The problem with psychological business-building

When I published the 100th Email Players issue in November 2019 I ended it with: === Before we wrap this issue up, a confession: Originally when I decided to write about this topic, I had a 7th money-bomb to share. But, I am holding off on sharing it for a while. I don’t tell you this to tease or annoy you. I tell you this because I realized as I started writing about it, it’s too big for just a section of a newsletter, and deserves more space. So next year I will be writing about it in great detail, and giving it the space and time it deserves. Frankly, it may even become its own book, or a big section of a book, I want to write about my publishing model. We will see. But the gist of it is, there are two kinds of business-building. And the one you hear from direct response marketers about tracking and testing metrics, sales, LTV (lifetime value), etc, while 100% correct, is less than half the picture, in my experience. There is another “intangible” side to things. And it’s less psychological in the grand scheme things. And when you understand it, see examples of it, and start implementing what I am cryptically referring to… it can mean the difference between doing 5 figures and 6 figures, 6 figures and 7 figures, and probably 7 figures and 8 figures. It’s a huge topic, but extremely important. And if it interests you to know more, stay tuned. === The key part of the above is this: “…it’s less psychological in the grand scheme things.” Psychological business-building is the typical direct response business: All decisions about the marketing, product line, and overall business are dominated by the psychology of the customer and the market. Thus, a heavy reliance on psychographics, metrics, testing data, tracking, analytics, obsession with “what’s working now”, running PPC ads to pre-test demand, doing surveys, swiping, being on everyone’s mailing list, measuring clicks, calculating customer LTV (lifetime value), and the list goes on. In other words: For them it’s all about the numbers. And tests. And metrics. And data. Specifically, from all their market research, carefully crafted & analyzed surveys, split tests, swipe file observations, being a marketing spy watching what others are doing that is currently working, and so on, and so forth. And make no mistake, practically every single direct response marketing teacher, author, and, yes, guru, teaches, runs, and promotes psychological business-building. All the marketing books & seminars & masterminds instruct it. All those gurus above proclaim it as “the way.” After which their fanboys then parrot it without understanding it. And, let me be crystal clear: There is nothing wrong with doing this. In fact, this psychological way of building a business is both smart and safe. And probably it is the #1 way to go in my opinion. Also probably, most everyone reading this email should be doing it that way. Then, there’s another kind of business-building I teach in “elBenbo Press.” The kind used by business giants like Steve Jobs. And Walt Disney. And William Randolph Hearst. And even by Trump — both in business and to get himself elected in 2016, with the mass media, an army of establishment politicians, and even his own party vehemently against him. It’s the exact opposite of psychological business-building. A great example of this is Stan Lee & Marvel Comics. Back in the early 1960’s Stan Lee had been writing comics for about 20 years. And his publisher — a purely psychological business-builder who let trends and “what’s working now” dictate what they sold (that was their entire business model: see what is selling, then flood the market with similar titles, rinse & repeat) — kept things so dumbed-down, had so little respect for the intelligence of their readers, and was such a stubbornly annoying trend-follower, Stan decided enough was enough and he was going to quit and go be something else. And when he told his wife his plans, she made a suggestion that, quite literally, completely transformed the entire comic book industry and, by extension, movie industry, and has resulted in probably hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue since the early 1960’s. What did his wife suggest? She said: “Why don’t you tell the kind of story you want and get it out of your system?” And so Stan did just that. Instead of doing a squeaky clean super hero story about the usual super powered Mary Sue type heroes other companies did, he gave his characters very human flaws, unique personalities, and did a lot of things nobody else was even thinking about, much less doing, in comic books at that time, but that we all take for granted now. The result? He created the Fantastic Four which turned into the greatest selling comic book in history at the time, along with many other comic books that even today are #1 sellers, and are billion dollar movie franchises. All because they shifted away from psychological business-building. The kind of business-building I teach is far more along the lines of what Stan Lee did. What he did is the difference between creating a “great character” who builds a suit of armor or creating the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Or between creating a “great computer” or building a multi-media business like Apple that is also in the phone, music, and cloud business. Or the difference between creating a “great menu” or building McDonalds or In-N-Out Burger — each with their own rules, cultures, and ways of doing business that are the exact opposite of each other in many ways. If Marvel kills off Ironman (which they did), the cinematic universe still goes on. If McDonalds decided to end the Big Mac, the franchise would still move forward. And if Apple stopped selling computers or Disney stopped making animated films (which they did for over a decade, at one time) altogether, their company would still keep growing. And the reason why is the business-building method I teach in “elBenbo Press.” All right, enough teasing. Let’s get to the good stuff: One thing to realize is “elBenbo Press” is very much a “Ben Settle 400-level” training. For better or worse, that means it is not at-all newbie-friendly. And while I’m not saying you have to have all my other books or be an Email Players subscriber to use it… I will say the longer you’ve been reading my emails, the more of my books you’ve read, and the more of “me” you are familiar with, the more suited you are for this information. It’s also my most expensive book yet, too. But, during the sale this week I am offering it at a thick $200.00 discount off the price listed on the sales page until tonight, Friday 11/19 at midnight EST. Here is the link: [https∶//www.EmailPlayers.com/press]( Use code SIZZLE at the checkout. And make sure you see the price change before entering any info. Ben Settle P.S. Here is what Email Players subscriber Brian Timoney said about the book after it launched last year: === I think elBenbo Press is by far, hands down the best book/ training I have ever consumed on world-building, branding, positioning and philosophy and plenty more. Have you ever thought of doing a mastermind type event around this? I know you don't like them but I really believe that what you are teaching here is very deep and quite frankly brilliant and truthful. So few people in your position pull back the curtain like this. I'm sure that those who 'get it' would love to hear even more in person. Between Press and Barbarian over the last year, I've completely changed my business model and marketing. I'm attracting even better students and a better way of delivering it that is so much more in line with who I am. === I ain’t just whistlin’ dixie about all this. And I can assure you, you aren’t getting this kind of info from haunting Facebook groups. But you can get it from elBenbo Press. And, you can still get it at a discount if you do it by tonight’s deadline. Here’s the link: [https∶//www.EmailPlayers.com/press]( This email was sent by Ben Settle as owner of Settle, LLC. Copyright © 2021 Settle, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 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