How Busy Are You?: Joe Karbo’s Brilliance
Date: January 2nd, 2009
Category: Business Strategy
Considering the headline of his legendary full-page ad, it’s no wonder the late and legendary Joe Karbo was able to sell millions of copies of his self-published book The Lazy Man’s Way to Riches. The headline I’m referring to is: MOST PEOPLE ARE TOO BUSY EARNING A LIVING TO MAKE ANY MONEY.
What’s so great about this headline is that the vast majority of people can relate to it. And one of the least-understood secrets of good writing — including copywriting — is to say things that get people nodding their heads in agreement with your words.
When I first read Karbo’s headline, I envisioned millions of people coast to coast shaking their heads up and down. That’s because it’s evident that the vast majority of people are too busy doing what they have to do to bring in their revered paychecks to do what they have to do to make any real money.
A paycheck is the only thing standing between Mr. Burbs’ suburban image and his ultimate nightmare: If he can’t make the payments on his SUV and big-screen HD television set, the Snootsuns across the street might just discover the bloody truth about him. Bless that bill-paying, nine-to-five job (a.k.a. voluntary servitude).
So, what does he do when he gets home from work? Does he sit down in front of his not-yet-paid-for big-screen TV, have a glass of wine, relax, enjoy a quiet candlelight dinner, then work on serious-moneymaking endeavors for the rest of the evening?
Hardly. The reality is that when he steps foot inside his home, it’s time to deal with the daily cares of life — from the trouble Johnny got into at school that day … to unpaid bills … to studying the new medical-insurance packet that just arrived in the mail.
Mr. Burbs’ biggest challenge is to deal with this tidal wave of domestic yuck as quickly as possible so he can get to bed at a reasonable hour. After all, servitude is not an easy job. One has to be rested in order to perform tomorrow’s duties.
Now and then, he fantasizes about working on serious moneymaking projects on the weekend. Which is a nice thought, but it rarely happens. Why? Because the weekend is his only chance to try to catch up on the daily cares of life that he wasn’t able to get to during the week.
Mowing the lawn … changing the air filters throughout the house … gassing and washing the cars … grocery shopping … dropping off and picking up the dry cleaning … reinstalling Windows on his dying computer … helping Johnny with a massive, but totally meaningless, project that is due in Ms. Malevolent’s class on Monday … and so it goes. Like time and space, the daily cares of life are infinite.
The result, of course, is that Mr. Burbs, notwithstanding his good intentions, never quite gets around to doing what he has to do to become the dealmaking entrepreneur of his dreams. Ultimately, he gives up all hope and submits to the role of servitude as his lot in life.
As it turned out, though, Mr. Burbs’ plight was the best thing that ever happened to Joe Karbo. That’s because Mr. Burbs — make that millions of Mr. Burbs — bought Karbo’s book by the carload. They bought it because, in his brilliance, Karbo got them to shake their heads up and down as they read his ad. They instantly recognized that they were the very guys to whom Karbo was referring — the guys who were too busy earning a living to make any money.
So, a good question to begin the New Year with is: Are you too busy earning a living to make any money? If so, reread this article — three times.
January 2nd, 2009 at 11:46 am
This article describes me to a “T.” Now I’m guessing that, brilliant marketer that you are, you have a solution for us lol. I already have most of your audio programs and books, I’m just too busy to do anything with them
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January 2nd, 2009 at 8:37 pm
Hello Robert,
As I understand it, your article actually has two important messages:
1. Wake up people to work on their entrepreneurial development besides their job and daily cares of life.
2. It’s a great copywriting lesson. Thanks for that…
To waking up people, I can contribute something from my own experience:
Actually, my experience is that it is quite possible to get something done besides an employee job and a family and the daily cares of life.
It just needs some creativity, common sense thinking and taking action.
Some examples on what I do for more than three years now:
* driving time in the car is used for listening to educational Audio-CDs about business, marketing etc
* time in the commuting train is used for either reading educational books or newsletters or for working with my notebook with mobile internet (this is 10 hours per week!)
* my spouse and I have an agreement on blocked out time on the weekend where each of us gets equal sized blocks for our own business projects ( or other things we want/need to do ) and the other one takes care of our daughter in the meantime.
(this blocked out time is also a significant time resource)
* I do not watch TV anymore, i.e., big time waster eliminated.
* I eat healthy, organically grown food which gives me more energy, which also allows me to sleep fewer hours if necessary.
All-in-all I consistently get about 20 hours(!) of time per week which I use for building my own business and improving my entrepreneurial skills besides a full-time employee-job with long commute and a family.
It takes some patience to build a business that way but it is possible and I am making progress.
Best wishes and thanks for your great newsletter and blog,
Chris
January 4th, 2009 at 2:07 pm
I had a bout of insomnia the other night and ended up watching a TV show where people ran businesses that helped busy people save time:
1) A service that helps people organize items in their homes and reduce clutter.
2) A service that picks up dirty laundry, washes it, and delivers it
3) A service that picks up pets and take them to the vet
4) A food delivery service, they will go to the establishment of your choice and bring you dinner.
Of course there is a price attached to these services, but perhaps they are a better investment than a big screen TV that Mr. Burbs doesn’t have time to enjoy.
January 4th, 2009 at 10:55 pm
[...] settling for anything less than anarchism. Ringer gets it. I look forward to participating on his blog. [...]
January 6th, 2009 at 10:35 am
Mr. Ringer,
I read your newsletter every day, one of the few that I find worthy of my very limited free time. This one struck me like a knife in the heart. As I read your newsletter this morning from my desk at work (between meetings) my son was undergoing surgery on his finger (the result of a sports injury). The surgery is relatively minor in nature and is outpatient, but the fact remains that while my 15 year old son is going under anesthetic for an operation, I’m sitting at work because of the many professional commitments I have. I have to ask myself, how did I get here?
A few years back I began reading another newsletter that I find extremely valuable; Early to Rise, by Michael Masterson. Throughout that newsletter Michael preached that in order to get yourself into a six figure income, there were certain things you had to do to make yourself worth that kind of money. At the time I was an uneducated enlisted NCO in the Air Force, a single father to two children, and living paycheck to paycheck. I saw the wisdom in Michael’s words and cut out TV and internet surfing, I began attending night school, taking classes on line, and working around a very tight schedule (usually with only a few hours sleep a night) and finished my BS degree in Industrial Engineering. Shortly after that, I was posted to the New England area and began taking graduate business courses. As a result, I finished my MBA just before I retired from the Air Force. Upon my retirement I interviewed for and was hired into a great job that put me into that 6 figure category. I thought I was truly blessed at the time, and truth be told, I still feel that way for the most part.
However, I now clearly see the cost of my decision to achieve this income milestone. The time I gave up with my kids while I did homework, studied for finals, and finished term papers is forever lost. And now I’m experiencing it again while I work long hours to provide for my family. Fortunately I’ve since remarried to a wonderful woman who fully understands my drive and motivation and is completely supportive of our entire blended family. She is the one currently at my son’s side while he undergoes what is surely a scary undertaking for him. But once again I’m missing out on the important things in life. My son will always remember his “Mom” being there for him during this surgery, but he’ll also remember that his Dad wasn’t there. How sad is that?
Of course education has opened a multitude of doors for me. I have been asked to be a guest speaker at a number of retiree functions which enabled me to network extensively. I have made some extraordinarily good part time income periodically teaching at the local community college. I continue to grow professionally and further my education while my annual income is continuing to grow at a rate that astounds me, all because I followed the advice of Michael Masterson and made myself more valuable to my employer. I continue to be the fist one in to work and the last one to leave which has led to exceptional performance bonuses. But in spite of it all, I’m not “there” yet. I figure I’ll be “there” when I can earn six figures or more while naming my own hours, setting my own terms, and defining my own professional destiny.
I guess the overall lesson here is that while it’s great to make that kind of money, be aware of the trade-off and cost required to get there. It isn’t always readily apparent, but there is always a cost.