Ben Settle

“Email Players” subscriber Alec Rosa checks in:

“Been on your newsletter for maybe a year now. I’m rereading the email players skhema book for probably the third time now and WOW it just makes sense. It’s so easy to read and understand and I think that’s such a credit to your knowledge of the subject that you can take something that could be made complicated and ‘dumb it down’ if you would so that really anyone can pick this book up and start writing better emails. Thanks for putting this out in the world and sharing what you know.”

Thank you Alec, but I will say this:

The only reason I appear to “dumb down” information is because that is how I best learn myself.

I once heard that Einstein said:

“Make things as simple as possible, but no simpler.”

But whoever said it, it’s exactly what my books strive to do.

And, this is especially true of the Email Players Skh?ma Book, which is my ever-green methodology, and the tactics that make it work, honed, pared down, and devoid of anything but that I have found to not only work, but work exponentially better than anything else I’ve tested, tried, or experimented with over the years — including in programs I used to sell but no longer do as the market and times have altered.

Okay, on to business:

If you want to learn my methods and get the book Alec mentioned, subscribe to “Email Players”.

And, do it immediately if you want in for the June issue.

It’s all about the business model I use.

And, I suspect, plenty of businesses will have plenty of fun using it to make more sales.

Here’s the link:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

“I think I bought something like 3.2 million pages of comic book advertising a year. It worked beautifully.”

— Harold von Braunhut
Inventor of the Sea-Monkeys

True story:

When I was packing to move to elBenbo’s Bluff a few months ago, I fished through my comicbooks. And, as any self-respecting copywriting fanboy would do… I started looking at all the ads that stretch back to the 1950’s through the mid 2000’s when I stopped collecting. And as I poured through these ads, I was reminded by how the ads in the 50’s through the 70’s were almost entirely direct-response and, frankly, some of the best ads I’ve ever seen. I have since done some intense research on the ads of that time, and it was no surprise at all that some of these advertisers literally became mail-order millionaires with a single ad that ran through various titles every month.

Granted, many of those ads were pure fraud, selling lies, and using deceit.

And, played on the gullibility of kids and teenagers (and adults…)

Take, for example, the infamous — and notorious — Sea-Monkeys ads.

The Sea-Monkeys were fried up in the mind of one Harold von Braunhut — a man of questionable virtue and ideology.

Anyway, “Sea-Monkeys” were simply a species of brine shrimp.

But they were packaged, sold, and marketed as literally pets that live in their own magical-looking kingdom, that you can observe for hours in a bowl, endlessly fascinated by them — complete with illustrations (drawn by a popular comicbook artist of the day) in the ads showing humanoid-like creatures, living in a castle, underwater.

In other words:

They were utter bull shyt.

But, that didn’t stop people from buying them by the millions.

Or from Hollywood creating a TV show about them.

Or, from being so embedded in popular culture (even to this day) they’ve shown up on The Simpsons and even in a South Park episode.

All as a result of the fascinating ads used to sell them.

Now, I cannot say for sure.

But, I’d bet the Sea-Monkeys ads were the single most profitable and effective comicbook ads ever created. Maybe Charles Atlas’ ads did better. But, I’m putting my money on the Sea-Monkeys for sheer cultural impact.

Same with many comicbook ads back then.

Those copywriters knew how to tap into your soul, and create an itch you HAD to scratch to the point of kids begging parents for the $1.00 to send away for the product, and adults blowing their paychecks.

Now, “flash-forward” a decade to the 80’s:

Comicbooks stopped accepting “Sea-Monkeys” kind of ads.

Instead, they sold only to big corporate accounts, churning out the usual boring big corporate ads. And (I suspect) bringing comicbook companies more revenue without the stigma of selling fraudulent products that preyed on the naiveness of children and grownups alike.

Which brings me to the small reveal:

One of the purely selfish reasons I am testing 3rd party ads in “Email Players” is because I want to see a return of “Sea-Monkey” advertising, that fascinates and delights my Horde, but while selling legitimate products & services my readers can really use, sold via the powerful, bold, and, yes, “Sea-Monkey” style ads of yore — with irresistible offers people will love reading and buying from.

Thus, why I call these ads a “back door swipe file.”

It’s my vision to make “Email Players” serve both as a Sea-Monkey kind of swipe file and a source of offers that improve all our businesses, while also making advertisers a lot of money, without worrying if Facebook, Google, etc will nuke their ads on sight.

(Three of the four ads would never be accepted in a million years by the popular ad platforms.)

Will my dream come to fruition?

That remains to be seen as I conduct this paid ad test in the upcoming June issue.

But, you’ll see this kind of advertising in action in these 4 ads.

And, I suspect, many smart people will take advantage of the offers they make.

To subscribe in time before the deadline around the corner, go here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

This email won’t be all that relevant to most people.

But, the June “Email Players” issue is the first where I’m testing 3rd party ads. Meaning, it has four full-page ads embedded inside created by four talented “Email Players” subscribers, making some ridiculously generous offers just for my Horde. And between Agora copywriter Christi Johnson’s provocative headline/opener, my woman Stefanie Arroyo’s elBenbo-ized “innuendo” coaching offer, cold prospect closing master Lauren Hazel’s use of dramatic demonstration, and social media community building expert Nicole English’s branded use of infotainment… there are many embedded lessons in this “back-door swipe file.”

More:

These ads are not only good examples of what I call “Sea-Monkey” advertising… but they are examples of the kind of offers those who want to advertise in future issues (should I decide to keep selling paid ads after this) should be looking at as what to do.

Like I said, this email is irrelevant to most people.

Especially if you have no desire to join “Email Players” much less advertise in it.

But, this idea of Sea-Moneky advertising is something I’ll be talking more about tomorrow.

In the meantime, if you’re interested in subscribing for the June issue, go here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

With one exception I attend each year, and unless I’m speaking/training at one, I don’t attend masterminds.

And the reason why is simple:

I learned a long time ago, I am of zero use to anyone at them.

This was abundantly clear when I hosted the annual Oceans 4 Mastermind with my pals from 2013-2016. And the main reason why is, my business model is, and always has been, way too simple and way too “boring” for virtually anyone else I’ve ever been in one of these rooms with.

It used to amaze me how creative people get about complicating their businesses.

Especially with how much bloat and waste and new guru-trick seeking urges they have.

And, because of that, I simply have nothing to bring to the table that can help them unless and until they get their shyt together, first.

A somewhat recent real life example:

At the great Brian Kurtz’s masterclass that I spoke at last Fall, a good part of the first day was hot seats by the great Jay Abraham. For several hours, one-by-one, I watched businesses march up to the front of the room to have their businesses, ideas, and challenges solved by Jay Abraham.

And that was all fine and good.

I know many people had some truly life-changing sessions,

But, I also couldn’t help but think the entire time, with a few exceptions…

“Why don’t they just build a list and mail it?”

I say this with no exaggeration that practically every single person I saw get a hot seat could have prevented or even outright fixed the challenges they faced by first and foremost having a business model built from the ground up correctly in the first place. But because they didn’t, they had to have a master like Jay Abraham clean up their acts, which he did quite brilliantly, I will add. In fact, Mr. Abraham had to keep telling them he isn’t a tactics guy, but a strategy guy, and that they needed to focus more on the strategy-side of things.

I’m not saying this to pewp on any of them, by the way.

I’m simply saying, in my way of thinking, their businesses were way too complicated.

Their lack of thinking strategically was their worst enemy, not their lack of tactics, which almost always do nothing but add more and more layers of complexion to businesses. And from what I could tell, had many of them opened the feed sack (so to speak) of their businesses correctly from the start — and pulled the string across the top, and not ripped it down the middle — all the “feed” in their business would be extracted cleanly and orderly, instead of chaotically strewn all over the place, constantly needing to be found, picked up, and shoved back into the bag, only to keep falling out and having to be shoehorned back in with more fixes and patches.

And so it is…

Anyway, here’s why I bring all this up:

In the upcoming June “Email Players” issue I am teaching in great detail the newest version of the strategy-and-simplicity-based business model I use and have been perfecting, that I believe anyone else (with some adaption, though, in many cases) can use.

If you are new-ish, this could very well help you come into the game correct.

If you’ve been at it a while, it may require some radical changes to make work.

Either way, it takes some thinking.

And some strategic planning.

And, also, the ability to adapt and improvise for your unique situation.

If you want in on this issue, the deadline’s coming up fast.

Here’s the link:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

www.EmailPlayers.com

Let’s get cerebral about your business a moment:

In late 2017/early 2018, I radically started to change my business model. Up until then, I’d been using a very specific business model I eventually taught in-depth back in the 2013 “Email Players” issue, that I still recommend to people. Especially newer businesses, or super successful people who make lots of the green stuff “on paper”, but managed to complicate, bloat, and convolute their businesses to the point where they run like hamsters on cocaine each day, just to keep the lights on and pay for their lifestyles.

I let that business model ride for about 9 years.

Then, two things happened in the Fall of 2017:

1. I realized how close I was getting to that ever-elusive 7-figure (gross not net) mark.

I crunched some numbers and realized all I had to do was add another $50k or so to my sales, and I’d be over the finish line that year. But, if I kept being a slacker with my one main upfront offer model (I used to only promote “Email Players” practically every day), and nothing else, there’d be no dice.

2. I heard the great Dan Kennedy teach something in his 7-Figures Academy course.

Something I “already knew” in some ways.

It’s actually somewhat related to the classic “Acres of Diamonds” story.

But, I had not been implementing what he said.

Anyway, short story way too long:

I (barely) made it across the 7-figure finish line in 2017 doing it.

Then, in 2018 I aggressively expanded, experimented with, and tested doing more of what got me there, noting what worked and what didn’t work, what made more sales vs what made less sales, what kept my business more-or-less just as simple, but required some effort — and sometimes lots of effort temporarily. In fact, I spent 2018 and this first half of 2019 building offers to get everything up and running the way I wanted, and easily blew right past the finish line that year.

Until finally, as of recently, I got the business model all dialed in the way I envisioned it.

Which brings me to the deal:

I’m teaching my newest business model in detail in the June “Email Players” issue.

I believe any online business can adapt it to their needs, too.

And, adapt it regardless of market, niche, product category, or type.

(i.e. selling products, services, information, eCommerce, freelancing, whatever)

Obviously, your mileage will vary.

There is no such thing as identical businesses, getting identical results. And there are literally hundreds — if not thousands — of variables that apply to me and my business that won’t apply to you and your business. But I believe pretty much any business can use and adapt this model’s structure to potentially go from 4-figures to 5-figures, or 5-figures to 6-figures, or 6-figures to the low 7-figures.

I do not believe it can take you much higher than low 7-figures, though.

That is, unless you have a team or a long-suffering assistant, which I don’t have or want.

And, you also probably would have to sell way higher ticket products and services, coaching, events, etc to do so — which I also don’t have or want. Either way, with the right offers in place, I believe you can keep your business not only extremely simple and relatively stress-free, but also extremely profitable and relatively complication-free.

But big or small, you will have to have these attributes:

1. The willingness and stomach to send a ton of emails each month — the one-email-per day shtick I used to do won’t cut it for this.

2. The ability to resist complicating it — hard for many to do.

3. Ways to find or create a lot of offers — in fact, the biggest challenge you will likely have is finding offers to sell worthy of your brand and your list’s time/money.

All right, enough.

The deadline to get this June issue is approaching fast.

I have zero sympathy for anyone who wants to learn what I am about to teach in this issue but procrastinates until the last minute and loses out. Frankly, procrastinators won’t be able to make my business model work, anyway. Nor will people incapable or unwilling to think forward, and can only react in the moment.

Now that I mention it, it takes a lot of patience, too.

As well as the discipline to delay financial gratification.

And, even more important… the character to stick with a decision long-term.

I suspect that makes 95% of anyone reading this unqualified. And, those fine feathered little drooglings are welcome to keep reading the free emails and being spectators.

But, for those left who are both interested and up for the task?

Here’s where to subscribe before the deadline when the Ben tolls:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Currently, I’m reading a book called:

“Marvel Comics: The Untold Story” by Sean Howe.

It’s a lot of stuff their PR people don’t really want known.

At least, that’s the gist of it, I believe.

Anyway, I’m only 100 or so pages in.

And, I read a paragraph from the book about its original founder – pre-60’s, before it got huge. And the business model sounded incredibly similar to many of the early shameless internet marketing “guru” eBook peddlers’ attitudes back in the 90’s and early 2000’s, and in some cases even more flagrant today.

Here is the quote I am talking about:

“He [Goodman, original owner of the company that would become Marvel Comics] devised a simple formula for success: ‘If you get a title that catches on, then add a few more,’ he told Literary Digest, ‘you’re in for a nice profit.’ It was all about staying on top of trends, not providing anything more than disposable literature. ‘Fans,’ he decreed, ‘are not interested in quality.”

Here’s why I bring it up:

It’s very easy to get seduced by following trends, get a shallow grip on one, then become an “expert” and sell it, only to hop to a new trend soon after.

Example:

If you’ve ever seen someone go from being an expert about Facebook one day, to being a storytelling expert the next day, then a manifestation coach the next day, followed by being a crypto currency goo-roo, etc, you’ve seen this business model in action – even if they don’t have the same ruthless nature as the old eBook kings did.

I’m not saying that doesn’t work.

But, it’s not ideal for a long term, solid business model.

Speaking of which:

The June “Email Players” issue is all about the business model I think works much better.

And, can be a lot more rewarding than being yet another former social media coach-turned-crypto expert.

Here’s the link to subscribe:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

I recently shot a video that is mostly intended for people with interest in taking out paid ads in my Email Players newsletter. But, after shooting it, I realized a lot of people can benefit from it.

Especially people who struggle with copywriting.

Or, who just need a wee bit of clarity about what makes great ads “tick.”

Here is the link: