Ben Settle

Let’s talk about so-called “good will emails.” I first heard it at one of our Oceans 4 events a few years back, and the idea is (from what I can tell) one day a week (or however often you want) you send out an email that is pure content.

No sales pitch.

Nothing to buy.

Not so much as a link.

Sounds nice, doesn’t it?

A noble and generous deed.

I get the idea behind it, I just don’t agree with it. In fact, I think you are doing the exact opposite of good will if you have something that can help someone solve a problem or pain in their life and not at least let them know there is a solution out there, and show them where to get it.

Think of it this way:

Imagine you have a terrible urinary tract infection.

Feels like you’re pizzing razor blades.

And, there is a product at the drug store you know works.

And you really need that product right away or you’re going to suffer all night in agonizing pain every time you take a whizz. But, when you get to the drug store there is nothing for sale. They refuse to sell you anything for your pain.

Instead they tell you it’s a “good will day!”

Today, they only educate you about urinary tract infections.

They don’t want you to think they’re just out to get your money.

So instead, you will learn all kinds of interesting info about it, to build “good will” in you, so you feel good about the store and realize they aren’t just vulture sales people wanting to take advantage of your situation.

In other words… they really CARE, dambit!

What would you think of that store?

Would be more like bad will emails.

And, probably, you’ll be miffed and go somewhere else.

Whatever happens, you’re going to spend money to solve your problems or attain your desires. And, if it’s not at the drug store you wanted to go, you’ll find it somewhere else. And, there’s a good chance it’ll be an inferior product than the product you wanted.

So it goes with good will emails.

Want to spread good will about your business?

Then sell people a solution to their problem.

Do it ethically, yes.

And in good taste, of course.

But you do your list zero good by not at least letting them know your product exists and showing them how to get it.

Do with this what you will.

Me?

I’d be remiss if I didn’t pitch each day.

And on that note, if you’re interested in writing emails that are fun for your list wants to read and buy from, check out the “Email Players” newsletter here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

I have talked a lot about dopamine addicts in the not-so-hallowed issues of these emails.

I first became aware of this phenomenon while talking to one of my former Oceans 4 Mastermind clients Michelle Spiva, who taught the room about why some people buy one product after another after another… never committing to learning, never even opening the products they buy in many cases — and constantly demanding new products instead. And she explained how they do this because they are literally addicted to the dopamine drip they get when they buy something new.

I call ‘em opportunity-minded buyers.

(As opposed to investor-minded buyers.)

And, I do everything I can to persuade them NOT to buy anything I sell. I don’t want ‘em around. I don’t want their money. And, I don’t want them wasting my time.

I’m not saying they are “bad” people.

But, I have no desire to help them until they sober up, first.

Anyway, sometimes after writing about this one of my readers will ask why not just sell to them then? What does it hurt? Wouldn’t I make way more of the green stuff if I sold to them, even if they never use the product, and just go on to the next bright shiny object?

The answer is:

Yes, of course I would.

I’d multiply my up front sales.

But, I’d also multiply my backend headaches.

Plus, I don’t want to enable them. I don’t want to be like Jesse Pinkman in “Breaking Bad” when he starts selling drugs at addict meetings. It’s just not my bag or how I want to run my business, or the kind of people I want to associate with in any way, shape, or form. And, in the case of my “Email Players” newsletter, one of the perks of membership is they can ask me (via email only) short, quick-to-answer questions I’m qualified to answer. And I don’t want their idiotic questions about why their emails keep getting terrible results selling their latest “make mooney online” (when they haven’t made any themselves…) offer clogging up my time.

Anyway, do what you want, but in my opinion:

If you want less headaches, don’t sell to dopamine addicts.

Especially if you plan to use my wily email ways designed to sell to investor-minded buyers, and not feening dopamine addicts who despise solid fundamentals (like, for example, the list-building method I teach in depth in the February issue next month, which is not new at all, but works like crazy when done right nonetheless…) and are always looking for their next product “fix.”

It’ll still work on the addicts, unfortunately.

But, it’s designed to get the quality buyers.

The buyers most people never get because they pander to the addicts.

More info on the newsletter here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

At the risk of doing some shameless self shilling, a true story:

In 2019 especially, I may have come off a tad more snobby & maybe even pretentious than usual to certain podcasters, online summit hosts, and even businesses holding events wanting me to speak. In fact, as these good people were willing and wanting to promote me to their audiences, free of charge… I ended up turning a lot of them down I’d normally have dived into.

Why would I do this?

Because I didn’t “like” them?

Have so much money I swim in a giant treasure bin like Scrooge McDuck?

Or maybe am just plain uninterested & indifferent?

No, it was because I wanted to focus on pounding out/launching all the books (around 9 or 10 of them), email campaigns, and other publishing projects – including hammering out a novel – I wanted done by the very specific, and downright tyrannical, self-imposed deadline of year end 2019.

It wasn’t just a sense of urgency on these things.

It was a full bore sense of *emergency*.

Some of the reasons for that sense of emergency were rational.

Like for example, I wanted to finish them all so I could launch my anti-affiliate program which, ironically, I don’t think I’ll be doing. Or, if I do, it will be on a much smaller scale than intended.

Others were irrational, but that turned out to be true.

Like for example, an “alarm-bell” sounding gut feeling I’d run in to some big opportunities I’d require time to take advantage of — which ended up happening, as the Caveman of Copywriting officially bought into 3 different tech companies last year. If I was still bogged down in all the book publishing and launching, Yours Time Temporal would have a huge time problem right now… especially with our new mobile App platform for businesses I’ll be demonstrating soon, which we’ll be launching in the not-too-distant future.

All of which meant, something had to give.

And that “something” was doing speaking, podcasts, & other interviews.

Having my work flow disrupted by flying, traveling (which I hate doing as it is) and/or intermittent zoom & skype calls with people from different time zones was what had to go, even though they have always been my single best source of lead generation, and even though I highly enjoy doing them, and the people who invite me on them.

I still squeezed a lot in, of course.

But, had to forgo many others for the Cause.

Which brings me to one of the many rubs of this email:

Lead gen is the beating heart of a business.

And, I mostly ignored it last year.

But, only for as long as I had to — call it a bit of deliberate short term self-sabotage for the greater good of the company as a whole, if’n you want. And it shows in how slowly my main list grew in 2019 compared to prior years, even though sales were way higher than prior years — which, in my biased opinion, is a testament to the email ways I sell with. And now that I have my time more or less back under control, I’m already getting booked back on various podcasts and summits, have been in touch with people wanting me to possibly speak, etc.

Incidentally:

If you’re a podcaster or online summit host especially, and if you’d like me on your show to teach your audience my ways to get more sales, go here:

www.BenSettle.com/media

You can get a feel for the kind of info I share with audiences.

And, also, see the kind of shows I teach best on.

Okay, enough shameless self-shilling.

Tomorrow?

Something better…

Ben Settle

“Is that all you’ve got? A cheap trick and a cheesy one-liner?”

— The Villainess Brandt
“Ironman 3”

One of the most entertaining business-related parts of the holidays is watching all the abysmally awful marketing & copywriting going on.

The neediness.

The desperation.

The begging…

It’s morbidly fascinating to watch in the same way it’s morbidly fascinating to hear about a social media “influencer” desperate for attention and likes will plunge to their death from a cliff to get that perfect selfie for Instagram.

On a not-entirely-unrelated note:

I got an email from an “Email Players” subscriber earlier this morning who has been using exactly what I am teaching in the January “Email Players” issue to generate quite a bit of the green stuff – to the tune of 7 figures – in his world. He also teaches it to his private clients, and a few others who understand “nuance” (as he said – a perfect way to put it) he knows. But, there are others he purposely doesn’t bother teaching it too. And the reason why he doesn’t teach it is because he knows — as I also have been warning in some of these emails over the last few days — most will treat it like a cheesy dating line.

Thus, he said he is a bit bummed I am teaching it.

He knows it will be completely butchered by the majority of “online marketers.”

And he is 100% right, too.

It is astonishing how stupid the average internet marketer & copywriter is.

It’s why 90% of them are either broke or figuratively “living on the run” — one failed launch or JV away from being on the street. Because they chase “hacks” before seeking wisdom. Care more about building a swipe file than building a business. And are the types who, even if they learn legitimate copywriting & marketing tactics like what I got cooking up in the January issue, will completely abuse and misuse the info. They are too stupid to think beyond the next sale & too small thinking to realize building a business on mere “transactions” vs relationships first is a recipe for working harder and making less profit.

Which brings me to the rub:

Like I told him in my reply:

“I see-sawed on whether to teach it at all, but if I don’t do it to my list, some scum bag goo-roo on social media with the wrong intentions who treats it — as you said — like a cheesy dating line, will first.”

Whatever the case, let’s tie this bag up.

The deadline to get the January issue is in just a few short hours.

After that, too late, Pokey.

And, as always, no exceptions will be made.

Here’s the merry, jingling & jangling link:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

One of the best biographies I ever done read is Dan Kennedy’s:

“My Unfinished Business”

The part I liked best?

A chapter on why he thinks if you’re in America, now’s the time to make whatever money you’re going to make. And the reason why is, the unsustainable levels of debt, spending, entitlements, liabilities, etc our politicians have been kicking down the road each election is eventually going to create a huge problem simply printing more money won’t solve.

As Mr. Kennedy put it:

“The race is on to get out of the game before the rules become so unfair that you cannot possibly win…Have the home you live in paid off. Have enough cash to last your lifetime if all you do is eat principal, so there’s no income to be taxed at all.”

Sobering words indeed for a New Years party night.

But, they are also words of wisdom from a man who has fought everyone from multiple bankruptcies, to insanely corrupt government bureaucrats to, so far… even Death itself.

Ignore them at your peril.

Especially if you think you will be “exempt” from it all — because you won’t be.

Point is, make your money and get taxed on it now.

Before it shoots up to God-knows-how-high it will have to go in the very near future.

This is especially — and let’s face it, nobody deserves it more — going to hit class warfare artists preaching “tax & spend!” the hardest, I am predicting. It always has during such times, after all. Including people who thought they were somehow protected from the fruits of their own agendas they want pushed only on others.

I’ll give two real life examples of this.

First is the late publisher William Randolph Hearst.

Nobody preached being “progressive” as much as him.

In his biography “The Chief” there is an especially amusing example of how his class warfare antics to sell his papers threatened to come back and take a big, wet bite out of his empire.

Here is a quote from the book to show what I mean:

“All his life, Hearst had advocated government regulation…But he never imagined that such regulation would ever be extended to…newspaper publishing, which he believed was explicitly protected by the First Amendment. He was not only astounded then, but outraged…that [FDR’s adminstration] expected the newspaper publishers to draw up their own industry-wide code, with regulation on minimum wages and maximum hours.”

Suddenly, his own employees wanted to unionize, etc.

Something he was all for, when it applied to other industries.

Just not his own…

Ah, the sweet smell of hypocrisy never ceases to be pleasing to elBenbo’s righteous nostrils.

Amusing stuff, indeed.

Just as I am finding a more contemporary example of this phenomenon amusing. Specifically, a push by the tax & spend politicians who want to alter the social security taxes laws in a way that will dramatically reduce the paychecks & severely punish the way of life – with the stroke of a pen – of the very professional occupations (like teachers, professors, journalists, so-called life coaches, etc) whose ranks are mostly filled with virtue signaling “tax the rich!” types.

Anyway, those are just a couple examples of this.

The law of unintended consequences always hits the very people who want to push their nonsense on others, while exempting themselves, the hardest, and rightfully so.

Such is the fate of all useful idiots…

Thus the two reasons for bringing all this up:

First, as a nice little taste of what to expect eventually.

Dan Kennedy’s advice is more real now than when he wrote his book. Make your money, now, as fast as you can now, as later it’s going to get a helluva lot more expensive to make it. And especially seek professional advice on how to better weather this now, well in advance.

Secondly, to tease the January “Email Players” issue.

The deadline to get it is today.

And, it includes a bonus elBenbo’s Lair insert making the case for why I think we actually have much bigger problems than mere taxation. And, in fact, I don’t believe the US will even exist in its current form past another 2-3 election cycles. And I not only talk about this in detail in that bonus insert, but give some other dire predictions about it, as well as some more warnings.

Of course, maybe everything I predict will turn out to be false.

And, maybe life will go on as it always has.

People have, after all, been predicting this sort of thing for 100+ years now. But, the exact “perfect storm” of socioeconomic, cultural, ideological, political, moral, and other unique factors at play is pretty compelling.

Anyway, I don’t really give any answers or solutions.

But, I do think I make a decent case for the problem.

What you do with that info is up to you…

Whatever the case, whatever happens, the ability to sell, market, and persuade will be always be valuable and, in my opinion, necessary in the coming months and years and decades regardless of what happens.

Thus, the secret copywriting technique the January issue teaches.

It is not only extremely effective today, but I believe as people get more weary of marketing, and quicker to discard, and more likely to have contempt for those trying to sell them anything… this info will be vital.

The deadline to get this issue is in mere hours.

After that, you won’t be able to get it, as I shut stragglers out.

Here’s the link:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

P.S. If you are going to celebrate New Years Eve tonight, act responsibly, keep your wits, and, if nothing else, if you run out of stuff to talk about you can always talk about the end of the US for a few giggles or squeals of delight.

Since I’ve been writing about movies that can help with marketing and copywriting over the past 24 hours, might as well keep that devious momentum going.

Another movie I encourage watching for marketers is:

“The Tao of Steve”

It’s about a fat, slobbish underachiever and part time kindergarten teacher who is able to seduce practically any beautiful woman he wants at will.

And he does it by applying what he calls the 3 rules of being “Steve.”

One of which is based on a primal law of nature:

“We pursue that which retreats from us”

As predictable as this is in nature and for guys wanting to do better with women (hint: as a woman once admitted to me, “when you push away hard, it gives any woman whiplash and makes them attached”) it’s truly astonishing how reliable this principle works in the world of business, marketing, sales, and copywriting when applied correctly, and not clumsily. It’s also something “baked” deeply into a couple of the many aspects of the secret copywriting technique I write about in the January “Email Players” issue.

A technique no other copywriter I am aware of uses.

But, that any copywriter can use to make more sales, if they sell in the right markets.

Okay, I’m done teasing.

Time to sell:

To learn this technique, and how to apply it specifically to sales copy, do this:

1. Subscribe to “Email Players” before the deadline which is tomorrow

2. Patiently wait for it to arrive, due to the New Years day, when the printer is closed, it is going to take a little longer than usual to arrive

3. When it arrives read it, and start applying it to whatever you’re working on

Then, keep testing it to see how it works for you.

No guarantees about anything.

And you’ll have to think and experiment, and not need hand holding.

(I do not do critiques or “quick looks”)

To subscribe by tomorrow’s deadline, go here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

I once heard a motivational speaker tell a cautionary story about the utter foolishness of newbies, amateurs, and beginners always seeking “advanced” info.

The story went like this:

A young punk full of piss & vinegar found a wise & very skilled kung fu master to learn from. And the first thing this foolish punk told this wise kung fu master was:

“I want to learn advanced fighting!”

The kung fu master thought about this for a second.

And, replied with?

“Advanced?”

“Yes Master, show me advanced fighting so I can kick some ass!”

So the kung fu master lead his eager new disciple to a lit candle. He then threw a punch so fast, the speed of his movement put the candle out!

“Advanced like that?” asked the kung fu master.

To which the punk kid nearly exploded in excitement:

“Yes! Advanced like that! Teach me that!”

To which the master replied:

“First, you have to learn how to punch.”

This is something that applies to many a newbie who has scaled the treacherous terrain to my mountain lair in “Email Players”, wanting to learn email, copywriting, and marketing. And, the vast majority of them never last past me giving them the most basic of instructions. In fact, last month one especially foolish lady in the MLM niche even told me the advice I gave her about how to grow her business was “disappointing.” And the reason why is she was seeking advice on how to put out a candle with a punch, without learning the basics, first — such as what part of the fist to use to punch, how & why to use her elbow to punch faster than normal, how to position her body so she can use the force of gravity to make her punch far more devastating, the best parts of her opponent’s body to strike, and the list goes on.

In her mind, she thinks she’s advanced.

But her questions – all extremely amateur – showed otherwise.

Thus, the basic 101 info I gave her to start with.

Which brings Yours Crotchety to the point:

Few want to learn the marketing & copywriting equivalent of the above punching example.

Thus, they are the ones that tend to, for example, subscribe to “Email Players” and ask questions that anyone with a marketing 101 grasp of the fundamentals should already know first (Fun fact: there’s little I can do to help newbies who are too lazy to have learned the fundamentals before subscribing — which is why I spend so much time in these emails mocking them and turning them away) and then quit soon after.

Learning the basics is not supposed to be “easy” or “fast” or even “fun.”

If it was, everyone would do it.

Instead, few ever bother to or have the character to.

And, thus, they never outgrow mediocre at best, and fail miserably at worst.

Everyone wants to learn the copywriting & marketing equivalent of Pie Mei’s Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique. But, nobody wants to spend the months and years learning the raw basics of how to research their market, how to write an ad, build a list of responsive leads, mail that list day in and day out to build trust and learn how to best sell them, and the list goes on.

Which brings me to the rub:

The January “Email Players” issue.

It won’t show you any advanced marketing or copywriting techniques.

But, the copywriting & persuasion technique it does teach can be far more effective than any other copywriting & persuasion technique I’ve ever seen.

It’s also extremely newbie friendly, too.

As well as something experienced pros can use to ratchet up sales.

But, like the sales letter clearly says:

You have to have a list and offer to use what the newsletter teaches.

Otherwise, who is going to read your sales copy and emails when you apply it?

This is common sense, but common sense is far from common. Especially amongst those too lazy or too stupid to want to learn the basics of direct response copywriting & marketing first, which you must know in order to effectively use this secret technique, which is, in my opinion, a rather newbie-accessible marketing equivalent of Pie Mei’s Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique. But even a newbie should know the basics of copywriting before attempting it.

All right, enough kung fu analogies.

Let’s get it on:

The deadline to get the January issue is almost upon you.

If you try to subscribe after that, you will not get the January issue.

Here’s the link:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

One of my favorite movies for drawing applicable business, marketing, & influence tips from is Tarantino’s…

“Death Proof”

Tarantino has said that was the movie of his he least liked.

I say it’s one of his best.

And, this is especially due to the muscle carload of great psychology in it that can be applied to your marketing & persuasion endeavors.

Take the magnificent villain of the movie Stuntman Mike.

[NOTE: Spoilers galore follow]

Without giving away the whole plot:

There is a scene where he wants to get a lap dance from one of the chick characters in the movie who is supposed to give such a dance to anyone who recites a specific poem to her created by her talk radio show host as a gimmick. But, because she’s scared of him (he’d been stalking her all night…) she refuses.

Stuntman Mike’s retort?

Well, here it is right from the psychopath’s mouth:

“I understand if I make you uncomfortable. You’re still a nice girl, and I still like you. But I must warn you of something – you know how people say ‘You’re okay in my book’ or ‘In my book, that’s no good’? Well, I actually have a book. And everybody I ever meet goes in this book. And, now I’ve met you, and you’re going in the book! Except, I’m afraid I must file you… under… ‘chicken shit.’”

Long story short:

His shaming works.

And lap dances and body parts fly (literally) as a result.

The point:

Shaming works.

It has always worked.

And despite the wailing & gnashing of teeth of those who claim otherwise, it’s been the chief Tool of Influence (TOI?) of parents & politicians, school teachers & sports coaches, marketers & salesmen, right wingers & left wingers, fat people & skinny people, movie makers & comedians, mean people & nice people, dishonest people & honest people… as well as men, women, children, and even God Almighty the world over for thousands of years to get others to do their will. In fact, shaming is most often used by people being shamed to get others to stop shaming them — which is as amusingly nonsensical as those preaching “don’t you judge me!” while they are in the process of judging the person they are telling not to judge them.

Whatever the case, shaming works like crazy in marketing, too.

I’ve used it in just about every market I’ve ever sold in — including markets you are not “supposed” to, such as weight loss.

The key is simply knowing how to do it.

And perhaps I will go into exquisite detail about this in a future “Email Players” issue. But for now, I’ll just let this email speak for itself as something to soak in to the tender, easily-offended psyches of those reading.

On to the business:

The January “Email Players” issue talks about a far more powerful & far less hair-raising secret of influence than using shame. Something that is virtually the exact opposite of shaming, in fact. And, I believe it is one of the – if not THE – most effective copywriting technique ever used.

A tall order?

To which I retort:

Is it worth bothering with short orders?

Here is the link to subscribe while you still have time before the deadline racing towards you:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Let’s talk about one of the greatest movies ever made:

“Gone Girl”

A movie that horrified many feminists when it came out.

Should almost be must-viewing for young men.

And, that contains endless numbers of powerful persuasion & influence lessons for your viewing displeasure if you but look for them, take them to heart, and apply them. Take for example, a scene where Nick Dunn (the main character who was framed for murder) goes on a talk show hosted by a chick who wants to chew him up and spit him out on national TV. An interview his lawyer practically begs him not to go on, hosted by an interviewer who is especially adept at framing narratives and ruining people’s lives & reputations.

I won’t spoil it beyond that.

But, I will say, Nick handles that interview like a champ.

And it is like a masterpiece of influence & persuasion — with many insights that can be applied directly to sales copy, emails, customer service, and virtually any and all other kinds of selling you engage in now and in the future.

The best part?

There is much more going on in that scene than what’s on the surface.

If you’ve seen it, you might be tempted to say he aced the interview by being honest and authentic, and “coming clean” about his flaws, etc.

But, that is only part of the story.

And, frankly, the weakest part of what he does in that scene.

Anyway, that’s all I will say about this for now.

I highly encourage watching — or re-watching — “Gone Girl” with this context in mind the next time you get a chance. And, I further encourage you to subscribe in time to get your eager paws on the upcoming January “Email Players” issue, which talks about another extremely powerful copywriting technique very much in the same vein as what goes on — “between the lines” — in the script in that movie scene.

The deadline to get this issue in two short days.

I suspect those who read it will be more likely to have a much jollier new year.

That is, if they apply it.

Here’s the link:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle