Headline secrets of a woman who is too evil to die

A true story about one of the best headlines I ever done wrote: Many years ago (around 2001 I think) I was firmly entrenched in an MLM I absolutely sucked out loud at. But, that did not stop me from wasting money and time on going to the rallies and events the company held. And while those were indeed mostly a waste of time and money in hindsight, there were also some dayem good speakers who could tell incredible stories, motivate people to do what they never thought they could, and inspired people to get off their arses and do some work. One of the speakers was especially good at it. To this day I still remember some of the stories she told. Like, for example, a talk on the importance of finding your “Amy.” Amy being a woman in the small Kansas town this speaker and her husband lived in when starting their MLM thing. And Amy would spread lies about the couples’ kids, turn the town against them, file false reports about them, and all-around torment them. Just a nasty, jealous, psychotic bitch in every possible way, from what I remember. The kind of miserable, seething, jealous wretch who is “too evil to die,” as Stefania’s mom describes such people. But ultimately the speaker was grateful for Amy. The reason: Amy became the "driving force" in their business. Every time Amy tried some new round of horse shyt, her and her husband got that much more angry and determined to succeed — and ultimately their business exploded in sales to the tune of hundreds of thousands of smackeroos per year. They also got their revenge back on Amy in other ways after making all their money. Like, for example, the speaker talked about how she would go sweep her front porch wearing a fur coat while broke ass Amy watched, seething, and full of contempt. Anyway, at the end of the talk she asked: "Who's YOUR Amy?" i.e., Who’s actively sabotaging YOU? I knew who my "Amy" was at the time. In my case, it was a person from my past who did much the same during a big part of my coming of age years. And this person still has no idea how much they helped me when the chips were down, nothing was working, despair creeped in, and I wanted to quit in the early days. Frankly, even today my "Amy" sometimes gnaws at my psyche. I don’t like it, and I kinda wish this idiot would go away already. And as successful as this person is in the normie world, I will do whatever it takes to they will never be as successful as I am in my world, in the game of business. But each time this idiot gnaws at my mind I can’t help but be grateful. Without my Amy I’d probably be pumping gas for a living. I ain’t the only one like this either. This is absolutely a thing amongst a lot of high earning marketers. For instance: Every year I have this “ritual” where I re-read all my old Dan Kennedy NO BS Letters (the ones he wrote up until around 2004 or so, when he sold that company to Bill Glazer). It is still some of the best info I have ever read, incidentally. And if you can get your hands on those old issues (pre 2004) do it and keep them safe. Anyway, just a few nights ago I was reading a bit about this "Amy" phenomenon and how Dan has customers who move mountains due not to wanting to be rich or successful… but due to dark desires they probably don’t even want to talk about. One of his clients literally bought a company he had no desire to own just to fire the company’s president, for example. He then turned it into a $100 million (if memory serves) business. But he didn’t care about that as much as he just wanted to fire the guy who was his 'Amy.' But channeling rage ain’t this all the above speaker taught me: Around that same time, again, almost 25 years ago now, there was another MLM seminar she was speaking at. And she used a very peculiar term about getting rich. I don’t know if it’s a small town Kansas term or redneck term or what kind of term. But it was quite memorable, and even one of the other speakers jokingly referred to it during the event. Now, “flash forward” to 2018. I was writing a sales page and just couldn’t think of a headline. The entire sales letter flowed out practically in one sitting. But the headline? Very elusive. But then my twisted brain, for whatever reason, went back and grabbed the term that speaker used, and I joined/combined it with the main benefit the offer delivers… and VOILA: the result was what I consider to be, in many ways, one of my best headlines I ever wrote. But technically, I did not even write it, she did. And guess what? In the September Email Players issue I not only break this exact headline down, but I also reveal the speaker above (in case you ever want to research her on your own for some good ol’ fashioned storytelling inspiration), as well as breaking down page-by-page, bullet-by-bullet, and precept-upon-precept the entire ad which the great A-list copywriter Bob Bly told me he thought was my best ad yet. You can read more of the specifics inside in the PS below. Otherwise? If you want to subscribe in time for today’s deadline best hurry here: []( Ben Settle P.S. Here are some of the secrets inside the September 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 for tonight’s deadline 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