Copycats who wank each other off at IM seminars

Reader Tom Saguto asks about foiling copycats: === I'm a content creator and people copy my titles all the time. It's frustrating as heck because I work hours (sometimes days!) to make a 12 word headline only to have it stolen. I realize plagiarism is part of the game today, though. It was the same in Schwartz's day too. I've noticed that remaining authentic with messaging creates more authentic customer connections. Even if my message reaches fewer people because I didnt write clickbaity titles. The viewers who click on clickbait titles aren't my target market anyways. They're usually "get rich quick" people who dont want to put the work in. Also, everybody's titles look the same today. You'd think someone could do something original. It's sad, but to be the best you cant copy others' copy. I'd love to hear a personal story of how people copied your work and what you did to overcome it. === I got lots of stories. But at the end of the day it always comes down to this: Copycats are simply too stupid to think for themselves. At this point I am convinced they are not even capable of thinking for themselves. And even when they try to think for themselves I suspect they are not able to do so in any kind of abstract way. That is why when they hear someone say to swipe or can & clone or a quote from Picasso about stealing they think it means literally lift someone's trademarked or copyrighted work - even if in the same competitive environment. In the marketing world these guys are a dime a dozen. I've seen 'em come and go for over 22 years since getting in this game. And you can usually spot them a mile away since a lot of them run in the same circles acting like they just invented fire when they regurgitate outdated talking points to newbies, and often while wanking each other off in selfies or on stage to try to create “clout” for social media or whatever. But what are you gonna do? In a way they perform a necessary function by serving the bottom feeders. Those are usually the only people dumb enough to buy from them anyway. As far as protecting content: I teach 7 such ways in the upcoming April Email Players issue that can work quite well in many cases to make things a lot harder on the copy cats. They are based on something Dungeons & Dragons did to stop their content pirates that can be applied to content creators today. None are a guarantee though. There will always be some losers who spend more time & energy stealing others’ content than simply working on their own and that will never change. But these 7 ways can help make your content like the proverbial porcupine: i.e., too painful to mess with for the majority of creatures. Just depends on the pirate, his devotion to being a loser, and the situation. Regardless, the deadline to subscribe in time in two short days. Go here to subscribe while there is still some time: [https∶//www.EmailPlayers.com]( Ben Settle P.S. Here’s a lil’ taste of what’s inside this King-Sized issue: * A content creation secret used by famous actor Gary Cooper to turn otherwise boring, ordinary, bland, and totally “plain vanilla” scenes into fascinating & memorable moments people remembered for years afterwards. (Especially useful if content you sell is otherwise easily found free on YouTube or Google.) * A shrewd way used by everyone from Dr. Seuss to Mister Rogers to even Quentin Tarantino… for creating content people love to pay for and consume even if it’s not mind-blowingly original. * The “fights are bullshit” secret for writing emails that can potentially make lots of sales even if you hardly even mention your product or offer at all. (This is directly from the writer who helped make The X-Men a household name and a billion dollar IP for Marvel Comics. And it can work like a charm when creating other kinds of content, too — from sales copy and emails to books, courses, talks, and everything in between.) * An old school writing trick for making your content so compulsively engaging & hard to stop reading/watching/listening to it might even piss people off! (No joke — doing this not only pisses off Stefania whenever she reads or edits my content… but it even irked my book designer when she was creating the interiors of one of my books.) * 7 ingenious ways (based on what Dungeons & Dragons in the 80’s did to help stop IP theft in its tracks) to aggravate & foil content pirates who are probably drooling right now at the chance to steal and sell your hard work. * The “Scorsese touch” content creation & monetization secret I’ve been using for the last several years to help write emails that sell like crazy without having to constantly hard pitch my offers. (Including helping me sell scads of my perfect bound books that look like they should sell for $13 at Barnes & Noble for as much as a $1,000+ a pop…) * A content creation trick (that's gone all but extinct since the rise of “Influencer” culture) that can help you sell your offers on the sneak inside your content. (I also show you an example of an email doing this that got the highest clicks, opens, & sales for us during a highly competitive affiliate campaign… even though it barely even talks about “the product” or benefits or has all that many claims.) * 2 things amateur copywriters, coaches, & online marketers can do (starting immediately) to help grow a bigger and more influential business than their more talented & well-connected peers and competitors. (These are the exact 2 things I did over 20 years ago to quickly blow right past a lot of my own more talented, better connected, and far superior copywriter and/or marketer peers.) * A cunning way to craft content that can help your business stand out head & shoulders in niches overrun with competition and distractions. * An ancient kung fu fighting tip (used by the late, great copywriter Jim Rutz did a lot in his ads, believe it or not...) that can help make even the most mundane, ordinary, and typical content/information look & feel exciting and sexy. * A 3-point content creation approach pioneered by Earl Nightingale (when he was a radio broadcaster in Chicago) and later perfected by Dan Kennedy (when speaking on the Peter Lowe tour) that can help get your content ridiculously high engagement & sales. * Why always trying to be contrarian or a “rebel” is a recipe for ending up ignored at best or even an abject failure in the content creation game at worst. * How to use your content to seize the coveted “cat bird seat” (i.e., he to whom business seems to flow effortlessly) in your industry. (Old school Mad Men like Olgilvy, Burnett, Norman, Foote, Cone, etc were pros at doing this — and it’s one reason why each had their own horde of clients who gravitated just to them, only wanted to hire them, and often didn’t care how much it cost.) * How to approach content creation in a way where your name and brand can be all but “infused” so strongly in your customers’ braincells they start seeing you almost everywhere and almost in everything they look at! (I won’t say doing this is easy — it’s not — but it is the big secret to how you achieve true marketplace omnipotence where your content can spread to the four corners of the earth and all but sell itself.) * How to summon energy & excitement “on demand” to create content when you don’t feel like it, don’t want to it, and it feels like such a chore you’d rather be doing ANYTHING else but creating content. (The late Heath Ledger tapped into this phenomenon to help create his most memorable performance as the Joker. And I've been using for a long time to pound out all kinds of content even when I'd rather be doing something else. You can, too, if you take this approach to heart, apply it, and work hard at it.) All right that’ll do it. If you want in on time for this issue you have to hurry. Once the deadline hits it’ll be too late. Here’s the link: [https∶//www.EmailPlayers.com]( This email was sent by Ben Settle as owner of Settle, LLC. Copyright © 2024 Settle, LLC. All Rights Reserved. No part of this email may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission from Settle, LLC. Click here to [unsubscribe]( Settle, LLC PO Box 1056 Gold Beach Oregon 97444 USA