The paradox of the Dan Kennedy fanboy
Published: Sun, 03/31/19
I'm a huge and extremely loyal Dan Kennedy fan.
He's easily one of the greatest marketing minds of our time. And his teachings have changed my life in more ways than I can possibly count, and continue to do so probably more than just about anyone else currently.
So yes, I am a Dan Kennedy fan.
But, what I'm not, is a Dan Kennedy "fanboy."
Dan Kennedy fanboys - like all fanboys - don't think for themselves.
All they do is quote.
In this case, they can only quote:
"Dan Kennedy says..."
Like Brainy Smurf always saying, "Papa Smurf always says..." these blue light specials just quote, quote, quote, without context.
For example:
A few years back, a Dan Kennedy fanboy tried busting my balls - unsolicited advice, like they all give, and didn't even cross his mind to ask questions for context and data first - about not offering a guarantee because “Dan Kennedy says…”, even though doing so had exponentially increased my overall profits.
Another example:
One particularly troubled Dan Kennedy fanboy nagged me about not using testimonials because, again, “Dan Kennedy says…” And, also again, it was unsolicited advice. But, if he'd bothered asking, he'd have known the ad he had heartburn about performed way better without testimonials whenever it was tested.
For a more recent and detailed example:
Another one went into Dan Kennedy fanboy mode after I switched out the old “Email Players Playbook” I used to give to new “Email Players” subscribers with the new “Email Players Skhēma Book” — which (admittedly, and deliberately) breaks pretty much every rule I've heard Dan Kennedy teach about information marketing, product packaging, titling, and cover design.
In this one’s case, he declared I “devalued” it.
He also incorrectly assumed the new format saves me money and that’s why I changed it.
And then proceeded to complain about the font, the format, and even the title.
Then, still without gathering a single fact first, he started talking about his business and experiences — which was like comparing apples to dandelions — and how he used to talk to Dan Kennedy, and was told to turn his book into a 3-ring binder product, and his sales went up by millions.
All of which I have no doubt happened.
But, what the no doubt good-intentioned Dan Kennedy fanboy missed is this:
While the reasoning behind his product packaging was sound in *his* situation, it doesn’t apply to my business whatsoever.
The short story long of it was:
Many markets have a hard time paying for high ticket “books” that look mass market like you’d find in a bookstore (such as mine), since that makes them look like they’d be $12 books at Barnes And Noble, and people who respond to those kinds of offers tend to refund them in droves when they get them. However, I neither sell those offers, or to those types of markets, or with refund guarantees. Plus, I use email in ways hardly anyone else does (hint: they aren't buying the "product", they are buying me, which is a whole other lesson in and of itself) making the comparison to my business completely pointless and, frankly, silly.
To further illustrate why I found this part of his unsolicited critique so amusing:
My "Affiliate Launch Copynomicon" & "Copy Troll" books - both with slick mass market-like covers that supposedly don't work (and, again, ironically, were designed by the great Kia Arian, who is the exact same graphic designer who Dan Kennedy hires for his graphic design work...) - are not only both several hundred dollars, but were two of my most successful launches in the history of my business.
Maybe those customers didn't get the memo they weren't supposed to value them...?
He didn’t have an opinion as much as his opinion had him.
All of which was only made worse with his blind appeal to authority (i.e. “Dan Kennedy said…”)
Another amusingly ironic part:
While he was busy chanting “Dan Kennedy says…” he completely missed the reason why the new version of my book has been so successful, with "Email Players" subscription sales far higher than ever since swapping the books out... and with already more overall positive testimonials and feedback than the old "Playbook" version ever got. And that is because my entire re-design was inspired by, and in strict accordance with, the secret Dan Kennedy teaching I have been implementing to have the biggest run of growth in my business’s 18-year history in the past 18-months.
Even *more* ironic:
One thing Dan Kennedy says (Lordy, now even I’m saying it…) is:
“All marketing dogma is bad”
And never to blindly believe it.
Which, of course, is what these Dan Kennedy fanboys do, even as they dole out their unsolicited advice without context, or bothering to ask a single question, first, in the name of Dan Kennedy.
Now, let me be clear about this again:
This email is NOT an indictment of Dan Kennedy.
I have nothing but the utmost respect and admiration for him, his teachings, his books, his products, and his impact on the industry, even pioneering many things the rest of us young’uns take for granted today. He’s a for-real “legend” in this industry, and it simply doesn’t get more high level than him. But, the reason I have even been doing all these things over the years that drives these Dan Kennedy fanboys batty with cognitive dissonance and paradoxes they can't see right in front of them is precisely because I *am* obeying Dan Kennedy’s teachings. Specifically, the one I talk about in the April “Email Players” issue, and all the exact ways I have been implementing it to grow my business bigger than it’s ever been, faster than it’s ever taken, and how you can potentially do the same thing.
My obviously-biased opinion is:
It's possibly the most valuable issue I believe I’ve written to date in many ways.
That is, for people who have the guts to implement it, and not just nod and file away.
But, not because of any "how to" info.
There isn't much, if any.
But instead, due to the extreme business-changing results the concept can create.
Especially if you do email the way I do.
The deadline to get this issue is in just a few short hours from now.
Once I send it to the printer, it’ll be too late. And even if I decide to sell back issues to paying subscribers again some day as a special offer, it will almost certainly be omitted.
Here’s the link to subscribe while there’s still a wrinkle of time left:
http://www.EmailPlayers.com
Ben Settle
P.S. Speaking of back issues…
When I announced I was no longer offering them a couple years ago, a Dan Kennedy fanboy went into detail (without gathering a single fact) about what a mistake that was, even though my back end sales went up well over 500%+ when I ceased offering them.
And in some months, back end sales are 1000% higher than even the best month selling back issues.
The paradox of how wrong these fanboys can be is as amusing as it is astounding...
P.P.S. I have been told there have been several Ben Settle "robot-like" fanboys popping up over the last year or so — especially on Twitter.
I've even seen my own words twisted and taken out of context at best.
And, been given credit (or blame) for teaching things I didn't even teach at worst.
Like I said, fanboys can only quote.
But, it is looking like they can't even do that correctly.
So if you are one of these unthinking androids, listen up:
Think your own thoughts, use your own words, and realize unless you are a paying subscriber to my newsletter, you are 99% doing, using, and applying most of what you observe me do completely out of context, and it's not only making you look like a hack, but holding you back. Especially sans the context provided in the April issue.
To them, I give my own unsolicited advice:
Build your own brand, not mine.
Build your own business, not someone else's.
And, think your own thoughts, not your favorite goo-roo or teacher's.
Sadly, those who most need to follow this advice will ignore it. But, that didn't stop me from wasting time giving it anyway. Which probably makes me a bigger dork than them for wasting said time in the first place...
Whatever the case, here's the link to get the April issue before it's too late:
http://www.EmailPlayers.com