A pox on email metrics

Since I’m already triggering some of the email metrics police this week: This past January Email Players subscriber Tom Beal & I got on a Zoom call with a friend of mine who is heavily entrenched in the affiliate marketing world. I wanted to talk to her about doing a JV to her network where she could get paid — like a super affiliate — on any action her network brought in for one of our software offers (Learnistic Pro — the high end version of Learnistic, which can earn affiliates gigantic commissions.) She listened to what we were doing, asked really good questions, and at least one point said it was solving some problems the affiliate marketing world experiences. Like, for example, the anti-piracy benefits. But… She didn’t think her network of affiliates or businesses who utilize affiliates would care. And in hindsight, I should have realized that before even wasting her time. The reason? We didn’t have any metrics & numbers she could bring to them. In other words: No sales figures, no clicks, no conversion rates, no anything else a lot of affiliates base their decision on what to sell by. All of which we don’t have because we didn’t have any affiliates, we just used it to sell our own offers, and our clients used it to sell their offers. It didn’t matter that these affiliates’ lists might eagerly buy, need, want, be ripe for the offer, and benefit with consumption levels, course completions, and customer satisfaction through the roof which has been our experience, and many of our clients' experiences. The discussion couldn't even go further at that point. Because what matters — from what I got out of the conversation, at least — to them is raw, out of context numbers based on what other businesses are successfully selling. i.e., they are engaging in pure Psychological Marketing. That means: Doing business in such a way where the numbers, stats, metrics dictate their decisions, and not a Sociologically-built structure that fosters a lifetime relationship using the ways I teach, for example, (and have been doing in my own business for over 20 years) in the upcoming September Email Players issue, which then produces the numbers I want that have always exceeded any and all expectations in my business. I’m not saying my way is “better” than what the affiliates do, because it’s not necessarily the case. So this is no slight on anyone, if anything my way is definitely the black sheep of the IM herd. And a business has to do what they have to do. But there is an irony about this. And that irony is, one of the most important things the especially hardcore Psychological Marketers who get hairy palms while fapping over metrics like to talk about in their masterminds and at conferences and in their Facebook groups is: “Lifetime value.” And yet, from what I can see, they do absolutely nothing to facilitate a legitimate lifetime relationship. Not strictly speaking at least. Because it’s all based on responding and letting short term metrics & surveys & social proof dictate what to sell — and not leading by finding out what is best going to benefit their audiences. Go figure. Again, I’m not saying the Psychological approach doesn’t work. Because it obviously can and does. But I would argue it can work better within a Sociologically-grown business first. This is why, for example, I couldn’t give a rat’s puckering bee-hind less about “what’s working now” or what’s being launched by what goo-roo (I never participate in launches at all as an affiliate, and instantly reject any offers asking me to) when I choose offers to sell as an affiliate. I doubt any of the businesses I sell for as an affiliate, and that have made my business the most commissions over the years even had enough metrics to share in the first place. Take Email Players subscriber Kim Krause Schwalm’s copywriting offers, for instance. The last thing I think to ask her is: “What are your earnings per click, Kim! Speak up, Woman! Tell me - NOW” I don’t care either way. What I care about is does what she sell fit into the structure of my Sociologically-built business? And that means caring more about many long term intangible variables over short term tangible metrics such as: (1) she’s brilliant at copywriting (2) I know she’s going to treat my list right (3) she is easy to work with & pays like clockworks (sends me wine)… (4) enough people on my list will buy what she’s selling if I do my job right in the emails, and will benefit from what she is selling far in excess of what they are paying for the offer… and the list goes on. None of which has a single blessed thing to do with Psychological Marketing. Same when I sell Email Players subscriber Brian Kurtz’s more esoteric offers. Some of the most profitable affiliate deals I ever did was with his Titans of Direct Response DVDs (which are mostly about OFFLINE marketing, not something my list would ever say they are looking for on a survey or that you'd see in their browsing history). And same with his Jim Rutz swipe file and his Bill Jayme swipe file (most copywriters have no clue who Jayme even was). Yet all ridiculously profitable. And all further cemented my relationship with those buyers where they have been far more likely to buy future offers, trust what I have to say about copywriting, know I have their best interests at heart. Many benefits beyond just “numbers.” That’s the essence of my Sociological approach vs the typical Psychological approach: The numbers come from the relationship, not the other way around. Do the former, and the latter takes care of itself in a lot of ways. Thus, the last thing on my mind when he has a new offer I want to sell is to ask him about his conversion rates, cost per click, cost per sale, chargeback rates, lifetime value, cart abandonment rate, earning per click, or anything else. I don’t even know what some of those #’s mean. Nor do I care. Because it’s about sticking to the sociologically-inspired (not psychologically-inspired) structure of serving my list and what I think will benefit them most, while also doing the other thing I talk about inside the upcoming September Email Players issue which is all about this approach. Psychological marketing (what 90%+ do) is all reactive. Sociologically marketing is purely proactive. The irony is, Psychological marketing is much safer. And, frankly, most marketers are not wired to do it any other way. But, the benefits of Sociological marketing is far stronger positioning. It’s why I never had to “pivot” during the pandemic. I lost count of how much training (for the Psychological marketers, of course) was going out at that time with everyone talking about, teaching, and advocating to pivot in their businesses. And to be fair, many Psychological Marketers probably did have to figure that out. But I didn’t even think about it. If anything, I was having fun mocking the idea. Because I had my business already positioned correctly well before it, for almost two decades, and merely had to adjust to exploit (not merely survive) the situation. So that’s a little bit more on what the September issue is all about. It’s really not a good “jumping on” point for people new to my World. Nor is it going to appeal to even most current subscribers probably. But, that, not-so-coincidentally, is why I am teaching it. Not because anyone is asking for it (nobody has ever outright asked for a single book I sell, and yet they all sell extremely well anyway, as further proof of how the Sociological approach can work for a business). But because this is a way I can serve my Horde. Numbers? Stats? Metrics? I do look at some of them, but only within the context of my Sociological approach. And not as some kind of video game score like a lot of Psychological Marketers do. Only thing I do have are results. And, I can’t even point anyone to anyone else doing it because the only other businesses I see doing it are outside of the direct marketing world. Something to think about if you think you want to subscribe. I’d rather people wait than get in on this issue. Especially since I have a no coming back policy. Can’t say you weren’t warned in advance. All right, for the few who find this intriguing, here’s where to subscribe: [https∶//www.EmailPlayers.com]( Deadline is in a couple short days. Ben Settle 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