RIP to the old master

A great marketer has joined the choir invisible:



Jim Straw.



I never met the man in person.



But, I did correspond with him a few times, here and there. No

deep, dark marketing secrets were passed or anything.



Mostly it was a "hey how are you doing?" sort of thing.



But he was always one of my favorite marketers.



Not only because he was a BIG believer in daily emails (one of the

few who could get away with doing blatant pitches every day, and

who somehow pulled off selling a $997 eBook, can you believe that?)

but he was a "for real" entrepreneur, too.



He'd seen it all.



He started at 9 years old selling salve and newspapers.



From there he has done everything from import/export... to real

estate... to offshore banking... to gold & coal minding... mail

order... merchandising... manufacturing... and, yes, Internet

marketing.



The dude was a business stud.



And always chock full of great ideas and advice.



Anyway, I got his last email here from November 30th.



And, it's... poetic... he sent this particular email before passing.



Frankly, it's almost like he KNEW it was his last email.



(Maybe he did?)



It's poetic because it's PACKED with advice (we can all learn from

-- noob or master) about how he became so successful, and how

anyone else can do the same, without needing any inborn talent or a

gazillion dollars to get started.



Here are some of the highlights (paraphrased):



1) The ONLY way to make money is to "sell" something people want

or need (product or service).



2) Learn to "make do" with what you have.



3) Do whatever's necessary (legally) to get to where you want to

be, even if you don't like doing it (*especially* if you don't like

doing it).



4) Never ask people to do for you what you won't do yourself.



5) Pay cash for what you want. Otherwise save until you can.



6) Realize NOTHING is as easy or as fast as it should be. It only

gets easier and faster when you know how to really do it. And

learning how to really do it means doing it over, and over, and

over, until you finally find out how it works.



7) Your successes teach you nothing, only your failures do.



8) Your most prized possessions are your customers.



9) Money is NOT the goal... it's only a way of keeping score.



10) Ask for what you want or need, learn to graciously accept "no"

as readily as you do a "yes"



I love stuff like this.



It's timeless, raw advice that works.



And, it's kinda ironic, too.



One of the reasons so many people struggle to accomplish any real,

lasting success online is because they are always chasing the

latest goo-roo BSO (bright shiny object), when all they need do is

apply a few simple principles (like the above) and success is

practically guaranteed. After all, Jim's websites, emails and

entire ordering process were as "bare bones" as you get -- yet he

blew most of today's goo-roos away (spending far less time and with

virtually none of the headaches) with their lame video sales

letters, souped-up email tracking (I rarely saw a tracking link in

his emails) and sophisticated product funnels using the latest

whizbang technology.



Anyway, so that's that.



Jim Straw left us an awesome legacy.



Take his advice to heart.



Apply it.



And, yes, PROFIT from it.



I suspect Mr. Straw would have it no other way...



Ben Settle



P.S. I learned a LOT about email marketing just by studying Jim

Straw's emails. He took me to school with every email he sent. And

even though I don't consciously think about it, a lot of what I

teach in "Email Players" is at least partially inspired or

influenced by various things I learned studying Jim's emails.



Subscription info at:



http://www.EmailPlayers.com









Ben Settle

Email Specialist

Settle, LLC

www.BenSettle.com



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