The Playboy ad that changed my business

Many years ago (way back in 2002) the great Dan Kennedy wrote an issue of his old NO BS Letter talking about an ad selling shoe lifts to make men an inch or two taller that had been running in Playboy… since before he was born! This bad boy ran for 50+ years. And it could very well be running still today for all I know. This ad just chugged along, year after year, unchanged, and made the guy running it a profit. Probably the only work he did to sell that offer for all those decades was have his long-suffering secretary run it each month in whatever publications he thought it’d do well in. Not the most professionally and intellectually stimulating task in the world. But I suspect he found a way to get by somehow… Anyway, here’s the point: Dan talked about how having an ad like this is something that every marketer should strive for — where it brings your business predictable and consistent income month after month, year after year, and, yes, decade after decade. i.e., it just “chugs along” doing its job, consistently, relentlessly, and profitably. No, it won’t be the most creative thing you ever do. (Re-running/using the same ad for years and decades without changing it) But it could very well be one of the most profitable for your business. And you want to know something else? That lesson has been so deeply ingrained into my psyche for the past 22 years that I now look at all my sales pages/offers/email campaigns the same way. It does not matter if they make gigantic sales or mid sales or even low sales — as long as they are making profits, moving my business farther along towards its goals year in, and year out and, in a few cases, coming up on decade in, and decade out, I could not be more delighted. Take, for example the sales letter I analyze in the September Email Players issue. It’s not one of highest selling ads due mostly to its esoteric nature. (It does not solve a widespread problem, more of a niche within a niche) But it’s not the lowest seller either. It has, however, “chugged” along for five years now. Not just when I promote it directly every other year or so, but as an upsell for some of my other offers. And, since I wrote the emails for it back in late 2018, I have not had to do much “work” to keep it chugging along other than copying & pasting emails I have already written, that do their job too (chugging along), and bringing in consistent, reliable, and predictable sales. I have many such offers doing this. Each doing their job. And helping keep stability and consistency in an increasingly unstable world. Anyway, I talk more about this phenomenon and analyze the sales letter page-by-page, bullet-by-bullet, and precept-upon-precept in the September Email Players issue in great detail. This ad has always been like the black sheep amongst my offers and I did not think much of it myself until the great Bob Bly told me he thought it was brilliant, which then got me to thinking just how profitable, stable, and reliable it’s been for the last several years. Something, I believe, anyone else can do, too. You can read more about this issue in the PS below. But to see the full psychology behind this ad simply subscribe before the deadline: []( Ben Settle P.S. Here’s more of what awaits you in the September Email Players issue: * A bit of a strange copywriting writing trick I learned from an attorney that can help (1) make your sales copy more legally compliant and (2) increase your sales at the same time. * A bizarre secret (found all throughout the Bible) that can help automatically give your ad copy more credibility, more drama, more intrigue, and, yes, more sales. (And no, it does not matter if you’re writing to anyone religious or even "turning on the rotisserie" atheists — does not matter, this tweak of human psychology works across the board.) * What the great retired A-list copywriter Doug D’Anna told me on a Twitter Spaces call about what would have made his world class copy even better, stronger, more responsive had he focused on it more early on in his career. * The sleepy-looking “S-word” you can add almost anywhere to your sales copy to snatch more attention, nab more engagement, and grab more response. * An ingenious way of writing bullets in a way that feels like you are teaching something but, in reality, you are only making the reader hungry to buy what you’re selling. * A Hollywood screenwriter secret that can not only make your ads more persuasive, but can also make the experience of buying as fun and enjoyable as child opening Christmas presents. (Not even exaggerating either — this is the exact same psychology that makes it so a child can’t sleep at night before Christmas but applied to your advertising. Powerful stuff. And most copywriters never think about it.) * A writing secret used by Stan Lee (when naming the fictional country of Wakanda that sounds so real many people literally have admitted to looking for it on a map) that can add lots of drama to your sales copy. (The secret is also “baked” into the mega selling book title “The South Beach Diet”, if that tells you something.) * A neat little twist you can put on your ad copy bullets that can help make them automatically (the brain almost can’t help itself but focus on what you’re selling when doing this) get more attention, more engagement, and more sales. * One of the best places to learn how to write powerful headlines that practically nobody look at anymore. * A “quickie” guide (you can see on display in one of the late Gene Schwartz’s most infamous ads) to writing persuasive pre-headlines for your ads and sales letters. * A trick I learned from the late, great copywriter Robert Collier for writing longer (even entire paragraph-sized) bullets without losing peoples’ attention. * Why it can be a big, fat, even business-fatal mistake to write to, pander to, and sell to “hyper buyers.” (I doubt 1 in 1000 copywriters will agree with this controversial — but absolutely proven in my 22+ years in the game — take on copywriting. I even had to explain this to one of the world’s top direct mail guys recently, but he understood after I showed him my side of the story. Yes, hyper buyers are easy to sell to, and yes you can get a lot of buyers, and yes that is who probably 99% of copywriting books, courses, teachers tell you to focus on selling to… but if you are the business man who has to deal with the fallout of catering to them, I suggest reading this very closely and carefully. Most copywriters take a mercenary approach and only care about “response” — which is a big mistake, imo. Anyway, more about this inside.) * A clever way to write deck copy (the copy under the main headline) that takes away some the “bite” people feel when reading a sales pitch — potentially making it more likely to be read, consumed, bought from. * One of the top 10 copywriting courses I posses that isn’t even about copywriting. (Admittedly I do not know where you can get this today, except maybe on eBay.) * How to choose the perfect photo for your sales letters. * How to structure your ad copy opening sentences in a way that has “built in” believability and credibility. (Probably even if you say something totally crazy.) * 3 magic transition sentences (based on what the late, great A-list copywriter Jim Rutz did in his ad copy) that can help make your sales letters, emails, and other marketing compulsively readable. * A delightfully sneaky way to get rid of “sticker shock” when selling high ticket offers. * A shrewd (but gutsy, almost nobody will even test it, they’re too scared) way of writing sales copy that can help open the reader’s mind, automatically lowers his sales defenses, and sometimes completely removes price resistance. * Why so much sales copy written by zoomers (that has nothing to do with the quality of their actual writing) gets ignored or even mocked by prospects they are attempting to sell to. * How to “recruit” celebrities to help write your ads without paying them anything. * An unusually persuasive way (that, I think, was invented by Gary Halbert) for writing bullets that add a thick persuasive layer of interest, intrigue, and engagement to nab sales you probably would not get otherwise. * How to shamelessly (but legally and ethically, no stealing or plagiarizing required) use the work of experts (even famous experts) about whatever you are writing about to help better sell your offers. * What to say when you get to the last third of a long sales letter to help keep readership higher, more engaged, maybe more likely to buy. * A surprisingly effective way to use yellow highlighting in sales copy to nab way more readership and sales than you probably would otherwise. * 3 tried-and-true sentences (you can swipe “as is” if you want, I don’t care, and don’t even know who first invented them) to segue into your close — whether in long sales copy, emails, or any other kind of advertising. * And a ho' bunch more. In fact, I am also including a special 8-page bonus report called: “The ‘Get off my lawn!’ Zoomer-Friendly Direct Marketing Cheat Sheet” I don’t, as a rule, cater to Zoomers, pander to Zoomers, or have much to offer Zoomers. Not even necessarily through any fault of their own, either. Usually when they come at me I’m like the old fart in the lawn chair telling them get the hell off my property. But a couple months ago a guy asked if he could interview me by email. His questions were coming from what sounded like a Zoomer perspective. I cannot say he is a Zoomer for sure, though, as I have never seen him. The questions just come off as Zoomer-ish. Good questions though. And he came at me with respect, and not with any idiotic entitlement like a lot of the youts do. Anyway, I thought my answers might be useful for all generations of Email Players subscribers. Especially since they are quick, raw, and curt. Just like my temper when I see Zoomers on my lawn… All right, that’s what awaits you in the September issue. To subscribe in time to get it while you still can go here: []( 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