Ben Settle

I gots more to say about neediness and marketing.

Including, an example from Trump.

Last week I got this email from a bloke named Konrad:

I just got a email from a list I’m on and the subject line is cesspool of neediness. I figured I’d give you some more email fodder since you’re the one who taught me why this headline is so asinine. Here it is: 10 Second Question (Please OPEN and ANSWER Immediately) ‘Cause of what you teach, I didn’t want to open the email just out of spite.

Yeesh.

Konrad is exactly right.

I am betting you got a visceral revolting reaction just reading that subject line.

(I know I did…)

Now, that is a pretty obvious example.

Let’s talk about a not-so-obvious example that even great negotiators like Trump make. Sometime last year, the media started saying Trump wasn’t mentally fit to be president (something like that). And, instead of ignoring them or using one of a dozen other techniques he has demonstrated he knows for dealing with such things, he did the opposite and went on the defense.

In his case, he took to Twitter to defend himself.

Dumb.

Why?

Because all that did was make him look insecure and needy.

If you use my email ways, you will have no shortage of people (big and small) taking shots at you like, that, too (most recently “Email Players” subscriber Daisy Luther got attacked by the media and even Snopes). And, when they do, I suggest using the persuasion secret Trump should have used.

A secret that:

1. Instantly silences the opposition (or makes them double down and look silly, you win, either way)

2. Can put more pesos in your piggy bank

3. Is also good for any other time (business or otherwise) someone tries to bust your balls, accuse you of something stupid, or humiliate you in some way

A secret, you can find on page 11 of the July “Email Players” issue.

Not only do I show you this secret, but I also show you what Trump could have said in a single tweet to shut all his opposition down in a single tweet, further lower the media’s overall status (while raising his), and ended up probably earning a lot of political capital.

The deadline to get this issue is almost upon you.

Subscribe here while you can still get it:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

True story:

Back in my fraternity days, we would often pull a diabolically evil prank on people where we’d break into their room and smear catfish bait all over their walls, closet, desk, etc.

Why was this so evil?

Because catfish bait stench “sticks” to everything.

(Even after you clean it up!)

And, no matter how clean your room is, how tidy it is, or how much you scrub everything down, that smell lingers. And, it makes everything in an otherwise attractive room — including high quality clothes, an expensive TV’s, and other high classy objects — completely repulsive.

Anyway, why am I bringing this up?

Because, it got me to thinking about the following quote:

“The more interest you show, the more you repel the object of your desire. Uncontrollable desire makes you seem weak, unworthy, pathetic.”

That diddy is from Roberte Greene’s “The 48 Laws Of Power”

And I believe it’s the most profitable *email* quote ever penned.

Why?

Because you and I live in the single most needy society (if you are in the U.S. at least) in history. Everyone is needy. Men are needy for lovin’ from hot women. Women are needy for attention from powerful men. Internet marketers are needy for Facebook likes and approval. Politicians are needy for votes. And, from what I see, email marketers, copywriters, podcasters, coaches, etc are needy for sales.

And all that neediness is basically marketing catfish bait:

It makes people completely repulsive.

Nothing on God’s blue earth will make you more unattractive and repulsive to would-be customers, clients, JV partners, (or to anyone else) than being needy.

The worst part?

A lot of people who think they aren’t needy are.

You can see it in their emails. Or in their Flakebook posts. Or on their Twitter timelines. Or in their sales copy. And in everything else they do when trying to persuade people to buy.

So that’s the bad news.

The good news?

There are many neediness“tells.” Some of them are obvious (like telling people they “need” to buy from you in your emails, i.e. neediness projection) and some are not so obvious (like supplicating to clients and customers). But obvious or subtle, if you know the most common neediness tells, you can spot them in your own marketing, copy, selling, and emails, and fix them.

More:

Once upon a time Yours Crotchety was the neediest guy in the room.

And, it ruined a lot of relationships for many years.

(Business, persona, and otherwise…)

It also ruined my sales copy early on.

Then, when I started implemented “anti-neediness” into everything, my sales took off. In fact, back when I did copy and email critiques (I don’t anymore) this was the main thing I found wrong:

Neediness.

Nobody ever realized it until I pointed it out.

Then, they would fix it, and report back saying how much their sales improved.

Just going through your emails and knowing the neediness tells is the single fastest way to make more sales I’ve ever discovered — without having to add a single extra subscriber to your list, without having to be a better copywriter, and without having to send any more traffic to your site.

Enter the July “Email Players” issue.

I spend a lot of time on this subject in next month’s issue.

Including, listing several of the most sales-killing neediness ‘tells’ (I can guarantee everyone reading this email is doing at least 2 or 3 of them) and how to fix them.

I can’t make you any guarantees.

But, I believe this is going to put a lot of extra rupees in a lot of wallets.

Tomorrow is the deadline to get in on this action.

Subscribe here to get it, while you still can:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

“Email Players” subscriber Brooks Briz makes elBenbo blush:

I can sum up how you’ve changed my life for the better in three ways…

* Teaching me how to become a better overall communicator so that I can serve more people effectively.

* Inspiring our business’ ongoing communications. (Our email game was mad weak and we were just booty calling haha).

* Motivating me to start my own printed newsletter around experiential leadership.
I guess it didn’t hurt that I made a hell of lot more money as a result. However, that was the outcome; not the goal.

So, yes, thank you for your influence. I don’t fall under the realm of pro copywriters or internet/email marketers but your content is still pertinent for virtually anyone.

It’s always good to see another “boot call” emailer (i.e. people who only mail when they have a new product to sell, treating their list like a booty call) settle down, and mailing daily.

Anyway, this is more proof of the many benefits to being an “Email Players” subscriber.

But, only if you are willing to put in the work (and it is work), drop all the lies you tell yourself about how you can’t afford it (it’s $3.23 per day, even a bum rattling a coffee-stained paper cup full of change can afford it), and how you don’t have time, or whatever the excuse is.

This is why I say it ain’t for everyone.

But, for the chosen few it is intended for?

Well, their success stories speak for themselves…

The July issue goes to the printer Saturday.

To get it before the deadline, high tail it on over to this link:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Earlier this week, an “Email Players” subscriber asked about daily emails:

“My question is what gives you such conviction that 7/week is the “right” frequency? i.e. how do you know that pros (relationship) outweigh the cons (unsubscribes)?”

I have gotten many variations of this question before.

And, I probably sound like a broken record answering it.

So this time, instead of answering it in the usual way (lecturing) I will simply Bensplain it in a way that anyone can understand at a glance.

Behold, an email I got from “Email Players” subscriber Brian Saemann:

Ben,

Just became an Email Player the other day – I’m looking forward to the June issue. It only took 2,253 emails to get me. That’s gotta be a record:

(NOTE: His email contained the screenshot of his gmail proving the numbers)

‘nuff said…

All right, on to the important stuff:

The deadline to get the July “Email Players” issue is on you like a rash — just two days to go. After that, I send it to the printer and it’ll be too late to get this issue, which contains quite possibly the single most profitable training for anyone in the business of persuasion I can impart.

I decided to wait until now to teach it for several reasons.

(One of which, July is my birthday month, it’s like my gift to my subscribers…)

The link to subscribe while there is still a little time left is here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

One of the lightbulb moments for me in my copywriting education came over 10 years ago, when I interviewed the great A-list copywriter Doug D’Anna.

It was a pretty short interview.

(I think it clocked in at under 35 minutes.)

And we started talking about headlines.

He told me about a winning headline he’d written that I suspect nary a hotshot copywriter today would think is either secksy or persuasive. In fact, I suspect 9 out of 10 copywriters would scoff at it and say it sucks if they were to critique the sales letter without knowing who wrote it.

The headline?

“Can India Stop China?”

I doubt you’ll ever see that headline in a list of 100 greatest headlines. I doubt you’ll see anyone try to “swipe” it. And, I doubt you’d see it held up as a shining example of copywriting brilliance at any seminars.

But, it according to Doug it was a huge hit.

And, the reason why is because it wasn’t trying to impress copywriters.

It was trying to make a sale.

And to that market, at that time in history, that question was burning in their minds, and of 100% importance & significance to their lives.

This is, btw, why I don’t do critiques anymore.

(Besides the fact I hate doing copywriting critiques)

As Doug D’Anna put it in the same interview:

“How can I offer somebody a copywriting critique on a piece of sales copy for a product or a prospect that I am 100 percent unfamiliar with?”

Anyway, guys like Doug and other A-listers have incredible headline knowledge.

And, I’m always taken to school when I read their stuff.

Speaking of which:

There is a particular A-list copywriter who, for my money, is the single best headline writer on the planet. Someone whose headlines I study (even if they are a bit gross sometimes…) all the time, and who I also get many email subject line and theme ideas just from the headlines.

And, on page 15 I show you where to find this copywriter’s ads.

(It’s my secret headline “stash” when I write ads.)

To subscribe before the deadline in a few days, go here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

One of the things I enjoy getting are big, steaming piles of hate mail.

I don’t get as much of it as I used to. Mostly since, I do a lot of “sifting and sorting” before someone opts-in to my lists, as I market in a such a way where overly-emotional men and women who like to take out their problems on others or get into mindless pissing matches don’t bother joining my lists in the first place.

But, every now and then, one or two slip by the goalie.

And when one does, I sometimes perk up and stop everything.

Why?

Because it’s like Christmas.

They’re giving me a Valuable gift:

Their emotions.

And not only is someone giving me their emotions (their emotions belong to me for as long as they keep the hatin’ going…), but I often find them amusing & entertaining. The exceptions being the long, rambling ones that are just one giant paragraph. I usually don’t read those. But, I have been known to reply and let them know their return key game is weak.

More:

The intellectually honest ones can be turned to the elBenbo side of the Force.

It doesn’t happen all the time.

But, it does every now and then.

And, those types turn out to be some of the best, long term buyers there are.

On the other hand, the intellectually dishonest ones (i.e. trolls who live in their mom’s basement, for example) simply provide endless amusement and future email fodder. So even if they don’t change their angry ways, I can use their anger to my advantage in some way. Either in a daily email or as story content in something else (podcast, public speaking, whatever).

Either way, I never take it personally when someone is pissed.

I don’t think you should, either.

For one thing, some deranged hate mail will put some hair on your chest.

(Get enough of it, and it not only doesn’t bother you, you look forward to it…)

For another thing, if you do, you are admitting they are better than you.

Plus, you have to realize that virtually every one of them exists in their own self-created echo chamber. They block anyone who disagrees with them. They get livid every time someone they hate tweets (look at Trump’s twitter replies — some of his haters are literally insane). And, they simply aren’t emotionally mature enough to handle honest disagreement, and would just as soon destroy you (or threaten to) than let the issue be.

In fact, over the years, I have noticed something about these types:

The more mindlessly angry someone gets, the more of an echo chamber that person exists in.

This goes for people who enjoy getting into pointless pissing matches, too. (i.e. people who just lob insults, zero substance)

It’s not that they’re “bad” people.

They’re just not very mentally stable.

Thus, while I don’t take their attacks personally, I rarely respond to them. And when I do, I regret it every single time due to the waste of time — since there’s not much benefit in getting into someone who had a full bladder and enjoys pissing matches (figuratively or literally…)

But, I am not too proud to take the free fodder they provide.

After all, what’s the point of having haters if you can’t profit from them?

They spend all that time seething and writing to you.

It’d be a pity not to let them help you help yourself…

All right, enough of this.

Maybe someone needed to hear it, maybe not.

Either way, to check out my “Email Players” newsletter, go ye here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Today is the deadline to get the June “Email Players” issue.

Here’s what’s waiting inside for those wise enough to be subscribed in time to get it:

• 6 (100% legal & ethical) persuasion secrets of one of the most evil psychopaths who ever lived.
• The “deathbed” persuasion secret that was responsible for some of the most successful business, financial, and political deals (including with popular presidents in the 20th century) ever created.
• The anti-swiping phenomenon that can make your emails (and other copy) instantly stand out from anyone else in the inbox, and make your products and services far more attractive than they would be otherwise. (Not-a-fun fact: This is what also makes it possible for sociopaths and criminal scum more easily swindle even “smart” and “experienced” people in business, seduce even “good” and “virtuous” women into bed, and, unfortunately, lure even “intelligent” and “discerning” victims into their vans and basements. See page 3 for more info.)
• What evil serial killer Ted Bundy said that persuaded the courts to let him live a few extra years. (Believe it or not, this tip was also used by a wildly successful furniture salesman to ethically and cleverly dominate his industry and make a fortune extremely fast.)
• A quick “twist” you can put on your emails to revive lagging sales. (Sooner or later almost everyone’s sales begin to lag, if that happens to you, simply apply the advice on page 6 to your next batch of emails and watch your sales come roaring back.)
• How to write cold emails that heat up the buying passions of your market. (I show you not only the psychology behind one tried-and-true way to write cold emails, but show you an example of how to do it.)
• A real life example of how to write an email that (1) connects immediately with your market (2) is perfect for selling products as an affiliate and (3) breaks several major “rules” of copywriting and marketing. Page 9.
• What to do in your emails to automatically be more persuasive even if your copy is amateur hour. (Incidentally, this is something sociopaths do that makes them irresistible to women, too, details on page 2.)
• The worst thing can do (that almost all copywriters tend to do) to your headlines and subject lines if you want people to buy from you.
• Word-for-word one of the single most powerful copywriting “structures” you can use for your emails and sales letters. (One long running comic strip did this and ran for years — and maybe even decades. I can’t make you any promises, but I would be shocked if it didn’t make any emails you apply it to far more profitable, too.)
• How to “talk trash” about gurus in your emails and not look like a douche canoe.
• And ho’ bunch mo’, including:

Another “Ravings Of An Adman” bonus report.

This short (2 page) report shows you the weird madness behind my methods for cranking out emails day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, and, even decade after decade without barely even breaking a sweat.

I’m sending this issue to the printer today.

If you want it, go to the link below and subscriber immediately so you don’t miss it:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Let’s get old school for a minute:

One of the longest running ads I ever done heard of was Charles Atlas’s “How An Insult Made A Man Out Of Mac” strip that ran in comic book for decades (or, at least, various incarnations of it) from what I understand.

It’s basically only 7 panels long.

Is not a “long copy” ad by any stretch of the imagination.

And, I can only guess at the many multiples of million rupees that sucker brought in for their company over all those years.

Anyway, that strip is a masterpiece of persuasion.

There’s so much buyer psychology packed into that short strip it’s incredible.

There is also a secret element inside that illustrated comic strip that (yes) can be applied directly to your plain text emails. Something I’ve been using for almost two decades (those old comic strips made up my first “swipe file” back in 2002 when I first got into this crazy world of direct response copywriting) in my emails and ads and other persuasive endeavors. Something I’ve seen certain top copywriters (like Gary Halbert and John Carlton) talk about, that I’ve since used as often as possible.

More:

This secret is not necessarily obvious at first.

And, goes way beyond just “storytelling!”

Plus, when you understand it (don’t worry — it is very simple, nothing “ninja!” about it whatsoever), you can take it, replicate it, and use it over and over and over for your emails any time you want, for the rest of your days.

To see what “it” is simply do this:

1. Subscribe to “Email Players” before the deadline tomorrow to get the June issue.

2. When it arrives, turn immediately to pages 12-13.

3. Read the lesson and example email, and apply to your emails.

Your milage may vary.

But, I have never seen this not help improve sales.

Here’s where to subscribe before tomorrow’s deadline:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

One of the most Valuable business lessons I ever heard was from the great Ken McCarthy (founding father of Internet marketing as we know it — to give you an idea of how far back he goes, Time magazine credited him with originating the idea of using click-through rates as the key metric of website performance).

What was the lesson?

Sociopaths.

These are people who are simply not “wired” to care about anyone (whether by birth defect, accident, emotional damage, etc) and, thus, have no moral problem hurting, conning, or financially ruining others. In fact, to these people, doing bad things is as ordinary and “routine” as ordering a hamburger at McDonalds.

Don’t bother trying to rationalize it, either.

You can’t.

These particular people are 4% of the population (1 in 23 people you know, let that settle in your mind for a moment…) according to Martha Stout (the Harvard psychologist who wrote the book “The Sociopath Next Door”) and don’t have any feelings of regret, love, or compassion. In fact, the idea of caring about someone else is as foreign to them as the color “red” is to someone born blind. And because of this, they have no problem lying through their teeth, stealing your money, or doing whatever it takes to get what they want from you.

Even if it means ruining your life as you know it.

But here’s the chilling thing about this:

Since these people don’t have any natural reactions and moral guidance, they watch the rest of us very carefully. They are especially observant about how we respond and react to other peoples’ words and actions. As a result, they become masters of persuasion and manipulation; as well as at faking empathy, compassion, and concern for others.

They do it so well, they come off as more “human” than normal people.

Some of them are almost supernaturally good at it.

Even to the point where they will have you believing they’re your best friend within five minutes of meeting them.

Now, to be fair, not everyone with this condition does bad things.

And, they don’t live very pleasant lives.

(Always on the run, etc.)

But quite a few of them do.

Anyway, how does this affect you?

Maybe it doesn’t.

But, probably it does — or at least will, some day.

Why?

Because the bad ones are many times drawn to positions of power and influence and where they are treated like rockstars for their persuasive abilities, like law, politics, religion, and, yes, direct marketing — where their every word is quoted like “gospel”, and where they are admired, encouraged, and practically worshipped for their “extraordinary” persuasion abilities.

That’s the bad news.

Even worse than that though, is this:

When you have something worth stealing — like your time, money, talent, list, or some other asset — the bad ones will target you. It’s as reliable as lies coming from a politician’s mouth. And if you have something especially valuable, they will pick you out and “work” you for months if they have to, just to get your trust and become your good buddy. And while they’re acting like your new best friend they’re actually stalking you (like a predator), waiting for the right time to strike and run away with “the loot.”

And when they go in for the “kill”?

(Figuratively … or possibly literally, I suppose…)

You’ll never see it coming.

One day they’re your best pal… the next they ripped off your customer list and sold it to your competitor. Or got you to spend months of your time to ignore your other clients with the promises of writing an ad “on speck” they make a bundle from but never pay you a dime of, and then copyright that ad and claim it for themselves. Or got you to pay them a fat fee for some service up front (high ticket copywriting, consulting, coaching, etc) only to skip town.

Scoff all you want at this.

But I can assure you this happens all the time in big or small ways.

And if you have something Valuable to steal, you will be a target.

Maybe not today.

Maybe not tomorrow.

Maybe not even next year. But it will happen, and is just a matter of time.

That’s the bad news when it comes to these yahoos.

The good news?

(There’s an adamantium lining in every cloud if you know where to look…)

In a lot of cases, the exact same persuasion principles and tactics these people use to do great evil, can also be used to do great good. Like a baseball bat (for example) can be used by a professional athlete to hit a game saving home run or by a union thug to bash a car windshield in, these principles can be used to fleece people of their life savings or make you flush for the rest of your life writing emails and ads that sell legitimate products to receptive leads and improve their lives and solve their problems.

Enter the June “Email Players” issue.

I spend almost half the issue talking about one of these people in particular.

Specifically, 6 principles (all extremely simple, and not sexy, which is probably why so few email marketers and copywriters do all of them) he used to do truly vile and evil deeds (unspeakable in an email like this), that have also been used by some of the most respected copywriters, marketers, and consultants to ethically build big businesses, create wealth and profitable joint ventures, negotiate multi-million dollar deals, and, believe it or not, even catch other sociopathic serial killers.

So that’s the June issue.

I’m sending it to the printer tomorrow.

After the deadline, it’ll be too late to get your mitts on it.

Here’s the link:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle