The online marketing teacher Bezos, Google, & Facebook owe a check to

Had a long (recorded) talk with Ken McCarthy last month spit balling about copywriting and the origins of internet marketing, and how they connect. I always joke that he’s owed a check from 3 different players in the industry: 1. Google & Facebook — as their entire business model is based on his insights into click thrus as a way to measure response — something even Time Magazine credits him with pioneering and figuring out 2. All of us who use email marketing — as he was the first guy to tell people to build a list of addresses and mail it (he even had to tell this to the CEO of AOL that at the time) and he also might have been the first guy (I can’t remember either way) to have the idea for the auto-responder, although he admits he didn’t exploit it, and someone else did first 3. Bezos — one of Ken’s friends/students is the guy who helped show Bezos what to do to get his operation online started More: Ken was also Dan Kennedy’s “internet marketing” guy and the only one he’d allow to teach on the subject early on. And I’d argue Ken is the pioneer of online video, too. Back in 1995 when it took 4 hours on dialup to download a 10 second clip nobody thought it’d be useful for much. But he had a 25,000 circulation newspaper in San Francisco and he commissioned one of the top tech reporters of that time to do an article on the subject. Even the reporter was like, “why? nobody can do any of these things you want to do with internet video?” Ken’s reply: “But some day we will, let’s be ready.” He was also teaching online community building before the idea of social media was a brain fart, and pioneered that as well. Not to mention many of the online marketing gurus from the 90’s and early 2000’s who people still revere today learned at his feet and got put on the “map” because they spoke at his System Seminars which become the “template” for how online marketing seminars would be built for decades to come. Point is, Ken’s no fluke. And I’ll be posting the transcript of the talk in some of my daily emails starting tomorrow. I think a lot of what he pioneered and talks about in this transcript is even more timely for 2024 than it was for 1994. Everything happens in cycles in marketing and copywriting. And seeing “influencers” who have great personality and presence, but still foolishly rely on big tech platforms and end up standing around with their dix in their hands shows how little the vast majority have in the fundamentals of direct marketing. Getting kicked off, not knowing how to rebuild what one had is already a thing. But no doubt it will be even more of a thing in 2024 and beyond. So I’ll start posting the long transcript starting tomorrow. In the meantime? If you haven’t yet checked out the BerserkerMail Mead Hall Facebook group where I’ll be posting a lot more content that I can’t fit in or that can’t be adequately done justice to in my daily emails, go to this link: [https∶//www.EmailPlayers.com/meadhall]( Ben Settle This email was sent by Ben Settle as owner of Settle, LLC. Copyright © 2024 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