Posted by: Daniel Levis
March 18, 2009
Issue #632

A True American Hero …

Dear Web Business-Builder:

Last week I said people should stop whining about the economy and start taking responsibility for their own financial destiny. I said the industrialized nations have become soft … and that the creative destruction we’re seeing right now in the economy is just what the doctor ordered to rekindle the spirit of self-determination and self-reliance that made America and other capitalist nations great. A few readers got upset with my hard-line stance … saying I was “a tool” for looking for highly motivated workers offshore … that I somehow owe my success to minimum wage laws … and that I should move to India. Fair enough. Everyone’s entitled to their opinion.

• Maybe it is heartless of me to expect those without an education or easy access to a high speed Internet connection to be self-responsible, self-reliant members of society …
• Maybe it is unrealistic to expect salaried and hourly employees to adapt to the times and become entrepreneurs … and compete eagerly in an open, global marketplace …
• Maybe the government really should spend untold trillions to wrap its loving arms around the unemployed … soon to be unemployed … and financially distressed with corporate bailouts and retraining programs and an expanded social safety net.

Do you think that would help?

Do any of these things encourage people to be self-sufficient, resourceful and industrious? They don’t. Big governments, big unions, and big corporations that insulate people from self-responsibility are a cancer that is killing free enterprise and the capitalist ideal. If you think a happy, prosperous and productive life hinges on the so-called “advantages” these bloated, blood-sucking institutions promise … consider this inspiring story from the Great Depression …

A young George Haylings arrived in Sacramento California during the ‘dirty thirties’ …

Unable to find work, he soon ran out of cash and could no longer afford gas for his car or a decent place to sleep.

So he sold his car for $200, bought himself a canvas tent, and settled into a shanty town on the banks of the American River.

Conditions were deplorable …

Many slept on the ground in make-shift shacks made of box wood, cardboard, and perhaps a few scraps of tin.

The perimeter of the muddy tent city served as a public washroom. People washed their clothes and bathed as best they could in the river. And the edges of the walkways between tents and shacks were littered with trash and rotting garbage.

Fights often broke at night around the campfires … one resident accusing another of stealing food or a piece of their home for firewood.

During the day the dispossessed would trudge out into the regular world to panhandle or try and find work picking fruit or selling apples on the sidewalk.

The physical hardship was nothing compared to the mental anguish and shame.

But George would have no part of it …

Instead of feeling sorry for himself and mindlessly doing what everybody else was doing, he raided the local library and stumbled upon the idea of selling little booklets that he could compile on a mechanical typewriter in the flickering lamp light of his tent.

Before long he had spun such titles as:

“1,082 Odd and Unusual Ways People Turn Trash into Cash”

“125 Ways to Make Money with Your Typewriter”

“Profitunities: A Most Unusual Book”

“101 Unusual Ways Housewives Make Extra Money”

And the seedlings for what would become his tour de force, “Home Work for the Rest of My Life,” were born.

With a little help from his Aunt Emily in England — who would send him her love and encouragement and the odd pound note — George was soon able to scrape up enough money to test his fledgling info-business.

He placed a few classified ads in a couple of carefully selected publications to generate inquiries, which he then followed-up by direct mail. And orders came in.

Before long, he had pyramided his profits to $100 a week — a tidy income in those days — and right in the middle of the great depression!

And very soon after, he was able to move out of the tent city.

His business grew like wildfire, and eventually George bought a fine home near Big Bear Lake in the Northern California Mountains, where he lived happily for the rest of life.  

Even more importantly, he inspired hundreds, perhaps thousands of people who bought his little booklets to become self-sufficient.

That’s why in my book, George Haylings is a true American hero.

And I’m not alone in feeling this way …

“A Lifetime of Home Work” sells to this day for upwards of $100 a crack! That’s if you’re lucky enough to find a copy.

Did the government tell George Haylings to start selling booklets by mail order from the comfort and privacy of his tent? Was there anything stopping his fellow residents in the tent city commons from doing something similarly resourceful? Is there anything stopping the people who are once again pitching tents along the banks of the American River today from doing so?

As a matter of fact there is …

It’s called conventional wisdom — believing something is true just because everybody else believes it to be true.

Beliefs make great servants, but terrible masters …

Here are just a few of the limiting beliefs that are keeping these unfortunate souls trapped:

Limiting belief number #1 — it’s the government’s responsibility to educate me.

Go to school. Train for one of the career paths laid out for you by your government. And everything will turn out all right. People have been brainwashed into believing that some outside authority has to give them permission to actively contribute to the economy, within some pre-ordained organizational structure. And when those organizational structures break down to make room for new ones — as they inevitably do — these people have no idea how to survive. Not that I don’t believe in education. I do — especially self-education. It’s just that the government sponsored kind can be very dangerous to your mindset — and ultimately your wealth.

When you buy into this false belief, it naturally leads to:

Limiting belief number #2 — it’s the government’s responsibility to make sure I have a job to go to. When the economy changes dramatically, making certain jobs and even whole industries temporarily unnecessary, or even obsolete, people look to the government for answers. Thinking creatively about how they can capitalize personally on the change doesn’t even occur to them.

Governments come to the rescue with ridiculous bailouts and financial aid and retraining programs and the people become even more dependent. It’s a recipe for disaster that breeds a weak, needy populace and ultimately a frail, sick and fragile society.

Positive change requires resourceful individuals
with the courage to take massive, proactive
independent action and calculated risks!

Chances are you are now living in a warm, dry, well-lit abode with excellent plumbing and a watertight roof.  And if you’re reading this, I can only assume you have a computer and access to the Internet. You should also know that the two-step marketing strategies Haylings employed back in the ‘dirty thirties’ pyramid just as well online today as they did in print back then. 

So if you’re worried about your own financial future … maybe now is the time to take this little story to heart.

Until next time, Good Selling!

Daniel Levis
Editor, The Web Marketing Advisor
THE TOTAL PACKAGE

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