P.T Barnum

P.T. Barnum was considered one of the great marketing geniuses of the late 1800′s. He wrote P.T Barnum wrote the Art of Money Getting or The Golden Rules Of Money Making which you can read here.

From the New York Public library collection received from the Ford Family in 1902:

P. T. (Phineas Taylor) Barnum, perhaps the greatest showman of the 19th century and the originator of the travelling circus, was born in Bethel, Connecticut in 1810. In the course of his career, he introduced to the American public the dwarf Tom Thumb, the Swedish singer Jenny Lind, and Jumbo the elephant which were only the most notable among numerous sensations.

After establishing the Barnum Museum in 1842 which successfully presented a multitude of exotic exhibits and performances by man and beast, he launched the first travelling circus in 1871. Facing increasing competition in this venture, he combined with his leading rival, James Bailey, in 1881 to form the Barnum and Bailey Circus.

In addition to his career as a showman, Barnum was also involved in politics. He served in the Connecticut state legislature from 1867 to 1869, was mayor of Bridgeport, and was responsible for much of the economic development of the area in that era. He authored three books: Life of P.T. Barnum (1855), Humbuqs of the World (1865), and "Lion Jack", A Story (1876).  Married twice, he had three daughters. He died in 1891 at his home in Bridgeport.

I have found that some of the writers from 1800′s are not as easy to read as modern writers. But, what they have wrote was a good as any of the modern writers. And in many cases, many of the modern writers have taken the taken the older writer’s content without any mention of where it came from.

Here are the main points from P.T. Barnum’s article. I recommend that you read the article because the Points I have provided barely scratch the surface.

As the custom of the time, P.T. wrote in the masculine. I have kept to that tradition, however, neither me nor PT. would discount a women from any of his rules.

The book is written for the young man – but as it becomes clear, I think its suitable for any person of any age entering into a new business.

Modern people, if they even think of P.T.Barnum, quote him as saying "A sucker was borne every minute" which he never said. How could a man who quotes Shakespeare, the bible and the Rothschild all in the same little book have ever stated something like that. In fact, the last quote from his book below, tells the exact opposite story.

Economy is not meanness.

In this section P.T. expresses how a person should spend their money wisely. A person is not poor because of the economy, rather he is poor because of the choices he makes.

True economy consists in always making the income exceed the out-go.

P.T. makes the point that a person should live well within his means. That means, don’t try to keep up with the Jones. Spend your money on what you need, rather than on what it looks like.

The foundation of success in life is good health

P.T. didn’t like smoking in fact he says "is one thing that nothing living except a vile worm ever naturally loved, and that is tobacco". What more can we say? By the way, he admits to having smoked up to 10 cigars a day. He wrote the above words after having quit for fourteen years. And that was before the patch.

Don’t Mistake Your Vocation

P.T. believes a person must pursue what he enjoys in his life. Not what his parents tell him he should pursue.

Select the Right Location

P.T. believed that once you have the right vocation, its just a matter of finding the location.

Avoid Debt

I wonder what P.T. would have to say about the 2007-2008 debt crisis sweeping the United States? However, in this section of the article, P.T. is not referring to debt as a form of investment, rather debt to buy clothes or a fast car.

Persevere

Never ever give up.

Whatever you do, Do it with all your might

"Do all you can for yourselves, and then trust to Providence, or luck, or whatever you please to call it, for the rest. "

Depend On Your Own Personal Exertions

"The eye of the employer is often worth more than the hands of a dozen employees." In this section P.T. quotes Rothschild and Cuvier, the French naturalist.

Use The Best Tools

Here P.T. is referring to particularly about how to select people.

Don’t Get Above Your Business

In this section, P.T. says he is strongly against investing money in business’ run by inexperienced young men. P.T. says investing in a young man is like giving him money for a lottery ticket. He quotes Astor, who said, “it was more difficult for him to accumulate his first thousand dollars, than all the succeeding millions that made up his colossal fortune.” Doesn’t that sound how so much money was lost in the Internet boom of 2000?

P.T. is at his strongest railing against the children of the rich.

Learn Something Useful

"Every man should make his son or daughter learn some useful trade or profession, so that in these days of changing fortunes of being rich to-day and poor tomorrow they may have something tangible to fall back upon. This provision might save many persons from misery, who by some unexpected turn of fortune have lost all their means." That’s the whole section. Not so bad was it? I hope you will be encouraged to read the whole article.

Let Hope Predominate, But Be Not Too Visionary

Here, P.T. is saying, choose something and stick to it until you are successful, even when it looks like their are other things that will be as successful.

Do Not Scatter Your Powers

Only do one business at a time.

Be Systematic

Have a structure and have an organization. P.T. tells (what he thinks) is a funny story about going too far in creating a structure.

Read The Newspapers

P.T. is a strong believer in newspapers as a way of knowing about the world. He would replace Newspapers with the Internet if he were writing today.

Beware Of Outside Operations

I am not sure if this is one of those things to read between the lines or is just straight forward. Outside Operations could refer to gambling or investing in businesses that you know nothing about. P.T. gives examples from both areas.

Don’t Indorse Without Security

Here P.T. is referring to helping others at no risk to the other person. Its a different form of investment. In effect, P.T. is saying, if somebody needs to borrow money for their business, make sure the person doing the borrowing is taking some real risk. This is a constant theme throughout the article – If money comes too easily, it has no value.

Advertise Your Business

I bet this one comes as a real shock from "The Greatest Showman of All Time." He gives some good guidance and tells an interesting story about publicity.

Be Polite And Kind To Your Customers

P.T. states "The man who gives the greatest amount of goods of a corresponding quality for the least sum (still reserving for himself a profit) will generally succeed best in the long run."  Would he say a "sucker is born everyday"?

Be Charitable

"The best kind of charity is to help those who are willing to help themselves." P.T. says that you are to go and search for those struggling on their own.

Don’t Blab

P.T. in the shortest paragraph makes it clear – keep your secrets to yourself.

Preserve Your Integrity

This is his last section. He equates success with being law abiding and honest and says "but who are nevertheless really richer and happier than any man can ever be while he is a transgressor of the higher laws of his being."

You can read P.T. Barnum’s book "The Art Of Money Getting or Golden Rules For Making Money" here.

This article is part of the Financial Stability skills taught in Success Through Balance. You can read more about becoming successful through a balanced life here.