Ben Settle

Currently, I’m reading a biography about David Ogilvy called “King Of Madison Avenue.”

And, it’s quite the fascinating read.

One of my favorite parts is when it talks about how Ogilvy (an atheist) was a big fan of how the Catholic Church is structured, and how he based his ad agency’s structure on a lot of the same principles the church uses.

(Even going so far as to call himself “The Holy Spook”.)

Another thing that stood out:

Ogilvy was one of the best trolls in the advertising business.

This guy trolled everyone.

He’d troll friends, family, employees, clients (telling them things like “don’t buy a dog if you’re just going to bark yourself” or “if you want monkeys, pay peanuts”), his spouses (one time he knew his wife had been busting her butt all day cooking for him, just for him to fix himself a bowl of grape nuts cereal instead of eating the meal…), and even himself.

More:

I don’t know if he used trolling in his advertising.

But, I wonder if he were alive now, especially with social media and memes, if he wouldn’t use trolling in his advertising to the hilt. Especially since one of the big principles he lived by was to always tell the truth in advertising, but make sure you always make the truth interesting.

And few things can make the truth more interesting than trolling.

That is, if done right.

(Hardly anyone does it right, if at all, in their emails or other ads.)

Enter the April “Email Players” issue.

Much of it is showing examples (easily modeled — not copied and pasted — or used as inspiration with a little thinking and application) of profitable trolling via different advertising media (i.e. sales letter, email, press release, facebook, twitter, etc).

This issue goes to the printer in a few short days.

To get it, you have to be subscribed before I send it to the printer.

After that, too late.

Here’s the link:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Last month, a bloke named Blas Vegas Carrasco wrote on Facebook in front of God and everyone some tips he learned from studying just my free emails that anyone reading this can learn to apply:

• He’s upfront and honest without being rude
• He’s a creative writer and I get the feeling he doesn’t do much to edit his copy. Seems more like a flow from his Jedi mind stream of consciousness.
• His copy is very personal, conversational, and often times humorous. You won’t get lame boring sales “pitchy” stuff from him.
• He’s polarizing without actually coming out and saying, “Hey, my stuff isn’t for, so-and-so, so don’t bother if you suck.” The polarization and circle of influence he has created happened naturally through the way he writes.
• He also writes fiction novels which is cool and tells me that he understands storytelling.

Who am I to argue with such a wise assessment?

(Although re: point 4 — I do tell opportunity-minded buyers to not buy, waste of their pesos.)

The ironic part:

While the above attributes are all helpful and learnable… you don’t even need them all to make lots of sales with your emails. A lot of it is psychological, and following proven principles such as the ones I talk about in the “Email Players Playbook” and monthly “Email Players” newsletter.

If you follow those principles, the above happen naturally.

Anyway, the April issue goes to the printer soon.

To get in on this action while you still can, go here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

One of the most powerful tools of persuasion for email, sales copy, social media, podcasting, or anything else is…

Trolling!

It’s truly an art and craft.

(Not so much a science.)

But hold on a second…

I’m not talking about trolling in the typical trolling way. I am not, for example, saying to behave like some omega male loser living in his mom’s basement eating cheetos and watching pourno in between anonymously trolling people on social media with a cartoon of a bug as a profile image.

I’m talking about trolling in a completely different way.

A way that will polarize your market (zero indifference to you).

Can potentially get you far more traffic (if you hit on the right nerves).

And, will create a brand your most passionate and ardent followers and customers will not only continue buying from, but brag about buying from.

I’ve studied this for years.

And, I’ve done it for almost as long.

(I do it in my emails all the time, many are my most profitable ones, too.)

And guess what?

In the April “Email Players” issue, I show you examples of how to troll in a way that brings you lots of sales, prestige, influence, and customers in various different media, including sales letters, emails, Facebook, Twitter, and even press releases (which can get you booked not only on mainstream media, but podcasts, which, I believe, are even better for most people as far as list building).

These examples are easily “modeled” for whatever you sell.

And, will be waiting patiently for you when the April issue mails next month.

Time is getting short, though.

To make sure you’re on the list in time, go here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Last week my favorite social media cartoon Dexter Abraham said on Facebook:

“Just because you can slide some money to FB, have sponsored ads in feeds and copy | paste shitty content does NOT make you relevant”

To which I responded:

“There’s a bigger chance of someone becoming relevant by being blonde with big bewbs and doing bubbly live streams than by running ads”

I was exaggerating a little.

But, there’s still truth in that.

A hot chick puts up a pic of a puppy dog or an estrogen-infused inspirational quote, she’ll get all kinds of attention, high-fives, and new followers.

Average guy does the same?

Crickets.

No need for anyone to get mad at that, it simply is the world we live in, and how biomechanics play out (which is why the late, great comedian Patrice O’Neal would talk about how a even a semi-pretty girl will get swamped with guys trying to hit on her the second she walks out the house, while he had to spend 16 years to get famous for that same girl to even talk to him…)

Anyway, if you’re a guy reading this, fear ye not.

Your boy elBenbo figured out a long time ago how to be “relevant” on social media, get lots of followers, attention, etc.

Ironically though, I avoid these things.

Can’t remember ever taking a selfie.

And, prefer anonymity (unless it’s blatant self promotion) on social media.

But that doesn’t mean I can’t show you how to get these things.

And, guess what?

On pages 13 & 14 of the April “Email Players” issue, I show you how I get people on any of the social media platforms I want (Flakebook, Twitter, Snapchat, whatever), whenever I want, and have pretty good engagement, too.

It’s an old school marketing technique.

But, it works even better on all the new technology, in my experience.

To subscribe in time, head over to the link below and be quick about it:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Before we dig in:

A lot of people are amusingly partisan in their thinking.

In other words:

If you are someone taken to blaming “Republicans!” or “Democrats!” for whatever you’re emoting about when you read the papers, I recommend you shut off your emotions for the next few minutes and take in the lessons you can learn from the following presidents.

Presidents who, I believe, are amongst the most persuasive in American history.

Obviously, this not an exhaustive list.

But, love, hate, like, or despise these guys, they all had incredibly powerful persuasion attributes that’ll make you more sales from your emails and other marketing/selling endeavors.

Anyway, here goes:

GEORGE WASHINGTON — The General showed zero neediness. And it’s because he had a Mission he pursued relentlessly, against all odds, and even at great personal risk to his fortune and life. A marketer who has a Mission, and passionately pursues it, is automatically more persuasive.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN — I’m not a big fan of Lincoln, personally. In fact, I would argue he was the worst tyrant in American history (and it still amuses me when people think he was some sort of 19th century super-SJW on a Mission to free slaves or whatever, which is simply not the case at all). But, despite all that, I have to admire his ability to have pulled off all his tyranny and still have statues, cherry-picked quotes, history text books, and even his face engraved on Mount Rushmore.

That took some serious persuasion skills.

And, if I had a top hat, I would tip it to that part (and that only) about him.

TEDDY ROOSEVELT — His sheer brass balls simply inspire loyalty, making him far more persuasive than the average man. His story is a doozy too — how he was a weak, skinny, sickly man, went to live in the forest, and came back Superman. It’s the essence of any good sales letter story and worthy of study.

FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT — Not a big fan of FDR, either, or his imprisoning Americans with Japanese blood or allowing Pearl Harbor to be attacked (which I believe the evidence supports, but be that as it may). Whatever the case, he is a perfect example of someone who understood how, if you don’t have what you need to make the sale, you go out and get it. i.e. packing the courts to get his agenda across.

Marketers can do the same thing:

Product weak?

Make it better. (Or tell the client how to make it better.)

Offer lacking?

Find (or create) bonuses and incentives to make your offer appealing and so legitimately valuable people buy just for those alone.

Pack your offers like he packed the court to get what you want and you’ll win.

JOHN F. KENNEDY — I can’t help but think he’d have made a great social media marketer. Not only did he have the looks and charisma (many political scientists agree had his debate with Nixon not have been televised, he would have lost)… but he oozed inspiration with his big ideas and goals.

Attributes that will make any marketer more persuasive.

RONALD REAGAN — Despite his gaffes, bumbling, and misspeaking, he was known at the Great Communicator. Why? Because he could relate to the people (his market) better than depressing and weak Jimmy Carter or stuffy and unappealing Walter Mondale.

But, his greatest persuasion tool?

Being un-okay.

Being un-okay is an extremely powerful tool of persuasion. And if you aren’t using it in your emails and sales copy (and other marketing) I suspect you are leaving a lot of sales and response on the table.

BILL CLINTON — I have no trouble believing what his biographers (and even enemies) say about him always being the most empathetic guy in the room. And empathy can do more for your persuasive abilities than almost anything else can. At the same time, he was also shrewd. Especially in his picking a spouse who had no trouble bullying his enemies (and even women who accused him of rape), using the full force and power of the media and IRS (when one paper was critical of him, it got immediately audited, not unusual in American politics.)

He was also great at rebranding (i.e. “New Democrat.”)

And, he was an underdog story, too.

(If you study how he won the first election.)

And, nothing sells better than an underdog story in sales copy and emails.

BARACK OBAMA — I find him to be way overrated in almost every way. But, he had perfect message-to-market match game in 2008, which made him extremely persuasive (his fundraising ability was especially incredible). And it allowed him to compete and win the 2008 Presidential race when probably most people would have told him he’d be nuts to do so.

He also had two other strong persuasive forces at his back:

1. Timing — America was sick of Bush(s), Democrats wanted a charismatic leader and Republicans were sick of their candidates being establishment stooges.

2. Unique offer — A big complaint back then was young people not wanting another “old white man” (the same people who then voted for Bernie, which amuses me) candidate, and he had the smooth “fill in the blanks with whatever you want his words to say” rhetoric that can also make for profitable sales copy, especially to overly emotional markets.

DONALD TRUMP — Which brings us to the Donald. He ran tight message-to-market match game, too. But, he’s also the master of polarization and at making sure nobody is indifferent to him. He’s hated, loved, mocked, and revered… but never ignored. He also won the election astooge. popular career politician and impossible odds, with the entire media, political establishment, and even his own party actively working against him.

He knows how to make the skeleton dance, he knows how to talk to his market, and he knows how to negotiate, too.

Plus, he practices simplicity:

Anyone who has read his books knows his entire game plan.

More:

I spent a lot of time in the March “Email Players” issue talking about one of the things he does better than anyone else in the American politics. And, in the April issue I talk about something else he does not only better than anyone else in American politics, but better than anyone else period, in my opinion. Something that is both ridiculously persuasive (I do it all the time in my emails, and each time I do, I get sales, but he does it on Twitter), but also takes some balls to pull off (and, you need the right kind of personality to do it).

Anyway, I talk more about it in next month’s Email Players issue.

(On pages 10 and 11 specifically)

But, it goes to the printer soon.

So if you want it, go here to get it while you still can:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Came a question:

“Ben why do you use plain text email and not html? how do you track opens and clicks or does that not matter to you?”

A few things:

1. No, it doesn’t matter to me. There are reasons to track these things, but they don’t apply to my simple business model or goals.

2. The me-to-thee look — A-pile vs B-pile — has always done better for me, in every niche/market I’ve sold in. And, that might be because…

3. The paranoia factor

Here’s what I mean:

There is a reason why Android phones and even some popular desktop mail programs have HTML turned off by default — because of how easy it is to get viruses. All it takes is just clicking on a crazy link (so I hear, at least) to get a virus or whatever.

And, like it or not, rational or not, a lot of people worry about this.

But, not with my emails.

Because they’re plain text.

So, for those types (a growing number) it’s a trust-building thing.

Anyway, end of PSA.

To learn more of my clean email ways (and why I prefer plain text) go here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Piggy-backing on yesterday’s investor-minded vs opportunity-minded buyers lesson:

Besides the reasons I gave yesterday for warding off opportunity-minded buyers like a virgin in Transylvania wearing a garlic necklace to ward off vampires… a gentleman named Michael Fishman (who Gary Bencivenga called the World’s Greatest List Broker) has an even more practical reason to avoid them.

To paraphrase what I remember him saying:

Opportunistic buyers are great first time buyers.

But, they don’t commit.

i.e. they aren’t good repeat buyers.

If you’re building your business for the long term, and wanting to have a solid list of quality people who don’t buy from you just once (the real fortunes in direct response are made on the repeat sales, the first sale is just the first step)…. and who, instead, buy from you again and again and again, for years and decades into the future, using what you sell, benefiting from it, and then bragging to everyone they know about it… avoid opportunity-buyers.

I’m not saying they are “bad” people.

They’re probably fine, upstanding blokes in their own rights.

But, they make for terrible customers to build a list, audience, and business on.

The big direct mailers know this.

But, the mainstream Internet marketing crowd still hasn’t gotten that memo.

Finally:

My way of doing email works (unfortunately) on opportunity-minded buyers.

But, it works even better with the investor-minded types.

And, I’d take 10 investor-minded customers over 1,000 opportunity-minded buyers.

To learn my not-so-mysterious ways, go ye here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

If you want to triple (at least) your sales, income, and all-around success in a fast way, print this email out and apply ye the following 24 tips to your business (starting today):

1. Be an investor-minded buyer, not an opportunity-minded buyer

2. Embrace repetition i.e. seek a deep vs wide knowledge of what you want to learn

3. Ignore 99% of anything you hear being taught on Facebook

4. Buy information (i.e. you use and benefit from it), don’t pay for it (i.e. you never use or benefit)

5. Eliminate all neediness from your marketing

6. Do something every day to make yourself better today than you were yesterday

7. Ruthlessly curate your daily content (garbage in, garbage out is a real phenomenon)

8. Think and problem-solve, don’t mindlessly swipe copy

9. Always be more consistent than the other guy

10. Don’t just build a list, build an audience

11. Read 10 great books on a subject 10 times vs 100 books 1 time

12. Don’t Virtue Signal

13. Avoid being cheap

14. Ignore social proof when making buying decisions

15. Master the principles before executing the tactics

16. Create outcome independence with everything you do

17. Make goals you can control (i.e. eating right and exercising) vs those you can’t (i.e. losing x amount of weight by y date)

18. Create your own media so you don’t have to rely on anyone else’s

19. Respect your list’s time

20. Don’t treat your email list like a booty call

21. Practice storytelling via writing emails each day to your list selling something

22. Don’t hide your contempt for anyone you don’t want buying from you

23. Read this list 10 times, and think about how to apply each to your business

24. To get a deep knowledge of how to write emails people love reading and buying from, go to:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

If you’ve read much of John Caples, Gary Bencivenga, Gary Halbert, or really any high level A-list copywriter, they’re masters at creating disguised sales pitches.

In other words:

They mix and merge information with sales talk so masterfully. Their ads are as interesting and useful as content-filled as articles. But, they also have an agenda to sell and persuade.

Anyway, here’s why I bring it up:

Recently, I watched the latest Steve McQueen documentary called:

“Steve McQueen: An American Icon”

It’s a Steve McQueen documentary that will make any of his fanboys and fangirls happy… but, it also has a “sales pitch” for Christianity embedded throughout it at the same time.

Yes, I know there are a lot of heathens reading this.

And, also, some fire-breathing atheists.

But, heathen or saint, it’s a great example of how to mix information and sales pitch (and infotainment), without being “preachy” about whatever it is you’re selling. (Sidebar: I noticed there was a church here in town advertising screening this documentary last week, I couldn’t figure out why a church would screen a Steve McQueen documentary until watching it, now I see why…)

More:

I find documentaries as a whole to be great examples of persuasive communication because they always have an agenda. And, it’s always educational to watch them to see how they build proof and belief in their agenda — especially the wackier ones I’ve seen.

Video is a powerful medium for persuasion when done right.

And, I’m thinking the documentary format could be one I test eventually.

(Especially in a mass market.)

When I do, I’ll tell you all about it, of course.

In the meantime?

Some fun facts about Steve McQueen from the documentary:

(Which I highly recommend watching)

• He was supposed to have been killed by the Manson cult. When they killed all those people that night, Steve was supposed to be there, but he ended up picking up some chick instead on the way there
• He was the best in the business at positioning. For example: After his biggest payout from the Towering Inferno, where he achieved his goal of out earning and out-starring Paul Newman (his big goal) he pulled away from Hollywood. And, the more he pulled away, the more Hollywood wanted him. He was offered the parts of Rambo and Captain Willard from Apocalypse Now. But, he wanted nothing to do with Hollywood. He even tore out his mailbox and threw it in the ocean because he got tired of getting scripts. Finally, he told his agent to tell the industry he wouldn’t even read a script without paying him $50k….
• Speaking of positioning… it’s how he got famous. He got famous not for what he said, but how he positioned himself. Not just professionally (stealing scenes, deliberately building his brand, etc) but because he learned movie making not just acting. He knew where to stand, how the lighting would affect his placement, all the little things, so he could throw out pages from a script and just look a certain way to communicate what he needed to
• He ended up getting Mesothelioma. Not randomly, but because when he was in the military service, he got caught chasing girls or something one weekend and they put him on cleaning duty. His job was to clean up asbestos. It stayed in his body, festering, and finally turning to cancer in his late 40’s (he died at 50). What you do now, can come back to haunt you years from now…
• He didn’t die from the incurable cancer, he actually had technically beat it. He opted for experimental medicine in Mexico. They removed the tumor from his body successfully. But he died when his blood pressure dropped, and had a heart attach in his sleep after the surgery. Yikes…
• For Billy Graham fanboys… When Steve was first diagnosed with cancer, he found a way to meet with Billy Graham. When they finally met, Steve had forgotten his bible. Billy gave Steve his personal Bible that he preached with, and had years of notes written inside for sermons, etc. Steve ended up dying holding that Bible.

Anyway, that concludes movie night with elBenbo.

More and more, I don’t study copywriting and marketing. Instead, I study bios of great business & marketing minds. And, you can do worse than studying the life of Steve McQueen.

One last thing:

The April “Email Players” issue is right around the corner.

It shows you some ways to manipulate media.

Not the same way Steve McQueen did.

But, in ways that are perfect for the 21st century.

To subscribe before I send it to the printer, go here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle