Why I don’t do “tripwires”

A sensible question: === Hey Ben, I’m a big fan of yours and I listen to your podcasts repeatedly at the gym. I am currently trying to pick a strategy for content creation for my business… -5,000 people mailing list - 54,000 subs on YT and growing - starting on other social channels as well My question - on YouTube would you treat it like a daily email and pitch my program at the end of every video, or use the videos to build my list? === Survey says: Use the videos to grow the email list. My opinion is ALL roads lead to the list. I have no blessed idea why anyone screws around trying to get people into social media, to their podcasts, to their YouTube, or to anywhere else, when all those sites should merely be vehicles to move people from other platforms onto YOUR platform, not the other way around. Unless, I suppose, you want to give the algorithms a quick shot of juice in your favor (which I do at times). And yet, send leads to other platforms instead of their own platform/list is exactly what a lot of people do. Screw that. If you are one of them, then tattoo this onto the back of your hands: All roads leads to your emails list. Or should. That’s the “alpha and omega” of everything online if you have an email-driven business. It’s why, for example, my ONLY website/blog’s purpose is to build an email list. It’s not to build trust. It’s not to demonstrate credibility. It’s not to educate, establish legitimacy, give value, show my writing, or to promote my “brand,” or anything else. All those things serve building the list, not the other way around. And the reason why is because the list is the beating heart of an email-driven direct response business online. It all starts from there, flows from there, takes over from there. This leads into another, related question that rolls in here on the regular: “Ben why don't you use tripwires to build your list” Personally, I don’t do them. For one thing, there is nothing new about them. The concept has been around for probably 100 years. The whole “send a dollar for postage and I’ll send you xyz” thing in magazines and comicbooks were essentially that - which was a way to get people on a mailing list to offset ad costs. It’s just been updated with a name that gets people thinking it’s more exciting than it is. And, to be fair, if you have your numbers dialed in it’s not a bad thing to do, just like the wise use of more expensive self liquidating offers can be great. For example, one of my old clients back in the day hired me to rewrite all the sales letters for his info products. And he eventually stopped even collecting opt-ins and instead drove all traffic to a $80+ SLO, then only sold to those buyers with email. And that’s fine. Especially if you have 10,000+ visitors per day like he did. And you have a kick ass back end in place like he did. And you know all your numbers cold and run a $30+ million biz like he did. But most of us don’t have all that going for us. In fact, the vast majority of people reading this email are probably like me: Kitchen table-entrepreneurs (I literally work on a wine barrel table in a detached guest house kitchen) with no employees, everything possible outsourced, just want to write, make money, and move on with life. For us’n regular folk, I suggest getting ‘em on a free opt-in list. Then, you can mail it daily using what I teach in the Email Players Skhēma book (force) and in the Email Players newsletter (leverage, far more profitable than force), build a relationship while you sell, and in every single case I’ve ever seen, witnessed, or experienced… potentially rake in as much as 5 - 10x+ the results over time. Plus, have a much stronger relationship with those buyers. Which means they are probably far more likely to consume your offers. Fare more likely to probably use your offers. And, yes, far more likely to probably benefit and then tell everyone about your offers. One more thought about this: Last year I talked a lot about Psychological Marketing vs Sociological Marketing. The client I mentioned above was pure Psychological. And that’s fine — for a guy like him, with his kind of operation. Me? I’m a Sociological Marketing kinda guy. I invented that term about 5 years ago when writing my elBenbo Press book to describe the approach I use to my book and newsletter publishing model. And doing things the way I do, and especially in conjunction with the Funnel of Marketing Love I teach in the upcoming February Email Players issue… means getting all leads on a free opt-in list, mailing it daily the way I teach in Email Players, and selling the relationship first, and the product second, instead of the other way around like Psychological Marketers do. Totally different approaches. If you want to learn the approach I take to funnels specifically see the February issue. The deadline to get in on time is just about here. Go to this link to subscribe: [https∶//www.EmailPlayers.com]( Ben Settle P.S. Along with the February “Marketing Funnel of Love” Email Players issue, I am also including an 8-page bonus called: “The Business of Lust” And it’s like a 10-minute crash course in how I think, write, and make sales with email. If that interests you, here’s some of what’s inside: * Why the best method for making sales in 2024 was figured out in 1994. (The vast majority of money via direct response online today is basically the exact same thing that made the vast majority of money back then in direct response online. Ain’t nothing new under the sun..) * How to “snuff out” email list churn while ramping up email list retention. * Email list subscribers you should rake and scuttle off your list as soon as humanly possible if you care about inbox deliverability, sales, and peace of mind. * How to radically improve your email inbox deliverability with Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, etc. * What the world’s best face-to-face salesmen did to build relationships with buyers that can easily be replicated with email. * Ideas for how to re-engage and win back inactive email list subscribers. * A near “caveman proof” way to integrate email marketing with other digital marketing channels. (Based on how the late William Randolph Hearst integrated the various marketing channels he used in the 1920’s - 1940’s to grow his media empire — with no needing to be a billionaire like he was required.) * Anatomy of a high-converting email landing page. * Why probably the best direct marketing resource you can study is the early Sears Catalog from the late 1800’s. (The technology has changed but not the principles that made it work. Amazon, for example, is simply a modern Sears Catalog according to the founding father of online marketing Ken McCarthy.) * The One-Sentence email campaign plan that’s made my business the most sales over the years. To subscribe before the deadline go here: [https∶//www.EmailPlayers.com]( 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. 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