Reader MV once asked:
Hey Ben,
Im a “short” time reader and hap-hazzard follower.
Just a quick observation from your emailings…Ive noticed you regularly refer to Copywriting/Marketing experts as “the late great” so ‘n so…
My question is why?
Youve been around long enough, done the work and obviously have a solid reputation so…
Why do you feel the need to refer to them in every email?
Just a question. No agenda. No hate. Just Curious….
My first thought is:
Why wouldn’t you want to give reverence to those who paved the way for your own successes and triumphs? In fact, the more successful I get at this game, the more appreciative I am of the great men of business & marketing I’ve learned from over the years – the Matt Fureys, the Gary Bencivengas, the Dan Kennedys, the Ken McCarthys, and Gary Halberts, Gene Schwartzs, Jim Camps, Sean D’Souzas, Stan Billues, Paul Hartunians, Barry Mahers, Joe Girards, John Carltons, Leo Burnetts, and the list goes on.
And everyone else I mention in my works.
Look ’em up, buy everything they sell.
I couldn’t NOT give them their well-deserved props.
It would be too… strange.
Another thought on this:
Back in my Flakebook days, this not sourcing and giving credit was so rampant it was borderline criminal. Especially, for example, the gaggle of secret gurus who would pass around a checklist the great Dan Kennedy wrote for his “Ultimate Sales Letter” book, that he originally only gave to attendees of high ticket seminars, about researching a market, without giving any credit to Dan. In some cases, these blue flame specials doing it would even imply they created the list, and not the man who’s been at this game since before they were tugging on the teet.
More still:
If you truly want the best for your audience why keep your influences a secret?
You think those customers will defect and leave you, Spanky?
First off, that’s probably not going to happen.
And secondly, if they do, so what?
There are millions of potential customers even in super obscure niches.
If someone leaves, who cares?
Let ‘em go.
If your business & marketing game are both tight, they’ll be replaced with someone better soon enough. But, the reality is, if you fear these things, then that means your marketing game is weak and you got bigger problems than some customers fleeing. Plus, that way of thinking shows a naiveté about how buyer psychology works that’s holding you back in ways you can’t even fathom.
If this sounds cryptic, let me put it to you this way:
Summer of 2018 I did a series of shows on my old podcast, each featuring someone on my “Mount Rushmore” (hat tip to the great Brian Kurtz for that analogy…) of favorite marketing teachers. I not only talked about all the cool things I learned from them, but I shamelessly promoted them, their sites, their products, etc. And during that time I didn’t see a single customer “defect” and got as much, if not more, new business during that time as usual. The best buyers — the serious students, not the contemptible new product junkies and small-thinking types who chase loose change on the sticky floor of the goo-roo casino — appreciate being told about some tip, some secret, some teacher who will give them an edge. It only makes the best customers bond with you more, trust you more, and want to do business with you more.
Finally:
Not giving credit when one should is pure, unadulterated Neediness.
There is no other explanation.
And nothing will destroy your influence like Neediness. People smell it a mile away. And if you have this dreadful disease of the psyche it’ll seep out in subtle ways in your writing, in your videos, in the way you move, behave, and react to questions/objections/trolling, etc.
Neediness is the deal-destroyer.
It destroys brands, reputations, and entire businesses.
On the other hand, being secure enough in yourself to admit you learned something from someone else, and letting everyone know it when relevant, opens the mind to doing more business with you.
Anyway, bottom line:
I’m not saying to be paranoid about this.
Sometimes you have knowledge that is bubbling up in your mind and you really don’t remember where it all came from, or it’s a combo of multiple sources + experience + your own unique application of whatever it is, and so on.
I ain’t talking about that.
I’m simply saying don’t be shy about giving props when the opportunity arises.
Because that’s what it is:
An opportunity —
To share a resource you benefited from.
To display your respect for those who you learned from.
And, yes, to demonstrate your non-Neediness.
All of which’ll do more for your business than keeping people a secret.
Okay, enough of this clacking.
I often talk about my influences in “Email Players.”
More info here:
Ben Settle
