New product junkies

“Some worthless junkie. For him, you intervened and put us all at risk? Some contemptible junkie who couldn’t keep the peace for eight hours?” — Gustavo Fring “Breaking Bad” So saideth the criminal mastermind in “Breaking Bad.” And I have found his "don't do business with junkies" to be invaluable selling online, too. Specifically, when it comes to what I call “new product junkies” — a concept I was introduced to a few years ago from the brilliant Michelle Spiva back when me and my pals did our “Oceans 4” masterminds. And it had such an impact on me that day, I not only had to have her on the podcast I had at the time to discuss it, but I changed parts of my business in ways that has created far more growth, with far less frustration. Here is what happened: One of the attendees sold in a biz-opp kind of niche. And, his biggest frustration was having a gaggle of customers who (1) were always looking for something new (2) never actually implemented or used the things they did buy (3) and because of that, they had a huge list of one-time buyers - who were also huge pains in the arse to deal with - who just craved yet another new offer they’d then have to keep creating to keep their business successful, while they never bought anything on the back-end - which is where the real money in direct marketing is. That’s when Michelle piped up: (Paraphrased) “They are addicted to the dopamine drip they get whenever they buy something new.” Yes, this is a very real phenomenon. And, is not just something I use to mock people with. And when you understand it, you realize why doing business with these junkies can be just as dangerous to your business as doing business with a junkie was to Gus Fring’s operation — which, in many ways, letting junkie Jesse Pinkman stay in the operation led to his downfall. Let me give you an example: A couple years ago, a particularly aggressive new product junkie tried to subscribe to “Email Players” several times to get the April 2019 issue. I think I counted 5 times — all under various different names. Now, this is a guy who has joined in the past. Quit right afterwards. And then, somehow snuck in several more times. And, the reason why he couldn't resist is because he reads my emails promoting a specific issue, sees something “cool!” I am going to teach, his marketing prole cravings kick in and the feening begins... and he then subscribes to learn that one tip thinking it’s going to somehow change his marketing prole life (it won’t, it’ll just make it worse, and further strengthen my hold on his psyche), then quits, after he gets his hit of elBenbo’s crystal blue persuasion. Then, he presumably scuttles off to the goo-roo casino. Plays a few slot machines & gets distracted by the bright flashing lights and sounds. And, I won’t see him try again until the next time I do something to activate his cravings. Now, think about this: This bloke — and people like him, he's far from the only one — is so pathetically & hopelessly addicted to buying “NEW!” that he literally tried to commit fraud, paying me $100 per bump, and then proceeds to do nothing, only to come back again the next time he gets a craving for my, er, merchandise. Again, he’s not the only one. I’ve seen it many, many times over the years. These contemptible new product junkies are so enslaved to their addiction for "NEW!" they simply keep wasting their money, doing nothing, probably hanging out in Facebook groups all day telling everyone they are an “entrepreneur!”, and repeating the cycle over and over and over for years, never getting any further than their next toke on. Now, a shallow & small-thinker will say: “Why not just sell to them? Who does it hurt?” Because of the phenomenon of you are the sum total of those you spend your time with. Including online. And, yes, including by who you sell to. By catering to new product junkies, serial quitters, excuse-makers, small-thinkers, do-nothings, copycats, freebie-seekers, etc, I’d become more “like” them — whether I want to or not, in little, subtle ways. Their new product junkie antics then can also “spread” to my other subscribers and customers just by them running around talking about how they are one of my paid subscribers, where others may think they want to be more like the junkie, and the leaven spreads. Thus, I want nothing to do with them. And, you know what? By actively and aggressively repelling them and refusing to sell to them, my business has grown much bigger, much more consistently, at a much faster rate than before I stopped selling to them. Make no mistake: It'd be very easy to start a business catering to them. All you have to do is what Jesse Pinkman did: Go (figuratively) sling drugs to the other junkies coming out of the 12-step program meetings. And, many guru-types who are secretly one failed launch away from living in a van down by the river do just that. But, it's a terrible foundation to build a business on, in my opinion. You obviously can do whatever you want. Most people reading this will not be able to wrap their minds around how dire this is. And that’s perfectly okay. But, the few who do? If you want to listen to another rant I did about this go here: NOTE: You’ll need a mobile phone to watch or listen to it. Ben Settle Copyright © 2021 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. PO Box 1056 Gold Beach Oregon 97444 USA To unsubscribe or change subscriber options, visit: