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

Today’s the deadline to get your squeaky-clean mitts on the March “Email Players” issue.

Here’s what awaits you in its not-so-hallowed pages:

• The totally unorthodox way (even the cable tv talking heads never mention) Trump uses to destroy his competition that you can use to “legally steal” sales from your competitors. (It works so reliably, I have used it for years in emails spanning multiple niches and markets, and it always works like a charm to boost sales, give me better marketplace positioning, and piss off my competition. Grab the gruesome details, along with several real life email examples to study — not copy — starting on pages 6)
• How to drive the human psyche crazy in your emails so people won’t be able to relax until they’ve bought your product. (See page 3.)
• Two sales letters that have served as models for writing some of my highest selling emails. (And where to find these ads online free — go to page 5 for the details.)
• The billion dollar secret (used in the most persuasive emails and sales letters in history) contained in that dusty old Bible rotting on top of millions of American coffee tables. (See page 2.)
• A secret way of writing emails that is also used by the great A-list copywriter David Deutsch to write bullets for his blockbuster control ads. (See page 4)
• How to blatantly pitch in your emails and have your list love you for it. (And, be more than happy to buy from you, too. Go to page 13 for the details and an example.)
• How to use the “philosophy email” (used routinely in one of the great Stan Lee’s best-selling comic book titles decades ago) to make people more likely to buy from you. (See page 15.)
• And a ho bunch more…

Including:

A short bonus report titled “Ravings of an Ad Man!” that shows you exactly what to do to create a bond with your email list so strong they will not only buy from you often “sight unseen” (if you have the right offer), but will be loyal to you almost to a fault. If you’re an affiliate marketer I reckon learning these simple “list bonding” tips will make your offers stand out like an honest man in Washington D.C. amongst the horde of other affiliates you compete against.

Anyway, again, today is the deadline to get this issue.

After that, it’s too late.

Here’s the link:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

“Email Players” subscriber (and one of my favorite people to read on Twitter, and not just because of the following…) Alexander J.A Cortes? flatters Yours Unruly with this tweet:

My entire email strategy I learned from @BenSettle and his monthly newsletter

It’s $97 a month, and I will read it pay for it till the day I leave this earth,

Best business investment I’ve ever had, will end up paying for itself a million times over

The information works for those who work it.

For the rest who whine about info overload, or the do-nothings who behave as if they need only put the newsletter under the pillows at night, the magic Email Players fairy will visit them and bless them with her magic twinkle pole and suddenly sales will appear, I can’t do anything for them.

Thus, I do everything I can to repel them and attract the Alexander J.A. Cortes’.

If you’re the former, save your money.

If you’re the latter, a doer and implementer, the March issue goes to the printer tomorrow.

It’s chock-full of goodies that have put a lot of the green stuff in my pocket, and can do the same for you.

Here’s where to subscribe:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Let’s rap about politics…

One of the most amusing things ever to happen in my lifetime was the election of Donald Trump. Even now, a year after his election, his enemies still have no idea why he won other than assuming his voter base is dumb or whatever, despite Trump having the mass media, the entire political establishment, and even his own party against him.

Now, for the record:

I did not vote for him.

(I wrote in my pick.)

But, I have learned I have to preface anything that is positive about the guy with that fact for those who get insanely emotional just reading about him, and would thus miss the Valuable lessons he freely gives away each day. It’s not unlike when I wrote a few years back in an Email Players issue about the smart things Obama did with his emails to get elected.

It completely irked some of his haters.

And, thus, they missed Valuable lessons.

Fact is, Trump teaches high-level persuasion lessons everyday for people intellectually honest enough to turn off their emotions about him, and look at it objectively.

Anyway, back at the Capitol:

One reason Trump won, and Hillary lost, and why I predict anyone who runs against Trump will lose in 2020 (barring him being found in bed with a farm animal or a similar scandal) is, because he does something hardly anyone in marketing either knows how to do or doesn’t have the nut sac to do.

Something any marketer can do to:

• Make a lot of sales from your emails without making a single claim
• Have a lot more fun writing your emails
• Shift your market’s attention away from your competition and onto you and what you’re selling
• Make what your competition is selling (even if it’s technically a superior product/service) suspect of whether it is what they say it is

Now, some more things to think about:

1. What I am talking about is completely unbecoming a president (or a professional business person if done the way Trump does it)

2. It works anyway

3. It won’t hurt your reputation or credibility at all with your best buyers — just the opposite

4. When you see what it is, if you still doubt it works, just remember how many of your Facebook friends declared Trump “finished!” when running for President. He was supposedly “done for!” only to emerge the winner practically every week. He got away with (and continues to get away with) all kinds of things that would bury less-experienced negotiators and businessmen than him.

More:

This trick Trump uses can be applied to emails, sales copy, politics, anything where you want to win in the arena of ideas and gaining more customers. It can also be done in a way that is less abrasive than what Trump does, if you want. (Yes, even a mousey marketer who is scared of controversy can do it.) In fact, even hardcore liberals and democrats can use it (and a few of the more savvy ones when it comes to persuasion do, just not nearly as effectively as the Donald.)

Anyway, if you want to learn this trick, it’s in the March “Email Players” issue.

It’s something I do practically every week.

(And, since seeing Trump do it, I do it more often than ever, and sales have never been higher as a result — and I show 4 real life examples, from 4 different niches, to show you how simple it is.)

It’s something you can do, too.

But, only if you are subscribed before tomorrow’s looming deadline.

Here’s where to grab the next issue by the ads:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

“Email Players” subscriber (a fertility eggspert who helps women with fertility issues get pregnant) Julie Chang asks:

Are you holding a meetup in San Diego later this month?  I think you mentioned it awhile back somewhere.

I’d love to say thank you in person for all your help via email, EP newsletter, etc.  Since launching my program 6 months ago, I now have 25 members at $111/mo.  I’m on track to reach my lifestyle and financial goals!

Congrats to Julie, she’s taken advantage of my offer to Email Players subscribers to be able to ask me questions (within reason) via email over the months, has taken action on the info, and is now seeing the, uhm, *birth* of a new business grow and take shape.

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again:

My sneaky ways go beyond just making sales.

They are ultimately about creating a new lifestyle.

More:

If you want to see what Julie and hundreds of others are using to make more sales and change their lifestyles using email, go here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

One of my most prized possessions (and, arguably, one of the best “info products” on how to create world class marketing) is a documentary on DVD called: “Mutants, Monsters, And Marvels”.

It’s where filmmaker Kevin Smith (of Clerks fame) interviewed Stan Lee.

Don’t know who Smilin’ Stan Lee is?

He’s the guy who put Marvel Comics (and, one could make the argument, the entire comic book industry) on the map. He (and the artists he worked with) created everything from Spiderman and the Incredible Hulk… to the Avengers and Fantastic Four… to Dr. Strange and Daredevil… and everything in between. It’s no exaggeration to say this man’s mind was responsible for tens of billions of dollars in sales over his 95 year old lifespan.

The man is simply a genius.

Anyway, he also created the Silver Surfer.

The Silver Surfer is a cosmic being, who used to be a herald for another cosmic being called Galactus, who eats entire worlds.

Which brings me to the rub:

Stan Lee said he created the Silver Surfer to be able to talk about philosophical ideas and concepts that were too heavy for his other titles. Not that he got super deep into anything. But, the character served as that kind of creative outlet for him. And, while a lot of marketing minds much smarter than mine insist nobody is going to shell out money to buy philosophy, I have found over the years you can use philosophy to make people more likely to buy from you and hit a nerve if you do it right.

Key phrase is if you do them right.

Most people sound like boring college professors when they try to do it (come to think about it, most emails period sound like boring lectures…)

But, yours won’t.

That is, if you turn to 15 of the coming March “Email Players” issue.

Inside that issue I show you not only a real-life example of how to do this, but also how to write one (or several) yourself, to make more sales.

The March issue goes to the printer in 2 short days.

To subscribe to this bad-boy before the deadline, giddy-up on over to this link:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

“Email Players” subscriber and psychologist Dr. Stephens PhD credits elBenbo with a recent attitude tune-up:

I’ve been a subscriber to Email Players for a year or so, and to say you have changed my attitude to my business is an understatement…Recently one of my clients told me that her medical practitioner tried to talk her out of seeing me because I was too tough.

A year ago that would have worried me. Now it pleases me.

Even your Villians book pleased me, and I’m an old lady.

If it wasn’t for you I would be setting my new business up to please the mushies. And feel unsatisfied and frustrated doing it.

Can’t say I am surprised.

A lot of good things start to happen beyond just the sales with my methods.

It’s a whole new world out there.

And when you subscribe to Email Players (and apply it), you enjoy it a helluva lot more.

The March issue is going to the printer in 4 days.

To get it in time, go here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Following is a tip that’ll horrify the copywriting poindexters screaming about how emails must have “VALUE!” in order for anyone to buy.

Here’s the scoop:

One of the things that can make you a lot of the green stuff fast is blatant pitching. I’m not saying to do it every day. I’m not saying you should even do it very often. But, a blatant pitch can make you a lot of sales — and, make them very quickly.

That’s the good news.

The bad news?

If you do it wrong, it will make a lot of people ignore you and stop wanting to open your emails, much less look forward to reading them and wanting to buy from them.

That is, unless, you possess the upcoming March “Email Players” issue.

Turn to page 13 and you’ll learn the big secret behind writing blatant pitch emails that not only make you quick sales, but also are done in a way where people not only don’t mind getting them, but will be happy to read them, and want to buy from you.

It’s a little ditty I learned from the late Jim Straw.

He sold a lot of biz-opp type stuff.

But, his emails were literally (other than one content-filled email the first day of every month) pure sales pitch.

No trying to hide it.

No trying to make it look informational.

And, no apologizing for it.

Nor did he need to.

Why?

Because he did what I’m going to show you in the March issue, which you only have 4 more days to subscribe to in time to get it.

Here’s the jolly ol’ link:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Recently, I got to pondering about how to use email to build a freakishly strong bond with your email list (or, in any other media you use to sell in — video, social media, whatever.)

For me, all roads lead to building & strengthening the relationship first.

And, all other things, come second to that.

Like, for example, claims, benefits, facts, copywriting choke holds and tactics, even proof & credibility — I believe those things exist to serve the building and strengthening of the relationship, and not the other way around.

All those things are fine and dandy.

But, only if they’re building the relationship.

(If not, they’re just there to stroke the writer’s own ego and impress the copywriting fanboys.)

The reasons for this are because the tighter your relationship with someone is, the more they will trust you, and, when ready, buy what you’re selling if it’s something they want and can pay for.

Anyway, here’s why I bring this up:

I decided to slip a special report into the March “Email Players” issue called:

“Ravings Of An Adman!”

These are stream-of-conscious mini-topics (a few pages, give or take) I’ll be inserting into issues whenever possible henceforth. Not enough inner-madness to build an entire issue around, but still highly Valuable, quick to learn (and implement), and straight from the asylum of my mind where I’m always thinking about email, marketing, copywriting, influence, and persuasion. To kick the series off, the March issue will include one about building a relationship so strong with your list they’d (figuratively…) help you bury a body, if you asked.

It’s some extremely profitable info.

And, only “Email Players” subscribers will possess it.

To to get it, be sure to subscribe before the looming deadline here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle