There’s a Customer Born Every Minute: P.T. Barnum’s Secrets to Business Success
by Joe Vitale
When many of you read the title of this book, the name P.T. Barnum more than likely came to mind immediately. This famous entrepreneur and showman is perhaps best known today for having said something very similar to this title, “There’s a sucker born every minute.” As a youngster, I was well aware of Barnum’s affiliation with the “Greatest Show On Earth,” the Barnum and Bailey Circus. My grandfather took me to see this spectacle every time it arrived within 100 miles of our home. As much as I cherished every visit to this exhibition of extravagance (give me a break—we had no cable TV or video games), I must admit I had little, if any, respect or feeling for P.T. Barnum. As I look back I’m quite certain it was due to the famed “sucker” comment that was always credited to him. It never set well with me.
Now, decades later, I learn from this book that Barnum never once uttered that statement! In actual 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.
The author of this page turner, Joe Vitale, is President of Hypnotic Marketing, Inc., a marketing consulting firm. To create this best seller, Vitale studied books about Barnum, read stacks of his letters, listened to a rare Edison recording of his voice, watched the various movies and commentaries made of his life, visited with collectors of Barnum materials, and reread his lively autobiography, titled Struggles and Triumphs, the primary source to read if you want to know about this fascinating man’s life.
Barnum created what the author calls “10 Rings of Power” for making any business into a money machine. These business principles are straightforward, very effective, and obviously timeless. Vitale shows you how to apply and adapt these key principles to your own business. It doesn’t matter if you lead an established company or plan to start your own entrepreneurial venture; what worked so successfully for Barnum can do the same for you.
In addition to the Rings of Power, this captivating read will provide you with a number of useful new marketing ideas that you can utilize immediately with fantastic outcomes. For instance:
- Learn the secret of “The King’s Magic Ring.” (It’s as relevant today as it was at the time of its creation!)
- Discover Barnum’s “Secret for Living at No-Stress Level”
- Adopt Barnum’s “Secret for Surviving Disasters and Tragedies”
- Uncover the “Three Steps to Publicity”
- Understand “What People Really Want”
- Master the “World’s Oldest Formula” (AIDA)
- Discover “Ten Easy Ways to Grab Attention”
- Become an Audacious Idea Generator
- Acquire the knowledge to “Barnumize Your Business”
(This book review was originally published in 2005 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 14.)
About Harry K. Jones
Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.