL for clickin’ while the clickin’ is still good:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle