1 If You're Good at Something Never Do it Free

Issue No. 1 February 2010

Dear VIP Friend,

Every now and then, someone responds to one of my daily emails a little
something like this:

“Ben thank you for the email, it was great! But when are you
going to teach me something practical I can use in my
marketing? Like how to write subject lines and headlines?”

While I completely understand why people ask questions like this (and certainly
don't blame anyone for asking them), these types of emails are ignored and deleted.

And you know what? YOU should not answer questions like that, either.

Why?

Because this whole idea of giving away your best ideas, teachings, and
information free (what some refer to as “moving the free line”) is a big, Big BIG
mistake. And yes, I know the goo-roos love talking about moving the free line and how
that's how a lot of them sell yada yada yada. And that's fine and dandy if that's what

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BEN SETTLE'S. . . CRYPTO MARKETING NEWSLETTER FEBRUARY, 2010

works for them. But methinks there is a better way for you and me to sell – both
online or offline.

Let's say you own a grocery store, for example. And let's say you have a
competitor across the street. You have the same customers, same traffic, same exact
products.

The Only difference is in your marketing approach.

You see, your highfalutin' competitor has been reading a bunch of Internet
marketing goo-roos and thinks he needs to “move the free line” – which, according to
some, means giving away your BEST information up front and hoping that will “hook”
people into wanting everything else you got.

So here's what happens:

Your competitor starts telling the world how he's giving away a bunch of cool
free stuff at the store – like fillet mignon, expensive deserts, etc. His “BEST” stuff –
free. It makes him a bit nervous at first, of course. I mean, really, who gives away their
BEST products free? But then he relaxes when he remembers this is what, you know,
the goo-roos do.

And hey, let's face it, the dude gets a lot of traffic in his store!

He even gets a lot of sales, too. Only problem is, his NET profits are a big fat
ZERO.

In fact, he quickly realizes if he doesn't change course he's gonna go out of
business before the day is over. After all, with all these customers telling their friends,
the media (I'm sure a TV camera or two would show up to something like this, don't
you?) and everyone else about all the “free stuff!”, he's bound to get a lot of traffic to
his store. (And maybe even full traffic jams!) But, since fewer people are actually
buying and just taking the free stuff, he's not making much profit.

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BEN SETTLE'S. . . CRYPTO MARKETING NEWSLETTER FEBRUARY, 2010

In the end, he gets cleaned out without even making enough money to buy
more stock to sell, much less a profit.

Ouch.

Pretty grim ending.

And be honest. I know this is a fictional story, but is there any doubt in your
mind that's what would happen if your local grocery store started giving their best
merchandise away free?

Now, let's say you have taken Professor Settle's marketing class before opening
your grocery store and you do something a wee bit differently. Instead of moving the
free line and attracting all the cheapskates and freebie seekers, the ONLY two things
you give away are:

1. Irresistible Offers
2. Free “Tastes”

Offers in the form of special sales (where actual money is exchanged for what
you sell) and free tastes in the form of perhaps a few workers walking around giving
small (very small) samples of your best stuff. Like, for instance, little pieces of chicken
(or steak), exotic cheeses, gourmet cake, etc. And maybe even with a BBQ set up in the
back sending the aroma of more tasty food your way the whole time. And by the way,
when I say “sample” I mean just that – enough to get a “taste” but where someone
could not even get close to “full” on, and would (ideally) start jonesing for more after
that small taste (or smell coming from the back).

Anyway, and what happens is this:

People take a taste of your foods and products, smell what ELSE you have
cooking in the back and...

Get Hungry For MORE!

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BEN SETTLE'S. . . CRYPTO MARKETING NEWSLETTER FEBRUARY, 2010

Plus, not only are they hungry for more... but they are now looking for an
excuse to buy. Any old excuse will do. (Hasn't this happened to you when shopping?)
And when they see your special “2 for 1” sale or some other irresistible offer you have
going... they can't resist. They grab your $15 steaks (or whatever you're selling)
without even thinking. They got a taste, liked what they ate and now want the whole
chimichanga. And hey, would they like to sign up for your mailing lists (snail mail and
email) to be informed about OTHER sales? Just fill out this small slip of paper and,
here, take some coupons to get a discount on some other items while you're still in the
store...

Booyah!

Now, I realize this begs two questions:

First, wouldn't more people still flock to the free place across the street than go
to your paid store? And, because of that, rob YOU of customers?

And the answer is yes... and no.

Yes, the free line guy would likely attract a LOT of people into his store. And if
I was a betting man, I'm sure the majority would be people with no intention of
buying anything – and just loading up on the free chicken and steaks and other stuff
he's giving away in hopes they will buy more than they take.

But an ordinary calculator will tell you this can't last. Eventually, the free line
dude is gonna go under, which leaves what? That's right... YOU. You'd be the last
store standing. Especially when Mr. Free Line is wiped out of stock and there's
nowhere else to shop.

Secondly, you might also be thinking “Yeah but Ben... the grocery store is
selling physical goods at razor thin margins. I don't have that problem online! I sell
digital products with huge margins!”

And that's exactly why you CAN get away with it online.

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BEN SETTLE'S. . . CRYPTO MARKETING NEWSLETTER FEBRUARY, 2010

In fact, let me be crystal clear here:

You can make money with the free line gig on the Internet – there is no doubt
about it and people do it all the time (not just goo-roos). But there are lots of
problems with it, too. Such as “PO'd” customers (when you give your best stuff away,
and the stuff they PAID for isn't as good, you tend to get lots of refunds)... and less
profitability (go ahead and ask one of these free line guys who make – supposedly – 10
or 15 million per year what their NET profit is. I got wind of some of these guys'
operations behind the scenes once and, let me tell you, it AIN'T pretty).

All of which is why I believe (based on mucho observation and
experimentation)... you will probably not make nearly as much doing the free line
thing than by giving a free “taste” of what you sell and using offers to seal the deal.
I'm talking about offers that give your customers a great deal while still putting plenty
of profit in your pocket.

Examples?

OK, and I'll try to make these “universal” to work with just about any kind of
business or service.

For one thing, you could give away gift certificates (good as cash for stuff you
sell) that aren't quite enough to buy a complete product. Maybe half of a product. So
if you sell a $50 eBook, you could give away a $25 gift certificate for that product when
people buy something else from you. They would then feel compelled (it's their
money, after all) to buy your $50 eBook and you would make $25. That's $25 you may
not have made before. Plus, if you upsell something else (like a continuity program)
you've just added even more smackeroos to your bottom line.

Another example would be piling on the bonuses. Sometimes I do sales where
I sell a product at, say, 50% off, and pile on well over $200 or $300 (or more) worth of
bonuses (real retail value, not phony “goo-roo” value that’s made up value). So they
get the huge discount AND the bonuses. In the end, we get customers who would not

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BEN SETTLE'S. . . CRYPTO MARKETING NEWSLETTER FEBRUARY, 2010

have bought otherwise. And the customer gets a good deal and is a happy camper
(who will remember this the NEXT time I sell something he or she is interested in).
This is also great for getting people into a continuity deal, as well, by the way.

You can also do other things like deferred payments, multiple payments, buy
one of your products get another one of equal or less value free, etc.

Anyway, there are a million and one ways to do offers.

And the more “incentives” you give for someone to buy...

The More Likely
It Is They WILL Buy!

And, even more importantly, they buy without you having to give a bunch of
free stuff away.

Look, let's face it: Marketing is not about being a “give-away artist.” If it was
that easy, everyone would be doing it (long term). Real marketing is persuasion – and
the best persuasion “technique” I ever done heard comes from the great Bernard
Baruch (considered by some to be the most persuasive man of the 20th century):
“Find out what people want and then show them how to get it.” And, I would add, at
a price they are willing to pay for, and with conditions that make it an absolute no-
brainer for them to say “yes!”

###

How's this for a big fat contradiction?

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BEN SETTLE'S. . . CRYPTO MARKETING NEWSLETTER FEBRUARY, 2010

I just got done telling you all about why you should not give stuff away and why
true selling is finding out what people want and then showing them how to get it at a
price they are willing to pay for... only to tell you NOT to sell certain products and
actually give them away free.

What gives?

Well, mayhaps this story will explaineth:

A few years ago, I had a rough time with a copywriting client (I had invested
several months in a sales letter on pure commission, and turning down perfectly good
paying clients at the same time, only to discover my ad wasn't going to be run – yikes).
And so I figured I had better not rely on freelancing, anymore. I needed my own
products to sell, to prevent something like this from screwing up my (already screwed
up) financial situation even more.

So I decided to start an info publishing business around dogs.

You know – books and courses on dog training, dog health, etc. So I wrote a
book about dogs (“Why You Should Never Give Your Dog A Bone”) that has gotten
rave reviews from readers – including radio talk show hosts who interviewed me about
it.

It is (if I may be so bold to say it) a great product. A valuable product. A
product that has helped people and that SHOULD sell like hotcakes.

Except for one teensy tiny thing.

It Solves Too
Many Problems!

Huh? How is that a BAD thing, exactly?

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BEN SETTLE'S. . . CRYPTO MARKETING NEWSLETTER FEBRUARY, 2010

Well, what I learned after getting thousands of dollars in free publicity, where I
was able to essentially “advertise” my book to hot prospects with the full endorsement
of the media (it should have been a cakewalk), a good product isn't all you need.

No, your product needs to solve an URGENT, “crisis” problem.

Not 50 problems (many preventative) about multiple different things. You see,
my book has all KINDS of tips in it (like training, health, disease prevention, diet,
saving on vet bills, etc). All of it valuable information that can save someone a lot of
money and/or keep their dog alive (and healthy) longer.

And that, my friend, is its downfall.

Let me 'splain it like this: Imagine a dog owner having trouble getting his dog
to behave. He can't get his dog to listen to him, to stop peeing all over the house, to
stop humping everyone's leg and to stop viciously growling at people. So he sees a
book JUST about dog training and another about 50 tips (some about training and
some not – like mine). He's got an urgent problem and he wants the best product for
that problem.

Which is he going to pick? As a dog owner, I know what I'd pick – and it
wouldn't be my own book! Now, does this mean quality products that solve multiple
problems are useless? Not at all – they just suck as front end products. By the way,
before I continue, I just KNOW some smart alec reading this is thinking, “Yeah, but
Ben, what about your Copywriting Grab Bag and Crackerjack Selling Secrets books?
Aren't they both a mish mash of tips???”

Yes... but they are about ONE thing.

In other words, the Copywriting Grab Bag is about copywriting – not a mish-
mash of advice about setting up merchant accounts, traffic generation, SEO, etc. And
same with Crackerjack Selling Secrets. It's about sales and marketing and not a
bunch of other things that are not sales and marketing.

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BEN SETTLE'S. . . CRYPTO MARKETING NEWSLETTER FEBRUARY, 2010

OK, back to the original question:

What do you do if you have a truly valuable product but it doesn't “zoom in” on
one, specific problem? That's easy...

You Use It As A Premium!

Yes indeedy – they make EXCELLENT premiums.

In fact, I have observed giant mailers like Boardroom (for example) have built
entire fortunes on using “mish mash” products like this as premiums. Which is why, if
I had to do it over again, I would NOT have tried selling my dog book. Instead, I
would have used it as a premium to sell something else (a product that zooms in on a
specific dog related problem, a newsletter, a canine supplement, etc). There's a trick
you see a lot in direct marketing where they don't try to sell you the actual product.

They Try To Sell You
On The Premium!

And THEN they lead into the product.

If you read a lot of Gary Halbert sales letters you see it all the time. He starts off
by saying, “I'd like to give you a free book... here's what's in it...” and then he gives you
a ton of irresistible bullet points. After which he says, “I'll give it to you free as a bribe
for joining such and such newsletter...”

Brilliant!

By the way, this isn't limited to “mish mash” products. I would say (with rare
exceptions) anything that also solves a big problem but that people don't really
understand, makes another good premium. Take, for example, my “King Of Selling
Online” report. It's an extremely valuable bonus I give free to people who buy
Crackerjack Selling Secrets. And yet, it would be kind of hard to sell it on its own
right now due to the lack of marketplace awareness of what it is. Or, at the very least,

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BEN SETTLE'S. . . CRYPTO MARKETING NEWSLETTER FEBRUARY, 2010

it would take more work than I am willing to invest in an ad to sell it (it would be a
long ad where I'd have to do a lot of educating).

But it makes one whopper of a premium!

Okay, so bottom line?

Create and sell products that “zero in” on one specific, urgent problem. And
use your “mish mash” products as premiums or upsells. I'm not saying you can't sell
“mish mash” products up front. But if you're all about simple and easy (like I am), why
would you want to?

###

Speaking of products, here's a tip you can take right to the bank.

Remember the dog book above? Well, the WAY in which I created that book
was very important.

You see, one thing you have to do is make sure the product you are selling is
something people want. So it's always good to make sure something similar is selling
first. Amazon is great for this. If you want to see (for example) if that product on how
to create raccoon pie (yuck!) is going to sell, you can just sally forth over to Amazon
and see if anything is selling right now on that subject.

Or, get ye to the newsstand. Are there any publications on that topic?

(I hope not...)

Anyway, those are very good ways.

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BEN SETTLE'S. . . CRYPTO MARKETING NEWSLETTER FEBRUARY, 2010

And, in fact, you can even structure your product around the exact same topics
that are in those high selling books. Just look at the table of contents and now you
have the outline for YOUR product (of course, you can add or subtract other topics as
you see fit). But here's another thing you can do if you want even more of an edge –
especially if you want to use media publicity (high recommended if your subject is
topical). And that is using news websites to create your topics.

For example:

When outlining my dog book, what I did was go through Google news and type
in keywords like “dog training” “dog health” “healthy dogs” “vet bills”, etc. And I'd
then get a bunch of recent news articles about those topics which let me find out what
problems people were having about dogs and that were newsworthy.

Plus, those articles often gave me the solutions to those problems, too. So in
many cases, I was able to use a lot of that content as part of the research while writing
my book. (This is great if you are not a “expert” on your topic – you can always piggy
back off other peoples' expertise this way without slugging through tomes of books or
spending months doing research.)

However, as I said, I did it wrong.

I did not only pick out urgent problems. Instead, I picked out too many
different topics (when I should have “zoomed in” on one – like dog training, for
example).

But you can essentially do the same thing.

You can tap into what the news (and popular culture) are talking about, solve
those problems in YOUR product, and you will have a nice “media friendly” product
that has a greater chance of getting talked about virally online... and even, if you
choose, in the news.

###

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BEN SETTLE'S. . . CRYPTO MARKETING NEWSLETTER FEBRUARY, 2010

OK, my friend.

That's it for this first issue of The Crypto Marketing Newsletter.

I hope you found it valuable.

In the future, I'll be including critiques (submit your ads, emails, sales letters,
etc to [email protected]). I won't be able to critique everyone's ads, obviously. But
I'll pick one to look at every now and then and critique it in this newsletter.

Also, I've got some bonus tele-seminars and other “goodies” (private – for
subscribers only) cooking up for you, too.

So stay tuned – the best is yet to come.

Sincerely,

Ben Settle

Ben Settle

P.S. How did you like this first issue? What would you like to see talked about in
future issues? Any other comments? If so, let me know by shooting me an email at
[email protected].

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