True story:
To help promote AWAI’s 2016 Copywriting Job Fair & Bootcamp last year, the great Brian Kurtz gave a testimonial about me.
And, part of it said:
“In a world of self-promoters and people who constantly tell you how good they are at whatever they seem to be good at, Ben is the antitheses of that…he mostly stays home and simply produces e-mail that consistently delivers as both content and promotion…and frankly, he’s so skilled at it, you rarely know which he is doing since he is always doing both.”
Now, full disclosure:
I am far from being a natural at this.
Or, even close to being the best at it.
In fact, the person who I learned a lot about how to do this (combining content with promotion — a staple of my email methodology) from, is the great Dan Kennedy. I have always, since the first time I heard his Peter Lowe talk, been in awe at how he seamlessly interweaves content with promotion in everything he does.
(Books, speeches, newsletters, informational products, etc.)
More:
I have spent many, many (many) hours over the last 15+ years mindlessly trying my level best to de-construct & mimic how he does it for my own content, emails, copy, etc the best I can.
(And he still takes me to school every time I listen to one of his trainings).
But, here’s the thing:
Turn the clock back 17 years to something I read in a secret forum I somehow found when I first started as a copywriter, that was full of A-list marketers and copywriters and multi-million dollar business owners. (I have pages of their stuff printed out, it formed the foundation of my learning.)
I have no idea how I snuck under the rope and got in.
But, I will never forget a post a brilliant guy named Phil Alexander where he deconstructed one of Dan Kennedy’s books and methodically showed (page by page) where Dan inserted “disguised” sales pitches within it.
I cannot put a price tag on how much it’s been worth to me.
In many ways, that document paved a foundation for how I do emails.
And guess what?
I tracked Phil down recently.
And, I asked if I could share it with my “Email Players” subscribers, which I am inserting in the November issue.
It goes to the printer tomorrow.
After that, you’ll miss out.
Here’s where to subscribe:
Ben Settle
