Why I don’t dig on psychological marketing

Let me tell you a story. The original owner of Marvel Comics was a guy named Martin Goodman. And before the 1960’s (when it was called Timely Comics) he grew rich selling comicbooks by being a trend-chaser. Comics were all trends back then. So, for example, one month western comics were selling. The next month, romance comics were selling. The next month after that, superhero comics were selling, then horror comics, then war comics…. and then it’d go back to romance comics, and so on, and so forth, yada yada yada. Anyway, here’s the point: Goodman’s entire business model was “look at sales figures to see what is trending and popular and then flood the market with as many of those kinds of titles as he could, until it changed, and then do the same with the next trend.” Does that sound familiar? It should. That’s the "online marketing" niche in a nutshell. Ten years ago everyone was selling a social media offer. Then it was a crypto offer. Today it's AI. Tomorrow? Who knows? But you’ll know it when you see it, because the “Mad Dash” Dan Kennedy talks about will occur and you won’t be able to not see it happening. And like all Mad Dashes, your business can potentially make a lot of money doing it if you're positioned correctly. I’m certainly not going to deny that. But it’s also a very empty, culture-less way to grow a company, that's very fleeting. Magnificent World-Builders like Steve Jobs used to mock such companies. But back to Marvel: Stan Lee was going to quit Marvel because of Goodman's approach, because he got sick of writing these nonsensical stories being told he can only write words with two syllables because they’re "writing to kids" and talking down to the readers. So one day he tells his wife about it and she suggests he write a comic story the way he’s always wanted to and get it out of his system. After all, he was gonna quit anyway. So who cares if Goodman fired him? And so Stan got out the typewriter and wrote the first Fantastic Four issue. It was the complete, polar opposite of what was “trending.” Nobody was writing stories where, for example, the characters weren’t squeaky clean and had problems, bickered with each other, didn’t have costumes or masks or sidekicks, and a whole bunch of other “no-nos” that went totally against the trends and what Martin mandated. The result? The sales blew right past any other comicbook titles. And so, of course, Stan didn’t quit and started writing more such titles, characters, etc — and, in a sense, created his own “trends” and Mad Dash, with all the other comicbook companies eventually chasing what he was doing, as he built the modern Marvel Comics universe that everybody who watches the movies is now familiar with. As he said in one of his biographies: “I was building my own universe.” And all his characters were different yet they also all belonged in the same “world.” So, for example: He had Thor who was a god. And then he had Spider-Man on the street level. And then there was Dr. Strange working magic, and The Hulk which is like a modern horror story, and the Fantastic Four, which was sci-fi. And then blind lawyer Daredevil… X-Men... and all these completely different, unique personalities, but that all very seamlessly and naturally fit into and belonged inside of the same cohesive World. i.e., nobody was going to confuse a Marvel character with Superman, etc. When these characters ran into each other, it made sense, they fit. And it was not - at that time - dictated by trends. It was the exact opposite of what I call “Psychological” marketing, based on trends, stats, tests, surveys, focus groups, polls, algorithms, tracking, or anything at-all direct response... and was something totally different. I’m doing an entire Email Players issue just about this topic next month. But it is mandatory to start thinking this way if you want to engage in business World-Building. It’s the way Walt Disney approached building his empire originally. It was how Steve Jobs approached building Apple. It was how Fred Rogers built arguable the single most popular TV show in history. It was how George Lucas built the Star Wars franchise. It was how Tolkien approached his stories, and the list goes on. World-Building is hard for a lot of direct marketers to parse. They can’t let go of their dependence on checklists, spreadsheets, swipes, tracking, or surveys. None of that matters with the business World-Building side of things. You can do those within the World, but they are not how you build it. And, I would argue, even then, they will only hold you back. World-Building transcends checklists, copywriting, or even marketing in some ways. There is no “road map.” People keep asking me for feedback. No. To ask for feedback is to miss the point. This is driven by something much bigger than feedback, advice, "thoughts." It comes from within, totally unique to you, my thoughts about what you do with it are totally irrelevant, possibly even dangerous to your business, and nobody can tell you how to do it. If they did, it wouldn't be your World. It'd be some bastardized version that nobody will care about. But there are beacons you can follow. And my new BizWorld book is just that: A beacon. It won’t do your thinking for you. And there is nothing to swipe, copy, or “can & clone.” fapGPT fanboys will especially find it frustrating since you can’t fapGPT a World. Not without looking stupid and derivative of someone else at least. All right enough. You either want to know more about business World-Building or you don’t. If you do then my new BizWorld book might be for you. Or not. I can make you no guarantees either way. All I will say is, unlike most of my books this one is not expensive, and is quite affordable to most anyone in business. Plus, I am giving away a valuable bonus in my mobile app (you’ll need a smart phone to access it, no exceptions) analyzing one of my favorite business World-Builders to those who: 1. Buy the book in print or Kindle by tonight, Sunday August 6th at midnight EDT 2. Send me the Amazon receipt by that deadline (not just buy it, but send me the receipt by the deadline too — send a screenshot of your receipt if you have to, that is fine) You can read more about the bonus in the P.S. below. Otherwise, here is the link: [https∶//www.EmailPlayers.com/bizworld]( Ben Settle P.S. Regarding the bonus training in my mobile app I will give if you buy AND send me your receipt by the 8/6 at midnight EDT deadline. I call it: “Death Touch Marketing Secrets” It’s about a particularly insane & brutal biz World-Builder from the 60’s & 70’s. Someone I’ve learned a lot from studying, as have certain other very high-level 7 & 8-figure marketers I am aware of “in the know” who have spent many hours talking about, discussing, and learning from this guy about how he approached his marketing which, believe it or not, literally got him killed. But that’s neither here nor there. If you buy (print or Kindle) & send me your receipt by the deadline it shows my take. Including: * The little-known psychology behind how old comicbook ads were able to crawl right into the psychology of their readers to create literal mail-order millionaires even though they mostly were completely BS offers. (Not suggesting you sell crap — but what works to sell crap works even better to sell gold…) * How to make your cold ads (Facebook, Google, banner, space, classifieds… whatever it is) stand out like a MAGA hat at an AOC eat-the-rich fundraiser dinner. * A tasteful way to shamelessly milk money from fear & pain in your marketing. * Best “sleeper” place in long form sales copy to create lots of prestige and trust in you, your business, and your offer. (Believe it or not, this alone can potentially make the sale for even very high priced offers.) * An admittedly sneaky (but totally ethical) way to sell “between the lines” in your ads, sales, letters, and emails. (You won’t always be able to do this, but when/if you can — it can potentially pull all kinds of new sales your business might not get otherwise.) * The blatantly politically incorrect “fat chicks” secret for finding out exactly what your market’s worst pains & insecurities are to sell them more of your offers. * Absolutely one of the most cunning ways ever invented for using your competition’s own offers to help sell more of YOUR offers. * How to structure a near-perfect sidebar for your long form sales pages, ads, and sales letters. (If you do it right, a sidebar can do much of the heavy lifting — or possibly even make the sale on its own — to move more of your offers.) * Examples of how to make ordinary and “plain vanilla” offers sound exotic and sexy in your marketing without lying, deception, or exaggeration. * Stan Lee’s secret for writing product & offer titles people can’t resist wanting to buy. (Grown ass men & women still look for his fictitious countries like Wakanda & Latveria on maps 60+ years later, if that tells you something…) * How to write your name in ads to give your brand an almost Biblical-like epic feeling & power to it. * Real life example of how World-Building can sell your business’ offers with or without any formal advertising or marketing whatsoever. * The “U-Word” that can help add thick layers of proof & credibility to nearly any kind of offer or claim. * Example of how a literal $10,000 guarantee can be done without putting your business on the hook for any risk. * A quickie power lesson on how to add Showmanship to your marketing. * The blue check secret that gets people believing your offers and claims even if they hate you. * Hands down the single best spot in your ads to place your proof & credibility for maximum impact, belief, and response. (I learned this while writing an ad for a client who would add more zaniness and drama to my copy even after I thought I’d taken things too far!) * A shrewd way businesses still trying to grow a brand can use to help create proof and credibility almost out of thin air. * A secret method discovered years ago by a cunning weight loss author you can use TODAY (right after you learn it) to help combine showmanship, credibility, and intrigue for your business. * How to foil businesses in your market who give away everything free on YouTube. (A lot of marketers worry about this — but when you know what you’re doing, these give-away artists in your niche might be all but sending your business free customers.) * A completely “unorthodox” copywriting technique (used by a notorious comicbook writer/artist to prevent Batman from being cancelled back in the 80’s) that can help make your sales copy compulsively readable and engaging. * A hair-raising example (you should definitely use with caution) of how to turn your best customers & followers into soldiers — sally forth’ing into the internet, and picking fights with your competitors. (A lot of business people cannot handle this sort of thing, and it can get crazy… but it can also potentially make your business a lot of new sales, too.) * A bizarre (but ingenious) way to use an ordinary Bible to help make your sales copy, emails, & other writings more dramatic and engaging. * An old school Hollywood screenwriting trick (used by everyone from Walt Disney to Peter Jackson — in fact, a great example is in the first Hobbit movie) that can help make even the “plain vanilla” ordinary and mundane exotic and irresistible. * How introverts can grow rock-solid relationships with people on their email lists without engaging in mindless small talk and chit-chat. * How swiping John Caples can potentially get you thrown in jail! (Copywriters fight me on this, but what I say about this makes it no less true. If you’re going to swipe John Caples, tread very carefully.) * And a ho’ bunch more. All right, one more time: To get this bonus (which is ONLY in my mobile app, and not available anywhere else) you must (1) buy BizWorld in print or Kindle format before the Sunday 8/6 at midnight EDT deadline AND (2) send me your receipt by that deadline. If you send me your receipt after that? You will be ignored. And I don’t give a shyt what your excuse is, the answer is NO after that. Here is the link to the buy the book: [https∶//www.EmailPlayers.com/bizworld]( This email was sent by Ben Settle as owner of Settle, LLC. Copyright © 2023 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