Thanks for the thourough feedback. And yes, the name is real. Wolfgang is quite a common name in the German speaking countries, particularly Austria (as in the famous Austrian Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart), Germany and Switzerland.

Cheers, and Happy New Year.

Wolfgang

> 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