elBenbo commits unforgivable marketing blasphemy

Behold this quote from the late, great Gary Halbert: “You can’t screw around with the public today when you’re going out there and selling. You’ve got to have something almost that people can’t live without. You’ve got to understand something about America and the World today, people are worried, they’re scared to death, they are preoccupied, they’re working two jobs just to make the rent. They’re not going to shell out money for philosophy. They will shell out money to get skinny, to look younger, to have more, to save more, to save their lives and so forth.” This was from a seminar on direct mail in the 1990’s, I believe. But nowadays what he said simply ain’t so. Marketing blasphemy, you say? Perhaps it is. What else is new? Between my contempt for swiping, completely ignoring “what’s working now!”, not caring one iota about soft metrics like email open rates, and a whole host of other things I teach, do, and advocate that I am told is “wrong!” and even "irresponsible!"… it’s pretty much par for the course ‘round here. Back to the Halbert quote: If you want to create hardcore what I call “Berserker Customers” fighting hard for your business, advocating hard for your brand, and selling hard for you… then hear ye my counter perspective. But first, some context. Gary was selling in the realm of Third-Generation Marketing Warfare at the time he gave that talk. I recap what this means in the July “Email Players” issue (I originally taught it earlier this year in “Email Players.”) But, the TL;DR version is: 3G Marketing Warfare was pre-internet, when direct response marketers bought space in a newspaper or rented a mailing list or bought media time with a better sales pitch than the other guy, then sold those buyers something else. Today the battlefield for marketshare is quite different. It’s what I call: “Sixth-Generation Marketing Warfare” This is where a business can truly defeat and conquer its enemies with as little “firepower” as possible, and maybe none at all. Where selling, pitching, marketing, and promoting — directly or indirectly — are done well before anyone sees an offer, or before a product is even created, with most of the selling being done by that company’s fans & customers (as well as its haters & trolls) without them even being aware of it. There is a whole methodology behind this. And I talk about it a lot in “Email Players” these days. But back to Halbert: What all this means is, Gary was teaching the above at a time that was either very early internet or pre-internet. That means it was also pre-online community building. And that also means it was pre-dirt cheap (and free) online lead-gen. So everything Gary said was 100% true in the context of the time in which he said it (during 3G Marketing Warfare). But it’ll only hold you back in ways that’ll haunt your banker’s nightmares for all eternity in the theater of Sixth-Generation Marketing Warfare. Nowadays — with all the overheated competition throughout all industries/markets/product categories… with the glut of information in practically every market anyone has ever sold to… and the rise of thousands of fake experts and charismatic influencers who don’t have to work a fraction as hard to get a following as people in Gary’s day did (thanks to 5th AND 6th Gen Marketing Warfare)… it’s my contention and my experience that you have to do things quite differently. Especially BEFORE any marketing occurs at all. And in a way where people may not even know they are being marketed to at all. This transcends any technique or something you can swipe. That is the beauty of it in my opinion. It’s also the part people have the most trouble with — especially copywriter types who have been told to always swipe, cheat, steal, and obsess over “what’s working now.” And I am telling you that is all pure, unadulterated horse shyt these days. Before? You could make a case fo it. Today? Not so much. At least, if you want to remain relevant & not get left behind, and not keep struggling in the coming weeks, months, and years. Enter the July “Email Players” issue. I show you a “weapon” in 6G Marketing Warfare that, if you figure out how to wield it (I give advice on this, but you have to do the thinking and practicing), you can potentially blow right past your market in ways they won’t even be able to imagine now. If that sounds like hype, then so be it. The small thinker (who should not buy anything from me anyway) will hate this issue. The bigger thinker will likely love it. Either way, I show you examples of all this in the July issue. And, give guidance on how to do it. If you want it, you’ll have to kick old man procrastinator’s cane out from under him. That old bastard be holding you back. When I send it to the printer shortly, that’ll be it. I’m turning it off in the cart, and you won’t be in on time to get this issue. Here is the link one final time: 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: