World class marketing design that requires painful surgery to enjoy it

You can chalk the following up to “coincidence” if you must. But I’ve seen it happen too many times to write it off as such. Back when I first published my elBenbo Press book I sent a copy to my business partner in the software space & Email Players subscriber Troy Broussard. If you’ve never seen elBenbo Press it’s a big, clunky book. Very heavy, too, for a book. And not necessarily easy to hold. It’s meant to be read on a table, paying attention, and not listening to passively on audio or skimmed in a PDF. And because of Troy’s excruciating neck injuries (he is in 7 out of 10 pain on average each day), he said it was literally painful to read it, and kept asking me for a PDF. And it was so uncomfortable for him, he had to read it in his SUV where he has a work station so things are easier on his neck. He said he literally cursed me the whole time. (Not even exaggerating…) And yet: Of all the people who read that book, from what I can tell he has easily been one the most successful students of it. I gave him no special instruction on the side or anything. I can’t be bothered with such trivialities. My books are self-explanatory and I don't do hand-holding. So he took that info by the scruff of the neck, implemented it immediately & aggressively, and quickly launched his own high-ticket continuity (book of the month) offer. A true success story. And I believe it is precisely BECAUSE it was hard to consume — the way I purposely formatted and designed the book, and that is “part” of the marketing of it — that turned the trick. Again, you may think that is coincidence. You may even be like the average internet reply guy who sees all the facts, proof, documentation, stats, and demonstration about something he doesn’t want to believe and simply waves off whatever it is as: “Bull shyt” But I can assure you it ain't. And to prove it, here’s another example to further show the power of uncomfortable design: A while back, Stefania was telling me about a prestigious shoe brand that sells shoes for well over $1,000. She knows all the most prestigious and prohibitively expensive brands from working in her mom’s Manhattan resale shop for nearly 20 years — personally dealing with celebrities who shop there (like Ann Coulter, Bette Midler, Catherine Zeta-Jones, etc). And, especially, with the personal stylists of dozens of A-list celebrities (like Jennifer Lopez, Mariah Carey, Sheryl Crow, etc) who would shop on their behalf, for whatever movies or TV shows or concerts they were going to be in. So Stefania had a true insider’s look at the world of fashion design. And these shoes are probably the most in-demand there are. They are a $50 million dollar shoe brand. And according to Stefania, they are in such ravenous demand that these snooty movie stars and celebrities literally get painful liposuction surgery on their feet just to be able to wear them! They even have a name for this procedure: “Cinderella Surgery.” And yet, these prohibitively expensive, “feet-mangling” shoes sell out the same day they drop. They are also shamelessly copied by Chinese factory pirates. And many people who can’t afford or find them raid hardware store shelves to buy the exact same red paint on the bottom of these shoes to fake their own pair. This brand’s designs have created a genuinely obsessed fanbase that behave like feening meth addicts. Some people even get depressed if they aren’t invited to the company’s sample sale. Shoving matches & fights happen in line over who can buy them first. And thieves routinely steal these bizarrely designed shoes out of other customers’ shopping bags while on the way to the counter to pay for them! Certain A-list celebrities have even been known to pay through the nose just to put a special kind of Botox on the balls of their feet, so they can more comfortably stand in this brand’s stilettos on the red carpet. And that ain’t all: These oddly-designed shoes are also notorious for creating painful bunions, hideous-looking “hammer toes” (that literally make your toes look like prehistoric pterodactyl feet!), and puss-filled corns prompting them to get surgery to remove all these horrible foot deformities…just to keep wearing these insanely high-priced shoes that caused all their horrifying feet & tendon pain in the first place. No, it’s not “logical.” And no it makes no earthly sense to us regular folk. But that’s the point: The eerily-effective design secret behind what makes this brand of shoes so popular & profitable (again, they sell for thousands in some cases) really shouldn’t work at all if you listen to practically any expert on the subject. And yet: I have personally used the same “quirk” in buyer psychology they use in my own business to sell ordinary perfect bound books (that look like they should only cost $20 in a bookstore) for as much as $1,000 or more. i.e., elBenbo Press, amongst others. And my Copy Troll book's interior design literally got me accused of discriminating against blind people if that tells you something… Unfortunately, there is no checklist for how to use this secret. It’s purely a state of mind and a strategical approach to the visual & design-side of your business, combined with some very basic marketing fundamentals. That’s why nobody can “tell” you how to do it. You can only be shown how it’s been done by others. That’s the bad news. The good news? Practically any business can use this secret regardless of what kind of offers you sell. You don’t need any special design skills or talent. You don’t have to follow any artistic rules or trends (just the opposite). And you can do it “low brow” design style like most direct marketers prefer, or you can do it in a pretty & slick design style like so many graphics professionals do. You just have to understand the principles behind how it works… then think about how to apply those principles to what you do… and then use it to help get your own following of rabid customers who want nothing more than to shove their hard earned green stuff into your hands, too. Enter my new book: “Markauteur” One of the appendices talks about this phenomenon. And while it won’t give you any checklist “do this, this, and this” instruction or hard solutions for creating it… I believe it can give you some guidance for thinking about using this weird uncomfortable design phenomenon in your business. But a word of warning: There are no guarantees this misunderstood method will work for your business. The only thing I am comfortable guaranteeing about this is, you are not hearing it from the usual gaggle of chumps up in this business who can’t do anything but ape copywriting & marketing gurus still stuck in 1985 when it comes to product, graphic, sales page, and other business & marketing designs. I can also guarantee you it will require a lot of thinking to make this work. And a lot of planning. And, yes, a lot of strategy. And that is how it should be far as I am concerned. If it was easy everyone would be doing it. And if it was simple everyone would be teaching it. And if it worked for everyone, then you’d see everyone talking about it, instead of parroting marketing goo-roos and squawking all day. So keep all that in mind before getting too excited about trying this. To get the full details and nab the book at a huge discount do this: 1. Read every single word at the URL below to make an informed purchase 2. Buy it before Friday 12/23 at midnight EST to get it at the launch discount. 3. Use code POMPOUS at the checkout (Make sure you see the price change before entering your info) Here’s the link: [https∶//www.EmailPlayers.com/design]( Ben Settle This email was sent by Ben Settle as owner of Settle, LLC. Copyright © 2022 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