Building a Thriving Practice--Part XI

The Lazy Man's Way to Riches

Hi Everyone,

In 1973 I was flipping through a magazine and came across what was arguably the most effective ad ever written. It was for a $10 paperback book which, at the time, was an ENORMOUS price to ask. Paperback books were then selling for $1 or $2. After reading the ad I enthusiastically bought the book and was thrilled with what I received. It was, and is, a classic in business literature. It sold 3,000,000 copies and never once was in a book store. It all came from this ad and word of mouth.

The headline of the ad started off with the title of the book in bold print…

The Lazy Man’s Way to Riches

And below that was a subtitle that said….

(Most people are too busy earning a living to earn any money)

At the time, that headline (and subtitle) hit my bull’s eye. This ad was aimed at me and I was eager to read more. Incidentally, that ad may not have appealed at all to a priest or to a 12 year old. It may have even turned off someone who believes that one must work very, very hard for their money. To them, earning money “the lazy way” would be unethical and so they would pass the ad by, scoffing as they did so. But that doesn’t matter. Good ads are aimed right at those who recognize a need for your product or service. Those people will read it with great interest. People, for example, who need emotional healing and are tired of all the painful methods out there are likely to respond to an ad headline that says….

“The Painless Way to Emotional Freedom”“Rapid Relief for War Memories”“50% Relief for even the Toughest Migraines”“Gentle Method Stops Nightmares…or Your Money Back”

Again, some may belittle such an ad and criticize it. So be it. Accept this as part of the ground rules. In truth, there is no such thing as an ad that appeals to everyone. That which is welcomed by some, is rejected by others. Your goal as an ad writer is to speak to those who are ready to listen. Aim your ad at them. Speak honestly and from the heart and you will gain the trust and business of those who need your services. In fact, these prospective clients have been looking for you for a long time and are thrilled to finally meet you.

Now let’s get back to headlines. They are the most important part of any ad because their purpose is to entice the reader to read further. In effect they are the ad for the ad. If the headline doesn’t do its job then the reader will just pass on by and will never learn of your proposal, products, services, etc.

Headlines are so critical to the success of an ad that they should be tested to discover which headline “pulls” the best. Often, one headline will double or triple the responses of another. I remember one ad for a bed and breakfast lodge that tripled its response by using “A Cabin in the Redwoods” as its headline instead of the former “A Cottage in the Redwoods.” One word (Cabin vs. Cottage) in the headline made a dramatic difference in the responses and turned the business from a break even venture to a handsomely profitable one.

Remember how I started this business series by emphasizing the need to ALWAYS ASK THE MARKET PLACE for its responses to your promotions, services, etc? Well, that little bit of advice is extraordinarily important with your headlines. Ask the market place how your headlines are doing by running the same ad at different times in the same publication while changing only the headline. Keep a record of your responses. Discover which headline did best. Then try another headline. Sooner or later you will find a headline which outpulls your first one by a wide margin. It’s like panning for gold except in this case, the gold is really there.

You can test the wording of the rest of your ad in the same way. After establishing your best headline, try rewording your offer and/or your descriptive phrases. Test only one rewording at a time, however. That way you are able to discern which phraseology changes are generating the improvement.

Eventually, you will sculpt an advertising masterpiece that will set you apart from the rest of your field. It’s a trial and error process, of course, and those who do it will find great rewards in the process. Those who don’t (which is almost every advertiser) will complain that people just aren’t taking the time to read their ad OR the publication isn’t any good OR the world is not ready for their services, etc. This is garbage, of course, the world is filled with people who want your services. If you are not getting good responses to your ads then the market place is forthrightly telling you that you have advertising bad breath. So…don’t blame the consumers. That is folly. Instead…CHANGE YOUR ADS!!!

Another thing about ads. This stuff about having proper visual balance, adequate white space, catchy phrases, etc. is silly. I’m not saying it is totally ineffective, mind you. But I really have to wonder about the economies of a full page ad that has a picture of an automobile and maybe 20 or 30 other words. Now maybe a picture of a brand new red sports car with a shapely model next to it has some appeal. Indeed, it might get your attention and maybe you will even admire it. But it is not likely to get you out of your chair and go down to the show room or even make a telephone call.

Let’s use common sense for a moment. If you were in the market for a new car wouldn’t you like to see an ad with a photo of the car and have the rest of the page filled with information regarding gas mileage, reliability, comfort, guarantees, descriptions of the sound system, financing plans, etc. This is much more appealing to you as a buyer than is a lot of white space.

You see, if you are REALLY in the market for that car, you won’t give a twit about visual balance or white space. You will devour every word on that page (hopefully several hundred words) and are much more likely to call your dealership with questions. This initiates the sales process. You WANT this material and are much more inclined to take action if it is available. If you are not in the market for that car, you will just pass on by.

This is also true for clients in pursuit of healing. They are much more enticed by an honest and informative description of your services than they are by a 2 or 3 line ad with catchy phrases. There’s a perfect example of this from “The Lazy Man’s Way to Riches.” Although the example is an ad for a car, the principles apply to all ads. Listen....

Advertising, to be truly effective must be honest and informative. Otherwise, it must compete with the built in skepticism consumers have when they are reading an ad.

Let me close with another example. This the announcement that I made on our email list for our advanced seminars—the ones that were filmed and became our video series known as “Steps toward becoming The Ultimate Therapist.” It was such an effective ad (although I called it an announcement) that I had to expand the room facilities to accommodate twice as many attendees as I originally intended. I include this announcement because it contains many features of good advertising. See how many you can find. Also, for those who would like to know more about the video set, this announcement (ad) is a thorough explanation of what these seminars are about.

Hugs, Gary

P.S. The Lazy Man’s Way to Riches was written by Joe Karbo and is for sale at Amazon.com. To me, it is an advertising and business Bible and a “must have” book for every serious advertiser. It also contains Joe Karbo’s version of The Palace of Possibilities (called Dyna/Psych). If interested, go to http://www.amazon.com and put the word Karbo in the search box.

Advanced Seminar Announcement (Note: this seminar occurred in 1998)

Hi Everyone,

Our seminar is now scheduled. It is a reality and will be offered on a first come, first served basis (more on this later). It will be professionally captured on video and break new ground in the healing field. I have great enthusiasm for it and wish February would hurry up and get here. I have much to tell you about it in this message and suggest you print it out for easier reading.

Please know up front, however, that this seminar is not for everyone. It is not for the merely curious or for tire kickers. It is for seekers. It is for those who know that our "limits" in therapy are largely self-imposed and wish to go beyond them. It is for those whose motors run on the "juice" of new possibilities.

There will be two seminars from which you can choose and both will be filmed. Each seminar will be held on a Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 9am to 5pm. One will be February 13, 14, & 15 and the other will be February 27, 28, & March 1, 1998. Only EFT proficient people will be admitted as we are going to build on what has already been taught. The requested donation will be $590 per person regardless of whether or not you are business partners, spouses, etc. This is the amount estimated to "break even" by covering the costs of the meeting room, filming, editing, duplicating and all the other expenses that go into a major production such as this. My time is being donated. Each attendee will receive a complete set of the videos. The location will be the Clarion Hotel, 401 East Millbrae Avenue, Millbrae, CA 94030. It is located 1 mile south of the San Francisco airport and the phone number is (415) 692-6363. They are reserving the Embarcadero Room for us on the 4th floor. It is the only meeting room on that floor and ideal for us because it is spacious and away from the normal hotel noise. I looked at over 20 hotels before negotiating this arrangement.

Diagnostics and The Ultimate Therapist

The seminar has been billed as a diagnostics seminar and will, for sure, have diagnostics as its centerpiece. It will be much more than that, however. The rapid nature of EFT and the diagnostics involved will allow us to launch into a whole new area of therapeutic excellence. Two or three months ago we discussed on this list the idea of The Ultimate Therapist wherein we recognized the precious value of developing our "sixth sense" as a way of "knowing" what to do in behalf of a given client. If we could consistently get our egos and self doubts "out of the way," we could develop a greater trust in our powerful (and correct) intuition. At some level we already know that our intuition (higher self) has much to offer in the area of healing. Our goal is to find a way to use it more proficiently.

I expect to give you a way to do this in our seminar. That's why I'm NOT calling it EFT-Dx or anything else that emphasizes diagnostics per se. Instead our seminar will be called....

Steps toward becoming
The Ultimate Therapist

One of the beauties of EFT is the rapid way in which healing manifests. Compared to conventional techniques, it is like speeding up a movie. Things happen so quickly that our intuitive senses can get a much bigger picture of what is going on. Once EFT is mastered, we can often move from issue to issue and from aspect to aspect with great ease. With enough experience, we start to develop a "knowing" about what to do next and our skills move to a higher level as we integrate the mechanical nature of the EFT process with the intuitive art of its delivery. Our seminar will take us through three steps of diagnosis each of which, with practice, will help us develop that all important "sixth sense."

The Three Steps

Step 1 is an advanced form of the Shortcuts developed in the EFT course and is not, officially, a form of diagnosis. Mastering this level will enhance your existing abilities with EFT and will allow you to speed up your EFT sessions. In many instances you will be able to shorten your EFT rounds to a few seconds each. This will add elegance to what you are already doing and this alone is worthy of your attendance. More importantly, it will form a foundation on which the ensuing levels of diagnosis are built.

Step 2 surpasses what most of you know as one-on-one muscle testing. This latter form of diagnosis is taught in TFT(tm)Dx and a number of other disciplines and consists of the practitioner (you) pushing down on the outstretched arm of the client while the client makes certain statements. The strength and weakness of the arm response provides evidence of PR, 9 Gamut, where to tap for the sequence, etc.

Many of you are quite expert at this procedure and have used it to make great strides with your clients. Step 2 provides a faster (2 or 3 times as fast) way to do the same thing that has many other advantages, including not having to touch the client (for those of you with licensing restraints in this regard). It involves a unique procedure to self test yourself in behalf of your client which will be demonstrated repeatedly at the seminar. Once mastered, you will find that it does everything one-on-one muscle testing does, only much faster, AND you can do it in person OR over the phone. There is no need to tire a client's arm or to inject the inaccuracies a client might bring to the process via testing reversal, dehydration, etc. The only thing I retain one-on-one muscle testing for is to demonstrate to the client, in kinesthetic terms, the existence of their own Psychological Reversal.

Step 2 is of great importance in "steps toward becoming The Ultimate Therapist" because of the sense of connection (one-mindedness) with your client that you generate by being able to rapidly determine effective tapping procedures in this surrogate manner. When you realize that you can "be" your client in this regard, it opens up whole new vistas in your belief system. It's a marvelous launching pad into the realm of that very important intuitive "sixth sense" toward which we strive. I've been doing this for over a year now and the results are impressive. Everyone has this ability although some have beliefs to the contrary. Enough practice and experience with this technique will convince anyone of its merits and provide the necessary "belief relief" to those who need it. I use it instead of Voice Technology(tm) and it is every bit as effective. This may seem strange to you because it seems at odds with the mysterious black box that is portrayed as spitting out precise and irrefutable tapping points and routines. While I have found VT(tm) very useful, I disagree with many of the claims made about it. As many of you are aware, I have signed secrecy agreements regarding VT(tm) and so am not bringing out any details here. Enough said.

Step 3 evolves from Step 2. It is the next logical "step toward becoming The Ultimate Therapist" because it allows you to rely more heavily on your "sixth sense." Step 3 brings about the realization that you don't even have to self-test. YOU CAN INTUIT THE WHOLE THING. For some of you this is no jump at all because you have been relying heavily on intuition for years and welcome tools to go to yet another level. For others, this is straight out of woo-woo land. To assist your mastery of this area, I will be providing some mental metaphors that are quite helpful. They are like the spikes in a telephone pole that allow the climber something to grab onto as s/he ascends the pole. They allow you to "see," "hear," or "feel," what needs to be done and provide a bridge between the tangible and intangible worlds.

Ultimately, Step 3 is where we all want to be as it can also be used in areas outside of EFT. However, it is far too big a stretch for most people and that is precisely why this seminar is divided into three steps. Step 3 requires confidence, of course. It requires experience. It takes some successes before you can really have faith in it and it is unlikely that you will have those right off the bat. I certainly didn't. Step 2 is also too much of a leap for many. Fortunately, the three steps involved provide effective "fall back" positions so that you can still be effective with your clients as you progress in your mastery of the new diagnostic skills.

Important Fall Back Positions

Here's what I mean. You are already proficient in the basic EFT procedures or you wouldn't be coming to this seminar. You have confidence with the Basic Recipe and some of the shortcuts as a result of numerous rapid successes with yourselves and/or clients. So when you learn some new procedures in Step 1 you can give them a try and if you don't make progress at first, you can instantly fall back to the basic EFT procedures and not suffer in the results with your clients. It is easy to do. Very comfortable. You simply revert back to the familiar. With repeated tries, however, Step 1 will produce faster and more elegant benefits and you will gradually (and comfortably) shift into the newer procedures. No strain, no pain. Always a familiar fall back place.

The same thing happens with Step 2. You can try the self testing and, until you become confident with it, you can fall back to Step 1. The client does not suffer in their results as you gather more experience with the new level. Eventually, of course, you gain more confidence in Step 2 and find yourself reverting back to Step 1 less and less. But, because of the ability to fall back to familiar territory, the transition is relatively painless.

Of course, Step 3 is achieved with fall backs to Step 2 or even Step 1, if you choose. Again, comfortable, easy steps.

Importance of Filming

Now you can see why it is so important to film this seminar. I will be demonstrating each of these levels on a wide variety of issues. You will see the art of delivery from every conceivable angle and it will all be captured on film for your repeated reviews. There will be two seminars because I want to take the best teaching sessions from each of them and edit them into one set of teaching videos. When you see the videos, it will be like attending two seminars instead of one. You won't have to rely on your notes. You won't have to worry about missing something. The whole thing will be permanently captured for you and will forever be at your fingertips. These videos, and your practice, will insure you mastery of these "steps toward becoming The Ultimate Therapist."

Some Other Points

1. There is a long list of legal, regulatory, licensing, political, financial and other issues that must be considered after the filming is done. This will impact on whether or not these films will be made available outside of the seminars. The films will be definitely be yours (as a seminar attendee) to do with as you please. This includes using them to hold seminars of your own and teaching others. If you are coming as husband and wife or as business partners, you may sell your extra copy to someone else. It is unknown at this time if, or on what basis, they may be made available to non-seminar attendees.

2. All attendees will be required to sign an agreement regarding the filming. You must give permission for your image and voice to be recorded as you voluntarily participate in the seminar by asking questions, being part of a healing session, etc. However, in the unlikely event that anything should occur involving you during the seminar that you do NOT want made public or as part of the films, you will have the right to deny its usage so long as you inform me in writing on or before the closing of the seminar. There has only been one such denial in all the years I have been filming seminars and I don't expect it to be much of an issue here. Everything is very professionally done and the intent here is to develop a first class set of training videos without causing anyone embarrassment.

3. Also, you will be required to sign an agreement which exempts me from legal liability. This is standard stuff. You have seen it before. I have never had any physical or emotional difficulty with anyone as a result of my seminars but there could always be a first. You will, at all times, be responsible for your own physical and emotional health.

4. This is a major undertaking on my part. It is like creating a movie where one extremely dedicated, multi-talented, semi-gorgeous person agrees to fill the roles of producer, director, choreographer, negotiator, bookkeeper, lawyer, ticket salesman, film editor, lead actor and host. Further, that one very generous person does all this WITHOUT PAY. I tell you this for two reasons. First, I want to instill in you a major amount of GUILT and a huge sense of OBLIGATION toward me so that, second, the following tiny request from me will seem like nothing (which it is). What I want you to do is sign up for the seminar and make your entire $590 per person donation NOW--in advance and up front--so I can go about the business of creating this seminar without having to deal with sales, endless phone calls, people's indecision, partial payments and all the other time sucking details that go with filling the seats in a seminar. I have created this opportunity as a screaming bargain so that filling it up should not be difficult. Accordingly, reserving your place in advance isn't much of a concession. Anyone not recognizing this shouldn't attend anyway.

So, I am going to reserve the seats on a first come, first serve basis. Right now there are 30 seats available for each seminar. If you wish to attend, please make your donations payable to Gary Craig and send them to me with your request for which of the two seminars you would like to attend. I will send you a confirmation as soon as your reservation is complete. If one seminar fills up before the other, I will make an announcement in that regard.

5. Hotel room rates in the San Francisco airport area start at around $120 and go up to $250 per night. The Clarion is a very nice hotel and is giving us group rates at $89 per night. This is a bargain and I suggest you reserve your rooms early (like now). Those flying in will probably need to arrive on Thursday and leave on Monday. Accordingly, you should book your room for Thursday night through Sunday night. The hotel phone number is (415) 692-6363. Tell them you are with the EFT group.

6. I do not expect to do any more seminars like this. As many of you know, I sold my business last January and intended to retire. Last June I chose to distribute EFT as an interesting thing to do during my retirement and, almost instantly, found myself with a full time job. I started with an email list of 20 or 30 people and that list (growing daily) now exceeds 300, most of which are EFT'ers. I DO want to launch EFT into the healing community. That's why I am doing this. It is my contribution to the field. But I don't see myself as having my shoulder to the wheel like this after the seminars. Note: This WAS my thought at the time—obviously, things have changed—GC

7. There are no restrictions on your use of what you will learn at this seminar. You have complete freedom to use, discuss, teach, write about, improve upon or charge others for your new skills. You may give your own seminars using this material and call your seminars anything you like. You are welcome, even encouraged, to show the videos in any teachings or seminars you might choose to do.

In summary, I will be teaching diagnosis that, in my opinion, is unique in this field and surpasses just about everything out there. I do not consider it the ultimate ending place for all diagnosis, however. I consider it a beginning and expect that most of you will accelerate beyond these techniques and exceed my skills with them. I am opening a door here. Those who walk through it will find themselves in a Palace of Possibilities.

Peace, Gary

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