Making Them Believe: The 21 Principles and Lost Secrets of Dr. J. R. Brinnkley-Style Marketing

by Dan S. Kennedy

What Chip has identified as the single most important factor in Dr. Brinkley’s remarkable success—the desire to believe—is a little-understood, extremely powerful force that, when consciously and deliberately harnessed, can lift an ordinary man or women to great heights of influence, fame and fortune, and fuel the growth of a business as nothing else. Putting this force to work, as your ally should be a high priority. This force is at work in every aspect of life. What Eric Hoffer identified as ‘the true believer’ in his must-read book of that same title, is someone who arrives at a point where their desire to believe ‘x’ is so great they refuse to indulge in critical thinking about it, or to consider information or opinion in opposition to it. Devout followers of any religion refuse to objectively question it or acknowledge any of its incongruities. Victims of a financial fraud like Bernie Madoff’s ignore even the most obvious signs of something amiss—in his case, uninterrupted, consistent, above par returns. Partisan political purists and ideologues will remain committed to a course of action or to a candidate or elected leader despite abundant evidence of failure. It is sadly common for repeatedly abused wives to excuse the abuse and accept one promise after another broken promise after another broken promise from the violent husband that “it will never happen again.” Yes, there may be complex psychology at work in her staying in an abusive relationship, but a major fac...