like a mastermind delivered in a FedEx box

Deb C. writes: “Just wanted to tell you that elBenbo Press arrived a day ago and I opened it today. I admit I haven’t read the whole thing. I admit I went right to the section in the back where you list resources. But Ben, the last paragraph on page 426 is, for me, worth the price of the entire book. You know how they tell you that if you get just one idea out of one of those high-priced masterminds, it totally pays for itself? As far as I’m concerned, this is like getting a mastermind delivered in a FedEx box.” I am not reprinting the above to sell elBenbo Press. (It is not even for sale right now, turned off in the cart) I am reprinting it because as much as Deb claims my book was a mastermind delivered in a FedEx box, I think her comment was like a mastermind delivered in an email. Here’s what I mean: Over the past 20+ years I have long noticed that the best, most successful, highest quality customers have her exact attitude. While most online marketers are just looking for “tricks!” and “tips!” and “tactics!”… the most successful people I know up in this business, who go the farthest, last the longest, reach high pinnacles of success in their market/niche/product/service category are not so much interested in tips and tricks as they are things like: * Saving time which is far more valuable than money * Augmenting power with leverage (in her case, she was looking for a better fulfillment option than Amazon, which, I can tell you from personal experience, can change the entire game in all kinds of ways — from profits kept, to not being reliant on big tech algorithms, to having far more control over your marketing to being able to control the entire end-user experience) * Realizing “NEW!” is overrated compared to learning different ways of applying knowledge already realized (i.e., going deep vs wide in knowledge) * Know exactly what they are looking for and then apply it vs randomly reading and then just buying more stuff and randomly reading that, never doing anything, always running around in circles * Looking to extract a few powerful thoughts/ideas/strategies/tactics from what they purchase instead of being disappointed if everything isn’t brand spanking new (hate to break it to the normies — but there is nothing new under the sun — especially in marketing — only new ways of applying/thinking about/implementing what’s already out there) * And the list goes on Those are the kind of customers I both market to and serve. It’s why I tell newbies to stay away from anything I sell. Not because I don’t “like” them, but because they aren’t ready. They should get a solid foundation in the basics & fundamentals which the vast majority never get because they get all their info from social media, where it’s never taught, much less celebrated. And so it goes with the upcoming January Email Players issue. It’s the 150th issue and triple+ sized (64-pages). But nothing inside will help the newbie or normie. They will just waste their money. And, in fact, what will happen when someone like the above reads the info inside is, they will get excited thinking they are learning something new (they aren’t, just a new way of applying many old concepts I use myself), nod, then put it away and buy something else without ever really doing the work required to implement what that issue teaches. And this goes double for the bonus I’m including. i.e., “Email Players Annual #2: Mad Men Copywriting Secrets” The newbie will think it’s about the TV show (it's not). Think “ooh cool!” at the thought of it. Then open it, read it, and be (1) super disappointed that it’s not chock full of mysterious occult marketing knowledge and (2) not have the solid grounding in the fundamentals of direct marketing to appreciate it, much less successfully implement it. I say all this as a warning to the newbies. I’ve heard from several already excited to get the January issue. And I want to bring their emotions down a bit. Everything inside takes a crap load of work to use, learn, implement. And everything inside also requires a solid understanding of the fundamentals of copywriting and direct marketing. Since I have a “no coming back” policy, it’s the height of stupidity and small thinking to subscribe just to get this one thing and line my pockets for something you can’t even use, never will use, are not even capable of using. I much prefer people wait until they are ready. I don’t know who needed to hear this. But I suspect the line is as long as the line of the exiled and damned in my world. All right enough. For the grownups Email Players is intended for: The deadline to subscribe in time for this special milestone issue & the bonus Annual issue I am including is almost here. If you have Deb’s attitude, I think you’ll find it extremely valuable. If you have the typical normie and amateur’s attitude it will absolutely be a waste of your money and time. You’ve been warned. Here’s the link: [https∶//www.EmailPlayers.com]( Ben Settle P.S. re: the “Email Players Annual #2: Mad Men Copywriting Secrets” bonus I am sending. Here are the details: This oversized (literally — in both size and page count) Annual issue I am including with January’s issue exists outside the normal continuity of the newsletter. And I wrote it to both commemorate the newsletter’s 150th issue, and also to teach some cool stuff I’ve learned studying the old masters that have practically be all but forgotten about today. (NOTE: it has absolutely NOTHING to do with the TV show “Mad Men”, which I found extremely boring and overrated — it’s about advertising methods used by the actual Mad Men of the 60’s.) Some of the secrets found inside include: * The sneaky headline trick old school copywriters used to pre-test ads without spending a single dime. * Cunning advice (straight from a private, internal memo at the Leo Burnett agency back in the day) about how to trick egotistical clients (for their own good, of course) into running your sales copy “as-is.” (Old school screenwriters basically did the same thing to get scripts approved, today it’s practically a forgotten trick of the writing trade.) * A powerful Mad Men secret to making your business mysteriously attractive that can be like “catnip” to high-paying clients and others you wish to sell to or influence. * The World-Building technique all the Mad Men agency owners (the ones whose names are still on their companies today long after their deaths) used to position themselves as “the” agency to hire — with certain clients practically magnetically attracted to them, and probably even only them, and likely wanting nothing to do with anyone else. * How to exploit a dangling piece of psychological “wiring” in every human being’s brain to help make your emails and other marketing extremely hard to ignore and a whole lot more engaging. * A sneaky way to adapt Ogilvy’s enormously successful “Man In The Hathaway Shirt” ad from the 1950s into a high converting opt-in pages for your business today. * How the late Mad Man Leo Burnett would address a room of stuck up and snobby vice presidents of giant corporations to keep their egos in check and “prep” them for what he expected of them as clients. * How an old school phone salesman and high school dropout was able to ethically & legally out-negotiate & out-maneuver a room full of high-falutin’, and super educated and wealthy lawyers hired by a bank to get what he wanted. (Nothing directly to do with Mad Men — but what this phone salesman did is something that was quite common for people in the know to do back in the day to get what they wanted in contracts and deals.) * A clever way that certain bashful Mad Men copywriters used their shyness to help create far more powerful advertising. * A (admittedly bizarre sounding to most marketers today) advertising sales trick that David Ogilvy learned from a furniture salesman for turning a product’s flaws into reasons to buy. (Including tips for exactly how to turn high fees, bad reviews, and even slow service into reasons to buy.) * How David Ogilvy used good, old fashioned trolling (he was a world-class troll) to help get compliance and engagement from everyone from heads of corporations during high-pressure negotiations to his own wife in the kitchen. * A ridiculously effective door-to-door salesman technique (that, believe it or not, works even better on Facebook today, I have found) that can help you create headlines, offers, emails, and other marketing that can just seep right into the psychology and souls of your leads and customers, giving them almost no choice but to want to buy what you’re selling! (Does that sound almost like hype? Maybe so. But realize this: it was not uncommon for this technique to works so well it’d sometimes set record for product recalls for weak products.) * Just how brutal and soul-crushing old school Man Men were in their advertising campaign critiques. (One of the most respected copywriters of the day and creator of the famous Pillsbury Doughboy — Rudy Perz — said they’d make him feel like a “martyr”, and the creative director and original Marlboro Man model — Andy Armstrong — once literally suffered a nervous breakdown over one of these brutal critiques, if that tells you something.) * The little-known way the Leo Burnett Agency created such memorable and influential cartoon characters that helped sell truckloads of the products they promoted * The 7-word advertising principle that helped build one of the biggest and most respected ad agencies in human history. (And that is still around today almost 100 years later, while most have long-since floundered.) * Why fire-breathing atheist David Ogilvy was such a big fan of the Catholic Church. (Nothing really to do with copywriting or marketing, but his reasoning could be useful to anyone who runs teams or has lots of employees.) * The Mad Men attitude (almost non-existent today) that can help freelancers, coaches, consultants, and other businesses go from begging to business to having so many new leads practically begging to hire you you might even need a waiting list. (Best part: you don’t even have to be that great at what you do or, for that matter, “do” anything different — this is just a make a simple mindset shift in the way you approach your business.) * David Ogilvy’s bizarre email list-building secret (created back in the 1950’s — long before the invention of commercial email) that can also make your business stand out in an overcrowded marketplace and increase your sales. * A shrewd insurance selling method (that smart radio and magazine advertisers forced their customers to do since it worked so well) that can help drive your email response through the roof. * How an “honorary” Mad Man copywriter (who was a NYC public employee and not an ad man at all) used ANTI-direct response slogans to help create some of the most profitable and memorable advertising every penned by the hand of mortal man. (And yes, what he did can be used to write all kinds of profitable headlines, subject lines, bullets, and any other kind of direct response sales copy.) * A one-on-one interview with a “for real” Mad Man! In fact, the TV show producers even consulted this guy due to him being in the thick of the agency business back then, and who was involved with campaigns like The Marlboro Man, Fly the Friendly Skies, & industry-famous campaigns for Gallo Winery, Proctor & Gamble, Colgate, Vicks, Chanel, Max Factor, Philip Morris, and the list goes on. This interview is a rare look into the psychology behind how these guys worked. How they thought. And, yes, how they made lots of money for their clients and themselves. The link to subscribe in time for all this before the deadline is here: [https∶//www.EmailPlayers.com]( This email was sent by Ben Settle as owner of Settle, LLC. Copyright © 2023 Settle, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 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