This lead magnet strategy ain’t sexy but it’s got teeth

In which the money question is asked: “I'm thinking of creating a new lead magnet, as I've come to suspect my current one does too much hard teaching in an attempt to lay out my overall philosophy. I'm trying to think of it totally fresh, without bringing in any of my old assumptions. So I'm curious -- do you have any general advice for how to approach coming up with a strong lead magnet?” The answer: I am a big believer in making it be something that solves a hot, and urgent problem. Specifically, something your new opt-ins can read or watch or listen to in a single sitting, and then quickly implement and see results. And, at the same time, it should also tease them to want more from you, want to learn more from you, and want to get more benefit than what the lead magnet can provide alone. That is literally the entire “secret” of how I approach lead magnets on a plate. No, it ain’t sexy. But it’s got some teeth… Which reminds me: Sometimes I will hear from someone angry that I don’t give enough free tips. That I write too long of emails and spend too much time promoting my offers and not enough time giving them lots of hard, free content others have paid for and do pay for. Often this kind of person truly believes they deserve the very best of what I have to offer, without any skin in the game at all, instead of me saving that just for the paid stuff. And to those types all I can say is: Don't let the opt-out link hit you in the arse. Of course I am going to save the best stuff for my paid Email Players subscribers. Nobody, but nobody truly values free or easy. Arnold Schwarzenegger says it perfectly in his book “Be Useful”: “Imagine if Sir Edmund Hillary had been dropped at the summit of Mount Everest by helicopter, instead of trekking to it over two months in the spring of 1953. Do you think the view from the top would have been as beautiful? Do you think he would have given a shit about that other, smaller mountain he saw in the distance when he was up there? Of course not! If you don’t get to experience what it feels like to push yourself, to do more than you thought you were capable of, and to know that the pain you put yourself through will lead to growth that you alone are responsible for creating, then you will never appreciate what you have the way that same thing is appreciated by someone who earned it, who worked for it.” And I ain’t even asking people to scale a mountain.. Something to think about. Especially if you subscribe to Email Players in time for the April issue which is about content creation and monetization. In my opinion, the best content you create absolutely should be hard to get, hard to buy, hard to access… via making those you want to help the most have to pay a lot for it. That way they treat it with respect & reverence. Certainly more respect & reverence than they treat free content they see everywhere. The deadline to get in on time for April is almost upon you. Here’s the link if you want in: [https∶//www.EmailPlayers.com]( Ben Settle P.S. Here’s a lil’ taste of what’s inside this King-Sized issue: * A content creation secret used by famous actor Gary Cooper to turn otherwise boring, ordinary, bland, and totally “plain vanilla” scenes into fascinating & memorable moments people remembered for years afterwards. (Especially useful if content you sell is otherwise easily found free on YouTube or Google.) * A shrewd way used by everyone from Dr. Seuss to Mister Rogers to even Quentin Tarantino… for creating content people love to pay for and consume even if it’s not mind-blowingly original. * The “fights are bullshit” secret for writing emails that can potentially make lots of sales even if you hardly even mention your product or offer at all. (This is directly from the writer who helped make The X-Men a household name and a billion dollar IP for Marvel Comics. And it can work like a charm when creating other kinds of content, too — from sales copy and emails to books, courses, talks, and everything in between.) * An old school writing trick for making your content so compulsively engaging & hard to stop reading/watching/listening to it might even piss people off! (No joke — doing this not only pisses off Stefania whenever she reads or edits my content… but it even irked my book designer when she was creating the interiors of one of my books.) * 7 ingenious ways (based on what Dungeons & Dragons in the 80’s did to help stop IP theft in its tracks) to aggravate & foil content pirates who are probably drooling right now at the chance to steal and sell your hard work. * The “Scorsese touch” content creation & monetization secret I’ve been using for the last several years to help write emails that sell like crazy without having to constantly hard pitch my offers. (Including helping me sell scads of my perfect bound books that look like they should sell for $13 at Barnes & Noble for as much as a $1,000+ a pop…) * A content creation trick (that's gone all but extinct since the rise of “Influencer” culture) that can help you sell your offers on the sneak inside your content. (I also show you an example of an email doing this that got the highest clicks, opens, & sales for us during a highly competitive affiliate campaign… even though it barely even talks about “the product” or benefits or has all that many claims.) * 2 things amateur copywriters, coaches, & online marketers can do (starting immediately) to help grow a bigger and more influential business than their more talented & well-connected peers and competitors. (These are the exact 2 things I did over 20 years ago to quickly blow right past a lot of my own more talented, better connected, and far superior copywriter and/or marketer peers.) * A cunning way to craft content that can help your business stand out head & shoulders in niches overrun with competition and distractions. * An ancient kung fu fighting tip (used by the late, great copywriter Jim Rutz did a lot in his ads, believe it or not...) that can help make even the most mundane, ordinary, and typical content/information look & feel exciting and sexy. * A 3-point content creation approach pioneered by Earl Nightingale (when he was a radio broadcaster in Chicago) and later perfected by Dan Kennedy (when speaking on the Peter Lowe tour) that can help get your content ridiculously high engagement & sales. * Why always trying to be contrarian or a “rebel” is a recipe for ending up ignored at best or even an abject failure in the content creation game at worst. * How to use your content to seize the coveted “cat bird seat” (i.e., he to whom business seems to flow effortlessly) in your industry. (Old school Mad Men like Olgilvy, Burnett, Norman, Foote, Cone, etc were pros at doing this — and it’s one reason why each had their own horde of clients who gravitated just to them, only wanted to hire them, and often didn’t care how much it cost.) * How to approach content creation in a way where your name and brand can be all but “infused” so strongly in your customers’ braincells they start seeing you almost everywhere and almost in everything they look at! (I won’t say doing this is easy — it’s not — but it is the big secret to how you achieve true marketplace omnipotence where your content can spread to the four corners of the earth and all but sell itself.) * How to summon energy & excitement “on demand” to create content when you don’t feel like it, don’t want to it, and it feels like such a chore you’d rather be doing ANYTHING else but creating content. (The late Heath Ledger tapped into this phenomenon to help create his most memorable performance as the Joker. And I've been using for a long time to pound out all kinds of content even when I'd rather be doing something else. You can, too, if you take this approach to heart, apply it, and work hard at it.) All right that’ll do it. If you want in on time for this issue you have to hurry. Once the deadline hits it’ll be too late. Here’s the link: [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. Click here to [unsubscribe]( Settle, LLC PO Box 1056 Gold Beach Oregon 97444 USA