Ben Settle

“Email Players” subscriber Lisa Rangel (owner of one of the world’s top executive resume writing service and leadership job search companies, and hardcore email marketer) says:

“I was a women’s president’s conference last week and a marketing consultant told me ‘yeah, email marketing is dead.’ I had to get all Benvangelical on her and Bensplain to her the error of her ways… foolish mortal…”

“Bensplain”

“Benvangelical”

I will, of course, use and abuse those words henceforth…

Anyway, back to the microphone:

People keep beating this silly email-is-dead drum.

Apparently, Instagram is better.

Or is it Snapchat?

Or Facebook live videos?

I lose track.

I’ve observed over the last 15 years since being in this crazy bid’niz that email goes from being secksy and “cool!” to dead off and on. It all depends on which gurus combing the affiliate marketing circuit are selling a how-to email product or not.

When they do, you’ll see the fanboys getting boners over email.

Then, soon after, email is suddenly “dead.”

Then it comes back to life when those products are sold again.

Then it dies, replaced by Snapchat or whatever.

Then it’s suddenly big again.

Then dead.

Big.

Dead.

Big.

Dead.

Big.

Dead…

And so the trend goes.

If you don’t believe me simply pay attention to what the wagging tongues say on social media and in other places where Internet marketing newbies and affiliates congregate like flies on the same turd.

Anyway, if you want to stop being a trend follower, I have a solution:

My “Email Players” newsletter.

Each month it shows you how to wrangle up all the sales your greedy heart desires by writing emails people look *forward* to reading and, most importantly, buying from.

There’s nothing trendy about it.

And, I mostly stick to the fundamentals.

(Rarely talking about anything secksy or new.)

But, I go deep into those fundamentals and tread where few can because they simply don’t think deeply enough and use email enough consistently to go that deep.

The result?

You save a lot of time and energy and make more sales.

And, I profit from you consistently saving time and energy and making more sales.

If that doesn’t give you heart burn, go here next:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

A daily email reader says:

You silver tongued devil child….

Although I am a lurker jerker to your internet presence, I have never actually purchased any of your products, yours is the only email I actually look forward to receiving.

However because of the good shit you giveaway free, ie your emails, you have revolutionised the way I write my copy.

No longer am I handcuffed to crappy content, no more rigor mortis inducing research.

My own inner silver tongue slithers over the keyboard now when writing.

Ironically the next email I received after yours was entitled email marketing is dead – long live SMS marketing, or some shit like that.

As you can imagine I snorted my tea quite loudly through my nose whilst a small stain of enjoyment spread across my jeans…..at once I unsubscribed from such malarkey and felt compelled to type this waffle to you.

Keep the good shit coming, one day I shall purchase some of your goodness and line your pockets…

Until that day……

I am always (without exception) amused by the death of email subject lines.

The irony alone is worth the price of admission.

It’s also fun to read because it is so blatantly desperate and overdone — the death of Internet marketing, the death of print sales letters, the death of social media, the death of this, the death of that…

Meh.

They can keep thinking email is dead, and I’ll keep making a living off it.

And on that note, if email is your bag, check out my “Email Players” newsletter. It shows you how to write emails people *like* reading and buying from. With my wicked ways you aren’t an annoying pest, you’re a welcome guest.

Actually, I take that back.

To freebie seekers and parasites you’ll be an annoying pest.

But who cares what they think anyway?

Here’s where to subscribe:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

“Email Players” subscriber Kate Stelmaszek realizes early what a lot of people — including seasoned marketers who have been in the game for years — learn way too late:

…I wanted to say thank you again for doing what you do and teaching us all about email marketing. Because I might have gone in another direction – one that currently has a lot of previously successful people in deep doo-doo.

?I’m not sure if you’ve heard about it, but YouTube has begun de-monetizing a whole bunch of their creators’ videos. It’s all got to do with creating a more “family friendly” YouTube experience and attracting back the ad guys, who have been running away due to some recent drama (certain videos with black humor they didn’t want their ads running alongside). In order for your videos to bring in any ad revenue now, you have to watch your references to violence, your language, sexual innuendo etc. Sure, a newbie might be okay since they know how to play by the new rules. But someone who’s been on the platform for years, well, much of their old content is now free to watch. And some of the big guys are losing millions of dollars in advertising revenue. ??But you’ve taught us from the beginning not to rely on third-party platforms like YouTube and instead to focus on creating our own website, list, etc.

?Now I’ve still got a long way to go, but I’d have an even longer way if I’d gone with relying on a YouTube channel, where the rules change depending on the whims of someone outside of your control.
?So thank you again for steering our courses straight and teaching us well.

?Best,

?Kate

??P.S. I just got my May EP issue over the weekend – my first one! – and I already can’t wait for June’s. Keep the awesomeness comin!

Kate speakeths the troof.

If your entire income is tied up in Flakebook or any other 3rd party platform, don’t think this couldn’t happen to you.

It’s not just YouTube that moves the goal posts on a whim.

Take Google, for example.

Lots of marketers were standing around with their John Thomas in their hand when they slapped AdWords and, later, article directories. It also happened to infomercials at one time when the government deemed them illegal (then legal again). It happened to 900 numbers. It happened to broadcast fax. It happened to cold calling. Most recently, it is happening with Amazon and Twitter (to political conservatives, at least).

And the list goes on…

SPURN ye not the words of the esteemed Dan Kennedy:

“One is the most dangerous number in business”

Go ahead and use 3rd party platforms.

Just don’t *rely* on any one of them.

Or, suffer the fate of these YouTube guys you will.

Anyway, this is reason #74839 to be always building your email list, direct mail list, and your overall audience. No platform can eliminate your list and audience — assuming you are backing your lists up.

That way, if one platform defecates on you, so what?

You control your own media.

The powers that be can’t take that away from you.

If you want to start using email to inoculate yourself — like a vaccine — against the forces of Evil always hard at work to undermine your livelihood, check out my “Email Players” newsletter.

It ain’t cheap.

And it ain’t for people who chase bright shiny objects like a dog chasing a laser pointer.

But it works.

And, I believe, it’ll work for you, if you work it:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

One of my Horde sent me an email yesterday I found quite interesting.

Basically, it was a guy complaining to a ClickFunnels official.

And, he was distressed about why nothing was working for him.

He said he has exit pop ups, scarcity reminders, trust symbols (ooh), only puts some things on sale (okay…), etc but nary does a person even go to his check out page much less buy from him. He wondered if it had to do with making people click his terms and conditions? (It’s amusing there are people pushing that as some kind “coooool tactic, man!” instead of just a good, smart principle of doing business and getting along with Google, but I digress…)

Anyway, he wanted to know why?

Why??

WHY???

Why is nobody buying?

With all those super goo-roo tactics, how could it all NOT be working?

If he’d asked me, I’d have told him:

“I dunno, Son. Maybe nobody wants what you’re offering. Or maybe your traffic is garbage. Or that you’re out of touch with how your market wants to be sold. Or any number of things that are far more important than having trust symbols or whatever on your site.”

More:

My “Email Players” subscribers get to ask me questions via email.

And, you know what?

By *far* the answer I give more than any other is:

“You don’t have an ‘email/copywriting’ problem.
You have a traffic/offer problem.”

Super cool copy and subject lines won’t sell a turd.

Or, sell to people not interested in buying turds.

Sometimes I wonder why I even bother.

There is so much nonsense being taught — especially free on Flakebook — it’s almost a full time gig dispelling all this horse shyt.

As soon as I shovel one pile, three more piles take its place.

But, I’ll keep fighting the good fight.

It bothers me seeing good people flounder like this.

Enter the June “Email Players” issue.

It’s full of proven persuasion principles that have worked for centuries, will work now (yes, even for *your* snowflake unique product/market), and will continue to work for any of your selling endeavors regardless of what media you use (email, social media, whatever) for as long as human nature exists.

To read more about my paper Baby, go here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Few months ago I heard one of the world’s top firearm instructors say something that got me to thinking about bid’niz.

Specifically, he said:

“You’re gonna do what you want, I’m gonna do what I want, bad guys are gonna do what they want, the cops are gonna do what they want, the judge is gonna do what he/she wants, and the jury is gonna do what they want.”

And so it is in bid’niz too.

There are so many other peoples’ decisions that can affect the sale.

Decisions you have zero control over.

And this is why (GASP! Oh noes! Now I’m in trouble…) I don’t spend all my time obsessing over sales, clicks, opens, conversions, etc goals with giant white board flow charts and drama queening on Facebook live videos about them. The way I see it, my list is gonna do what they want. My competitors are gonna do what they want. Trolls are gonna do what they want. My auto-responder company is gonna do what they want. My bank is gonna do what they want. Google is gonna do what they want. Facebook is gonna do what they want. The government compliance people are gonna do what they want, yada, yada, yada.

I cannot control if someone buys or clicks or takes any action.

So what do I focus on then?

What I *can* control, Silly.

Specifically:

Making myself better at what I do each day.

Consistently mailing my list.

Edu-ma-cating myself on things that will make me a better and more persuasive copywriter.

Split testing certain pages.

And the list plays on…

I’m a unrepentant control freak about those things.

You should be, too.

That is, if you want to conquer your little corner of the Internet.

Anyway, I bring this up because I talk about this and a lot of other profitable business-related num-nums I got schooled on in the June “Email Players” issue by this instructor — including some of the finer points of infotainment (I took more notes on his *teaching* skills than the content of the course… shh, don’t tell anyone…)

All right, enough writing.

Here’s where to subscribe:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

Last week I read an unusually Valuable comic book story about Doctor Doom (one of my all time favorite Villains) analyzing why he is superior to 4 other major Fantastic Four villains.

Quotes from this ditty include:

“Recently I read a newspaper report referring to me as ‘one of the many scientific geniuses who have battled the Fantastic Four.’ This is the sort of arrant nonsense I expect from the press. Doom has no peers!”

And…

“Take the Mole Man, for example… he has no real creative genius of his own.”

And…

“Kang [The Conqueror — a warlord from the future] is merely a man of his time, while I am a man far in advance of my own.”

And, my personal favorite:

“[The Thinker] has succeeded in tapping into almost every computer network on Earth, even the most secret. Except, of course, MINE. I know this because I have gained access to his.”

How can you not love Doom’s confidence?

His tone of superiority?

His certainty he will always win and is the best?

He even ends his monologue saying he wishes he could actually meet someone who truly challenged him, and who was worthy. But then quickly dismisses the desire, because the mere thought of it is unworthy of the unequaled greatness that is Doom.

The point of all this drivel?

Doom’s attitude, success, and mindset come from having a Mission.

A clearly-defined Mission.

A Mission he falls asleep thinking about each night, and wakes up each morning obsessing over.

That Mission is, of course, to rule the world.

Having a Mission is #1 for any Villain.

Want peace of mind?

To be more attractive (to your peers, dames, JV partners, clients, etc)?

To automatically not be needy or care what others think?

To truly “give zero fugks” all the wannabes on flakebook claim to have, but obviously do.

(Or they wouldn’t have to declare it.)

Then put on your Villains cape and armor, and grab my “Persuasion Secrets Of The World’s Most Charismatic & Influential Villains” book. It not only gives you valuable guidance on your Mission, but it also teaches 12 other vital persuasive attributes the greatest Villains share.

More:

Unlike my other products its inexpensive.

And, it’s short enough to read in one sitting if you want.

Details here:

www.EmailPlayers.com/villains

Ben Settle

The May “Email Players” issue goes to the printer today.

Here’s what’s inside:

• Quite possibly the simplest email-driven business “template” ever created.
• 3 ways to use anxiety-inducing neediness to get people so hot to buy, their fingers will tremble as they type their credit card info into the shopping cart
• A secret website that has all the fodder you’ll ever need to write entertaining and engaging emails — even if you have a boring personality now and shoddy copywriting skills.
• The best kind of price to stick on a continuity offer (hint: it ain’t ending them in 7 or 9).
• A sneaky way of using auctions to multiply the sales of all your special sales and product launches.
• 10 ways to write bullet points (for sales letters, emails, articles, anything) that’ll make your copy stand out like a wet fart in study hall.
• A little-known way to get all the *local* referrals you can stand onto your email list.
• An exclusive bonus interview with one of the best (and under-known) A-list copywriters on planet Earth.
• And a ho’ bunch mo’

Again, I’m sending the list to the printer today.

If you want in, hop on the B-train and subscribe immediately right here:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

It may be coincidence.

But, when I first launched “Email Players” back in 2011 I didn’t see anyone pricing their continuity at $97/month. Probably someone did here or there. But, since then it seems everyone and their mother is using that price.

And you know what?

It’s probably not a good idea for a multitude of reasons.

Especially for *my* own product.

Here’s what I mean:

I hereby admit I made a mistake pricing “Email Players” at that, and would change it (and will, eventually) today if I wasn’t so lazy (it involves re-editing multiple pages on my site, re-recording audio for my podcast intro, and a bunch of other things).

Why?

Many reasons.

For one, when everyone prices things the same it’s basically marketing incest. This is one reason not to be a copycat and swiper. When you “swipe and deploy lol!” you are essentially looking like a poser. Sac up and be an individual if you are in swiping mode just because so-and-so guru told you to.

Secondly, you are not positioning yourself uniquely at all.

You are looking like everyone else charging $97/month.

$97/month has become almost trendy now.

And finally, there’s another reason not to do $97/month.

A reason that is hurting my own positioning (which is why I’ll be changing it for my own product), product brand, and overall feeling of “Value” about my business. A reason that, alone, is why nobody in this industry especially should be selling anything for $97/month. And, yes, it’s a reason I explain in more detail, as well as what kind of prices are much *better*, in the upcoming May “Email Players” newsletter.

This info can help anyone who sells continuity or wants to.

(Regardless of what price you sell.)

Details in the May issue which I’m sending to the printer shortly.

Here’s where to subscribe:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle

A freebie seeker this morning is not satisfied with the free Value I provide:

Weird.

Heard so much about you and your top level email marketing tactics, but your first 3 emails to me have scored ZERO on a scale of usefulness, and TEN on pitching your $97/month product.

Ironically, you slam the goo-roo fanboys and yet, here you are doing the same “goo-roo” thing.

Remember when you needed to build a relationship first?

Dayem.

Why didn’t someone *tell* me I didn’t know how to build a relationship via email? Or that I score a big fat ZERO on the usefulness scale? Like, for example, these readers who replied to the same content of one of the 3 emails Usefulness guy got:

(Comedy not based on truth is simply not funny.)

It hit me… Words of wisdom!
I’m going to write those words somewhere where I see them often.

I don’t have a list yet, that’s why I haven’t bought your emailsplayers yet. but once I do, I’ll be digging around for more info lol.

Anyways, thanks for the free, cool, emails

Matt

And…

…”Indifference makes people more persuasive”

along with ‘having contempt for what you cant have’…

Ben, it’s almost too powerful to spread around,

Bruce

And…

Great email!

I “LOL’d” at this part “complicated funnel screen shots that have more circles on it than an in-home MLM presentation.” ?

Christina

It’s always amusing to me how whenever one person whines about something I write not having Value or whatever, several more will find Usefulness in that exact same content.

Weird how that works… innit?

Ah well, enough fun times for my soul.

Let’s get down to bid’niz where I now pitch my $97/month product:

The May issue (which goes to the printer Sunday night) contains a bonus training with one of the best A-list copywriters on the planet. A writer who has competed and beat controls from some of the best writers who ever lived, including the late great Jim Rutz.

It’s not full of “ninja tactics” or whatever.

Just solid info from a writer who wins in the harshest copywriting environment there is.

Here’s where to subscribe:

www.EmailPlayers.com

Ben Settle