Ben Settle - Email Players 1 - 15 Access

This is where Settle gets controversial. He introduces the concept that you need enemies.

The Lesson: You cannot serve everyone. In fact, you should actively try to repel the wrong people. Issue #2 details how to find your customer’s "enemy" (a bad habit, a rival guru, a government regulation, a limiting belief) and frame your product as the sword they use to kill it.

He dissects hate mail. He loves hate mail. He explains how every unsubscribe is worth $1,000 because it cleanses his list of tire-kickers.

Ben Settle’s Email Players is one of the internet’s longer-running newsletters focused on direct-response email marketing, copywriting psychology, and the mindset of a solo creator. Issues 1–15 offer an early, concentrated snapshot of the approach that later made the newsletter influential: short, provocative emails that teach selling through daily writing. This post summarizes the core lessons, highlights what works, and how modern marketers can apply Settle’s methods ethically and effectively.

Issues 11 through 15 tackle the operational reality

Overview The "Email Players" series by Ben Settle offers a unique insight into the strategies and tactics used by successful email marketers. Through in-depth interviews, Ben shares the experiences, successes, and failures of his guests, providing valuable lessons for marketers looking to improve their email game.

Key Takeaways from Episodes 1-15

Common Themes

Actionable Insights

Conclusion The first 15 episodes of Ben Settle's "Email Players" series offer a wealth of knowledge and insights from experienced email marketers. Listeners can expect to take away practical tips, new ideas, and a deeper understanding of what works (and what doesn't) in the world of email marketing.

Title:
The Unvarnished Art of Email Marketing: Lessons from Ben Settle’s Email Players 1–15

Introduction
In an era of marketing automation, AI-generated copy, and “growth hacks,” Ben Settle’s Email Players newsletter stands as a contrarian manifesto. Issues 1 through 15 lay the foundation for what Settle calls “emailing like a human being who isn’t a slimy used car salesman.” Rather than focusing on list size or open-rate hacks, Settle emphasizes direct, frequent, and personality-driven email marketing. These early issues reject the mainstream “bro marketing” advice and instead teach a philosophy: emails should be entertaining, useful, and slightly abrasive — because bland marketing gets deleted.

The Core Philosophy
From issues 1–15, Settle drills three non-negotiable principles. First, frequency wins: he argues that daily emailing (yes, even on weekends) builds a “mental movie theater” in subscribers’ minds. Second, controversy sells: Settle frequently picks fights with industry gurus, not for shock value, but to clarify his position and attract loyal buyers who share his worldview. Third, the subject line is a mercenary: it’s not about being clever; it’s about making a specific promise that the email body delivers.

Practical Tactics Unveiled
These issues are not just theory. Settle reveals several specific tactics. For instance, issue #7 covers “The Puppy Dog Close” for email sequences — giving value so generously that buying feels inevitable. Issue #12 deconstructs “The Hater Filter,” advising readers to intentionally write emails that make time-wasters unsubscribe, thereby sharpening list quality. Issue #14 introduces “The 6-Word Story” as a template for creating curiosity gaps without clickbait.

Case Study from Issue #9
In Email Players #9, Settle shares a client example: a supplement seller who switched from weekly “helpful tips” to daily emails blending personal stories, industry rants, and pure entertainment. Within 45 days, revenue per email increased 212%, and unsubscribes dropped. The lesson? People don’t unsubscribe from frequency; they unsubscribe from boring emails. Ben Settle - Email Players 1 - 15

Critique and Limitations
Settle’s style is not for everyone. His tone can be aggressive, and some readers may find the constant self-promotion grating. Additionally, the advice assumes a responsive, warm list — a cold audience may not tolerate the same directness. Issues 1–15 also lack detailed analytics or split-testing frameworks, focusing instead on psychology and storytelling.

Conclusion
Email Players 1–15 is less a “how-to” manual and more a “how-to-think” about email marketing. Settle forces you to abandon metrics-obsession and remember that behind every inbox is a human who craves entertainment and authenticity. For marketers tired of the vanilla “value-first” orthodoxy, these 15 issues offer a bracing alternative: be interesting, email daily, and never apologize for selling. Whether you adopt his method wholeheartedly or adapt it, one truth remains — your email strategy is only as strong as your personality.

Next Steps for a Longer Essay
If you need a full 2,000+ word essay, here is the expansion blueprint:

Settle beats this drum until it cracks. In Issue #4, he argues that a website can be hacked, a Facebook page can be banned, and a bank account can be frozen—but a personal email list (one you own, on your own server) is the only digital asset a pandemic, a algorithm-change, or a government cannot take from you.

Let’s get granular. What actual tactics are buried in this collection?

This issue is a cult favorite. Settle details a specific psychological trigger: The "You’re Probably Too Smart For This" Close. Instead of hyping a product, you down-sell your intelligence. Example: "Look, 90% of you will delete this because you think you know it all. That’s fine. But for the 10% who realize they’ve been doing this backward… click here." Issue #7 provides three templates of this close applied to physical products, software, and consulting.

In the very first issue, Settle throws a grenade at the standard marketing funnel (lead magnet -> tripwire -> core offer -> high ticket). This is where Settle gets controversial

The Lesson: Funnels are for farmers. Email players don't herd sheep; they lead wolves.

He argues that funnels commoditize you. When you use a standard funnel, you train prospects to expect cheap PDFs and $7 trials. Instead, Settle advocates for the "Daily Email Funnel" —selling directly from daily emails with no automated sequence between the prospect and the buy button.

Golden Quote (Paraphrased): "Stop trying to automate relationships. If you can't sell it in a single email, you shouldn't be selling it at all."

In the crowded, noise-polluted world of email marketing, few names inspire as much cult-like devotion (or sheer agitation) as Ben Settle.

While most gurus push funnels, clickfunnels, and “automated webinars,” Settle preaches a return to the raw, ugly, and brutally effective art of direct response email. He doesn’t do podcasts. He doesn’t do YouTube interviews. His entire empire is built on a daily emailed newsletter called "The Email Players" — a newsletter so notorious for its "no-holds-barred" style that it feels less like a marketing lesson and more like a caffeinated pirate shouting battle strategies from a burning ship.

For new subscribers, the most tantalizing (and expensive) artifact in Settle’s catalog is the "Email Players 1 - 15" collection. This is not a course. It is not a PDF checklist. It is the raw, unedited foundational archive of Settle’s brain from the first 15 issues of his newsletter.

If you want to understand why Ben Settle has a rabid following of business owners who despise "bro marketing," you must understand what lives inside Issues 1 through 15. Common Themes

Here is the complete breakdown.