Why I Hate Jay Abraham

(But How Jay Can Probably Boost Your Company’s Profits by Six or Seven

Figures – If You Can Stand The Guy)

Dear Business Owner:

People have often asked me, “Why did you refuse to talk to

marketing wizard Jay Abraham for six years?”

Right up to the time I began writing this letter, I have never

divulged the answer to that question to anyone but the late and

great advertising legend Joe Karbo. In case the name doesn’t

ring a bell with you, Joe Karbo was the advertising maverick who

wrote the legendary ad that is best remembered for its even more

legendary headline: THE LAZY MAN’S WAY TO RICHES. The ad

compellingly described a paperback book whose title was the same

as the headline of the ad. The book, of course, was also written

by Joe.

Joe Karbo was my mentor. Without his teachings, I probably never

would have self-published and marketed my three #1-bestselling

books, ​Winning Through Intimidation, Looking Out For #1, ​and

​ e taught me the tricks of the

Restoring The American Dream. H

trade – what makes a good headline, how to write ad copy that

keeps the reader’s attention, how to analyze mail-order

results—an education that I could not have obtained had I

received ten marketing degrees from the best universities in the

country.

When my first book was rejected by every publisher to whom I

submitted it, I decided to follow in Joe’s footsteps and publish

the book myself, then sell it through direct marketing. When my

book climbed to the #1 position on ​The New York Times

Best-Seller List, virtually no one realized that I had not only

published it myself but also orchestrated the entire marketing

campaign to promote it. Interestingly, Jay Abraham had also been

an early disciple of Joe Karbo’s. Well, a few days before Joe

died unexpectedly of a massive heart attack about six years ago,

I spent Sunday afternoon at his house relaxing and exchanging

marketing tales.

At one point during our conversation, Jay Abraham’s name came

up. Joe mumbled a couple of unkind remarks about Jay, and I said

something like, “Oh, you too?” We started to compare notes on

this fellow Abraham and agreed that he definitely was not the

Abraham of biblical fame. Basically, Joe and I found that we had

similar gripes about this strange humanoid from Palos Verdes.

The Sins of Abraham

Now, for the first time ever I’m going to reveal here the sum

and substance of our conversation about Jay Abraham.

(1) Joe and I both felt that Jay was irresponsible. He would

often promise to get something to you, then be days late without

even calling to let you know there would be a delay.

(2) Jay was arrogant. He never put on a suit or sport coat (let

alone a tie), wore sandals (with no socks) no matter whom he was

meeting with, and insisted that all meetings be held at his

palatial home.

(3) Joe and I also agreed that Jay was immature. He refused to

allow anything to get in the way of his daily exercising and

other non-business activities.

(4) Finally, we both thought that Jay was rude. He was always in

a hurry, usually interrupting a caller with, “I’ve got to run;

I’m late for a consultation,” or something to that effect.

What was really weird, though, was that Jay also displayed

uncommon capacity for kindness, sensitivity, and compassion,

which made him, without question, one of the most peculiar

people I had ever met.

He was, and is, the ultimate human enigma.

Above all, however, he’s persistent. Thus, over the years Jay

sent me an endless string of letters apologizing for the

now-forgotten sin that prompted me to cut off communication with

him, in addition to trying to call me about a dozen times during

that same period.

About a year ago, I finally relented. I don’t know whether it

was temporary insanity on my part, or that I had matured and

become a more flexible, more forgiving person.

Abraham, the Mad Genius

Whatever the reason, I’m glad I relented, because as I’ve come

to know Jay, I have a better understanding of why he acts the

way he does. Put simply, Jay is a mad genius. ​He is to marketing

what Einstein was to physics, what Freud was to psychology, what

Beethoven was to music. ​These kind of men have no time for

niceties, for protocol, for normal human activities. Such things

only get in the way of their creativity and their obsession with

their work.

When I finally came to recognize that Jay’s real sin was that he

was a genius – ​a marketing genius​ – I was able to view him in a

whole new light. He isn’t arrogant, immature, or rude. He’s just

totally immersed in his passion – making products and services

more profitable through ingenious marketing campaigns. I still

don’t think he realizes that he doesn’t wear socks!

As to his not getting material to people when promised, the

reason is now clear. It’s a by-product of the demands on his

time. Jay overbooks, which I dislike intensely. I personally

think he would be better off if he’d take on less work. But Jay

is hopelessly greedy – not for money, but for every challenge

that comes his way. He’s an insatiable teacher and had he not

found out that he could make millions at his profession, I

honestly believe that he would do it just for the sheer

challenge.

All of which brings me to today – and this letter.

If you’ll note, the headline at the top of the first page is

written in the present tense. It says, “​WHY I HATE JAY ABRAHAM.”

So what’s my problem now? Frankly, I feel like the koala bear in

the Qantas commercials on TV. Honesty compels me to admit that

now that I know Jay, he’s a charming, lovable, almost

cartoon-like character. But he still irritates me.

Why?

Because he makes everything look so easy. I’ll not be modest:

When it comes to marketing, I’m not exactly chopped liver. I’m

not shy at all about telling you that ​Fortune​ magazine did a

three-page article on my marketing exploits, entitled, “​Robert

Ringer’s Winning Streak.” ​The article heralded the fact that I

had published five books in a row (i.e., books other than my

own) that I succeeded in marketing to best-seller status on​The

New York Times ​and other major best-seller lists – a first in

publishing history. About the same time, ​The Wall Street Journal

also ran a front-page story on my marketing exploits.

But the sad truth is that when it comes to marketing, Jay runs

circles around me – in his bare feet, yet! Jay Abraham comes up

with more great marketing ideas in five minutes than I can come

up with in a month. Now that I’ve had the opportunity to get to

know him on a personal basis, I’m dumbfounded at his

idea-a-minute mind. Jay is not human; he’s a marketing machine

that never stops.

If that sounds humble on my part, forget it. It’s nothing more

than begrudging honesty.

Abraham, the Scientist

I’d like to explain the primary difference between Jay and me

because, quite frankly, to confront it is like a catharsis for

me. It drove me nuts for more than six months until I finally

figured it out.

I am to marketing what Glenn Campbell is to music. Glenn plays

the guitar by ear; I write ad copy by “ear.” I have a knack for

writing ad copy that grabs people’s attention. It has served me

well, but that’s the extent of my marketing skills.

Jay Abraham is a totally different animal. Jay Abraham is

scientific. Jay Abraham is a maestro. Jay Abraham writes his ad

copy – ad copy that has made people literally millions of

dollars over the years – with a scientific approach. Every word

is carefully thought out, every comma carefully placed. All past

ads are intensely scrutinized under an “Abrascope” and their

results studied in the most scientific fashion imaginable.

But writing ad copy is only a small part of what Jay Abraham is

all about. ​He isn’t a copywriter; he’s a marketing man. More

specifically – and I can’t emphasize it enough times – Jay

Abraham is a marketing genius.

Jay is also an idea machine. He doesn’t try to win your

approval; in fact, I think he’s oblivious to such things. His

style is to interrogate you. ​If you’re more interested in having

your ego assuaged than in making money, you probably wouldn’t

like Jay’s style.​ You have to understand that Jay doesn’t see

his interrogation as offensive; he is merely fascinated with

your marketing problem.

 Abraham, the Obsessed

In fact, he’s obsessed. ​He must solve your marketing problem; he

must make you money.​ Personally, I believe that to fail to do so

would be a blow to his ego that he could not tolerate. He’s

received so much adulation from grateful clients over the years,

so many words of praise from contemporaries, that his situation

is analogous to a pitcher who’s in the midst of throwing a

no-hitter. The pressure constantly builds; he feels as though he

can’t afford one slip. Heaven forbid he should fail to produce

spectacular results for someone. He might be view as a mere

mortal! And the track record he has mastered is literally

astonishing!

1. There was Icy Hot, the little mail-order company Jay

helped grow from $20,000 to $13 million in just nineteen

months.

2. There’s ​Entrepreneur Magazine, ​the $800,000 company Jay

grew to over $7 million in nine short months.

3. Jay earned $2 million from Jim Cook, the president of

Investment Rarities, a rare coin dealer, by

single-handedly engineering his billion-dollar growth.

And me? While Jay is working his marketing miracles for fifteen

or twenty businessmen and women simultaneously, I labor away at

a tortoise’s pace, developing one (hopefully) great marketing

campaign every year or so. ​I tell you, I hate Jay Abraham.

Shortly after I had reinstated my relationship with Jay, I wrote

what I thought to be the ultimate mail piece. I was getting

ready to call my broker in the south of France to have him start

looking for a villa for me – which I would obviously be able to

afford soon after the results of my mailing piece began coming

in – but, just for good luck, I thought I’d have Jay take a look

at my work of art before sending it to the press.

I told him in advance that it was dynamite mail piece, and that

I was sure he’d love it. I went to his house, had him read it,

and then . . . ​the dreaded silence. ​He put down my masterpiece,

looked at me with an uncomfortable expression on his face, and

said, “Do you want the truth, or do you want me to make you feel

good?” (To fully appreciate this story, you have to understand

that Jay thinks that I’m an absolutely great ad writer. Also,

his ego aside, he gets a vicarious thrill out of seeing other

marketers and ad writers turn out successful mail pieces and

ads. It’s in his blood.)

Obviously, I wanted the truth. And the truth was, ​“If you send

this mail piece out, I personally believe that you’re going to

be devastated.” ​My first impulse was to light a match to his

beard, but I controlled myself. I asked him to tear this piece

apart sentence by sentence, and he kindly obliged me. When he

was finished, I realized just how right he had been. I had

allowed myself to get caught in one of the oldest copywriter

traps – falling in love with my own words –- and had written a

lot of very interesting copy that contained absolutely none of

the necessary ingredients of a good sales piece.

In an hour or so, Jay gave me about a hundred suggestions on how

to change the ad, most of which I adopted. The bottom line is

that it turned out to be an extremely successful mail piece, and

there’s no doubt in my mind that it was, indeed, headed for

disaster prior to my obtaining Jay’s input.

Jay does the same “emergency” quick-fix “marketing-dectomy” for

faulty sales pitches, promotional campaigns, and impotent

business sales strategies, as well.

 The Misconceptions of the Business World According to Abraham

Jay has often told me that he never ceases to be amazed at the

commonality of misconceptions that small businessmen and women

harbor. They must all be going to the same wrong seminars or

reading the same wrong business books.

Below I’m going to briefly discuss what Jay considers to be some

of the worst, and most common, misconceptions that business

people have – particularly owners of small and medium-sized

businesses. If you heed what he says, and take action. I think

you’ll be pleasantly surprised at the results.

By the way, I want to be right up front with you and tell you

that I am, at heart, a marketing-oriented entrepreneur, so I

personally am biased toward Jay’s opinions in this area. On the

other hand, I have good reason to be biased, because my own

modest efforts have produced millions of dollars in results in

situations where Establishment types have told me that a product

or service wouldn’t sell​.

Misconception No. 1: ​Having the best product or service

guarantees success
This belief has frustrated more good business people than just

about anything else I know of. And with good reason: It simply

isn’t true.

For example, Jay is convinced that some of the best books ever

written have not been read by more than a handful of people. (I

totally agree, because I have personally read many such books.)

He is convinced that some of the best products ever made have

failed in the marketplace. He is convinced that some of the

greatest services ever offered have gone unnoticed by the

general public.

Obviously, by now you can guess why this is so. It’s because

they simply weren’t marketed at all. What a tragedy. One of Jay

Abraham’s strongest convictions about the business world is: ​If

you’re in business – any business – you have to also be in the

marketing business.

Jay firmly believes that marketing is what separates the good

product from the good product. Marketing is what separates the

good service from the good service. What he means is that all

other things being equal, marketing is the difference. Either

you get into the marketing business, or your business gets left

in the marketing dust of your competitors.

A very astute friend of mine (believe it or not, an attorney –

one of the three honest, competent attorneys in the country)

passed along an interesting observation to me about a year ago.

He said that in observing all of the businesses he had done work

for over the years, almost without exception he noted the

following:

Every business that was not marketing driven, no matter how good

its products or services and no matter how well managed it was,

had either gone broke or struggled to keep its head above water.

On the other hand, every business that was marketing driven, no

matter how inferior its products or services and no matter how

poorly managed it was, was successful without fail.

I realize that business people with quality products or

services, but little or no marketing strategy, will probably

bristle at the above statements, but I’m merely passing along

the comments of an intelligent, conservative observer who’s been

involved with hundreds of businesses over the years. I do hasten

to add that, in my opinion, companies with low-quality products

or services will ultimately fail. However, I’m just as certain

that companies that do products quality products and services,

but are weak in marketing, will rarely succeed. Certainly, such

companies can never hope to scratch the surface of their

potential.

Of course, as my attorney friend pointed out, ​the biggest

successes of all come from companies who have good products or

services, good management, and are marketing driven. ​He didn’t

need to sell me on this point, because I’ve been marketing

oriented since my youth. But I thought it was a fascinating

comment, particularly because it came from a staid,

play-it-by-the-book, conservative attorney, and certainly worth

passing along to you to reflect on.

The bottom line is this: Get it out of your head that you can

succeed just because you have the best product or service. You

can’t. A good product or service is a prerequisite. But there

are lots of good products and services around. ​If you’re in

business—any kind of business—make sure that you’re also in the

marketing business.
Misconception No. 2: ​Concentrate on keeping costs down as though

cost-cutting were an end-all, be-all.

First of all, Jay has always viewed good people, equipment, and

outside experts, not as expenses, but as moneymaking tools. He

feels that if they don’t make you money, you shouldn’t use them.

I myself subscribe to this philosophy, which is why I always get

the best personnel money can buy​,​the best equipment money can

buy, and the best experts money can buy.

If you’re obsessed with keeping your overhead down, think of it

this way: If your overhead is $10,000 a month and your sales

$5,000 a month, your overhead is way too high. But if your

overhead is $100,000 a month and your sales are $300,000 a

month, your overhead (though ten times higher than the overhead

in the first example) is amazingly low!

Which leads to this obvious question: Why does everyone work so

hard at slashing overhead? ​Why not concentrate on increasing

sales instead?​ Common sense dictates that the more cash you

bring in the front door every month, the less likely you are to

have cash flow problems, and the better position you’ll be in to

solve your other business problems.

It puzzles me that so few businessmen and women seem to be able

to grasp this simple concept. ​I can only theorize that it’s a

result of people being taught from an early age to be overly

cautious, to avoid risks at all costs, to take what appears to

be the safest way out. And that’s just exactly how I’ve seen

many overhead slashers end up—out!

In point of fact, the biggest danger of all is failing to take

action –i.e. stagnating. Inaction virtually guarantees a

business failure. Don’t allow yourself to get called out on

strikes with the marketing bat on your shoulder.

That’s what I love about Jay Abraham. His whole orientation is

toward increasing sales. ​And he usually accomplishes this

objective without increasing a company’s overhead or advertising

budget.​ Best of all, he himself doesn’t cost anything, because

he gets paid out of increased profits. And all he normally

charges a client is a quarter out of every profit dollar he

makes them. Do his efforts for his clients really pay off? Judge

for yourself:

“Jay Abraham is directly responsible for my company earning over

$150,000 in cash in three months!”​ – Ray Como, Pittsburgh, PA

“After applying just one of his techniques, we sold $643,000

worth of products in two and a half months! That’s a 900%

increase in sales from just one technique! – Michael Quinn, Simi

Valley, CA

“One idea increased my profit by 40%. I used to get 50 calls a

month on my ad. I now get 263 calls a month on the same priced

ad.” – ​H.P., Mentor, OH

“Jay Abraham is the finest marketing mind on this planet. His

work for others was so wildly successful, I decided to get to

know him. I paid Jay Abraham $600,000 last year because he made

me $2 million and all the money came out of the profits his

concepts made me.” – Howard Ruff, financial publisher

“Last year I paid Jay $670,000 and over the past few years over

$2 million. Before Jay came along, our sales were just a few

hundred thousand dollars annually. Since teaming up with Jay,

our sales for those years total over $2 billion.” – ​Jim Cook,

Investment Rarities

“(Jay’s) concept sold $22 million worth of my products. Jay

opens your eyes to powerful marketing possibilities that are

just sitting there in front of your nose where you can’t see

them.” – David Hall, Numismatic investment Group

“I personally paid this marketing genius $109,000 because he

made me over a million dollars. He opened up my eyes to a whole

new world of profit possibilities.” – ​Lee Euler, Euler

Enterprises

These are just a “handful” of the spectacular success stories

Jay has contributed to.

Misconception No. 3: ​It’s difficult for a small business to

raise money without giving away the store.

Not so. Jay Abraham was the first person to make me realize that

the easiest and least expensive way to raise money is by

“re-deploying” your own assets. In other words, what Jay does

better than any other human being on the globe is take what you

already have and use it to generate cash flow – quickly. Why pay

for money, or give away part of your business, if you can

generate additional cash within your own company? I’m convinced

beyond doubt that ​not one out of a thousand business people

understand this concept.

But once you understand it, you’ll feel as though you’ve struck

the motherlode. I know because I’ve done it over and over again

myself. And Jay Abraham has done it literally hundreds of times.

It’s a phenomenon that you have to personally experience to

fully appreciate. When you observe Jay put together a marketing

campaign for you virtually overnight, then witness, with your

own eyes, the cash pouring into your coffers within a few months

(sometimes within weeks), it’s enough to make a grown man

salivate.

Remember: ​From sales come cash, and from marketing comes sales.

Who needs investors or partners?

Misconception No. 4: ​Only big companies can afford to advertise,

market or promote.

A more accurate statement would be that only big companies can

afford high-priced, Madison-Avenue-type ad agencies that don’t

get paid on the basis of results. Instead, the big ad agencies

get their up-front costs covered, they get paid just for placing

ads, and they virtually never have to produce mail-order results

to earn their fees. ​The reality is that most big advertising

firms could never make it if they had to depend upon direct-mail

results to earn their keep.

The truth of the matter, however, is that a small or

medium-sized business cannot afford not to advertise or market.

But it’s imperative that a small businessmen or woman avoid

high-priced, no-guaranteed-results ad agencies as surely as he

or she must avoid fee-building, deal-killing attorneys. Either

one can bankrupt you.

That’s one of the things that most impresses me about Jay

Abraham. ​He gets no up-front fees.​ He receives no “agency

discounts” (read “commissions”) for placing ads. ​He asks for no

retainer. ​Jay gets paid on the increase in profits that he

actually produces for you. That spells “C-O-N-F-I-D-E-N-C-E.”

When (and if) he makes a dollar, he gets paid a quarter. ​If he

doesn’t perform, he doesn’t get paid.

I strongly suggest that you never hire an ad agency or marketing

person who is not willing to be compensated on the basis of

results. So long as you stick to the Abraham

“prove-it-or-pay-nothing”​ approach, you’ll always be in a

no-risk position – and there’s no way you can beat that kind of

deal.

Misconception No. 5: ​During bad economic times, it’s an

inefficient use of resources to invest in marketing.

Again, I’m biased, because I’ve proven to my own satisfaction

that this is totally fallacious thinking. I have often said

that, to a great extent, I attribute the success of my first

#1-bestselling book to the fact that the country was in the

midst of its worst recession since World War II.

While everyone was pulling in their horns, I was bombarding the

nation with a marketing blitzkrieg that seemed to be without

competition. I believe that our country is in for some very

rough economic times ahead (mainly as a result of a badly

bloated national debt), and though I wish economic chaos could

be avoided, I also see this inevitable scenario as a marketer’s

dream.

He who knows how to stretch his marketing dollars in the coming

bad times will almost surely leave the competition in his wake.

Abraham, the Cash-Flow Machine

You know, I’ve met many people who have read “business

management” books like ​In Search of Excellence ​but are still in

search of cash. Truly we live in an upside-down world. You can

bet your life that not one of those trendy business authors has

been on the firing line, day in and day out, like Jay Abraham –

and certainly, none of them have come close to producing the

consistent results that he has.

In less than twenty years, Jay Abraham has developed more than

200 distinct “Abrahaming” strategies. (Since only Jay Abraham

does what he does, I think it’s appropriate to differentiate it

from “normal” marketing.)

Jay has produced phenomenal results for major magazines, large

brokerage firms, billion-dollar insurance companies, mutual

funds, and commodities companies, to name but a few.

But his magic works just as well, if not better, for small and

medium-sized businesses. One of Jay’s favorite lines says it

all: ​“The main thing is not the size of the business, but rather

the size of the potential.”

I wish I had enough room in this letter to list every Abraham

success, but that would make it so thick that I’d probably have
to ship it to you in a wooden crate. In lieu of that unrealistic

alternative, I’ve listed below just a small sampling of a few

more situations where the Abraham magic did its wonders.

>>>He took a start-up business devoid totally of capital and

created a marketing strategy that in six months generated

$750,000 in gross sales and $280,000 in net profits.

>>>He helped develop a staggering 10 million investor leads for

various clients

>>>In less than one year of Abrahaming, Jay increased the sales

of a medium-sized insurance agency company from $800,000

annually to over $15 million.

>>>Jay “manufactured” $750,000 in desperately needed cash from a

client’s “dead” inventory – in just four days.

>>>A small jewelry client, virtually out of cash, generated an

additional $80,000 in sales in less than a week by employing an

Abrahaming technique.

Of course, the small sampling above barely begins to tell the

story. New and better stories are in the process of being

written every day as small, medium, and large businesses

continue to apply Abrahaming to their cash-flow needs.

The businessman of whom I am most in awe is the one who can

afford to be without the Abrahaming advice of Jay Abraham. I

haven’t met such an individual yet, but, if I ever do, I know

he’ll have to own the world’s only perfect business.

The Teachings of Abraham

As I mentioned earlier in this letter, Jay Abraham is a teacher.

I don’t want to pass over that point lightly, because I

personally believe that it is his obsession with teaching that

is at the heart of his unheard-of string of Abrahaming

successes. ​(I have never known anyone to be unhappy with Jay’s

performance. As incredible as that statement may sound, I can

assure you that it’s true. I have known several people who have

become very irritated with Jay, but every single one of those

people readily acknowledge his unique ability to produce

sensational results.)

The reason that I want to delve more deeply into the teaching

aspect of Jay Abraham is that I have never known another

consultant who tries to teach his clients everything he knows.

Most consultants guard their occupational “secrets” zealously.

Their ultimate nightmare is that a client will learn too much

and they won’t need their services anymore. (Attorneys, of

course, are the classic example of this paranoia.)

Not so with Jay. Jay wants you to know everything about

Abrahaming that he knows. ​That will become apparent to you the

first time you speak with him. There are many reasons for his

unique philosophy about educating his clients, aside and apart

from his innate urge to teach. These include:

(1) He is value-for-value oriented, more so than any person I

have ever known. His whole approach to business is to give the

client so much more than he expects that he will be happy to pay

Jay his percentage of the profits.

(2) Jay feels that the more a client understands his concepts,

the easier it will be to work with him, the more likely he will

be to adopt Jay’s suggestions, and the better the chances for

success. Thus, the first thing that Jay wants to do is teach you

as much as possible about everything he knows.

(3) Finally Jay is one of those rare people who realizes that

the person who is always learning, always improving, always

moving forward, doesn’t need to worry about others discovering

his secrets. In other words, while Jay is teaching you what he

already knows, he himself is learning about new ideas,

strategies, and techniques through his dealing with others. This

is a natural result of his working with all kinds of businesses,

day in and day out – continually asking questions, testing, and

studying.

Jay teaches you things like:

How to increase your cash flow many times over, without

increasing your advertising budget.

How to make money from ex-customers.

How to generate cash flow from other businesses’ customer lists,

with them providing both the capital and labor to do it!

How to “upsell” customers to higher and higher ticket items.

How to find many hidden cash-flow opportunities in your business

that you would never have thought of.

How to set up non-competitive joint ventures with other

companies who would like access to your customer list, with you
maintaining 100% control of the deals and receiving a big chunk

of the profits.

And on…and on…and on…the list is infinite.

The Cautions of Abraham

I’ve gone out on a limb here in singing the praises of a man

whose talents irritate me greatly, so I want to be certain not

to lead you down a primrose path. Thus, I want to pass along to

you a few words of caution that Jay has expounded upon many

times.

First, Jay will teach you anything he knows, without hesitation.

But he’s impatient. he will not assuage your ego. He will not

tell you what you want to hear. He will tell you what he really

believes—quickly and candidly. He has no interest in being your

“yes” man or your psychiatrist. his main objective is to make

both you and him lots of money—quickly, ethically, and with as

little risk as possible to either of you.

Second, notwithstanding what I told you about my

attorney-friend’s observations about marketing-driven companies,

Jay will not deal with you unless he is convinced that you have
a quality product or service that is a definite benefit to your

customers.

Third, you must be able to handle a dramatic increase in sales

almost overnight. If Jay agrees to apply Abrahaming to your

product or service, he expects you to be geared up to handle the

increased business. This is a common problem for neophytes in

the direct-marketing arena. Jay asks for nothing up front, so

you can understand why, when he produces results, he expects to

get paid to the fullest extent possible.

Fourth, you must have an open mind. If you want conventional,

dollar-wasting advertising, marketing or sales promotion, hire a

dollar-wasting advertising firm. There are plenty of them around

who will be happy to take your money—and teach you nothing. As I

said, earlier, ​Abrahaming is a whole different ballgame. ​To say

Jay is a maverick is almost an understatement. If you can’t

handle being unique, don’t play in Jay’s pen.

Lastly, don’t contact Jay unless you are either the owner of

your own business or are the person who can make the final

decisions regarding your company’s marketing plans. If you’re

the kind of individual who has the capacity to tune into the
strategies and techniques of Jay Abraham, this point needs no

further explanation.

The Abridged Abraham

I’ve covered a lot in this letter, so I think it would be

helpful to summarize what Jay Abraham is all about.

(1) Jay Abraham is a strange, eccentric character who definitely

marches to a different drummer than anyone else in the marketing

game – at least on this planet.

(2) Jay Abraham is a marketing genius with a track record that

is unreal. He has never had a dissatisfied client. Never!

(3) Jay Abraham often comes across as arrogant and impatient,

but he is, in point of fact, kind, sensitive, and

compassionate—sometimes to a fault. He’s simply thinking on a

different plane than you and I – a different dimension.

(4) Jay Abraham continually comes up with more unique, workable

ideas in a shorter period of time than any other marketing

person alive. Congress should declare him to be one of great

natural resources.
(5) Jay Abraham’s approach to marketing is scientific. He

doesn’t guess; he studies, analyzes, and tests. He learns

everything he possibly can about any product or service he

markets, as well as the results of his marketing.

(6) Jay Abraham is obsessed with solving marketing problems. He

views your marketing problem as a personal challenge to his

genius. That’s why he ​always ​finds a profitable solution.

(7) Jay Abraham adamantly believes that the secret to operating

a successful business is not to concentrate on slashing overhead

to the bone, but on increasing sales on a cost-efficient basis.

He’s proven conclusively that his philosophy works.

(8) Jay Abraham, likewise, believes that the least expensive way

to raise cash for your business is through increased sales,

brought about through increased dosages of​“Abrahaming.”

(9) Jay Abraham believes that no matter how good a product or

service may be, it will not reach a fraction of its potential

without sound marketing.

(10) Jay Abraham believes that no company, especially small and

medium-sized companies can afford to NOT advertise or market.

(11) Jay Abraham believes that an advertising firm or marketing

consultant should be paid only on the basis of results. To say

the least, his viewpoint does not endear him to most of the

people in the advertising and marketing industry.

(12) Jay Abraham firmly believes that in a bad economy,

marketing efforts should be increased rather than decreased. he

is convinced that during the coming bad times, the vast majority

of businesses will make the classic mistake of cutting back on

advertising, which will leave virtually an open field for

opportunistic, resourceful marketers.

(13) Jay Abraham believes in teaching his clients everything

that he himself knows, because he feels that it makes the profit

potential for both the client and himself much greater.

Therefore, he compulsively teaches clients in an effort to make

them as self-sufficient as possible. His theory is that the more

successful they are as a result of his teachings, the more they

will want to learn new ideas, strategies, and techniques from

him in the future.

(14) Jay Abraham has an impeccable reputation for honesty and

integrity, and he is the ultimate value-for-value entrepreneur.

His objective is to always make the client feel as though he has

received far more than he paid for – especially since Jay’s

compensation comes only from the increased profits he produces.

In all my years as a best-selling author and speaker, I’ve never

written a letter of endorsement like this.

When you have a name that people respect, giving any kind of

endorsement can be a risky proposition, let alone writing a

whole letter about someone.

Not only is this the first time that I’ve ever written such a

letter, but it undoubtedly will be the last. I’m willing to make

an exception in Jay Abraham’s case because I’ve had the

opportunity to work with him so closely over the past year. In

addition, I’ve viewed him from the worst possible side, and have

been able to find justifiable reasons for actions that I once

found to be intolerable.

I feel comfortable in writing this letter because Jay Abraham

has earned “A’s” in all the areas that I consider to be

important: He follows my own value-for-value philosophy to the

extreme; he thinks long-term in his dealings with others, a

rarity in a world filled with short-term, gratification-oriented

people; he is honest almost to a fault; he seeks remuneration

for his remarkable talents based only on results –i.e.,

increased profits; and no one that I know of has ever been

dissatisfied with his performance.

Hmmm…you know, the more I think about it, I really do hate Jay

Abraham.

Now, here’s my word of caution to you: If you want to enlist

Jay’s amazing marketing talents, make sure that you have a firm

understanding with him ahead of time regarding scheduling. He is

busy—very busy—because, obviously, he is in great demand. And,

as I said, he has an obsession to both teach people and solve

their marketing problems.

Jay won’t like what I just said, but if I’m going to give him an

almost unlimited recommendation, I want you to be totally

informed of the facts. No matter how brilliant Jay is, no matter

how much money he can make for you, if he exacerbates or

irritates you to the point where you become fed up dealing with

him, it’s going to reflect on me.

Jay is charming, he really is. He just takes on too much work.

So discuss his availability in detail with him ahead of time so

there is no misunderstanding.

With the above caveat having been added, I feel comfortable that

everything I have said in this letter is 100% accurate.

Now you’ll have to excuse me while I go back to laboring away at

working on my one big marketing success for the year. In my next

life, I dream of coming back as Jay Abraham—without a beard,

without compulsions, and with socks and shoes.

Yours in Abrahaming,

Robert Ringer

P.S.: I almost forgot the reason I wrote you this letter in the

first place. It’s to alert you to the fact that Jay is currently

looking to add three new contingency clients to his practice.

But he’s terribly selective about who he ultimately chooses.

Why? Simple really. It’s because it takes Jay the very same

amount of time to work on a contingency client who makes him

$75,000 as it does one who makes him $750,000. Therefore he’s

established a strict and stringent ten-part qualifying criteria

your firm must satisfy at least six of before he’ll agree to

talk to you.

If you do satisfy at least six of these points or better – call

Rob Colasanti, Jay Abraham’s Head of Consulting and Training

Services, and Rob will help you quickly determine whether or not

he can help you – and whether you can help Jay. Rob’s number is

(727) 480-8853.

Here’s the ten-point criteria you must satisfy:

(1) You run ongoing advertising or direct mail that’s

ineffectual but you spend a lot of money on it.

(2) You have a sizeable complement of field or “in-house”

salespeople you’re not optimizing.

(3) You have a ton of past customers and prospects you never

work, solicit or attempt to actively resell.

(4) You have a marketplace posture that’s a natural “host” for

other kindred or synergistic products and services.

(5) You’re making all your money up-front and have no real

existing “back-ends.”

(6) You engage in lead or prospect generating, conversion and

reselling but perform these functions poorly.

(7) You have valuable intangible assets you don’t acknowledge or

utilize.

(8) You are unimpeachably honest and ethical and your references

check out without a blemish. In other words, you’re “rock

solid,” you provide a quality product or service and you’ll

honor, dutifully, your contract and commitment to pay Jay when

money is due.

(9) You are operating in a very competitive industry where

virtually everyone is marketing the exact same way, and neither

you nor your competitors understand or utilize “Unique Selling

Proposition” strategy.

(10) The marketing elements of your business either are (or can

be easily made) totally quantifiable – they can be measured,

compared, and tested against.

One more time: contact Rob to start your application. The number

is (727) 480-8853.