Spotting bad actors, bad products, & bad goo-roos a mile away

Email Players subscriber Everett Rauch reports: === I am a recent EP subscriber and have been feeling the weight of the value. Getting turned on to all the stuff you absorb has been a huge part, including the late Jim Camp, and this McCarthy dude. Wolfed down an old yellow copy of Joe Vitale's Seven Lost Secrets of Success last week I think you mentioned it in the Email Skhema book or one of your emails, wicked good recommendation. Also - it's very understated how much your work translates to other professions and overall mindset. Really did stumble into a goldmine with you man. Much appreciated. === Something else to think about with this: I’m of the opinion that you can tell what someone’s real favorite book, movie, etc is by how many times they read, watch, consume it. So, for example, lots of people will say their favorite book is “The Bible!” yet they’ve never even read it all the way through once. Or they’ll say their favorite movie is “The Godfather!” and have only watched it twice in their entire life. When in reality their favorite book is probably Fifty Shades of Grey. And their favorite movie is Pretty Woman. Well, let me tell you something about that: For those who like to see my influences, the February Email Players issue talks about what my #1 favorite book (most recently, at least, maybe not overall) I’ve read at least 20x in the last year or two. And, even more important than that, it talks about ONE sentence in the book that perfectly encapsulates my approach to not just building my what I call “Marketing Funnel of Love” that the issue teaches… but how approach doing anything in life and how I approach evaluating if someone/or something is full of crap. Curation is key. And with the glut of bad info and all the bad actors teaching it it’s vital, imo. If you want to know the full story about something, I defy you not to apply this one sentence to whatever it is, and not be able to discern whether something you want to buy is worth it or not, whether the business selling it is full of crap or not, or whether it is what it claims to be or no. One sentence. And it's almost a throw-away sentence in the book I reference. Frankly, it’s not even a “business” book. I recently had a long (recorded) discussion with two of my colleagues about the sudden, and sharp, rise in bad actors, con artists, fake goo-roos, and low down people up in this industry coming out of the woodwork — some desperate for money, others desperate for clout, and still others just desperate to keep their grift going by parasitizing off superior marketers and copywriters. I was thinking maybe it was just anecdotal from people I hear from in my circles. But, no, it’s definitely a pattern. It probably has something to do with the buckling economy. And as far as discernment goes, I believe this line in the book I talk about - that I use as a way to describe my approach to marketing funnels - can go a long ways towards protecting my boys & ghouls from these bad actors in guru clothing. Okay, so here’s the deal: The February Email Players issue deadline is in two short days. The entire issue is about what I call: “The Marketing Funnel of Love” Its quite possibly the simplest funnel ever used. So simple I once fit it into a 280 character tweet. This issue takes that, breaks it down, analyzes it. Here’s where 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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