There's a Customer Born Every Minute: P.T. Barnum's Amazing 10 "Rings of Power" for Creating Fame, Fortune, and a Business Empire Today--Guaranteed » (Revised)

Joe Vitale is President of Hypnotic Marketing, Inc., a marketing consulting firm. His other books include The Attractor Factor, The E-Code, and Life's Missing Instruction Manual, all from Wiley. Learn more at www.mrfire.com.

Famous entrepreneur and showman P.T. Barnum is perhaps best known today for having said, "There's a sucker born every minute." But, surprisingly, Barnum never said such a thing. In fact, he believed that there was a customer born every minute, and this belief—that everyone was a potential buyer—was just one of the many solid business principles that led him to a long and successful career.

There's a Customer Born Every Minute reveals the lost wisdom of this great business pioneer. Barnum was much more than a showman; he was a dedicated businessman and entrepreneur with a razor-sharp mind. In this delightful and absorbing new edition, Joe Vitale reveals the secrets of Barnum's success and shares the ten key business practices that Barnum developed and lived by.

But this is much more than a retelling of old business wisdom. Barnum's business principles were straightforward, effective, and timeless; and now Vitale shows you how to apply and adapt those key principles to your own business. Whether you run an established company or plan to start your own entrepreneurial venture, these principles will help you achieve your goals. What worked yesterday still works today, even in the current fast-paced and highly competitive environment.

Vitale reveals Barnum's genius for making money and highlights the tactics he used throughout his career as a newspaperman, politician, entrepreneur, promoter, and finally, as a showman. Plus, this new edition includes even more rare material by and about Barnum, including advertisements, photos, letters, an in-depth interview with the man himself, and the entire text of his famous speech, "The Art of Money Getting."

Far more entertaining than the typical business book, There's a Customer Born Every Minute is both a practical resource packed with true business wisdom and a fascinating look at one of the greatest characters—and one of the greatest business minds—in American history.

Soundview Executive Book Summaries

P.T. Barnum's Greatest Sales Approach On Earth
In addition to being one of the greatest showmen and businessmen ever, P.T. Barnum is author, copywriter and marketing expert Joe Vitale's mentor from beyond. Vitale therefore takes exception to the fact that most people only know of Barnum's management of the famous circus that still bears his name, and stresses that Barnum was involved with the famed circus only during the last years of his life. It was his American Museum (audaciously purchased with no cash down and a swampy island as collateral) and his almost mythical promotion of General Tom Thumb (Charles S. Stratton) and Swedish songstress Jenny Lind that made P.T. Barnum his money and fame.

Tell Your Story to Everyone Who Will Listen
P.T. Barnum's observation that too many businesses hide their light under a bushel resonates profoundly with Vitale's experience as a marketer and copywriter. Barnum's simple and direct approach to communicating value to potential customers remains as true today as it did in his time. The master showman knew that if potential customers don't know what you have to offer, they aren't going to buy it.

Beneath the gutsy tales of bold promotions, anecdotes about wild animals and crazy contests (or the story of how Barnum was nearly hanged) the book presents simple, applicable advice. Find a business you love, promote it like crazy then give paying customers more than they expect. According to Barnum (and Vitale), it's an approach that cannot fail.

Barnum's 10 Rings of Power
Vitale also holds Barnum up as a man who understood the power of positive thinking decades before it was a pop psychology phenomenon. He was a man who endured tremendous personal and business tragedies (he went bankrupt twice), but had the attitude and strength of character to persevere and build immediately upon (at one point literally) the ashes of his defeat. Vitale draws out 10 points or "Rings of Power" that originate in the personal beliefs Barnum held on the subject of success in business. According to Vitale,

Barnum's actions and writing attest that:

1. He believed there was a customer born every minute (not a sucker as the common saying would have us believe). Barnum went against the grain of our current "targeting" approaches, believing that the more people who know about your offer, the larger the pool of potential customers.
2. He believed in using skyrockets. He was the king of dreaming up audacious ways to grab attention, and in doing so invented the baby contest and the beauty contest.
3. He believed in giving people more than their money's worth. A quality as irresistible now as it was then.
4. He fearlessly believed in the power of printer's ink. Barnum understood the power of information. He believed that customers will listen to any story if it is sufficiently entertaining.
5. He believed in persistently advertising. Barnum understood that hit-and-miss advertising doesn't work, but a consistent message, told over and over, hits its mark.
6. He believed in helping people get results (what goes around comes around). Barnum was building strategic alliances with complementary businesses long before the term came into being.
7. He believed in negotiating creatively, treating employees and performers with respect. Fairness, respect and treating people as you would wish to be treated goes a long way now as it did in his time.
8. He believed all was well. He knew the energy expelled in being bitter over losses could be better channeled into overcoming adversity.
9. He believed in the power of the written word.
10. He believed in the power of speaking. Barnum knew that people pay attention to experts.

Success in Life Is Everything
Perhaps one of the most useful and memorable sections of the book is a reprint of The Art of Money Getting, penned by Barnum himself. In addition to containing the origins of the salient business practices echoed in Vitale's 10 Rings, Barnum's wonderfully homespun advice included warnings to not spend more than you make, not to drink or smoke, and to seek out simple pleasures.

Why We Like This Book
Success stories are irresistible. So are unique characters. Vitale has given us plenty of both in this wonderfully personal, yet extremely relevant and applicable guide for anyone who wants to make their business the greatest show on earth.

His advice is also a life lesson, as pertinent today as when he first imparted it. Copyright © 2006 Soundview Executive Book Summaries

Foreword Jeffrey Gitomer.

Preface: How P.T. Barnum Almost Killed Me Twice (and Why I Don’t Really Mind).

Acknowledgments.

1. Presenting . . . the Greatest Marketeer of All Time—P.T. Barnum!

2. P.T. Barnum’s Amazing 10 Rings of Power for Creating an Empire.

3. Bonus: Barnum’s Rules for Success in Business by P.T. Barnum.

4. P.T. Barnum’s Amazing Mind-Set for Success.

5. Attention! What P.T. Barnum Learned When He Was Almost Hanged.

6. Barnum Knew People Would Spend Their Last Nickel on This One Thing.

7. P.T. Barnum’s Secret for Making Unknowns Famous and Himself Rich.

8. The Shakespeare of Advertising’s Rules for Jumbo Success.

9. How an Unknown P.T. Barnum Met Queen Victoria—and Got Rich.

10. How Barnum Purchased the Business of His Dreams with No Money.

11. P.T. Barnum’s Secret for Surviving Disasters and Tragedies.

12. How P.T. Barnum Wrote His Own Ticket to Success.

13. Bonus: My Exclusive Interview with P.T. Barnum.

14. How P.T. Barnum Got Rich Right after Going Broke.

15. Bonus: The Art of Money Getting by P.T. Barnum.

16. How to Barnumize Your Business.

Epilogue: Farewell by P.T. Barnum.

Notes.

Bibliography.

Resources.

About the Author.

Index.