Ben Settle

Recently, I was reading an old issue of Dan Kennedy’s NO BS marketing letter (February 2012), and he said something that perfectly sums up the entire game of having a business and life on your terms, beholden to nobody, and the peace of mind possible from such a situation.

It’s 4 simple secrets.

(That aren’t really secrets, but I daresay less than 1% do them all.)

And, they are the playbook for how to win the entire business and lifestyle game.

Anyway, here they is:

1. The marketing secret — Abundant lead and deal flow (so you never rely on one client, lead, customer, etc — proving there is safety in numbers, since you pick and choose who you sell to and work with, and never have to beg, hunt, or cold prospect)

2. The professional secret — Having a marketable skill you’ve mastered and specialize in (something that only comes from years of hard work, grind, and doing the things nobody else is willing to do, not simply verbally vomiting out some edgy sounding profanity on flakebook and declaring you’re the best at what you do because you heard that’s how you should do it)

3. The financial secret — Having zero debt, with plenty of savings in the bank, free from the hamster wheel and status signaling pretty much everyone else living in America is stuck on and always vulnerable, missing opportunities left and right as a result

4. The most important secret — The willingness to make a decision and see it through

Dan says this is the most valuable of the secrets.

And, it’s not hard to see why:

How many people do you know (yourself included, Chuckles) have made decisions to go after a goal (business or otherwise) only to quit, with the usual gaggle of excuses standing by on the tip of their tongue to tell yourself and the world, months, weeks, days, or even hours earlier?

Reminds me of the definition of character:

Following through on a decision long after the excite of the moment has passed.

Goes for getting rid of that spare tire around your waist.

Or quitting a vice holding you back.

Or being a better friend/parent/business partner.

Or, yes, sending out daily emails to sell your products and services.

While I am not the expert on all those decisions, it’s the last one — sending emails that bring in abundant business, leads, clients, and customers every time you push that “send” button — where I shine. And, I have a huge line-up of testimonials with result-based stories (not empty, meaningless, result-less feel-good testimonials about “gee, my opens went up!” without any mention of sales) that I regularly display in my daily emails each month to prove it.

Obviously, I can’t write the emails for you.

I can’t implement what I teach you for you, either.

But, I can be the little red-handled long underwear devil with pitchfork in hand perched on your shoulder, telling you what to do and how to do it — whether it be writing subject lines, persuasive body copy, or even structuring an entire business model around email.

Just like I did for someone I’m consulting now.

Enter the October “Email Players” issue.

It shows you exactly how I am helping her:

• Bring people in where you only are dealing with people very likely to either want to buy, or can be sold easily via daily emails over time
• Structure a quick product (continuity based) off her unique market positioning
• Create a back end of products/services based off that positioning making it nearly impossible to knock her off

It’s a horrifyingly simple email-driven business plan anyone can model regardless of what you sell.

And, it’s only in the special Halloween edition October “Email Players” issue.

It goes to the printer soon.

If you want this, best subscribe before then here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Reader Mark Asher says:

Ah, so you’re an INTJ. That explains a lot.

Especially as, besides Batman, nearly every fictional INTJ is a villain.

It’s also likely why I like you because I’m in the exclusive INTJ club too.

On another note, I’d like to thank you. By learning your techniques, using your methods, and even name-dropping you during a phone interview I’ve gotten one step closer to a direct response copywriting position in London.

I really want to be a copywriter and your work is genuinely helping me get there.

Few things:

1. I don’t out a whole lot of stock in Myers-Briggs (or, as some call it, “Myers Bullshyt”) — although I do think there’s a lot of truth to it, and much Value to the intelligent marketer who applies it correctly. But, much more important than the letters, are the attributes one has (and most people mistype themselves all the time — becoming Mary Sues and projecting what they wish they were and not what they really are).

2. I am not so sure Batman is an INTJ (other than the Christian Bale version) since he is comfortable in chaotic situations.

INTJ’s?

Not so much.

We like to create the chaos, distracting our enemies with trifles while carrying out our real plans. We like order, and predictability, and proactivity to make things work the way we plan them, which means making others dance to our tune, while Batman is very much more reactionary, dancing to the actions of his Rogues Gallery.

He’s not as reactionary as other super heroes, true.

But, reactionary he is.

That’s simply the plight of any hero, that’s the job:

To react.

3. I used to be shocked when people got clients by dropping my name.

Now?

Not so much.

In fact, just this week a client reached out to me wanting to hire only an Email Players subscriber, and nobody else. Wasting money on lame the “Nurture” sequences, good-will emails, and doing all the things but selling other email people teach from the stage to the marketing proles tends to cut into profits for real businesses, after all.

All right, enough for today.

On to the business:

The October “Email Players” issue is in the bullpen now.

To get it before it goes to the printer, go ye here today:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

A while back I saw a marketing consultant on Flakebook talking about refunds, refunders, and all things refunding. Apparently, the consultant cringes every time someone says they’re worried about being scammed by refunders. The logic being, if your product is good people will want to keep it.

Predictably, all the marketing proles agreed and cheered it.

Only problem was, the consultant was dead wrong.

This is why I always take a consultant’s advice with a grain of chili pepper. They are, after all, the people who can show you 300 ways to have the secks, but can’t get a date for themselves on Saturday night.

Case in point:

I’ve been selling informational products for almost two decades.

And, in my experience, and in the experience of almost everyone I know who sells information (i.e. not consultants, employees, or freelance copywriters who work for info-marketing clients, but those of us who actually process the orders with our own merchant accounts, deliver our own products, pay for our own advertising, deal with customer service, have our names attached to the brand, etc) anyone who refunds a *quality* product knew they were going to refund when they bought it. Or, at least, they had it in their mind to — especially around Christmas, when they want to be able to afford a new PlayStation for little Tommy or whatever.

Which brings me to the point:

You can’t Value a refunder into not refunding.

If you sell to a serial refunder, they are not going to magically not return it just because it’s the best product ever created on the subject. Their rationalization hamsters will spin and spin and spin until they justify their decision.

Best advice I ever heard about this back when I used guarantees:

If someone asks you about your refund guarantee, don’t waste time answering.

Simply delete them from your list.

And, blacklist them from your shopping cart.

I still do this if I’m selling someone else’s product.

Few years ago, I remember an “Email Players” subscriber refunding Brian Kurtz’s Titans Of Direct Response product which I sold as an affiliate. I immediately cancelled his subscription, blacklisted him in the shopping cart, and said I’d do no further business with him.

I refuse to reward bad behavior.

Too bad so many marketers do…

All right, enough.

For more on my (all sales final) “Email Players” newsletter go here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Reader Sanjay Pande sets the Internet straight on what it really means to be a “guru”:

The word guru is from sanskrit and doesn’t translate well to English. “gu” is darkness and “ru” is remover. It is usually associated with either the spiritual or knowledge or both and signifies someone who can help remove the darkness. It takes a “teacher” a long time before they’re accorded the status of guru. The presence of any ego or hubris of knowledge automatically disqualifies them as they’re still considered to themselves be in the dark.

But, then again you’re talking about gooroos, who are different anyway.

Which got me to thinking:

I am not in the business of teaching email or copywriting, I am in the business of being Ben Settle. That means, by default, there’s a lot of ego in my business, a lot of irrational self confidence in my business, and, dare I say it… a lot of darkness in my business as far as the term “guru” goes.

If I tried to call myself one, I’d be a fraud.

Here’s what else this means:

If you are going to use my non-guru email ways to build your own business, with your own personal brand (which I do), you can’t be a guru, either.

Why?

Because you, too, will be in the business of being you.

(And not behaving like your favorite Internet tough guy or boss lady or whatever.)

Anyway, I’ll end this email with this:

The October Email Players issue contains a very simple business plan of action I’m consulting one of my subscribers on now. It is heavily positioning based. And, heavily brand based, as well (via using my email methodology).

It’s a great “jumping on” issue for people new to my world.

Here’s the link:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Recently, I was forwarded an email from a copywriting coach talking about how great a “writer” they are, and, presumably, that’s why you should listen to them.

Talent is all well and good, that an a quarter will get you a gum ball, if nothing else.

But, you don’t have to be a great writer to make lots of sales.

In fact, I’m the first to admit I am not a great “writer.” (If you’ve seen my novels this is obvious — riddled with typos, grammar problems, you name it.)

But, luckily, I don’t need to be.

Why?

Because in my experience, what’s more important is the ability to create vision. If you can do that, your “writing” can be below average and you’ll still have people scrambling to buy from you. This is straight from the late, great, master of negotiation Jim Camp — called the world’s most feared negotiator by his adversaries (including negotiators at Intel, who, I hear, have some of the toughest negotiators in the world). And, it’s something I’ve used for years to write long running ads in hyper competitive markets (like home business, self defense, golf, etc) overrun with better writers than me. It’s also how, for example, I showed one of my “Email Players” subscribers how to go from making $0 in December (the slowest month for his business) to doing over $100k in a December. Had nothing to do with writing talent, it was simply creating vision the way I taught him.

Back to Jim Camp… his big teaching was:

“Vision drives decision.”

What that means is, until somebody has a vision and gets emotionally connected to your copy, they won’t make a decision to buy from you. They really can’t make a decision to buy because all decisions are made on emotion.

(Yes, even the decision to be rational is an emotional decision.)

Anyway, the trick ain’t becoming a great writer, which not everyone can learn.

It’s becoming great at creating vision, which anyone can learn.

And, guess what?

In the October “Email Players” issue, I’m including a bonus training that explains how to create vision in your emails, sales letters, social media, videos, or any other media you use, with no writing talent necessary.

Vision is the key to the whole game.

And, hardly anyone does it, much less can teach it.

Here’s where to subscribe before it goes to the printer:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Recently, the esteemed A-list copywriter Bob Bly wrote on facebook:

“When I was a kid in the 50s and 60s, a “guru” was someone who wore a robe, had long hair, lived on a commune, and was followed by people who wanted to hear his message of peace, love, and being one with the universe. In the 70s and 80s and 90s, it was someone like Tom Peters who wrote best-selling business books and earned $30,000 an hour speaking on the corporate lecture circuit. Today a guru seems to be someone who curses like a sailor, goes to any extreme to seem edgy and cool, has an ego the size of a humpback whale, and wants to extract thousands of dollars from you by getting your credit card number to sell you an outrageously expensive course, “training,” or mastermind group membership teaching how to make a million dollars a week in info marketing, copywriting, coaching, consulting, small business, or maybe option trading. Am I the only one tiring of this new generation of brash, loud, conceited, egomaniacal gurus?”

I tend to find these Internet tough guys rather amusing, too.

Mostly because they think they’re special, but they’re really just typical.

And, while I know a few guys who admittedly can pull off the whole vulgar-for-the-sake-of-it thing (who were all doing it before it became trendy, it is simply their personality), the vast majority simply look like the insecure 13-year-olds in school swearing, spitting, and smoking to look cool and get attention, while gagging and hacking at the bus stop.

More:

Maybe it’s coincidence.

But, a lot of the Internet tough guys I know are astonishingly weak people. And, the Internet tough guy act, repeating the tired “I give zero fugks” mantra, and pounding their chests at how bad ass/lady boss/full of tigers blood or whatever they’re rationalization hamsters have convinced them they are, are gimmicks to try to hide that weakness, neediness, attention-deprivation, and insecurities about how good they really are (or, rather, aren’t) at what they do.

What do I mean by weak?

For one, weak-minded.

If you don’t believe me, watch how many publicly brag about their vices, like badges of honor instead of something they should probably get help for.

Also, weak emotionally.

Simply observe how emotional and easily angry they get over anything and everything, knee-jerkedly block anyone on flakebook who dares question them, and melt down into a angry-pushup rage if someone calls them out on their nonsense.

And, sometimes, even weak in their presentation.

For example, if you meet them in person, take note of how they look compared to how they present themselves on social media. The bigger the spread between how they look in real life vs how they look online, the more amusing it is to witness.

Does this make them “bad” people?

Not at all.

It simply makes them flawed human like the rest of us. They just happen to be humans completely at the mercy of their insecurities and emotions. If they fix that up, they probably could be closer to the characters they play on flakebook all day.

Anyway, on to the important stuff:

One of the main things I teach in my “Email Players” newsletter (and, especially, in the “Email Players Playbook”, which comes with your subscription), is to inject your personality into your emails.

But, not fake Internet tough guy personality.

And, not some guru or boss lady’s personality.

Only your personality — which, like a fingerprint, is unique to you and only you.

Why try to be something you ain’t?

Whatever the case, my method lets you do it in a way where people look forward to reading your emails and, if you have the right offer for them, look forward to buying from you.

More details here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

A self-described hater lets me have it:

Haha! I laughed out loud at that link to your attorney’s letter. Sorry mate, but your autoresponder email copy isn’t good enough to steal. In fact it isn’t very good at all. I see you in my inbox day in and day out, cranking out what you probably think is scintillating copy, but no dice pal.

I’m loath to be that asshole “hater”, you’re just a guy trying to make a buck like the rest of us. But if you’re going to humblebrag that your copy is so good that it’s getting stolen by other marketers and also describe yourself as a “World leader in email copywriting education”, you’re setting yourself up for ridicule.

Having said that, your emails do serve a purpose, they teach me how not to write my email copy.

The irony:

1. He responded to the last email in a 14-email sequence that pulled 935 orders

2. The emails were written 6 years ago, and I re-use them each Labor Day weekend, and each time they nab us over 100 more sales than the prior year — meaning, next year it will do over 1000 orders, for about 30 minutes of “work” (copying and pasting the emails into the auto-responder)

3. That lawyer letter (that humble-brags? Okay…) makes me sales

4. He thinks ridicule is something to be avoided, instead of something to be embraced, used, and profited from

5. His comment will make me sales

6. He also just gave me an idea for an “Email Players” issue

So thank you sir, for being a useful marketing intern.

Work hard, keep your nose clean, and there’s an unpaid future for you at Settle, LLC…

All right, enough troll mocking for the soul.

On to the bid’niz:

There has been a growing number of professionals (doctors, lawyers, etc) joining my list over the last several months. These are people who don’t want to be confrontational, controversial, or combative in their emails.

But, they also want to benefit from using my ego-bragging ways.

Enter the bonus training that comes with next month’s “Email Players” newsletter.

It shows you how professionals can use my prickly methods in a way that won’t make you look unprofessional.

Here’s where to subscribe:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Recently, I was browsing through my flakebook and noticed someone who had talked a good deal of shyt about someone I know privately, suddenly praising this person to the moon on their Flakebook page publicly. One minute, this person is saying this person is the devil. The next, I see this same person praising the person who is supposedly the devil.

There was a time when this sort of thing shocked me.

But, not anymore.

I expect it.

And, in fact, it amuses me, and I consider it a favor.

Why?

Because it also lets me know who are the people (very few) that can be trusted who are consistent, and who are the typical type who are not consistent. In fact, it recently humored me to watch people call out a blatant plagiarist in the safety of a Flakebook group, then watch those same people natter on about how great the plagiarist was on their timelines to get in good with them or whatever.

I see it a mile away now.

Something to ponder on:

There are a lot of people who will sing your praises one minute, while stabbing you in the back the next. And, the more successful you get, the more likely this is to happen. It’s not something to take personally, or even get irritated by, it’s simply the nature of people — especially with social media.

Anyway, I’ve seen it so many times it’s routine.

And, that’s why I trust so few people, and take everyone’s words with a grain of chili pepper.

I have lots of buddies.

A few close aquaintences.

But, just a small handful of people on the planet who I’d describe as a ride-or-die friend. I learned in a screenwriting book many years ago (when I wanted to be a screenwriter) that a character is not what they say or what words they use, it’s what they do — what actions they take.

The point of all this meandering pontification?

Obviously, it ain’t to make friends.

No, it’s to teach the power of consistency.

Robert Cialdini wrote about this in his “Influence” book. Nobody likes inconsistency. It bothers people psychologically. And, it’s not a fluke that so many people who I know (or know of) who are inconsistent in their personal lives, are also inconsistent in their businesses.

Inconsistency is one of the worst negative human attributes.

And, is incompatible with anything I teach or sell.

Take my Villains book, for example.

You can’t be inconsistent like this and actions and expect the information inside to do you a lick of good. It’s full of timeless principles that work, but only if the person using them is consistent in their beliefs and actions. Which is why I’ve caught even people who sing its praises doing the exact opposite in their selling as what it prescribes.

If that’s you, well, good luck.

For the few left over?

To learn more about this book, go ye here:

www.EmailPlayers.com/villains

Ben Settle