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AI fanboys sound vaxxed - Ben Settle
Last week I got into a discussion about... So-called AI. I preface AI with "so-called" because it's not truly intelligence. By its own admission the technology is more like a super calculator. And we got to talking about it, and at one point I said something about how you really can’t prompt a relationship with
How to get people chemically addicted to buying your offers - Ben Settle
Below is my latest article in the newspaper I have ownership in (the Oregon Eagle) where I write a column for local businesses. The title: “How to (legally) get people chemically addicted to buying from you” Here goes… For the last 14 years I’ve had the following tagline on my website: “Your Daily Email Addiction”
People so cheap they eat a dollar and crap out a penny - Ben Settle
Let me tell you a story. A couple years after getting started up in this business, I did lots of deals with Michael Senoff where I’d write the sales copy for offers he had the rights to sell, and we’d sell them to his list, and split the sales. Since there was no up front
Prison inmate reveals how to whip up cashflow whenever you need it - Ben Settle
Recently Stefania and I re-watched the magnificent movie: “The Shawshank Redemption” If you have never seen it, this is spoiler-y: but it’s about an innocent man who goes to prison. And while there, he creates the state’s biggest prison library, and helps people get their education while cooking the books and laundering money for the
Clucking copywriters - Ben Settle
Back in January I gifted Email Players subscribers a booklet called: “Obvious Adams” A great little volume the man who is universally considered to be the World's Greatest Living Copywriter Gary Bencivenga sent me back in 2008, and that I have read probably 100+ times since. And I was recently reminded of Obvious Adams while
The “I’m not like those other girls” of businesses - Ben Settle
There is a trope that goes back many decades and well before the internet. And it is the “But ‘MY business’ is different” crowd. Just about anyone who’s been in the game has heard it, and many of us dismiss it for the assumptive-based reasoning it is that is 99% of the time completely untrue
How to use AI to test your brand’s influence - Ben Settle
Usually I'm running around mocking so-called "AI", fapGPT, etc. But even I admit it has some legitimate uses. For example, Stefania recently asked Grok to roast me: Ben Settle, the email marketing maestro, or should I say, the “daily dose of discomfort” in every inbox? This guy’s emails are like that one relative who talks
Girls don’t buy Star Wars - Ben Settle
Last month there was a big bruh-ha-ha in Hollywood over Kathleen Kennedy (in charge of the Star Wars franchise), with rumors of her finally quitting. Kathleen Kennedy is 71, I think. And a few months ago even the shills at The Hollywood Reporter were lamenting how these boomers gatekeeping the studios refuse to let go
What to do when stuck and clients start dropping off like flies - Ben Settle
An Email Players subscriber (not sure he wants me naming him) asks: “What's the best approach when you get stuck and make little progress? There are times that sales go down or clients leave. Then I try to get things back on track but sometimes don't work. So,when you get stuck is it better to
Sounds like a dayem monster movie - Ben Settle
So said the great Apollo Creed in the first “Rocky” movie. The context: Apollo cooked up a PR stunt that involved giving an unknown a shot to commemorate the country’s 200th anniversary. And so he and his team went at it looking for the perfect fighter for him to compete against. They looked and looked
one helluva persuasion tool - Ben Settle
Not long ago, I watched the "Brat Pack" documentary with Stefania. The documentary was made by actor Andrew McCarthy, and is about the gaggle of young 1980s actors whose movies I grew up watching called the “Brat Pack.” And, specifically, the documentary is about the fallout of an article at the time mocking them via
Why nobody is successful anymore - Ben Settle
I want to talk about something that’s been on my mind lately. And, in fact, I back-and-forthed with my pal Doberman Dan over the Marco Polo app for some 3 hours about it yesterday, as it’s such a fascinating topic. Anyway, this month's Dan Kennedy newsletter (the one he does with Pete the Printer... do
Why video interviews are the devil - Ben Settle
Over the last few years I’ve gotten some “flack” from the troll sewing circle crowd about why I rarely ever appear on video or prefer not to be on video unless absolutely necessary. For example: One particularly self-loathing troll recently said it’s because I’m “scared” to be on video. He used my Client-less Copywriter program
Advice to people plagued with self doubt and overthinking - Ben Settle
An Email Players subscriber (who I don’t know wants me naming him) asks: “...I’ve been dealing with a lot of self-doubt and overthinking. I know it’s not your topic and you don't have this problem, but maybe you could suggest something to read on this—or offer some quick advice? (Besides your Villains books, which are
How chasing marketing metrics lead to suicides, despair, and bankruptcy - Ben Settle
Let me tell you a story every marketer should hear and probably memorize. Recently I saw a post about the comicbook Uncanny X-Men #211 from 1986. This single comicbook issue was, in some ways, responsible for the downfall of a publishing empire, sending Marvel Comics into bankruptcy and not being given more life until the
I write because of dead people - Ben Settle
This may seem a tad morbid. But one tip I can trace a whole lot more profitable content written, created, sold in my business to is simply reading lots and lots and lots (using Audible 2-3x speed on long walks and in the shower, while shaving, driving, whatever it is) biographies from people who accomplished
A curse on offering guarantees - Ben Settle
An Email Players subscriber asks about guarantees: “What is your opinion on guarantees? Also, instead of a guarantee, what can I do to provide that level of confidence besides testimonials? Thanks for all you do Ben! Feel free to use this information and your answer if you think it will help someone else.” Don’t mind if
The Lord says He can get Gen X out of this mess, but He’s pretty sure Gen Z is fooked - Ben Settle
A Twitter anon declares: “Gen X hate is finally happening and I'm here for it. Everything you hate about Millennials and Zoomers? It all came from Gen X — Millennials grew up with media made by Xers, and Zoomers were raised by Gen X. This reckoning is long overdue.” Not to burst the Zoomer's bubble,
The fall and rise of Ancient Email - Ben Settle
An Email Players subscriber (who I am not sure wants me to name him) asks: Question for your "old days" when you were starting to sell EP or even before then with CM: I'm trying to compare myself to where you were all the way back then if that helps. Anyway, what percentage of your first time
Some people just have “cheap” in their DNA - Ben Settle
A few years ago, my accountant wrote this ditty to his clients: If you use the Postal Service to mail your tax returns, spend the extra money for certified mail. For $3.75 you can purchase certified mail. Yes, you will have to stand in a line (or you can use the automated machines in many
The Deadline Nazi - Ben Settle
When you are in direct marketing long enough, you eventually get haters. Of course, a lot of what haters say are lies and projection. But I’d be lying if I didn’t say they weren’t right about me sometimes, too. Like, for example, the people hating on me for my deadline rules. Yes, dear reader, I
How to use images in emails without triggering spam filters - Ben Settle
A couple months ago I was grilled by Brian Kurtz in his Titans Xcelerator group, along with my biz partner at BerserkerMail Troy Broussard, about… Pictures/graphics/images in emails. Brian was keen to hear why we ban them from our BerserkerMail platform. And there are many reasons besides just potential inbox deliverability problems. For example: It
let monsters be monsters in your writing - Ben Settle
When I wrote my 6th novel in the Enoch Wars series (Hell’s Frankenstein) I deliberately made it more exaggeratedly violent, gruesome, gross, disgusting, disturbing, and all-around horrifying. The reason: I knew it would be the shortest of the books. And so I wanted it to be the most memorable — but in a creepy &
What to write if you have nothing interesting or valuable to say - Ben Settle
Behold this question about having enough ideas to write daily (7x week) emails: “oh I have so much RESISTANCE to this. I already feel I email my list a lot (3x/ week usually). I know you must get this a lot, but what do you send on the days you don't feel like you have
How to consume info products 10+ times without going insane from boredom - Ben Settle
In which the question is asked: Do you have any tricks to increase your attention going through [the course you are learning from] the third, fourth, fifth time etc. Or do you just let it wash over and see what jumps out? I find it incredibly difficult to focus after the first run because my
Why Michael Bay is the greatest copywriter who ever lived - Ben Settle
Or, at least, an argument certainly can be made: “There are tons of people who hate me. They hate my movies and whatnot. But you know, hey, my films have made a lot of money around the world. 2-something billion dollars, that’s a lot of tickets. They said that I wrecked cinema. They said that
The case for being a self-aggrandizing social media prick - Ben Settle
Earlier today in the BerserkerMail Facebook group I was asked the money question for list building: “does anyone have a recommendation for an article publishing platform?” My response: I am always on the lookout myself for such sites but I do not think they really exist. The old ones used to rely on SEO and
The blog “glitch” that’s secretly been growing my list since 2012 - Ben Settle
A new subscriber to my list thinks he found a glitch: “when you click on the link on your [blog] labeled ‘emailplayers . com’, instead of going to emailplayers . com, it redirects back to your blog with the CTA being to sign up for the newsletter and app” Once every few years or so,
Email secret of a Pharaoh who lived 3600 years ago - Ben Settle
Below is my latest Oregon Eagle article titled: “Ancient Egyptian Marketing Secret Overruns Local Businesses With New Customers” Here goes... Behold a marketing secret from 1600 B.C.: Many years ago, the late advertising genius Bruce Barton (the second “B” in today’s billion dollar BBDO ad agency) recorded a radio broadcast about the Biblical patriarch Joseph
TikTok brain is ruining these guys - Ben Settle
Recently I wrote an email listing Christmastime movies for marketers who like money. Which then got this reply: “Does any of these movies actually help? Or is it just content to produce over xmas time?” Magnificent reply guy valor. Especially since the exact helpful parts to watch/look for in each and every movie I listed were
The Profit Settle’s 2025 & beyond predictions - Ben Settle
Here goes.. Besides continuing credit deflation I talked about at end of 2023 which I think will only get worse and worse, I have looked into my righteous fake crystal ball and see... a series of deafening POP! sounds. Those sounds being from the following bubbles exploding. I don’t think they’ll all pop in 2025.
Why short one line email paragraphs are a plague upon the earth - Ben Settle
A reader asks: Hi, Ben! I was wondering, why do you use a longer line length than pretty much every other copywriter whose email lists I've subscribed? I'm a beginner copywriter with only a couple of months of experience, but I think it was Joe Sugarman who said that a longer line length makes the
Ben-dersnatch tips for copywriters wanting to write fiction - Ben Settle
An Email Players subscriber (not sure he wants me naming him) asks about writing fiction: I've been listening to Bandersnatch since you recommended it a few days ago, too... so good, wish I'd followed your recommendation to read it earlier... My question: You've got me thinking about writing a novel. And I wanted to ask
elBenbo goes to war with Nigeria? - Ben Settle
My new fan here seems to think so: Ben don’t be rude and disrespectful to Nigerians . How dare you direct this message to Nigerians like we have to do something extraordinary to get paid for our service . Moreover you had the guts to use our situation to sell your dirty program . You
Canadian neuters his own success - Ben Settle
Last month I lost a customer because, as he said: “I love the advice and insight, but, as a Canadian, I can't take the politics.” On the one hand, I get and understand the impulse, and certainly don't blame him for high tailing it out of here. I am not, never have been, and never
Christmastime movies for marketers who like money - Ben Settle
Behold... * Trading Places — especially the scene where Mortimer and Randolph Duke are explaining to Eddy Murphy’s character Billy Ray Valentine how their commodities brokerage firm operates, followed by his reply on what business they are actually in. * It’s A Wonderful Life — the very beginning when Joseph is giving Clarence his assignment
The heavyweight champion of the world of success hacks - Ben Settle
About 14 years ago during the week between Christmas and New Years, I decided I’d had enough of client work. I was doing a lot of copywriting for others at the time. But I grew tired of it and wanted to be my own client. So I sat down during that week and hammered out
Not for all the fees in China - Ben Settle
A cautionary tale for freelancers: One of my Email Players subscribers (who asked I not name him — although if you know him, I suspect you will see him talking about this soon… if he hasn’t already) wrote some email sequences for a Chinese eCommerce brand purely on commission. He did a great job, increased
Strange & Unusual 2024 reading list - Ben Settle
Every December, I list off the books I read that year to Email Players subscribers. Excluding the books I read and didn't think we're good or books I re-read, of course. Usually I put this list in that year's December issue. But this year, I am posting the list publicly. Here goes: * The Circadian
Best app I ever used for productivity and creativity - Ben Settle
Came a question: ... you reference so many different ideas, movies, marketers, items from history and current events – how do you keep track of all your ideas? Do you have notebooks, notecards, post-its or some physical way of noting things that interest you or that you might use later? Or a digital system? Or