P.T. Barnum Got a Bum Rap For This…

I once met with a businessman who wanted my help to grow his financial planning business.

I passed…

…not just because his services seemed shady…

…but also (and primarily) because he kept referring to his prospects and customers as “suckers.”

P.T. Barnum often gets the credit (or the rap?) for saying, “There’s a sucker born every minute.”

That’s a shame for Barnum because there’s no evidence he actually said that, and there’s tons of evidence he didn’t believe that.

The quote unfairly associates Barnum with the liars and cheaters who like to build businesses on the back of “suckers.”

Yes, Barnum was a showman and master promoter. (He launched “The Greatest Show on Earth” on this day in 1873).

But for Barnum, advertising was NOT a way to find suckers and fool them.

Advertising was a way to “let the fact be known…” that you have a “good article for sale.”

Note that phrase “good article.”

In his book, “The Art of Money-Getting,” Barnum says, “You may advertise a spurious article, and induce many people to call and buy it once, but they will denounce you as an impostor and swindler, and your business will gradually die out and leave you poor.”

Amen, P.T. Barnum.

He continues…

…if you have a good and genuine article for sale, you must advertise relentlessly.

“…advertising is like learning⁠—‘a little is a dangerous thing!’” Barnum writes. “So a man who advertises at all must keep it up until the public know who and what he is, and what his business is.”

Why am I sharing this?

Because I suspect you don’t want to be associated with the liars and cheaters who like to build businesses on the back of “suckers.”

For every businessperson I meet who chase “suckers,” I meet countless others who offer “genuine” products and services…

…but fear they come off as hucksters and pests if they market too much.

Do as Barnum says, and you’ll be fine.

Promote your product/service honestly. Do so regularly.

When you do this, you offer prospects something that will help them. You reach out your hand and lead them forward.

This isn’t something to be ashamed of. This is something to celebrate.

All of this reminds me of The Story Power Profit Pack (Pointer #30) in which I say you don’t have to trick prospects and treat prospects like suckers to sell:

“You don’t have to trick people into consuming your content… When you trick a prospect to engage, it often burns you in the end. You eventually end up with an angry ex-prospect who has discovered the truth or a customer who’s a bad fit and will be more trouble than they’re worth.”

Speaking of the Profit Pack…

It’s the most popular of my genuine products. It contains 52 strategies, tips, and tactics to transform your content from ignored to adored…

…and you can get it here.