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There's a Customer Born Every Minute: P.T. Barnum's Amazing 10 "Rings of Power" for Creating Fame, Fortune, and a Business Empire Today -- Guaranteed!
Praise for THERE'S A CUSTOMER BORN EVERY MINUTE "Joe Vitale has created an entertaining, educational, and motivational manual-with the help of P.T. Barnum-that belongs in every hotel room alongside the Bible. Then, guests might read his inspirational book first, and give thanks to God for this worthy discovery."
―Alan Abel, media hoaxer, author, consultantand lecturer on "Using Your Wits to Win" "If you're going to excel in business, learning about a showman like Barnum and applying some of the lessons he taught can give you valuable insights. Joe Vitale has captured ten of these lessons (he calls them 'rings of power') and shows how you can apply them in a way that will open your eyes and stretch your imagination. There's a lot of money-making and fun wisdom here."
―Joseph Sugarman, Chairman, BluBlocker Corporation "Finally someone does it!!! Joe Vitale reveals the REAL P.T. Barnum! Vitale highlights the outrageously astute marketing of Barnum. Barnum's driving belief certainly was that there IS a customer 'born' every minute. You will glean a number of useful 'new' marketing ideas that you can instantly use in your business. And you will learn about one of the savviest marketers of a time gone by. Fun, exciting, insightful, and packed with ideas! Genius!"
―Kevin Hogan, author of The Science of Influence and The Psychology of Persuasion "I love this book. If you'd like to know the real story about one of the most fascinating characters in American history, told by a master storyteller (and the person who probably knows more about him than anyone else), read this book. Barnum is not the guy portrayed by the legend attached to his name. He is much, much more, and Vitale tells his story with the can't-put-it-down passion and excitement he's become so well known for."
―Bill Harris, President, Centerpointe Research Institute
―Alan Abel, media hoaxer, author, consultantand lecturer on "Using Your Wits to Win" "If you're going to excel in business, learning about a showman like Barnum and applying some of the lessons he taught can give you valuable insights. Joe Vitale has captured ten of these lessons (he calls them 'rings of power') and shows how you can apply them in a way that will open your eyes and stretch your imagination. There's a lot of money-making and fun wisdom here."
―Joseph Sugarman, Chairman, BluBlocker Corporation "Finally someone does it!!! Joe Vitale reveals the REAL P.T. Barnum! Vitale highlights the outrageously astute marketing of Barnum. Barnum's driving belief certainly was that there IS a customer 'born' every minute. You will glean a number of useful 'new' marketing ideas that you can instantly use in your business. And you will learn about one of the savviest marketers of a time gone by. Fun, exciting, insightful, and packed with ideas! Genius!"
―Kevin Hogan, author of The Science of Influence and The Psychology of Persuasion "I love this book. If you'd like to know the real story about one of the most fascinating characters in American history, told by a master storyteller (and the person who probably knows more about him than anyone else), read this book. Barnum is not the guy portrayed by the legend attached to his name. He is much, much more, and Vitale tells his story with the can't-put-it-down passion and excitement he's become so well known for."
―Bill Harris, President, Centerpointe Research Institute
- GenresBusiness
272 pages, Hardcover
Published April 14, 2006
About the author
Joe Vitale
274 books321 followersDr. Joe Vitale is the author of far too many books to mention here. Here are just a few of them:
He wrote the bestseller, The Attractor Factor: 5 Easy Steps for Creating Wealth (or anything else) from the inside out. It became a #1 bestseller twice, even beating the latest Harry Potter book.
He also wrote the #1 bestseller.Lifes Missing Instruction Manual: The Guidebook You Should Have Been Given at Birth.
Besides all of his books, Joe also recorded the #1 best-selling Nightingale-Conant audioprogram, The Power of Outrageous Marketing.
Joes marketing methods have made people millionaires. Hes been involved with every aspect of marketing, from traditional direct mail to publicity to infomercials.
Hes being called The Buddha of the Internet and, after his huge weight loss, The Charles Atlas of the Internet. Joe is looking for his first GRAND Champion in his 2006 2007 fitness contest. If you want a marketing champion to train you and market your business sign up at: www.yourbusinessbody.com
Joe is also one of the stars in the hit movie The Secret (www.whatisthesecret.tv ). He was recently seen on Larry King Live on November 16, 2006 and March 8, 2007. On March 6, 2007, Joe was interviewed on ExtraTV to talk about Hollywood's Latest Craze: 'The Secret' He was also featured in Newsweeks March 5, 2007 issue, story titled: Decoding The Secret.
Dr. Vitale discovered that there is a "missing secret" to success. He's created several ways to do just that, from his new Miracles Coaching program (www.MiraclesCoaching.com), to the incredible method explained in his next book, Zero Limits (coming soon in July, 2007).
For access of Dr. Vitales marketing expertise, sign up for his complimentary newsletter News You Can Use! at his main website at www.mrfire.com
Be sure to visit his blog at: http://www.mrfire.blogspot.com/
He wrote the bestseller, The Attractor Factor: 5 Easy Steps for Creating Wealth (or anything else) from the inside out. It became a #1 bestseller twice, even beating the latest Harry Potter book.
He also wrote the #1 bestseller.Lifes Missing Instruction Manual: The Guidebook You Should Have Been Given at Birth.
Besides all of his books, Joe also recorded the #1 best-selling Nightingale-Conant audioprogram, The Power of Outrageous Marketing.
Joes marketing methods have made people millionaires. Hes been involved with every aspect of marketing, from traditional direct mail to publicity to infomercials.
Hes being called The Buddha of the Internet and, after his huge weight loss, The Charles Atlas of the Internet. Joe is looking for his first GRAND Champion in his 2006 2007 fitness contest. If you want a marketing champion to train you and market your business sign up at: www.yourbusinessbody.com
Joe is also one of the stars in the hit movie The Secret (www.whatisthesecret.tv ). He was recently seen on Larry King Live on November 16, 2006 and March 8, 2007. On March 6, 2007, Joe was interviewed on ExtraTV to talk about Hollywood's Latest Craze: 'The Secret' He was also featured in Newsweeks March 5, 2007 issue, story titled: Decoding The Secret.
Dr. Vitale discovered that there is a "missing secret" to success. He's created several ways to do just that, from his new Miracles Coaching program (www.MiraclesCoaching.com), to the incredible method explained in his next book, Zero Limits (coming soon in July, 2007).
For access of Dr. Vitales marketing expertise, sign up for his complimentary newsletter News You Can Use! at his main website at www.mrfire.com
Be sure to visit his blog at: http://www.mrfire.blogspot.com/
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
January 10, 2025
Let’s get a few things clear right at the start:
1. There’s no evidence that Barnum ever said “there’s a sucker born every minute”—but there IS evidence that one of his competitors said it about Barnum’s customers.
2. While Vitale makes a case that Barnum acted within an ethical framework based on deep religious faith, I personally have a problem with one aspect of Barnum’s ethics (more about this in a moment).
3. I find the hypey subtitle a big turnoff. But because of the cover design, I didn’t even notice it had a subtitle until I sat down to write this review, despite seeing the cover daily for the roughly three weeks it took me to read the book.
4. Full disclosure: Joe Vitale is an acquaintance and has been helpful in my career.
About number 2: Barnum repeatedly created promotions that deliberately misled people into attending his shows. While the material often contained disclaimers, the focus was on undermining the prospect’s rational incredulity and replacing it with irrational credulity (examples on pages 27, 32, 89, 93, and 134-135). That’s not how I run my business and I hope it’s not how you run yours. Barnum rationalized it by saying (probably correctly in 99% of all cases) that he always gave people more than their money’s worth and did not encounter disgruntled customers. But still, while he delivered value, he made deceptive promises about the “marvels” visitors would experience and then delivered value on the 850,000 (p. 64) much-less-promoted museum items.
Notice how Barnum’s copy here includes several qualifiers and prevarications, but buries them in the emotional triggers of hype while turning scientific doubt into controversy—which always sells (combining the quote from p. 108 with a version in The Independent that starts a few lines earlier but omits the 45 words beginning “and its natural existence”):
“Engaged for a short time, the animal (regarding which there has been so much dispute in the scientific world) called the Fejee Mermaid! Positively asserted by its owner to have been taken alive in the Fejee Islands, and implicitly believed by many scientific persons, while it is pronounced by other scientific persons to be an artificial production, and its natural existence claimed by them to be an utter impossibility. The manager can only say that it possesses as much appearance of reality as any fish lying on the stalls of our fish markets—but who is to decide when doctors disagree? At all events, whether this production is the work of nature or art, it is decidedly the most stupendous curiosity ever submitted to the public for inspection. If it is artificial, the senses of sight and touch are useless, for art has rendered them totally ineffectual. If it is natural, then all concur in declaring it THE GREATEST CURIOSITY IN THE WORLD.”
Look at all the “modern” copywriting tricks squeezed into that paragraph: Time limit, controversy, authority (scientists, doctors and the unidentified manager), exoticism, appeal to multiple senses, superlatives—and curiosity.
Yet Barnum himself says, “Anything spurious will not succeed permanently…[customers] will denounce you as an imposter and a swindler” (p. 210). I guess he felt that his use of weasel words and his delivery of entertainment value were enough to keep him out of that despised category.
Still, this book is worth your time. Vitale does a great job of illuminating Barnum’s core principles (pp. 19-25): 1) Choose a business that brings you joy; 2) keep your word; 3) be all-in; 4) avoid alcohol and drugs; 5) “let hope predominate, but be not too visionary”; 6) focus on just one kind of business; 7) hire well—and fire when you hired poorly; 8) commit to substantial marketing; 9) stay frugal/avoid vanity and extravagance; 10) rely on your own efforts—”be the architect of [your] own fortune.”
Despite #10, Barnum bet heavily on joint ventures. He took risks on unknown performers, made them superstars, paid them well—often a percentage of the gate—and engendered deep loyalty from these partners. He was also extraordinarily adept at marketing, using both paid ads and media publicity extensively. And his fans really did feel like they’d gotten more than their money’s worth, because he believed “the noblest art is that of making others happy” (p. 65).
Barnum is also a model for thriving despite tragedy. His life was a continuous exercise in resilience (pp. 43-44, 141-153) as his uninsured museum was destroyed twice by fire, his mansion burned down, he went bankrupt, he was briefly jailed, and even faced a lynch mob ready to hang him—not to mention the devastating deaths of multiple loved ones. But he always bounced back.
I also admire the way Vitale frequently shows how Barnum’s acumen can be applied in the modern world, as well as the historical continuity of Barnumesque techniques through PR geniuses like Edward Bernays in the 1930s (p. 75) and Paul Hartunian in the 1980s (p. 130).
So yes, get your hands on a copy—but go in with your eyes and ears open to the story behind the story.
1. There’s no evidence that Barnum ever said “there’s a sucker born every minute”—but there IS evidence that one of his competitors said it about Barnum’s customers.
2. While Vitale makes a case that Barnum acted within an ethical framework based on deep religious faith, I personally have a problem with one aspect of Barnum’s ethics (more about this in a moment).
3. I find the hypey subtitle a big turnoff. But because of the cover design, I didn’t even notice it had a subtitle until I sat down to write this review, despite seeing the cover daily for the roughly three weeks it took me to read the book.
4. Full disclosure: Joe Vitale is an acquaintance and has been helpful in my career.
About number 2: Barnum repeatedly created promotions that deliberately misled people into attending his shows. While the material often contained disclaimers, the focus was on undermining the prospect’s rational incredulity and replacing it with irrational credulity (examples on pages 27, 32, 89, 93, and 134-135). That’s not how I run my business and I hope it’s not how you run yours. Barnum rationalized it by saying (probably correctly in 99% of all cases) that he always gave people more than their money’s worth and did not encounter disgruntled customers. But still, while he delivered value, he made deceptive promises about the “marvels” visitors would experience and then delivered value on the 850,000 (p. 64) much-less-promoted museum items.
Notice how Barnum’s copy here includes several qualifiers and prevarications, but buries them in the emotional triggers of hype while turning scientific doubt into controversy—which always sells (combining the quote from p. 108 with a version in The Independent that starts a few lines earlier but omits the 45 words beginning “and its natural existence”):
“Engaged for a short time, the animal (regarding which there has been so much dispute in the scientific world) called the Fejee Mermaid! Positively asserted by its owner to have been taken alive in the Fejee Islands, and implicitly believed by many scientific persons, while it is pronounced by other scientific persons to be an artificial production, and its natural existence claimed by them to be an utter impossibility. The manager can only say that it possesses as much appearance of reality as any fish lying on the stalls of our fish markets—but who is to decide when doctors disagree? At all events, whether this production is the work of nature or art, it is decidedly the most stupendous curiosity ever submitted to the public for inspection. If it is artificial, the senses of sight and touch are useless, for art has rendered them totally ineffectual. If it is natural, then all concur in declaring it THE GREATEST CURIOSITY IN THE WORLD.”
Look at all the “modern” copywriting tricks squeezed into that paragraph: Time limit, controversy, authority (scientists, doctors and the unidentified manager), exoticism, appeal to multiple senses, superlatives—and curiosity.
Yet Barnum himself says, “Anything spurious will not succeed permanently…[customers] will denounce you as an imposter and a swindler” (p. 210). I guess he felt that his use of weasel words and his delivery of entertainment value were enough to keep him out of that despised category.
Still, this book is worth your time. Vitale does a great job of illuminating Barnum’s core principles (pp. 19-25): 1) Choose a business that brings you joy; 2) keep your word; 3) be all-in; 4) avoid alcohol and drugs; 5) “let hope predominate, but be not too visionary”; 6) focus on just one kind of business; 7) hire well—and fire when you hired poorly; 8) commit to substantial marketing; 9) stay frugal/avoid vanity and extravagance; 10) rely on your own efforts—”be the architect of [your] own fortune.”
Despite #10, Barnum bet heavily on joint ventures. He took risks on unknown performers, made them superstars, paid them well—often a percentage of the gate—and engendered deep loyalty from these partners. He was also extraordinarily adept at marketing, using both paid ads and media publicity extensively. And his fans really did feel like they’d gotten more than their money’s worth, because he believed “the noblest art is that of making others happy” (p. 65).
Barnum is also a model for thriving despite tragedy. His life was a continuous exercise in resilience (pp. 43-44, 141-153) as his uninsured museum was destroyed twice by fire, his mansion burned down, he went bankrupt, he was briefly jailed, and even faced a lynch mob ready to hang him—not to mention the devastating deaths of multiple loved ones. But he always bounced back.
I also admire the way Vitale frequently shows how Barnum’s acumen can be applied in the modern world, as well as the historical continuity of Barnumesque techniques through PR geniuses like Edward Bernays in the 1930s (p. 75) and Paul Hartunian in the 1980s (p. 130).
So yes, get your hands on a copy—but go in with your eyes and ears open to the story behind the story.
July 9, 2018
This book surprised and delighted me. I had judged (poorly) that this would be a trite little book regurgitating some history facts from other better works on Barnum. Boy was I wrong! Vitale did a massive amount of research (probably more than necessary) to most accurately represent Barnum and added his own experience and wisdom to give modern examples of the timeless principles that Barnum established in the 19th century. Even more amazing, Barnum himself was much more accomplished and much more fantastic than even his mythos would imply. Translation: the Real Barnum was more amazing than he is portrayed in the movies. He revolutionized the advertising, marketing, and Entertainment Business (in some cases he CREATED parts of these industries or methods) and forever changed our world... and I would argue, for the better.
August 8, 2017
Shortcut to Barnum's autobiography. Gets a bit boring, but can be used well as inspiration.
October 5, 2026
P.T. Barnum, one of my favorite marketers, on how outrageous you can be to grab attention.
November 28, 2021
While the books tips about marketing weren’t seemingly that groundbreaking or fresh - especially to a an individual very versed in the field, the insights on the other hand into P.T Barnums life and his genius were inspiring reading - clearly a pioneer and original ahead of his time back in the day- his wisdom is golden beyond just marketing/ promotion, but also great gold nuggets of advice in other aspects of life too which show why he was a true success in various aspects of his life.
To Our Continued Success!
Seemy
Waseem.tv/Blog
👆🏼 P.S -
If you found this review helpful - I’d like to invite you to discover more on our blog. Where the community share some of our most important insights to level up each others knowledge 💡- from experience in studying books like this, training programs, podcasts and much more - visit the blog link above to find out more.
P.P.S 😅 - You probably noticed from my profile that I’ve reviewed a LOT of books over the years now - if you love seeking knowledge like me I’d love to connect with you further as a like minded person (send me a friend invite! 😀) - Also if you are curious - here is my preferred and recommended resource for seeking timeless wisdom - Check it out via the website invite link below 👇🏼 (You’ll be able to claim some awesome books for free 📚)
https://Waseem.tv/GoodReadsBookInvite
To Our Continued Success!
Seemy
Waseem.tv/Blog
👆🏼 P.S -
If you found this review helpful - I’d like to invite you to discover more on our blog. Where the community share some of our most important insights to level up each others knowledge 💡- from experience in studying books like this, training programs, podcasts and much more - visit the blog link above to find out more.
P.P.S 😅 - You probably noticed from my profile that I’ve reviewed a LOT of books over the years now - if you love seeking knowledge like me I’d love to connect with you further as a like minded person (send me a friend invite! 😀) - Also if you are curious - here is my preferred and recommended resource for seeking timeless wisdom - Check it out via the website invite link below 👇🏼 (You’ll be able to claim some awesome books for free 📚)
https://Waseem.tv/GoodReadsBookInvite
May 15, 2010
On March 18, 2010, I posted on FaceBook, and on harrythelibrarian.blogspot.com, “Harry’s Invocation For Brockton Rotary.” The key sentence was, “The most powerful four words, the shortest prayer and most challenging statement of faith, the crux of the Lord’s Prayer, for me, is ‘Thy Will Be Done.’” Imagine my delight, reading Vitale’s inspirational paean to Barnum, with his description on page 146 of finding Barnum’s “tiny, unadorned headstone… And on the front of it, still legible after over 100 years, was the phrase Barnum loved: “Not my will, but thine, be done.” This is another book that I put aside, not posting because it contained so many quotes I wanted to share. This one suffices. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
August 11, 2012
Fantastic insight into a fantastic salesman, P.T. Barnum. Very useful if you want to learn how he sold ideas and the desires of his generation. What really impressed me was how he let his adversities wash through him and kept moving on with a smile. Definitely worth reading! I got my copy from the Shah Alam Public Library.
February 9, 2014
PT Barnum was a very clever guy and a serious bullshit artist. But that's OK, because it was all in the name of good fun and profit, or something :3. Overall, a great piece of research by Joe Vitale on a man who asids from being a marketing genius perhaps helped define showmanship and hyperbole.
November 4, 2015
One of my favorite books for the entire year. For someone thats into marking and promotion. Joe wips out some heavy hitter ideas pass down from Barnum. Was also a deeper look for me into who Barnum was. Definitely rereading this one several times.
January 23, 2012
classic! Enjoying this.
December 17, 2014
Tremendous insight into the life and work of P.T. Barnum. The author provides tips and ideas to help the reader develop a "Barnumesque" mindset when promoting their own products or services.
March 22, 2023
Well-researched with good marketing & biographical information and stories
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews