Ted Nicholas Trained Top Copywriters At His Copywriting Seminar » Heroes Copywriter Craig Garber

"Gattin Busy Down In Knoxville" by Craig Garber

biomans — Sat, 30 Sep 2006 08:33:17 +0000

And now for today's tip: Down in Knoxville, Tennessee,
(home of the newest Food City Superstore) there's a very
nice lady named Tammy Burkhart.

Tammy also happens to be a subscriber of mine, and she
recently sent me in this nice note:

"I just wanted to let you know that I absolutely love the
way you end your emails with, "now go sell something"! It
always gives me a chuckle, makes me feel like getting busy,
and also makes me feel like you are talking directly to
me!

How do you come up with endings to emails, or what qualities
can we instill in our minds to make our ezines more
personal?? I have such a hard time with this. I thought
maybe you could touch on this for us?

Thank you, I always look forward to your email…"

Thanks Tammy. I think your question is a good one and it's
probably something that loads of other people wonder about
from time-to-time.

The truth is, the number one mindset you need to have
whenever you're writing something to a "list" or to a group
of "subscribers", is that the person reading your message,
doesn't care about the rest of your list, and for the most
part, at that exact moment when they're reading or
experiencing whatever it is you have to say… they aren't
even "aware" that your correspondence is even part of any
kind of "broadcast," or what-have-you.

See, all your reader is aware of, is your message… and
themself. And that's why sales copy is so effective — it's
one of the most intimate forms of communication you'll ever
have with your prospects and customers.

After all, how else could you ever communicate with your
reader, one-on-one like this?

So the mindset you need to have, isn't that you're writing
to your "list", it's that you're writing to each one of your
list members, individually.

Make sense?

I was on a consulting call yesterday, as a matter-of-fact,
and a client was asking me about this exact same issue.

One thing I suggested is that he have a picture of his prospect
sitting right there in front of him to make his mindset and
his writing just a little more "intimate".

Hope this helps you out, and thanks again for your question.

And if you haven 't already done so, go ahead and click here right now to sign up for my FREE Tip Of The Week – it's the Number One Direct-Response Marketing And Copywriting Newsletter for independent business-owners.

“Craig Garber is America's Top Direct-Response Copywriter. You'll find hundreds of marketing tips to increase your sales, and his insanely popular FREE Direct-Response Marketing Tip Of The Week, on his website, www.KingOfCopy.com. Copyright © Craig Garber. All rights reserv

"What You Can Learn From Tom Cruise… And How It Can Explode Your Sales!" by Craig Garber

biomans — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 08:24:54 +0000

You know, Tom Cruise has been all over the television and
newspapers lately.

Yeah, he's got a big blockbuster movie out right now that
he's trying to promote (War Of The Worlds), but he's also
been getting a little "out there" going on about his newest
love, Katie Holmes, and of course — he's been in
"preacher" mode about his cult / religion, scientology.

Now whether you like this kind of stuff or not, there's a
very simple lesson you can learn from Tom Cruise, that can
make a HUGE difference in your business, and therefore in
your life.

Any idea what that lesson is?

No… it's not that you should go around getting publicity
by being a nut…

And n-o-o-o… it's not that you should profess your love
for your newest flame, shouting it out from every rooftop
in town at the top of your lungs, so we can all hear about
it, either.

It has to do with "action".

More specifically, it has to do with "taking action".

Napoleon Hill, the incredible author of "Think And Grow
Rich", once said,

"Do not wait. The time will never be "just right".
Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you
may have at your command, and better tools will be found
as you go along."

And it's true: Things happen once you're in motion.

See, regardless of whether you love Tom Cruise or whether
you think he's an a-hole, the fact of the matter is…

At least he's out there doing something!

Many people just sit around waiting… and waiting… and
waiting…

Until their timing is "just right".

And before you know it, what happens is, you wind up moving
on to another project because all that enthusiasm you once had
over your idea, is long gone, just like all the other hopes
and dreams you once had but didn't "get to".

I can't tell you how many people call me for consults -
www.kingofcopy.com/consulting – and for sales copy reviews
- www.kingofcopy.com/salescopyreview – and then tell me
"Gosh, I don't know why I waited so long to get moving on
this."

Bluntly, I don't either.

Let me tell you a somewhat embarassing story:

I didn't grow up in what you'd exactly call a… "loving
environment".

As a result, I had a lot of negative programming shoved down
my throat from an early age.

And it's taken me loads of time to reverse all that and to
sort of "re-program" myself with "good messages" instead
of "bad" ones.

Anyway, when I was a kid, my father had a favorite expression.
He used to tell me "You're no effin' good Craig."

For a while there, I used to believe him.

So I got myself in lots of trouble… and I did a lot of
negative things… and I really was sort of wandering
around aimlessly.

If I'm 100% honest about things, I didn't really "snap out"
of that mode, until I was around 30 years old.

Around that time, I made some "key" decisions, that I may
tell you about later, but for now… just know that I
started making some good strategic moves in my life, for the
very first time.

A few years later, in late 1998, I decided to go into
business for myself.

Was my timing right?

Absoluetly not.

I had a very close family member that was just recovering
from a serious illness, and that was pre-occupying a great
deal of my time, both physically and emotionally… we were
working on having another child… and lastly, it wasn't
exactly like we had a huge amount of free cash to play
with.

In fact, we had a little stash for the first time in a
while, and I was about to invest the lion's share of it
into getting my new office set up.

On top of that, mind you… this was all new to me:

After all, I was the son of a toll collector and a bank
teller… so it wasn't like I'd had years of formidable
training in running a business, and I'd certainly NEVER seen
entrepreneurial "spirit" in action before in my entire
life.

But I did it.

With my wife's support, and with both of us never even
thinking things wouldn't work out, I started my own
financial planning firm after spending time working in
the corporate world doing this for someone else.

Shortly after that, I got into direct-response, used it to
really explode my sales… and then of course… the rest
is history.

My point is not that I succeeded. And frankly, until I
stumbled across direct-response mrketing, we had a lot more
stress, anxiety and bad times, than good.

My point is, that I did… "something".

Overall, my story has a really nice ending — at least as
far as I'm concerned, but what I want you to know is that
nothing would have EVER happened if I'd waited until the
timing was "just right".

Fast forward the clock again, to just last week. My wife
and I took our younger son Casey along with our daughter,
out to our local Barnes & Noble Bookstore for a couple of
hours of reading fun.

I saw a "Comic Novel" there (that's a novel, written in the
comic-book style — very popular nowadays) by someone
called "Seth".

I absolutely loved the title. It was called…

"It's A Good Life If You Don't Weaken."

And it's an even better life, as long as you don't sit
around waiting for the "right time" to get your stuff done.

Try it, you'll immediately find out for yourself.

Have a great fourth and talk to you on Tuesday.

Now go sell something,

Craig Garber
www.KingOfCopy.com

P.S. Want to know the one secret, literally 99.9% of all
business-owners are completely missing out on? It's easy
to find out — just go here –
www.KingOfCopy.com/consulting

P.P.S. If you know someone who could benefit from this
information, then do the right thing and forward this
tip on to them, right NOW!

"Why Even the Potty's Screwed Up!" by Craig Garber

biomans — Thu, 27 Jul 2006 15:33:51 +0000

Are you giving your prospects crystal clear directions about
what you want them to do, all the time?

Is there any way, what you're saying can possibly be taken
out of context, and you wind up losing a sale as a result?

I'd double check if I were you, because here's a real-life
example about how NOT to communicate.

On our way back from New York City a few weeks ago, I
noticed this sign while I was taking my daughter to the
bathroom, on the inside of the door, and I did a
double-take.

The sign said:

'Close Door Immediately When Not In Use'

Now, do you have any idea what in the hell this means?

When is a bathroom door NOT in use?

When it's opened and swinging madly to and fro?

Or maybe when it's closed and your inside taking a stinker?

You tell me.

Sounds simple right, but most marketing is littered with
confusing directions and midleading statements throughout.

Remember, you can never ever go wrong by communicating too
clearly.

And if you have some connection to Jet Blue Airlines (a
great airline to fly, by the way), tell them to change those
signs to read,

'Keep Door Closed At ALL Times'

Because this… would make… much… more… sense!

"Some More of the 5 Ways To Give Your Prospects A Much-Needed Break!" by Craig Garber

biomans — Tue, 11 Jul 2006 08:28:01 +0000

Today I want to plow through some more of the "5 Ways To
Give Your Prospects A Much-Needed Break!"

Yesterday, we talked about using sub-headlines throughout
your sales copy, and how to leverage them to boost your
sales — taking advantage of both the "aesthetic" component
of them — and the "psychological" component of
sub-headlines as well.

Let's take a look at some more techniques you can use:

2. Use Bullets!

Listen, bullets do a LOT for your sales copy.

First of all, they give your prospects some more "eye
relief", by breaking up long-form text into shorter, and
more easily digestible "bites".

Second, they're also catching those "skimmers" — readers
who are just "skimming" through your sales pitch, trying to
dig around for all the important information they want.

And lastly, they give you a great opportunity to sort of
"summarize" certain aspects of your sales copy, in a "bottom
line", point-by-point list.

Your prospects tend to give more credibility and pay a lot
more attention to your bullets, so don't waste your words
there.

Be punchy… be direct… and make sure you're showing a ton
of benefits ("reasons to buy") in them.

3. Alternate your bullets, making one bold… and the other
not bold.

Or, alternatively, make your first sentence in each bullet
bold, and keep your second sentence "normal".

This gives your prospects even more eye relief, allowing you
to emphasize certain aspects of your text, in each bullet.

If you want to see an example of what I'm talking about,
just look at this tip, online:

www.kingofcopy.com/tips/062805_5_ways_to_give_your_prospects_a_break_2.htm

Tomorrow we'll wrap this up and move on to something else.

Now go sell something,

"Want to know a "sneaky" way to instantly generate more?" by Craig Garber

biomans — Tue, 18 Apr 2006 15:30:31 +0000

You do?

O.K., then here it is.

What you want to do, is to go out and "clone" yourself.

Create another company that's selling the exact same thing
you are, change something about your marketing or your
service or product, and then start marketing it.

For example, if you're a personal trainer, change your
marketing to target a certain niche group of people to train
("Fitness For Grandma")… or position yourself as the guy
who only works with Baby Boomers recovering from injuries.

Or maybe in this new business, you're the gal who only works
with post-partum women, and you're known for your magic
touch at whipping new
moms right back into shape.

The point is, reinventing yourself and creating another
company just makes you yet "another" player in your
marketplace.

And if you've got an abundance mindset, as opposed to a
scarcity mindset, than you already know, the population of
your prospects is infinite.

So have at 'em — they're waiting for you.

Now go sell something,

Craig Garber
www.KingOfCopy.com

P.S. Need help figuring out "how" to reinvent yourself?
Ask me here: www.KingOfCopy.com/consulting

P.P.S. If you know someone who could benefit from this
information, then do the right thing and forward this
tip on to them, right NOW!

"5 WaysTo Give Your Prospects A Much-Needed Break Part 3!" by Craig Garber

biomans — Sat, 01 Apr 2006 08:27:17 +0000

Today we're going to wrap up our discussion about these 5
critical copywriting techniques you must be using in "5 Ways
To Give Your Prospects A Much-Needed Break!"

O.K.?

Let's just go over the 3 items we've already discussed:

1. Writing compelling sub-headlines, strategically placed
throughout your sales copy!

You must use at LEAST one per written page.

2. Using compelling bullets to firmly and confidently state
or re-state the benefits of your goods or services!

3. Making sure you're alternating bold copy with the
"normal" copy in your bullets, to provide your prospects
with "eye-relief" and to emphasize the critical parts of
your sales copy!

And finally…

4. You must be writing in short sentences, made up of basic
ideas!

See, you DON'T want to be delivering more than one point at
at a time when you're talking to a prospect — because in a
sales letter, if they haven't had time to digest your first
item… and they you hit 'em up with the second item
anyway…

They're going to be confused.

And confusion, like "delay"…

Is The Death Of A Sale!

If you're prospect's confused, they'll bail on you faster
than a lawyer bails on his client as soon as he's ran out of
money!

You should even use very short sentences when you need to.

Like this!

Make sense?

5. And lastly, use short paragraphs as well.

Just think about it for a second: How annoying is it when
someone strings sentence after sentence together when
they're talking to you? Without any interruption. And
without making any kinds of pauses. Even for breathing. Or
to ask you if they're making sense? Doesn' that just drive
you nuts?

That's as irritating as nails grating across a chalk board!

By using short sentences and short paragraphs, you're making
it as easy as possible for your reader to digest what you're
saying and get on with it.

Listen, the bottom line is… if you're writing sales copy
and you don't consistently use all these little "tricks"…
you're going to end up writing… a lot MORE sales copy…
in exchange for…

A lot… less… sales!

Now go sell something,

Craig Garber
www.KingOfCopy.com

P.S. Want to find out which parts of your sales letter are
"clogging" your prospects buying cycles up and making them
"shut off" instead of ordering? It's easy — just go here
– www.KingOfCopy.com/salescopyreview

P.P.S. If you know someone who could benefit from this
information, then do the right thing and forward this
tip on to them, right NOW!

"Part 8: Craig Garber's In Search Of Heroes Interview" by Ralph Zuranski

biomans — Fri, 31 Mar 2006 07:48:28 +0000

Ralph Zuranski: Yep, you know I really believe that, that’s true. If you had three wishes in your life that would instantly come true what would they be?

Craig Garber: Well they would probably be, number 1 and 2 like you asked me before, is for people to take responsibility for themselves, love their fellow man and start accepting people.

I think that immediately people would chill out a lot. I guess end suffering from poor health — watching someone suffering — that’s got to be brutal, and emotionally agonizing. Suffering because of poor health is terrible, it’s brutal. I’ve gone through some of it myself. That would be my third wish I guess.

Ralph Zuranski: What do you think about the search for heroes program and what it’s done for kids, parents and business people?

Craig Garber: Ralph: I think it’s a great program, any time you raise awareness about children’s needs for heroes is fantastic. Getting people talking about those things is great.

Like my son yesterday, he came home from the bus, and he said kids were arguing about the war, or the presidency, and I said look, even if you guys disagree, at least you guys are talking about it, being aware about it.

Either way if you and these kids vote at least you’re getting involved in a positive decision in your life. So, raising awareness is important. Look, you’re trying to save peoples lives, especially young people, as I said before you’re the hero here, not me. You’re the one setting all this up, and making a positive approach to things. I think it’s fantastic.

Ralph Zuranski: We’ve got tell kids that they can change the paradigm that was something great once. Either they were surged on by adrenaline, or make that one act, that it’s more of a daily action, of choosing the way that you’re going to act.

As Gregory Allen Williams said ‘there’s a little bit of good in the worst of us, and there’s a little bit of bad in the best of us.’ The hardest thing about that is finding the equilibrium, I think we all suffer from that.

Craig Garber: Absolutely, absolutely.

Ralph Zuranski: What are the things that parents can do to help their children realize is that they to can make a positive impact on the lives of others?

Craig Garber: That’s a really good question, it’s something I’ve given a tremendous amount of thought to, because having three kids, and knowing all the wrong ways to raise kids I had to because I didn’t want to make those same mistakes with my kids, my own children.

I would say that, my oldest son is fifteen so I would have a bit of experience about this, so if had to sit and reflect, and say the most important thing is let your kids be kids. You only get one childhood, there’s no do-over. Okay, let them be kids. You ask a six year old, why are you doing this, I’m six.

I’ve got a five year old and a fifteen year old, and one in the middle, so believe me, I’m much more realistic of that with my five year old than I was with my fifteen year old, because you’re older and you’ve made these mistakes, so you realize these things. Don’t judge them, don’t judge your kids let them be who they are.

Some kids will not be good students, that’s okay you’ve still got to love them, that’s just the way they are. They’re not into school, are they good people that’s what’s important.

Don’t set expectations for them either, like I said before, your kids are separate individuals from you. I coached all my kids, and my daughter’s five so she’ll be starting to play sports soon.

I coached them in soccer, my wife and I actually coached, and then I coached one or two years after that. And then with my middle son in basketball for years. I see these parents and they live or die with these kids, about foul shooting. It’s almost like the kid is definitely more well received when he’s doing well, than when he’s not.

The parents hang onto their kids. I was the oddball, I could care less of what my kids do. I just wanted them to have fun. They were playing sports, not for me, I could care less of how they did. My kids are in karate, and now I know they’re red belts, but there was a time there when I was sitting in karate one time and someone asked me what belt my kids were, and I didn’t know.

It’s not that I didn’t care about my kids, it’s just that I didn’t care what ranking they were. I think one was orange, I didn’t even know. That’s not why I was there, I was there for them to have fun, and maybe something good would come out of it for their lives.

Ralph Zuranski: So you think that parents are just pushing their kids to hard, and they’re just forcing them to achieve the level of success that they never achieved in their lives?

Craig Garber: Yeah, I think they’re pushing them too hard for the wrong things. These same people that push their kids hard to score another soccer goal, or make sure they make 90% of their lay-ups. Then when the kid’s rude he doesn’t say hey, you know, why don’t you say thank you or please.

In the long run, they’re going to have a lot more easier time getting along in this world learning how to say thank you and please than learning how to make foul shots or getting lay ups in. So, I think they’re looking for things to put on the wall, and I think the mistake that most parents make are looking for tangible signs of evidence of success in your children’s life, I don’t think tangible signs of evidence measures their success.

Now, if you have seen people say ,oh that guy’s lazy, or his kids aren’t performing well, I have wall-fulls of stuff, I don’t care about that stuff though, what means a lot more to me is that when a parent comes to me down the block and says, your son Casey is so polite, all the other kids come to the house, he is such a nice kid, so nice to deal with.

That to me says that Anne and I did a pretty good job of what we’re doing with our kids. It happens with all three of our kids, and I see how they interact with others, they’re polite, they say hello, they care about other people, they don’t step on other people. They care about other kids.

Ralph Zuranski: That’s one of the reasons why I created the In search of Heroes program, is because to honor the moms and dads, and the kids that act that way. I’ve talked a lot with professional sports stars here in San Diego and some of the stars up in L.A., I’ve found that their just absolutely the worst role models possible. You see the kids taking on the same activities that the sports stars that are on steroids or have attitudes that are anything but inspirational for kids.

Craig Garber: Right, because your kids, you know, you don’t realize the role you play in their lives, they will imitate everything you do. You don’t realize this because it’s going on behind the scenes. The other thing that’s really important is that you’ve got to give your kids confidence, and the way to do that is letting them be independent, not doing everything for them.

My son’s working, one of my weekly tips was about the job that I helped him get, he’s almost fifteen, he’s been working almost a year. He’s doing real well. I think it’s important, he’s earning quite a bit, he’s going to get his permit soon, we’re going to have to deal with that, it’s the thing to do, I don’t feel safe putting him on the road, but I do feel safe teaching him how to drive. It’s better to sit out there with me for a year, so I know what he’s got, rather than, “Here’s your license.” — we’re both screwed then.

I’ve always tried to be there for them, so we can talk about it, but, now they’ve got the courage, the more things you do the more things you think you can do. You just build on that, you build on it, and build on it.

All my kids are extremely independent and I’ve let them fail, as long as we’re here for them that’s all that matters. It’s important to know what’s going on in the world, letting your kids know. Good times, and bad times. My kids have come to me and said they heard me saying that we can’t go out to eat tonight or something like that. They always say if you need any money we’ll give it to you.

Ralph Zuranski: Thank you for contributing your time, I know you’re very busy, and have a tremendous amount of clients that really respect you and appreciate what you do, once again thank you very much.

Craig Garber: Ralph:, I appreciate your time and I appreciate being part of the program, I’m just looking to contribute and help out and I think what your doing is a great thing, thanks very much for including me. Thanks for asking me all these questions. If I could help you out with anything, don’t hesitate to let me know.

Ralph Zuranski: Thanks, I’m really looking forward to looking at your sales letter to promote the In search of Heroes book, which contains the best of the best of what I’ve found in marketing, copywriting, and technology, and just ask for promotion for the foundation thing that will help every community to be successful. I’m just thankful to you and for all the help you offered.

Craig Garber: No problem, take care Ralph.

"Part 7: Craig Garber's In Search Of Heroes Interview" by Ralph Zuranski

biomans — Thu, 30 Mar 2006 07:46:41 +0000

Ralph Zuranski: How do people become heroes? From your definition.

Craig Garber: Giving hope to others. You introduce hope into other peoples lives, and sometimes, you know where I grew up it was hard to be a hero.

You’ve got to attract those people to you, you can’t go and seek them out because, looking at marketing, you’re talking to an audience that’s not interested. The people who want hope, you’ve got to put that out there and let people come to you, because it’s hard to find people who have hope in those areas.

Ralph Zuranski: You know I’ve been on the internet for the past three years, taking photos of all the seminars, of all the speakers doing their power points, and just to see what kind of people they are and to see who would help out the heroes program. I’m finding out who has followed through with their promises. How does it feel to be recognized on the internet as a hero, because you’re following through in a big way?

Craig Garber: Well, I’m flattered, I really appreciate it. The good thing is, I don’t know what it’s going to do for my life. That’s the beauty of life, and I’m ready for the adventure, I’m ready to find out. Then contribute what I can, and something will come out of it in some way, shape, or form.

Ralph Zuranski: Why do you think you were selected for this unique honor?

Craig Garber: I was thinking about that Ralph:, I met you and we talked real briefly, I would suspect either we had good chemistry, or you saw something in me, or I my voice, or the way I held open the door for somebody, or something in my body language that said “hey I think this is somebody that I might want to get with to help me with this good cause”. I don’t know, why was I selected Ralph?

Ralph Zuranski: You were selected because you volunteered to help, you heard what the program was, to recognize moms and dads, and the people that don’t get the recognition that they deserve, and the impact that they make on the lives of their kids and other people in the community, just by offering, and following through, and that was the reason why I gave you this unique honor, you are a person that follows through, you are a person with integrity, and you do respond to my e-mails, you wanted to give your best on this interview, and you want to do it even when you’re tired, you are a person that should be recognized as a hero, you do love your family, you do love your kids.

You work hard for your family, you take care of your body. That’s the example that I would like to hold up as a role model for young people. You are actually making the world a better place.

Craig Garber: Well I don’t blush too easily but I’m blushing now, and I really appreciate all those things you said. I’m just doing my thing you know, doing what I can to make this little world a better place.

Ralph Zuranski: Well, I know that you’ve been through a lot in your life, and I know that you’re from the projects, and there is always problems facing society. How do you have or do you have any ideas on how to get rid of the problems in the society?

Craig Garber: Okay, well I probably have some thoughts on that, but they’re going to be hard to do.

Number 1, people have got to start taking responsibility for their own actions. It’s so easy to write sales copy, you know, “it’s not your fault”. It’s kind of a funny drop back amongst copywriters. “It’s not your fault”, but it is your fault, it is 100% your fault man.

The sooner you take responsibility, the sooner your life’s going to become better, in everything. “It’s not my fault that I have a low paying job, it’s not my fault that I’m late paying my bills.” So, the first thing, is taking responsibility.

The second thing to deal with some of those problems, child abuse, racism, is just be open-minded a little bit. Understand that not everybody’s going to agree with you. You don’t have to agree with anybody, you don’t even have to like anybody, but you know what? There would be so much less stress in the world and so much less stress in your life if we accepted everybody.

I don’t like all my neighbors, they probably don’t like me, in fact I know they don’t like me. I don’t sit there and obsess about it, hey people are different, you know that’s the way it is, you’re going to disagree with people in your own household sometimes. Just accept that everybody’s got a different opinion and that’s okay. You don’t all have to agree. I you could do those two things, if people can be open-minded, except that things are different, not judge them, and then just take some responsibility, I think you’d eliminate almost all those problems.

Ralph Zuranski: Yeah, I agree, that’s one of my dreams of the heroes program, once it starts going to every community that the kids would realize that, that reading the blogs, from other kids in other communities that they have an open mind and are able to allow new information, and accept that and ponder it, and try to believe that they are good, but may not have the same perspective on life as they do.

Craig Garber: Yeah, see why is it, kids are a perfect example. Kids, you tell a kid hey man would you like to interact with this kid over in England, or this kid in Japan, or Vietnam, or Denmark and kids are like yeah, what’s going on, what’s their world like?

Why is it that adults are like, screw that, I just want to stay in my little corner, or my little block, my neighborhood, or my street, or myself in my house?

Kids are definitely more open and into accepting things, so if we can implement your program, to the kids, that’s where we’ve got to get it. You got to get them open, because they are open minded, they are very open minded, and wide-eyed with anticipation of what the world has top give them, and it’s just… Why do people beat kids? They beat them because they had a rough day, and they can’t handle it, and they don’t know how to deal with the energy.

They’re miserable, and, “It’s not my fault that it happened”, but it is, just fix the freaking problem.

"Part 6: Craig Garber's In Search Of Heroes Interview" by Ralph Zuranski

biomans — Wed, 29 Mar 2006 07:44:13 +0000

Ralph Zuranski: That’s great, who do you feel the real hero is in our society today?

Craig Garber: Okay, the real heroes are not Oprah and Doctor Phil, not that they don’t do heroic things. To me I think the real heroes are good parents.

Ralph Zuranski: I do to.

Craig Garber: See, there’s a big difference, Ralph:, and as a parent I know this, it’s not easy.

There’s a huge difference between giving your kids things and giving your kids a sense of independence, the sense of responsibility, and being able to hit the pause button, if you want to call it that, whenever they need to of things going on right then and there and help teach them a life lesson.

Ralph Zuranski: Boy, that’s so important.

Craig Garber: Yeah those are the real heroes, the little, the people doing those little random acts of kindness in your life, especially when they’re being consistent with your kids. Those are the true heroes.

Ralph Zuranski: That is so true. So, why are heroes so important in the lives of young people?

Craig Garber: Well, like I reference myself when you don’t have a guide post when you don’t have someone you can model yourself after, I think a lot of people have role models, but they’re not comfortable with them, like me.

You sort of feel like a sailboat out in the middle of the ocean, without a sail, you’re just going along with the waves, and you’re just trying to figure out what’s going on trying to figure out what is what.

So if a child can get an anchor and someone to help them steer their lives, they’re going to grow much quicker, they’re going to be much more successful people, much earlier, and therefore they can contribute positively to themselves and other peoples lives in their world.

Ralph Zuranski: Why do you think that heroes like the moms, and the dads, and the grandpas, and the grandmas, and the coaches, and the teachers, and the spiritual leaders, that they’re not getting the recognitions that they deserve today?

Craig Garber: You don’t want to see them on the T.V.

Ralph Zuranski: I would, I’d like to see it.

Craig Garber: I’d like to see it to, but it won’t sell.

Ralph Zuranski: Why do you think that is? One of the great people I interviewed, Gregory Allen Williams, was a cop on Baywatch, he said that ‘If it bleeds it leads’.

Craig Garber: Yeah, right, it will sell as a tail end of a show, tonight’s closing story we have grandma Essy, who is 97 years old and takes care of fifteen kids. Yeah, I think that’s too mundane and people discount it. I think that people don’t acknowledge that that’s the way the world goes round. Whether you have different opinions, or similar opinions, but that’s the thing that makes the world a great place to live in. It’s to mundane, people want to see sensational stuff. They’re not going to stop and consider stuff like that.

Ralph Zuranski: Do you think that people’s emotions are so jaded that they need one catastrophe, after another catastrophe just to feel stimulated?

Craig Garber: I think people are busy, I think that people are so caught up in their lives, we talked before about taking action, most people don’t want to take action.

I think that the hustle and bustle of today’s world is so draining on most people that not only do they not have time for other people, but that they don’t have time for themselves, few people take time out during the day to sort of do something for themselves, do something good for themselves, read a book, I mean watching T.V. is not good for you. So, I just think that people are too involved in their lives.

Ralph Zuranski: Watching the shows on T.V. puts fear into a lot of people’s lives, and it’s a fear that they absolutely cannot overcome, why do you think that people have such an addiction to T.V.? I know that some people watch it 40, 50 hours a week.

Craig Garber: I have no idea; I watch 2 hours of T.V. personally, that’s a lot. But, it’s escape, again most people, I think Thoreau said most men lead lives of quiet consternation, quiet desperation, and I think that’s true.

People want to escape, it’s nice to turn to T.V., and imagine, I mean I can’t believe these reality shows, it cracks me up, I see USA TODAY everyday, who got thrown off American Idol or something like that, and to me how you can be preoccupied by other peoples lives that have nothing to do with you, it’s funny, not funny but people do lead lives of desperation.

Too many bills, not enough money to pay it, to much on their plate, schedules are hectic, too many kids, blah, blah, blah. And so hey, I get to watch hot half-dressed women on T.V. or I get to see how someone’s new car is getting pimped, you know.

"Part 5: Craig Garber's In Search Of Heroes Interview" by Ralph Zuranski

biomans — Wed, 22 Mar 2006 07:42:49 +0000

Ralph Zuranski: Yeah, that’s the truth in relationships and I’m sure this is true in your relationship also. How important is it to forgive those who upset and oppose you?

Craig Garber: It’s very important, but I got to be honest with you for me very few people upset, offend, and oppose me.

As long as I’ve got my wife and kids, there’s really nothing outside of that nobody can really rub me the wrong way that I’m going to be all up and on them about anything.

Look, in business sometimes people accommodate you and sometimes they don’t, that’s just business, I don’t take any of that stuff personally. You just figure out another way to do things, or you work around it or you work with someone else.

You got to compromise to, you know that’s part of life, you don’t get everything you want, you got to compromise.

Ralph Zuranski: Do you experience service to others as a source of personal joy?

Craig Garber: Yeah man I love helping others, I don’t just like helping people out, I like showing people that they could do things that they thought they couldn’t.

Like when it comes to marketing for example people call me and we’ll have consults, you know they say, I’ve given up, I can’t do this, this, and this. Sometimes it’s a real simple answer, have you ever thought changing x, y, and z.

Or, change your headline, it really puts a spin on it, you see the light go on in peoples lives then. You see them walking around their house and the shades are drawn, and the windows are taped up, and all of a sudden, boom! It’s sunny like it is here in Florida, the windows are open, it’s bright, the house smells good all of a sudden, so yeah I love doing stuff like that.

Ralph Zuranski: How important is it to contain a sense of humor in the face of serious problems, because you know that everybody has serious problems in their lives and, how important is humor in that?

Craig Garber: It’s tremendously important, I mean, people who know me well, know me, I love to cut up and crack jokes at people, I do it with my kids, I do it with my wife, sometimes when you’re down in the skids, that’s the only thing that gets you through, poke fun at your situation and, I think the other thing that gets you through is having a high energy level.

A can-do attitude, a humor, and a high energy level, that’s the kind of thing that gets you through.

Ralph Zuranski: We know your wife’s a hero in your life, who are some of the other people that you consider a hero in your life?

Craig Garber: Other people that are heroes in my life… My older son is probably one of my heroes, he had to deal with some stuff when he was a kid that certainly wasn’t fair, I say that he shouldn’t have had to deal with it, and he did, how he handled himself, I’m real proud of all my kids, but he’s taught me a lot, and he communicates real well, he tells me ‘Dad your screwing up’, you know, I respect that he’s a together neat kid.

Like you said, my wife’s a hero of mine, and she’s definitely been a guiding light for me and has been a huge catalyst for change. That’s probably about it, as far as that goes.

If I use my definition of heroes, to some extent Gary Halbert was a bit of a hero of mine, he came in and gave me the confidence, he took me under his wing and gave me the confidence, switched what I was doing, I owned a financial planning business for 9 years, he told me that I was the greatest copy writer he’d ever met.

That wasn’t a testimonial, he sent me that after I did a couple of jobs I did for him, I thought he was winding me up, I thought he was giving me a bunch of crap.

I called him up and I said I got this e-mail from you, and he said ‘yeah, I meant every word.’ That gave me the confidence to make a change in my life and so I could live the lifestyle that I wanted which was for me, was spending more time with my wife and kids.

Ralph Zuranski: That’s really great so those people have made and continue to make a positive difference in your life.

Craig Garber: Yeah, well I’ll tell you what there’s another guy that, again going by my definition of heroism, is someone who’s unselfishly given from himself, a client of mine, this guy came to me about six or eight months ago, a guy named Chet Roland, you might have heard of him he’s a, Dan Kennedy’s always talking about him.

Anyway he lives down here. He’s a client of mine, and he’s turned out to be, using that definition of a hero, he’s a hero, he’s promoted me, and just so influential in my career with a lot of other things, and a lot of prominent information marketers, and he’s just a great guy to be around, he’s just inspirational, he’s a high energy guy like me, and just a good guy to be around, so I’d have to say Chet’s you know not only a friend, but to some extent using that definition of heroism, a hero as ell.