The #1 Key To Attracting Money

My beautiful wife Michele just returned home after two days in the hospital, undergoing a battery of tests that resulted in a diagnosis of “just a pulled muscle” in her chest, instead of what could have, of course, been a much more serious situation.

I rescheduled a full day of client consultation calls yesterday and stayed by her side as she went through numerous tests and examinations by a parade of doctors and nurses before being pronounced fit enough to head home.

Thanks in large part to recently completing a speed reading course from the Guinness Book of World Records “World’s Fastest Reader”, I was able to read three books and over a dozen magazines yesterday. As you can imagine, my brain was swimming with possible topics for today’s article!

But out of those 1,000+ pages of information, ONE paragraph stood out above all the others. It was about the #1 most significant key to multiple billions of dollars in revenue collected by one man, and something I have taught hundreds of entrepreneurs exactly how to do for themselves and used to build multiple multi-million dollar business for myself and my clients.

This small business marketing gem happened to be safely tucked away in the middle of an article in, of all places, Sports Illustrated. I was interested in their feature article from a few weeks ago about the beleaguered owner of my beloved-but-pathetic New York Mets (yes, I’m originally from New York, and I’m as loyal as they come, so I’ve stuck with “my team” no matter where I’ve lived or worked).

Fred Wilpon is in danger of losing control over the team he has owned for over 31 years (the article said he is the longest-tenured owner in all of Major League Baseball), because he is being sued for one billion dollars (yes, that’s with a “b”) on behalf of victims of the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme. Wilpon has admitted to horribly poor judgment for building a close friendship with Madoff and opening nearly 500 accounts between him, his partners and his family to take advantage of the too-good-to-be-true returns Madoff consistently delivered – but he denies any inkling that the whole thing was an illegal scam.

So, what was that one key paragraph?

Tucked away deep within the approximately 6,000-word article about Wilpon’s lifetime love of baseball, from his days as a young kid growing up as a Brooklyn Dodgers fan to being the star pitcher on his high school team (while Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax played first base!), to eventually becoming owner of the New York Mets, was part of one all-important paragraph containing a huge lesson that all entrepreneurs can use to revolutionize their own marketing and income:

Madoff carried himself with an unassuming bearing, more kindly patrician than Wall Street hustler. He wore dark, crisp suits and owned more than 250 pairs of expensive designer shoes made in Italy, France, Belgium and England. It was the perfect look to engender trust. “He was extremely successful, but he was very low-key and never pushed anything,” Wilpon says. ‘He never said, ‘Give me more of your money.’ Never. He apparently, in retrospect, used that persona as a marketing tool, to attract people. Because that did attract people.”

Did you catch the lesson? It has two parts:

1. I’m not saying that everyone needs to go out and spend millions of dollars on expensive suits and shoes, but we can all benefit from a look that engenders trust. “Casual Fridays” and “dressing to match my prospects” are all-too-common causes for untold amounts in lost revenue.
2. According to Wilpon, Madoff never tried to sell or convince or push anyone into doing business with him. In fact, his approach was exactly the opposite: He made people jump through hoops just for the privilege of giving him their hard-earned money.

Now, I am absolutely by no means suggesting that anyone should ever intentionally defraud anyone. In fact, the exact opposite is true. It is a requirement of anyone seeking membership in my group “Chicagoland’s Sharpest Entrepreneurs” or to become a client of mine that they provide an outstanding product or service. However, that in and of itself is not nearly enough to ensure that a company even stays in business, let alone creates wealth for its owner.

For that, the marketing is a much more important factor than the quality of the product or service.

I have taught hundreds of small business owners and sales professionals the art of “attraction marketing” that puts an end once and for all to cold calling, rejection, price objections and the worry and stress of not knowing where your next client, customer or patient is coming from. I’ve used it very successfully for myself and my clients for years – in all kinds of businesses.

Unfortunately, only a very small percentage of people invest the time and effort into learning and doing it correctly.
A despicable criminal used it to attract billions of dollars for his illegal, unethical, selfish short-term scheme.

How much more powerful could it be as a long-term strategy for you: an honest, hard-working small business owner, entrepreneur or sales professional who provides an excellent product or service?