elBenbo’s Lair 90210
Published: Wed, 01/04/17
It has also made me tons of sales personally.
As well as those who understand the game I've created inside.
All this, despite it being a strict No-Value group.
(Only me and my head bytch in charge/Vice President Misty are allowed to give Value — it is NOT a place to get how-to advice, questions answered, or try to pimp yourself out by giving “value”, etc, if that bothers you we don't want you there, go away, shoo, you will simply be banned the second you try to give Value or ask for Value).
Anyway, here’s why I bring it up:
Someone asked if elBenbo’s Lair was some kind of lab experiment.
Am I testing and experimenting on my Citizens in there like some kind of lab rat to get certain reactions, figure out how far I can push things, and get people to give me their emotions at any time I want?
Of course.
Duh.
And it’s obvious to anyone with ears to smell and eyes to touch.
But, no Society (it’s not a “group” but a Society) such as this is built alone.
Below is a list some of my influences for what I am doing up in there:
* Dan Meredith — I do a lot of the exact *opposite* of him (he and I talk a lot about Facebook groups), to position elBenbo’s Lair as its own thing and not just a wannabe his group (his is super successful) but I have learned a lot about this from him. So props to my friend Dan.
* Mike Cernovich — the way he controls the narrative on social media and has his social justice warrior enemies dancing on his puppet strings is something not a single social media goo-roo I’ve ever seen can even come close to (and Mike doesn’t even sell social media or anything, just does his thing). He angers a lot of people, I reckon several people up in elBenbo’s Lair hate on him. But I respect the hellz out of the guy and am proud to call him a customer (he told his Twitter audience of 180,000+ followers I am the *only* copywriter he endorses…)
* Michael Savage — Right wing talk radio guy, I structure my launches and daily emails off of how he runs his daily talk show (#3 or 4 biggest radio audience, last I checked). He’s a master at making the skeleton dance (like when he was banned from entering Britain — so he wrote a book called “Banned In Britain” that made him a lot of the munies). If you want a masterpiece in how to launch books, listen to his show for a few weeks before and then during his official launches. He’s a big proponent of language, borders, and culture — which is the foundation upon which I am building elBenbo’s Lair in a lot of ways (just in a different context).
* Gary Gygax — The guy who invented Dungeons & Dragons and all RPG’s as we know it. Child elBenbo spent many hours playing those games, getting lost in worlds I had to build in my head. All that world-building thinking and strategy came in extremely handy while writing my Enoch Wars books. (Side bar: Last year someone who’s job is to match authors with editors and agents to get deals at all the big publishers, said, “You have a great sense of pacing and world building” and wanted to try matching me with her network — I am 100% self published for now, but she made me realize I wasn’t consciously using world-building until she sent me that, now I do it deliberately.) Anyway, this is coming in even more handy as I build elBenbo’s Lair.
* Aaron Spelling — The silly Beverly Hills 90210-like soap opera sub-culture I have created up in elBenbo’s Lair is deliberate, carefully planned, and somewhat controlled (more like “aimed” than controlled). Like I told some of the Citizens inside: “Don’t fight it. Just go with it. If you fight it, you’ll end up making an ass of yourself by taking it too seriously. If you go with it, you’ll have fun, get more opt-ins, and not look like a douchecanoe getting rattled by what is obviously satire and entertainment.” So it is…
I have other inspirations for it, too, of course.
Many, actually.
But, these are the only ones I will reveal.
If you still want to join my secret Society of No-Value, No Trolling, and No Loitering (my immigration laws prohibit anyone who is a known troll or who is in too many other facebook groups from entering the gates), check it out here:
http://www.elBenbo.com
But be aware:
I turn away at least 70% of people who try to join.
I have many criteria for this.
Many of that criteria is secret.
So, if I don’t let you in, don’t sweat it.
It ain’t personal…
Ben Settle