Trolls grunting "principles vs tactics!”

"Principles vs tactics asshole" ...grunted a troll at me once. And it was as glorious as it was useful. Here's why: Ever since I became one of the few direct response marketing voices in the wilderness to originally start talking about the late, great master of negotiation Jim Camp probably around 15 or 16 years ago (give or take), and about his “principles vs tactics” mindset applied to direct marketing specifically... there's been no shortage of contemptible goo-roo fanboys and marketing hobbyists who can’t think deeper than a sound byte trying to call me out on things they think I do or teach as “tactics!" For example: The promo I am doing this week with Jon Buchan about cold emails. In one of the bonuses Jon is offering, he describes his method for using cold LinkedIn messages to get new business as a… a… a… (oh noes!!!!) tactic. And, right on schedule, first time I ran this promo a few years ago, I got a handful of emails asking me about how I could “DARE!!!” promote a tactic. Most of these comments were a tad foolish (assumptive). But not really malicious. i.e., they did not ask for clarification, and simply made dumb assumptions. Something Jim Camp was 100% against, incidentally - and even did an entire teaching about the neuroscience of the stupidity of making assumptions without facts first (theory of mind — which he said will get you killed in business, and he is right…) The irony of goo-roo fanboys with a superficial level of knowledge on the man they are trying to quote truly writes itself. And never ceases to amuse me. But others, like with the bloke quoted above, were straight up troll. So I figure now is a good time to help these fellows stop embarrassing themselves every time they knee jerkily squawk about the subject without even knowing the context of what they’re quoting. Here’s how it breaks down: A tactic, by how Jim Camp defined it (since that’s who these blokes are mindlessly quoting) is doing something that takes advantage of an enemy’s weakness. That was his definition. (Not the same, necessarily, as what’s in your dictionary.) In marketing, you can liken it to dirty tricks. Like, for example: A company that once sent Stefania a very legitimate-looking piece of mail, that looked like it came from the DMV, to send them money to renew her registration. A truly low down trick. And, probably something that works on a certain number of people — Once. If you have to use chicanery and deceit to get someone to send you money, that would be a tactic. i.e., taking advantage of someone’s weakness. In the above case, taking advantage of someone’s weakness of being naive, or in a hurry, or their lack of discernment, or just plain ignorance. Now, contrast that to the late great Gary Halbert’s “A Pile” direct mail teaching. On the face of it, it’s somewhat similar: You make your envelope and sales pitch look — at a glance — like it could be personal or from some kind of place the recipient would not dare throw out without reading it first. But not misleading or trying to trick someone into sending money, or talking about something completely different, etc. The great Gary Bencivenga teaches a variation of this in his Farewell Seminar. It is intended to get the promo read, and get it read in a way that gets the person primed and ready to take the letter seriously. But it’s also in perfect harmony with the laws of human behavior and sound, principled thought. Jim Camp was a big fan of not spilling all your beans too early in a negotiation. Or, as Mr. Bencivenga refers to it in his seminar: “spilling your candy in the lobby.” Another example: Click bait that is designed to trick you into clicking to God-knows-where. Nobody likes that. And, it may work once, but will never again work from that same company. Contrast that with using simple curiosity. If you use a subject line like, for example, one I once used: “Why I think about you in the shower” …. and the email is about how I get ideas for content for my customers while in the shower, with the hot water stimulating the right side (creative side) of the brain. It’s not a trick. It’s in harmony with the unbending law and rule of “curiosity overpowers programming” (hat tip to the late “world’s greatest phone salesman” Stan Billue for that quote). In fact, that subject line is what originally got me on the radar of the late, late great Clayton Makepeace back in the day — which lead to my joint venturing with AWAI selling my 10-Minute Workday program and also speaking at multiple of their events. I remember at a couple of those events hearing Clayton use that exact subject line as an example when talking about email — which always made my day. Anyway, so that’s that. I suspect this won’t stop the wannabe ex-spurts from squawking. But, now they know the full context. All of which brings me back to Mr. Jon Buchan and his cold email teachings: I am not an expert at cold emails, nor do I use them. But, I have obviously seen his answers to the questions I have been asking him and that I am going to be sharing all week. And, as I think will become very apparent over the next few days as I share more of these answers… what he teaches is done out of mixing curiosity with being blatantly (even ruthlessly) honest, open, and transparent. It’s the opposite of tricking anyone or whatever. Unless you want to call being completely transparent a trick, I suppose. Whatever the case, you can easily see for yourself if you're skeptical. And, either accept or reject what he teaches at your leisure. All right, that’s it for now. If you want to check out Jon Buchan’s cold emailing templates at half off what they usually cost, along with his bonus for using cold Linkedin messages which he describes as (oh noes again!) a “tactic” go here before Friday, 11/10 at midnight EST: [https∶//www.EmailPlayers.com/cold]( Or, to learn more about them, see tomorrow’s email. (Showing actual messages Jon uses with Linkedin.) Until then… Ben Settle P.S. If you get his cold email templates before the deadline, you also get a bonus video: "A Crafty LinkedIn List Building Hack" According to Jon: "It's a tactic that is repeatable and reliable. You can do it several times per month (or more, depending on how hard you want to push it), allowing you to add countless new, relevant, interested subscribers to your email list without having to spend money on Facebook ads. And because of how LinkedIn works, it is highly unlikely that this tactic will cease to work." Plus, in addition to the Linkedin Bonus, you also get these bonuses too: * Charming DMs — for Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok and anywhere else you can send direct messages to help you get sales calls booked… show free samples of work (e.g. If you’re a copywriter)… Get the attention from highly influential people you admire… Nab response from “dream clients” with the aim of working with them… Invite yourself onto relevant podcasts… Grab the attention of journalists to write a story about you or publish your content… Follow up messages to send if you don’t get a reply from your initial message, and more. * Magic Cold Email Training — which runs through one of Jon’s most successful cold email templates line by line. * Jon’s personal swipe file of website copy, emails, guerrilla marketing, direct mail campaigns, pr campaigns and content marketing * Content Marketing Strategy Guide — about creating content that thinks and plays big to get featured by huge publications such as Entrepreneur.com, Inc.com, Yahoo Business, Time Magazine, The Independent and many more. * How To Be Somewhat Funny — 51-page guide shows you how to write more entertaining copy, providing you with joke formulas, rhetorical devices, and writing exercises. * Promote Yourself Playbook mini training session — video that runs through 10 quick and easy tactics to generate leads immediately. * Jon’s new "Agency Sales" eBook and Cheat Sheet — where he provides prescriptive recommendations on exactly what activity you should be pursuing every day to generate leads. You can grab it all today right here: [https∶//www.EmailPlayers.com/cold]( This email was sent by Ben Settle as owner of Settle, LLC. Copyright © 2023 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