Wolfgang....(I don't know if that's your real name or not BUT...the first "Wolfgang" I ever met was at the Mount Alyeska Ski Resort outside of Anchorage Alaska one snowy, wintery New Years Eve.

We came in for Apres Ski and started doing what was known at that time as..."zipping down minters". Which was a slang term for drinking shots of Creme de Menthe. Each person in our group would take turns buying a round of "mint zippers".

Thus...after about 8 or 10 rounds (we were also eating goodies in between toasts)...most of us were "feeling no pain". However, we were all in our mid 20's at the time and could "handle" our drinking.

Yah...sure!

Anyway...as the evening progressed in this wonderful ski lodge in Alaska on New Years Eve...I happen to notice a guy with his guitar at the microphone, singing an old German folk song.

We all stop what we're doing and listen to this guy singing. His voice was beautiful...singing these German folk songs in his native tongue.

The whole crowd was mesmerized by this guy and he could also sing American songs. THIS guy knew almost every song there was...and he kept a crowd of 250 mid-twenties yuppies entertained until about 4 in the morn.

What a wonderful FIRST experience with someone named "Wolfgang". (I can't remember what his last name was or whatever became of him...but for one evening, some 30 odd yrs ago...a guy named "Wolfgang made an indelible impression on me and my wife.

Anyway...back to the question at hand;

I was introduced to Earl Nightingale by a man named W. Clement Stone (founder of Success Magazine and United Insurance)

I hired Earl Nightingale as the "entertainment" at my company's Christmas Party in 1972 in Chicago. He was WONDERFUL! What a motivational speaker. I had my entire staff and friends (300 people) at a bash I popped for at the Conrad Hilton Hotel in Chgo.

I was making so much money with my security company (Securitronics Corp) that I bought 17 Mink Stoles (for you younger folks...MINK STOLES in the 70's was THE "IN" thingee)...and gave them to the WIVES of my top salespeople and installers.

WHAT A NIGHT "THAT" WAS! (Which is another story)

Anyway...back to the "subject at hand"; Earl Nightingale was a MASTER PSYCHOLOGIST...MASTER SPEAKER...MASTER MOTIVATOR. I don't remember how he got his MOXEY (moxey is short for "know-how") BUT...the guy could hold an audience of 300 people in the PALM OF HIS HAND.

And, yes Wolfgang...in his later years he did make a bundle "WRITING" about "marketing"...but when I met and got to know "MR" Nightingale...the guy was "for real". He could motivate a SLUG to move 10 times faster....a "thinker" to "think" 10 times faster...whatever it was...HE HAD IT!

Then, he teamed up with others and used his MOXEY of motivation and persuasion to sell millions of dollars of Tapes and Manuals.

BUT...when I met and got to know MR Nightingale.. HE was a MASTER at what he did.

ALSO...I have to say that a guy named GARY HALBERT had a marked influence on MY life.

Gary learned the HARD WAY...."HOW TO SELL AND PERSUADE PEOPLE TO BUY WHAT HE WAS SELLING"...thru the venue of "Encyclopedias"!

Where I...yours truly ALSO spent an entire summer break from studies at Northwestern Univiversity in Evanston, ILL...making BIG money by using my BRAIN instead of my BRAWN, working construction.

In my first summer at Northwestern, because I was a "jock" on an "athletic scholarship"...I TOILED at the "usual summer job for jocks"...which was CONSTRUCTION LABOR! YUK!

Sure...we made good money...and my coach, by the way...was ARA PARSEGHIAN...who went on to FAME at Notre Dame. Ara got all of us construction jobs during the summer so that, even though we were on a "Free Ride"...we STILL needed some "serious bucks" to get us thru the school year at a "spendy campus" like NU.

After my first summer, I discovered there were BETTER ways of making money in a short time. The way "I" found was thru selling 2 sets of encyclopedias a DAY.

Thus...from my early days...I was an "entroopeneer".

Now... back to the question at hand;
YES! Gary Halbert DID make money selling "information" products to ME and thousands of others BUT...only because he had something WORTHWHILE TO BUY!

I...and many thousands of others were willing, in 1986, to send Gary whatever it was for a subscription to HIS newsletter. WHY? Because WE could "sense" that HE...Sir Gary of Halbert had SOMETHING WE WANTED! HE was and still is a, MASTER wordsmith.

Using ONE technique in his NL of 1986 or 87 I was able to FOCUS on MY method of "Remote Marketing".

Via Gary Halbert's Newsletter I was able to clearly understand, and gather the CONFIDENCE to explore OTHER methods of reaching my "target markets"...OTHER THAN thru Direct Contact. (Also known as Person-To-Person sales)

And so...since 1987...due to Gary Halbert's WRITINGS in 1986 thru 1990...I have made a small fortune WITHOUT a bunch of employees.

Now...you should ALSO take a look at someone named JOE SUGARMAN!

Go to Amazon.com and punch in the name "Joe Sugarman" and BUY EVERYTHING LISTED!

WHY? Because Joe is the REAL THING!

And, YES...Wolfgang...Sugarman and many others like him...NOW sell stuff about HOW to do something BUT...what THEY sell is base on ACTUAL experience...under BATTLEFIELD conditions!

GRAB IT! SOAK IT UP! So that SUBCONSCIOUSLY you could...yourself...offer something that will be "remembered" by our society...like these others have done.

Hey! I am going on long here BUT...I felt somewhat "inspired" this eve...just before New Years in 2001...to TRY and offer some TIDBITS of info that could help you or someone reading this to motivate yourself into TAKING A CHANCE!...STICKING YOUR NECK OUT!...GOING FOR THE GUSTO!

Thanks for reading....I hope ONE person may have gotten something from this.

Don Alm

> Can someone name a person who got wealthy by
> applying the principle of self-improvement
> to something other than publishing in the
> area of self-improvement? What I mean is: Is
> there any exponent of a self-improvement
> philosophy who became wealthy through
> something other than a publication success?

> It's not Napoleon Hill, who got his
> financial breakthrough with "Think and
> Grow Rich"; it's Earl Nightingale, who
> did it with "The Strangest Secret"
> and his radio shows (with lots of commercial
> advertising income) and so on. Of course,
> once they had a bestseller, they continued
> making money building on their publicity and
> reputation.

> I like what I hear from people like
> Nightingale or Hill, but is it for real?

> Can you name somebody who made a fortune by
> applying the "commonly touted
> self-improvement principles", but who
> made a fortune in some area other than
> publication/publicity -- say by building a
> multi-million dollar manufacturing company.

> I understand the catch of the situation,
> that those busy applying the principles of
> self-improvement may not have the time or
> inclination to waste time writing and
> publishing about them, and I'm looking
> forward to your insights.

> Wolfgang




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