Tag: P.T. Barnum
What's Your Gullwing?
Brace yourself. This is the first time I’ve ever made this offer. It is limited to 10 people. It will transform your life. It is BIG. Details below…
“Joe Vitale is a true marketing, sales and promotion genius.”
– Dan Kennedy, in his book ‘No B.S. Marketing to the Affluent’
“Just when you think you understand how the world works Joe Vitale comes along and takes you to a whole new place. He’s engaging, entertaining, enlightening and – oh boy – does he ever stretch your thinking.” – Ian Percy, Reg. Psych. and member of both the US and Canadian Speaker Halls of Fame.
“No one else I know of could help someone come up with a Barnum-like Big Idea and then help them take it to fruition = becoming a huge phenomenon, which means BIG money, fame, recognition, and unique world positioning. See Joe Vitale’s outrageous list of accomplishments to know this is the real deal.” – David Garfinkel, Copywriter, Author, Consultant
What else is possible?
What’s left undone?
What can you attempt to attract or achieve that would stun even you?
Yes, you can stay comfy.
You earned it.
But we both know that life begins at the end of your comfort zone.
That’s where “the rush” is.
That’s why people do dare devil endurance feats and climb mountains and open businesses.
They want more.
That’s why people in Kuwait, already wealthy, open retail shops.
They are seeking the gusto of life.
They want to feel alive.
What’s your next dream?
While you think about your answer, allow me to share my own answer.
My own big dream is the desire for a vintage Gullwing.
That’s a Mercedes SL300 Gullwing.
The Legendary Mercedes SL300 Gullwing
That’s the iconic car considered by many as the world’s first super car.
Gullwing doors.
Leading edge engineering.
Futuristic design.
Built in 1954-55 and sought today as investment grade masterpieces.
And fetching upwards to two million dollars.
Each.
I want one.
I want one because the desire for one is melting my limits about what I think is possible.
If a once homeless man like me can attract a vintage Gullwing, what else is possible?
It’s not about the Gullwing.
It’s about The Stretch.
So, what’s your Gullwing?
It doesn’t need to be a car.
It can be anything that makes you suck in air.
It can be anything you long for but have yet to achieve.
Anything that gives you chills.
Anything that makes you a little scared and a lot excited.
What’s your Gullwing?
What would you like to experience just because you want it?
I’m looking for 10 people to join a Gullwing Mastermind with me.
This is a full year program for creating miracles.
It’s what Napoleon Hill, author of Think and Grow Rich, declared was the key to success.
He wrote –
“The “Master Mind” may be defined as: ‘Coordination of knowledge and effort, in a spirit of harmony, between two or more people, for the attainment of a definite purpose.'” – Napoleon Hill
The Gullwing Mastermind private group that I am inviting you to join consists of –
- Weekly meetings. (Once a week group phone call)
- Personal consults. (Once a month personal Skype consult with me)
- Yearly retreat. (Once a year in a beautiful US location)
ALSO –
- I will review your marketing and/or business and life goals.
- I will help you with your planning and implementation.
- I will help you find or create your own Big Idea
- I will help you create ways to bring it to the masses
- As you probably know, I bring decades of experience to the table in areas of marketing, copywriting, idea generation, book publishing, Law of Attraction, self-help, speaking, consulting, hypnosis, clearing, music and more. (See below)
- You can tap my brain in any area.
AND –
- And you will get a gift for each week of completion – that’s 52 gifts a year. These might be old and new books, audios, packages, little known items by me, and so forth.
- AND you can attend any event I hold in the next ten years as my guest.
And you will have the power of a mastermind to help you achieve your goals.
Some of the most successful people I know are in one or more mastermind groups.
I met a man recently who is in five masterminds.
These are powerful, inspiring, life changing.
You not only draw from my experience, but you have the collective power of the entire mastermind group on your side – the wisdom, energy, support, experience, education, resources, contacts, and more.
Obviously, this is a priceless experience.
"Money likes speed"
But maybe you need to know more about me —
* I started as a homeless nobody, lived in poverty for a decade, and went on to fame and fortune. Today I live the lifestyle of the rich and famous. Incredibly successful people hunt me down for consultations and engagements, like the princess in Kuwait who paid me six figures to speak at her event, and the son of the man who produced The Beatles who wants me in a movie and television show he is producing.
* I wrote more books than most people read in a lifetime – about 50 so far, with numerous ones being bestsellers, such as The Attractor Factor and the recent The Secret Prayer. These books have become #1 bestsellers on Amazon, in the overall category of ALL books. I have been published in every way you can name, and have secrets and insights about each approach.
* I recorded multiple bestselling self-help programs, for the largest and most famous audio producer in the world, and saw many of them become record-breaking bestsellers – even out selling Earl Nightingale’s famous programs. I know how to create, package, and sell programs so the world hears about them.
* I pioneered Internet marketing, wrote one of the first books every published about it in the 1990s, created outrageous attention grabbing stunts like being the first to hypnotize someone live online, using the Internet to out sell a Harry Potter book, and selling a hefty package and making half a million dollars in three days.
* I traveled around the world, speaking in countries as diverse as Russia, Peru, Poland, and Kuwait, and of course being a keynote speaker at major events in the USA, including for the National Speakers Association, and at mega-wealth events with Donald Trump and Tony Robbins on the same bill as me.
* I invented Hypnotic Writing, Hypnotic Marketing, Buying Trances, The Secret Mirror, The Secret Reflection, Miracles Coaching, Wealth Trigger, Hyper-Wealth, and much more, all of which are staggeringly successful. I know how to generate ideas, package them, and market them to the masses.
* I wrote sales copy for more authors, speakers, consultants, CEOs, celebrities and more, than I care to remember, increasing their sales, improving real world numbers, and more. I’m talking everyone from The Red Cross to hospitals and non-profits to Abraham of Jerry and Esther Hicks fame. I created Hypnotic Writing and wrote a book explaining it.
* I have attracted national media exposure being on everything from Larry King Live (twice) to Donny Deutsch’s Big Idea show, to being on ABC, Fox, CNN, CNBC and more. I’ve been in the New York Times and Newsweek. I know the value of media exposure in establishing you as an authority and the “go to” person.
* I have been in 15 movies, with The Secret being the most famous, and three more coming out in 2016. And I got in one of the movies because of a mastermind.
* I am coming out with my own television show in 2016. It’s going to combine a TED-style talk with Oprah-style interviews and the selling power of QVC, and is designed to inspire people to go for their dreams.
* I wrote Attract Money Now and give it away as a list builder and gift to humanity. I also give away numerous other books, including The Miracles Manual and The Abundance Manifesto. I know the value of “karmic marketing” in helping the planet and yourself.
* I brought ho’oponopono to the world, through my books, Zero Limits and AT Zero, reaching an estimated 5,000,000 people.
* Near the age of 60 I recreated myself as a musician and, at my last count, recorded 15 albums. I called myself the world’s first self-help singer-songwriter to separate myself from the overwhelming competition. Reverbnation voted me #1 singer-songwriter. My music videos have attracted hundreds of thousands of views. I have over three hundred thousand fans. My albums with Guitar Monk Mathew Dixon have made more money than most musicians ever make in an entire career. I know how to reframe and repackage to market to success.
* I developed a spiritual approach to wealth, ignoring cutthroat methods and always focusing on a balanced, healthy approach to success, based on passion and purpose. I know how to create win-win-win negotiations and conduct business from the heart.
* I can listen to virtually anybody for about 20 minutes and see or create a unique money making idea specific to them. I have done it with friends and strangers, helping them create products, and with my own wife, helping her create a bestselling cookbook.
* I created a movement to end homelessness, raised funds for those in poverty, and compiled a book to help others who struggle. I know how to think big, confront limitations, and urge people to go for their highest ideals.
* I discovered the “missing secret” in self development, the idea of counter-intentions, and have been teaching it to people for over a decade, in my books, audios, and Miracles Coaching program. This one method alone can accelerate results for anyone.
* I’m considered an expert on the Law of Attraction, and know how to use it, teach it, and go beyond it. I’ve explained deeper concepts than it in my books and audio programs, such as The Awakening Course. Most people have a superficial or erroneous understanding of LOA. I help them get clear. I help them get results.
* I invented e-classes back in the 1990s, which everyone and his brother offers today. I know how to repackage material as an authentically new product.
* I wrote There’s A Customer Born Every Minute, the only business book on P.T. Barnum, the famous circus promoter who was also a speaker, writer, politician, entrepreneur, publicity genius, and more. Studying Barnum (and others like him, like Houdini, Branson, and Trump) gave me the ability to “Barnumize” almost any business by finding or creating the Big Idea and promoting it to the world for fame, fortune and immortality.
* I created the Rolls-Royce Phantom Mastermind, where people flew in from all over the world to spend a few hours with me in the famous luxury car, going to dinner, sharing, and getting coaching from me. ABC television news covered one of them. I know how to think bigger than big and light a fire under people to go for their dreams.
I could go on.
The point is, you not only will get the collective genius of the mastermind, but you will also draw from my own experience as well.
But I have to warn you –
This won’t be cheap and it won’t be for everybody.
After all, when I offered the Rolls-Royce Phantom Mastermind, people paid $5,000 to $7,500 each for just the evening with me.
An entire year will of course be a much larger investment.
If you qualify, we can arrange a payment plan, too.
If this idea makes your palms sweat, but makes your heart race with anticipation, then contact my assistant for details.
Write Suzanne at suzanne @ mrfire.com (close spaces to make it a workable email address).
Are you ready to fly?
Are you ready to stretch?
Are you ready to go for the biggest dreams of your life?
What’s your Gullwing?
Ao Akua,
Joe
PS – What would you do if you weren’t afraid?
Note: If this offer to join my Gullwing Mastermind ends up being too pricey for you at this time, remember that you can always join Miracles Coaching right now. And you can always read many of my books, such as Attract Money Now, for free.
Member BBB 2003 - 2015
Flying Midgets, Burning Bras
Back in 2001 I released my magnum opus when it comes to marketing.
Titled Hypnotic Marketing, it was an e-book revealing my three-step formula for attracting more business.
It was packed with juicy stories and funny case histories, from flying midgets to burning bras, to stupid websites to outrageous ideas that worked, and more.
In print for the first time in 11 years
I just updated and released the book as a printed paperback, now more than 400 pages long, and containing zippy and zany articles as bonuses, and revealing a fourth step to the famous marketing formula.
There’s everything in this mega-book, including —
Chapter 2: How to Hypnotize the Masses with “PO” Ideas
Chapter 3: Flying Midgets and the PR Folk Hero
Chapter 4: Eight Proven Rules for Getting Publicity
Chapter 5: Pitching a Heavyweight Boxing Champion and His Sausage
Chapter 6: Show Your Bra!
Chapter 7: 21 Ways to Identify Story Ideas About You or Your Business
Chapter 8: Running Water
Chapter 9: Selling Bloody Games
Chapter 10: One of the Easiest Ways in the World to Get Publicity
Chapter 11: How to Install a “Success Wish” in Your Mind
Chapter 12: The Top Three Ways Guaranteed to ALWAYS Hypnotize the Media
Chapter 13: 10 Tips on Becoming Newsworthy from a Media Tigress
Chapter 14: The Seven Laws of Baseball’s Greatest Publicist
Chapter 15: The Psychology of Hypnotic Publicity
Chapter 16: Edgy Top Secret Ways to Absolutely Nail Media Attention
Chapter 17: How to Get Rich With P.T. Barnum’s Secret
Chapter 18: The Amazing Breakthrough Formula Called “E-DR Publicity”
Chapter 19: A New Way to Get 30 times More Replies from the Media!
Chapter 20: 14 Instant Ways to Send Out Your News
Chapter 21: Two Words that Can Get You on Virtually Any Radio or TV show
And it doesn’t stop there —
Chapter 22: Your Keys to Hypnotic Websites
Chapter 23: A Master Copywriter Reveals His Inner Secrets
Chapter 24: A Forbidden Persuasion Master Reveals His Secrets
Chapter 25: A Practical Mystic Reveals His Website Secrets
Chapter 26: Declan Dunn Shocks Me with His Website Secrets
Chapter 27: What Are the Hardest-Hitting Direct-Selling Websites Online?
Chapter 28: Some Sexy Advice from the World’s Greatest Hypnotist
Chapter 29: How to Transform a So-So Website into a Truly Hypnotic Website
Chapter 30: How An “Inspirational Folk Musician” Can Create a Hypnotic Website
Chapter 31: What You Can Learn from This Really Stupid Website
And wait! There’s more –
Chapter 32: The Secret Nobody Wants You to Know About Making Money Online
Chapter 33: How a Famous Street Magician Can Help You Create Hypnotic E-mails
Chapter 34: How to Create E-mails that Secretly Seduce Your Readers
Chapter 35: The Five Best Ways to Create Hypnotic Email Openers
Chapter 36: “How Can the Right Question Bring in 317% More Orders?”
Chapter 37: E-mail Sales Letter Samples that are Making Me Rich
Chapter 38: A Little Known Secret for Doubling Responses to Your E-Offers
Chapter 39: How to Make Even More Money With This Unusual E-mail Secret
Chapter 40: What are Five Ways to Get People to Open Your E-mail?
Chapter 41: A Truly “Killer” Hypnotic Sales Letter Used Online AND Off
Chapter 42: The World’s Most Unusual Way to Strengthen Your Hypnotic Writing
And it doesn’t even stop there, as the rest of the book is packed with info on social media marketing to “dangerous selling” to the best books on marketing, and more.
The famous three-step formula now contains a fourth step, on social media marketing.
I just read my own book as a printed paperback and loved it. 🙂
I’m not the only one to love it, of course:
“It’s Like Selling Fort Knox At A Discount”
|
“Joe, you’ve written a masterpiece. Condensing the formula for getting rich in only 79 days into three simple steps anyone can follow is brilliant! As with everything you write, ‘Hypnotic Marketing’ is crammed full of true-to-life, straight forward ways to start a welcome flow of cash into anyone’s bank account.
We all thank you for making this gem available. But, come on, Joe…that price. You’ve got to be kidding! Why would you give away so much for so little? It’s like selling Fort Knox at a discount!”
— Dr. Paul Hartunian, Author, How to Get a Million Dollars in Publicity FREE!, PrProfits.com/ezine/
“I Learned Something New On Every Page”
“Joe Vitale hypnotized me today! He did it with ‘Hypnotic Marketing,’ which I found impossible to stop reading. I learned something new on every page, and I’ve been learning about marketing since l958. Now, I can only shudder for those poor souls who haven’t yet learned what Joe has to teach. Not only does he enlighten, but he does it in such a warm and engaging way, that you cannot help but complete his book with a smile in your heart and dollar signs on your mind. Thank you, Joe, for a mighty contribution to the world of marketing.” — the late Jay Conrad Levinson, Author, Guerrilla Marketing series, JayConradLevinson.com |
If you are at all interested in marketing, online or off, publicity, websites that sell, hypnotic writing and the like, you must have this book.
Click image to buy book
It’s at Amazon as a printed book at http://www.amazon.com/Hypnotic-Marketing-Collection-Successful-Techniques/dp/1512155233/
It’s online as an e-book at http://www.hypnoticmarketing.com
Go get it.
Ao Akua,
PS – Long before I became a Law of Attraction teacher and author of such self-help spiritual books as The Attractor Factor and Zero Limits, I was known as a hypnotic writer (I wrote Hypnotic Writing, Buying Trances, There’s A Customer Born Every Minute, and many more books) and marketing specialist (having clients like The Red Cross to small and large companies to hundreds of authors and speakers). The best of that side of me is in my famous book, Hypnotic Marketing. I’m proud of that book and urge you to check it out. It’s at Amazon as a printed book at http://www.amazon.com/Hypnotic-Marketing-Collection-Successful-Techniques/dp/1512155233/ It’s still online as an e-book at http://www.hypnoticmarketing.com
Member BBB 2003 - 2015
Money Wise
A friend about to turn 40 years old sent me this question –
“What is the main/biggest thing you wish you knew about money before you were 40?”
I thought about it and came up with the following answer:
Stop worrying; it all works out.
Since I’m now in my sixties and have gone from homeless to poverty to filing bankruptcy to sleepless nights and more, only to end up living the life of one of the rich and famous, I’d say that all my worrying didn’t help at all.
Worry is a belief. It’s trained behavior. Most of us think if we worry, we will whip ourselves into doing something. But worry doesn’t stimulate right action. It stimulates more worry. And from a Law of Attraction view, worry begets worry.
Think about it: Under the feeling of worry are fear based thoughts, such as “What if this doesn’t work out?”, “What if my car is repossessed?”, “What if I lose my job and then…and then…and…!?!”
Those thoughts will create a reality that matches them.
Those thoughts will lead to desperate behaviors, and cause you to ignore more prosperous opportunities.
Those thoughts will create the same old scenario.
As I’ve said many times, you will easily attract what you fear or what you love, because both are strong emotions packed with high voltage energy.
It’s wiser to focus on what you love rather than on what you loathe.
Come from faith rather than fear.
Come from prosperity rather than panic.
Said another way –
Watch which thoughts you feed. If you think lack and limitation but pray for peace and prosperity, you are like a farmer who plants strawberries but prays for tomatoes.
I’ve learned that I need to work but not worry.
Trusting work, faithful work, passionate work.
But no worry work.
Using worry and fear to motivate yourself is a fool’s game. It doesn’t help.
Had I known this fact of life before the age of 40, I would have been happier and slept better, and probably reached success sooner.
In short, keep working, stop worrying.
My friend also asked —
“What single factor/knowledge/idea would you say was the most influential in being financially free and successful?”
Again, I meditated on the question and came up with this answer —
Definitive course on attracting money
Realize money can come from multiple avenues.
For decades I thought money would only come to me from my writing. I couldn’t see any other way. While I continued to labor at day jobs I hated, just to survive, I also continued to write and submit my work to publishers. My entire focus was on money coming from writing.
I couldn’t see the bigger pie.
I couldn’t see the world of infinite possibilities.
I couldn’t even imagine it.
When I began to expand my mind, through books and audios I borrowed from the library, and allowed money to come to me in new and even surprising ways, my income increased.
For example, I began to speak in public.
That was a huge undertaking for me because my natural inclination at the time was to be a book nerd and live in the library. Public speaking was terrifying. Even traumatizing.
But I did it as it introduced a new way to receive money. Either I would get paid to speak or I spoke for free but sold my books in the back of the room. It worked.
I did more than speak, too.
I also tried publishing my first book as a correspondence course. This got my mind to relax the restraint that published writing meant having a publisher. It didn’t. I could take a book, break it into lessons, and sell it as a course.
I tried it once with a classified ad. (This was long before the Internet.)
It failed.
But a decade later, when I tried the same thing online, it became a major income stream for me. It led to my creating e-classes, and attracting tens of thousands of dollars (and a BMW Z3, which was a big deal for me at the time) as a result.
Learning to expand my mind about how money could come to me also led to recording audios.
The legendary publicist and dog lover, Paul Hartunian, told me how easy it was to make audio programs in my home. I listened to this wonderful mentor and acted.
I bought a cheap cassette player, put pillows under the window and door cracks, and recorded a marketing program in my bedroom. Most of it was based on what I learned from researching P.T. Barnum, and writing a book about his business secrets, titled There’s A Customer Born Every Minute.
I sold that home made program for $500 a copy. It later became my first Nightingale-Conant program, called The Power of Outrageous Marketing.
And that, of course, led to me creating numerous audio programs for Nightingale, and becoming one of their best selling authors ever.
My mind expanding didn’t stop there.
All the self-study I had put into becoming a writer meant I had skills most others didn’t have.
Bob Bly taught me (through his books and later with snail mail letters he was kind enough to write to me) to be a copywriter. That lead to a nice income writing sales letters, ads, and more (eventually even writing sales copy for Jerry and Esther Hicks, of Abraham fame).
As I continued to expand my mind, I learned about direct mail marketing.
I borrowed a little money from my parents, rented a mailing list, and sent out a sales letter I had hypnotically written about a new software program. (To show you how long ago this was, the program was DOS based and came on a floppy disk).
It worked.
I still remember opening my post office box and seeing an order for the software. I felt like I had won the lottery.
I also wrote a book about my own invented form of copywriting, had it bound at Kinkos, and sold it at my talks. That self-published manual later became my first e-book, thanks to Mark Joyner, which led to a long series of profit attracting digital products.
It changed my life forever.
It’s still famous today, in print and as an e-book, titled Hypnotic Writing.
And all of this was long before I was ever invited to be in the hit movie The Secret, which of course also changed my life forever, as it shot me into global notoriety and led to numerous unexpected opportunities.
I could go on, but you get the point.
My income increased when I didn’t insist that it come to me in a particular way.
Expand your mind to allow money to arrive in other ways.
Money doesn’t have any beliefs about you; you have beliefs about money. It will come to you if you don’t block it or wear blinders when it drives by your home.
To help you stop worrying and expand your mind —
Read books by Catherine Ponder, Arnold Patent, Napoleon Hill, and me.
Read The Power of Impossible Thinking by Yoram Wind and Colin Cook.
Read Create or Die: A Manifesto for Fearless Creators Everywhere by Dr. Morgan Giddings.
Listen to audio programs from Nightingale-Conant, from Tony Robbins, Brian Tracy, Mark Victor Hanson, and me.
Listen to The Secret to Attracting Money by Joe Vitale.
Of course, you still have to follow your passion, take inspired action, maintain your character and your health, but the above will get you going in the right direction to attract more money.
Happy New Year!
Expect Miracles!
Ao Akua,
NOTE: If you are truly panicking because the bills have piled up, you’re out of work, and you see no end in sight, remember that there are numerous resources available to help you. Yes, take care of your mindset, but also call for help when you need it. The back of my book, Attract Money Now, has a resource section. It’s free right here.
PS – The fastest way to expand your mind is with the help of your own Miracles Coach. Check out Miracles Coaching.
Member BBB 2003 - 2015
Joe Vitale E-books for Only $3.99
Get any of my published books listed below as an e-book for only $3.99 (or less) each, thru November 2012. You can now read these books on your Kindle, iPad, or any other device or computer for e-books. Please check these out, grab the books you want, and share this post with your friends. Enjoy! Love, Joe
“The Attractor Factor”
http://www.amazon.com/Attractor-Factor-Creating-Anything-ebook/dp/B001RIO2KS
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/attractor-factor-joe-vitale/1100299493?ean=9780470440704
http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-attractor-factor/id378753145?mt=11&ign-mpt=uo%3D4
“The Awakening Course”
http://www.amazon.com/Awakening-Course-Solving-Problems-ebook/dp/B004CLYG2G
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/awakening-course-joe-vitale/1100296774?ean=9780470948682
http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-awakening-course/id408425613?mt=11&ign-mpt=uo%3D4
“Zero Limits”
http://www.amazon.com/Zero-Limits-Secret-Hawaiian-ebook/dp/B008L044DA
“Buying Trances”
http://www.amazon.com/Buying-Trances-Psychology-Marketing-ebook/dp/B001C4TEOG
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/buying-trances-joe-vitale/1100320922?ean=9781118039076
http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/buying-trances/id413813080?mt=11&ign-mpt=uo%3D4
“Hypnotic Writing”
http://www.amazon.com/Hypnotic-Writing-Persuade-Customers-ebook/dp/B008E7CW4S
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hypnotic-writing-joe-vitale/1100622990?ean=9780470893067
http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/hypnotic-writing/id384486749?mt=11&ign-mpt=uo%3D4
“Your Internet Cash Machine”
http://www.amazon.com/Your-Internet-Cash-Machine-ebook/dp/B001DIXEDI
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/your-internet-cash-machine-joe-vitale/1111575438?ean=9781118039229
http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/your-internet-cash-machine/id413391334?mt=11&ign-mpt=uo%3D4
“Life’s Missing Instruction Manual”
http://www.amazon.com/Lifes-Missing-Instruction-Manual-ebook/dp/B008NC0W2S
http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/lifes-missing-instruction/id417799024?mt=11&ign-mpt=uo%3D4
“Meet and Grow Rich”
http://www.amazon.com/Meet-Grow-Rich-Mastermind-ebook/dp/B001O2S8DY
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/meet-and-grow-rich-bill-hibbler/1112104039?ean=9781118428740
http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/meet-and-grow-rich/id541566501?mt=11&ign-mpt=uo%3D4
“There’s A Customer Born Every Minute”
http://www.amazon.com/Theres-Customer-Every-Minute-ebook/dp/B008NC2R94
http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/theres-customer-born-every/id413392598?mt=11&ign-mpt=uo%3D4
“The E-Code”
http://www.amazon.com/The-E-Code-Superstars-Instantly-Using-ebook/dp/B000VIIGSE
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-e-code-joe-vitale/1007041717?ean=9781118040430
http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-e-code/id413392316?mt=11&ign-mpt=uo%3D4
“Inspired Marketing”
http://www.amazon.com/Inspired-Marketing-Astonishing-Following-ebook/dp/B001B1V3RQ
“The Seven Lost Secrets of Success”
http://www.amazon.com/Seven-Lost-Secrets-Success-ebook/dp/B002CMKYKU
http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-seven-lost-secrets-success/id415665994?mt=11&ign-mpt=uo%3D4
"Attract Money Now" US: http://www.amazon.com/Attract-Money-Now-ebook/dp/B0087I218G France: http://www.amazon.fr/Attract-Money-Now-ebook/dp/B0087I218G Germany: http://www.amazon.de/Attract-Money-Now-ebook/dp/B0087I218G UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Attract-Money-Now-ebook/dp/B0087I218G Spain: http://www.amazon.es/Attract-Money-Now-ebook/dp/B0087I218G Italy: http://www.amazon.it/Attract-Money-Now-ebook/dp/B0087I218G
Thank you
I love you
- Member BBB 2003 – 2012
Lost Mad Men Secret
The hit AMC television show, Mad Men, has been riveting and repulsing me since I first started watching it years ago. You’d think I’d turn it off. But there are moments in the show when brilliance comes through and I sit in awe. Then again, there are way too many moments where I’m just disgusted.
In case you didn’t know, Mad Men is a soap opera-ish adult drama about an up-start advertising agency in New York City in the 1960s. The characters are alive and easy to love or hate; the sets are so real it feels like you time traveled right to the sixties; the conflicts, personal and public, are engaging; the dialogue is human, real, and sometimes profound. All in all, it’s no wonder the show is a hit. It’s prime time drama with unique elements. And it’s won 15 Golden Globe awards and 4 Emmys — so far.
So why does it repulse me?
Virtually everyone on Mad Men has at least one psychological problem. The leader of the pack is of course Don Draper, brilliantly played by actor Jon Hamm. Draper has so many demons inside his skull, he’s a walking version of an internal hell. He’s self-destructive with women and booze, but he’s also often a genius at ad campaigns. He’s got so many secrets he might as well call himself Freud’s best candidate for therapy. In fact, he’s not even Don Draper. That’s the identity the character stole long before he became an ad man. Ah, the twists into mental hell.
Of course, I didn’t like it at all when Lane Pryce, a charming character in the show (played by Jared Harris), embezzled money from the company, was caught by Don Draper, and committed suicide. That episode is still stuck in my craw. I wasn’t even going to write a blog post about the show until after that unforgettably sad airing. I liked Lane. But he, too, was deeply flawed. More than that, people unconsciously model what they see. Seeing a strong character choose suicide is not showing wisdom. Again, we unconsciously attract what we believe and expect.
But the psychological issues don’t bother me so much as the business practices the agency demonstrates.
Lying, betrayal, manipulation, head games — it’s the way of life on the TV show. The series reveals the struggling agency is a prostitute that will sell anything for money. Their chief secretary, Joan Holloway (played by Christina Hendricks), even sells her body for a one night (actually, it was a one evening) stand to get a partnership in the agency and sway a voting client to give the agency a new account. And the agency itself takes on a car company they openly believe manufactures unreliable cars. Anything for a buck.
I know something about ad agencies. I’ve studied and written about some of the real life “Mad Men” in history. Most of the names are legends in the business (and sometimes dropped on the TV show for authenticity), but many you may never have heard of unless you go Google them: John Caples, Bruce Barton, David Ogilvy, Helen Woodward, Claude Hopkins, Rosser Reeves, and more.
These people were geniuses at writing copy and creating ads that pulled in sales. Some, like Maxwell Sackheim, created ads that were so powerful in making sales, they ran unchanged for forty years.
What I admire about the real Mad Men (and Mad Women) I studied were their creativity and sincerity. Bruce Barton, the cofounder of BBDO, and the subject of my book, The Seven Lost Secrets of Success, believed sincerity was the key to success. He turned down clients he didn’t believe in, walking away from thousands to millions of dollars.
John Caples, one of the most famous copywriters in history (he wrote the legendary 1926 ad, “They Laughed When I Sat Down At The Piano, But When I Started to Play…!”), said Barton’s secret was one word: sincerity.
I don’t see that secret practiced in the TV show.
Obviously, there is much truth to the stories and characters in the AMC series. You can read plenty of books about that era and discover many businesses practiced that sort of insincere, manipulative advertising, marketing, and selling. Some still do today. I’m not overlooking that reality. I’ve seen it first hand.
Decades ago in Houston I was in the offices of a corporation, there to write a sales letter for the company, when the president took a call and started yelling, “If you want a $#!&**!!! war, then you got it!” He then slammed down the phone. He turned to me, smiled, and continued our conversation as if nothing had happened. It was unnerving. I was seeing “Mad Men” the TV show in action.
I didn’t like it.
That’s the dark side of business; the side that repulses me.
But there’s also the bright side.
What I am pointing out is the fact that many people and businesses practice compassionate capitalism. They practice sincerity. They did then. They do now. They work hard to offer a product or service they believe in, and they market it in ethical ways. I think they should get equal time on the air.
The Internet helped me discover a more loving way of doing business decades ago. That’s when people who should be competitors of mine became affiliates, coauthors, and supporters of mine. It was refreshing to see online businesses openly share in the income, openly share credit, and openly work on deals together. I saw love in online marketing. I practice it, and teach it. I’ve written about it, too, numerous times, and in numerous books. This love based approach to business is alive and well. Not just online, of course, but everywhere — if you look.
But I rarely see that portrayed in the Mad Men series. Sometimes Don Draper will do a noble thing. Often he exhibits genius in creating or analyzing ads and concepts. Sometimes a young executive will reveal strong ethics (usually the character named Ken Cosgrove, played by Aaron Staton) in the show.
Unfortunately, more often than not, the show reveals the shadow side of business and life. If you don’t educate and enlighten yourself, the negative elements broadcast in the show may distort your view of reality; you’ll see the negative even in the positive.
That’s where I want to see a remedy.
Here’s what I suggest:
Quit watching the show. Yea, I know, I’m not going to stop either. Not with one episode left in the current season. So at least give your brain some balance and read some of the more loving business books and read about the more wholesome business characters.
Here are a few suggestions (in no particular order):
Start Something That Matters by Blake Mycoskie
The Man Who Sold America: The Amazing (but True!) Story of Albert D. Lasker and the Creation of the Advertising Century by Jeffrey L. Cruikshank and Arthur W. Schultz
The Seven Lost Secrets of Success by Joe Vitale
The King of Madison Avenue: David Ogilvy and the Making of Modern Advertising by Kenneth Roman
My Life in Advertising and Scientific Advertising by Claude Hopkins
Faith and Fortune: How Compassionate Capitalism Is Transforming American Business by Marc Gunther
Philanthrocapitalism: How Giving Can Save the World by M. Bishop
Abundance: The Future Is Better Than You Think by Peter Diamandis
Screw Business As Usual by Richard Branson
Anything You Want by Derek Sivers
The Real Mad Men: The Renegades of Madison Avenue and the Golden Age of Advertising by Andrew Cracknell
Mad Women: The Other Side of Life on Madison Avenue in the 60’s and Beyond by Jane Maas
And remember: You can be the positive example you long to see.
You may not see it on Mad Men, but you can live it.
Rather than look for inspiration, be the inspiration.
Be the hero.
Sincerely.
Ao Akua,
Joe
PS – What books have you read showing a more positive side of doing business? I’d love to know and I’m sure others would, too. Please post a comment and tell us. Thank you.
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