One of my favorite customers Doc Carney morbidly writes:
So I am sitting here, it’s 8:42 PST and I’m writing you because this morning I get your email…Then I had this terrible thought.
—–
What if ol Ben DIES?
—–You know.
Has a heart attack, gets run over by some old lady when he’s getting out of car. Get’s poked with a knife from his apprentice.
Like I said, it’s early, and my mind is running a hundred miles an hour right now, and my little fingers are working hard to get this on the computer screen.
Then my next question pops into my head.
“So… who’s going to take his place?”
My thoughts on that?
NO ONE.
What you’re doing and who you’re touching via emails will NOT be and cannot be reproduced on any scale. (deep shit huh)
A lot of people write, and a lot of people write emails, but it’s like a fingerprint or a snow flake.
There’s only one of them, and my friend, whether you know this or not, there is only one of you, and I’m proud to say today, you’re a friend of mine, and whether we get to meet in San Diego again or not, if I die or you die first, just let it be known, we were buddies and it was an experience.
Sincerely written and submitted to you on a platter by none other than me.
Doc
Doc brings up a good point I’ve been thinking a lot about lately.
I’ve been noticing and more people are trying to copy me — to use my “fingerprints” (so to speak) in their emails. People trying to use my words, my slang, my stories, my figures of speech, my “personality”, etc.
Which is foolish.
Especially since, many times, their own lists will say something like:
“So and so sure sounds a lot like you do!”
Reminds me of the comic book “Sin City” from the 90’s.
When Frank Miller published it, it was a huge hit.
The story about Marv — the mentally disturbed, butt-ugly, bad-ass guy going around in a trench coat taking on organized crime, psychopaths, cannibals, rapists, and every other kind of scum you can think of — struck a chord in the comic book world because it was so fresh, original, and different from everyone else.
So what happened?
All the wannabes came out of the woodworks.
Suddenly, all these comics popped up with a character walking around in a trench coat fighting criminals, and they all (every single one to my knowledge) ultimately failed miserably, even if they made a little bit of money off the demand for a month or two.
Why?
Because they were trying to copy something they didn’t understand.
It was hackville.
And, it didn’t take long for the public to catch on.
So it is online.
Yes, you can get away with trying to sound like someone else for a while. But, eventually, it will catch up to you. Eventually, people will start seeing you as a warmed over version of me or whoever you’re trying to copy. And, eventually, people on your own list will laugh at you.
SPURN me on this at your peril my little droogling.
If you want to learn how to write emails in YOUR personality, using YOUR vernacular, and selling using YOUR strengths (everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses), then check out the “Email Players” newsletter.
You can’t fake it til you make it.
You have to actually make it.
And that’s where I can help.
I show you the blue print (so to speak).
But you build the house yourself.
You decorate it yourself.
And, it’s un-mistakenly YOU, not me or anyone else.
But, if you join this month, a word of warning:
The February issue is going to startle some of the ladies on the list (with many shaking their fists at me calling me the devil no doubt — goooooood), and contains no hard email teaching. You can still use the info to write profitable emails (I certainly do, which is why I’m teaching it). But, there are no examples, or subject lines, or email break-downs, etc.
It’s experimental stuff.
And, you know what?
Last time I did something like this (last February), it was one of the most well-received issues ever. I remember even getting a voicemail from one of the world’s leading online traffic and lead guys Charles Kirkland saying I need to do more issues like that.
So anyway, that’s that.
To subscribe to the February issue before it mails, go here:
Ben Settle
