In 1969, At the age of 22 Arnold Schwarzenegger started a mail-order
business, buying ads in magazines, selling bodybuilding products, and
building a list of buyers.
"By the age of 30, Schwarzenegger was a millionaire, well before his career in
Hollywood. His financial independence came from his success as a budding
entrepreneur with a series of successful business ventures and investments"
says his page on Wikipedia.
business, buying ads in magazines, selling bodybuilding products, and
building a list of buyers.
"By the age of 30, Schwarzenegger was a millionaire, well before his career in
Hollywood. His financial independence came from his success as a budding
entrepreneur with a series of successful business ventures and investments"
says his page on Wikipedia.
Reading his biography 'Total Recall'. Here's what he said about his early days in America,
after being brought over by his mentor Joe Weider:
"The money Joe paid me never went very far. I was always looking for ways to
earn more. I would give seminars at Golds and other gyms. Each netted $500.
I also launched a mail-order business out of my apartment. It grew out of the fan
mail I was getting. People wanted to know how I trained my arms, my chest.
And they asked how they could git themselves.
I couldn't answer all these letters, so in the beginning, I got the writers at the
Joe Weider magazine to help me with standard letters that I could send out.
That gave me the idea of selling a series of booklets.
In America, unlike Europe, there weren't a million obstacles to starting a
business. All I had to do was go down to city hall and pay $3.75 for a permit,
and then rent a post office box to receive the orders.
When Franco and I started a bricklaying business it was the same thing.
We walked out shaking our heads, and Franco said, "This is why they call
this the land of opportunity." We were so happy. [...] Joe Weider was big in mail order of course, but he didn't really see his
bodybuilders as competition.
Many bodybuilders failed at mail order because they'd accept the money but
not get it together to mail the product. You had to fill your orders within a
certain time by law. If the post office received complaints, it would take away
your post office box, and your business would be gone.
[...] But I was super-efficient. There were bins for incoming mail, checks,
envelopes, and outgoing orders. My booklets were a success. Soon I added
an Arnold Schwarzenegger weight-lifting belt and other products, enough for
a double-page ad. This brought in even more business.
I always showed Joe any ad I wrote before putting it in the magazine because
he was a merchandising genius. "Why didn't you write 'Fill within days'?" he'd ask.
'Put that in the ad! People want to know you're dependable! And you should say
'This booklet is a limited edition'! People love limited editions'.
I loved being an American entrepreneur. With mail order I was doing what
Charles Atlas had done!"
I found this passage fascinating. Arnold was buying advertising space, driving
traffic to his offers, building a list, and selling products!
I always remind my seminar attendees of this 'Millionaire Secret'... sell products,
don't sell your time. If you sell products, your earning potential becomes
uncapped!
He ran his business from home, building his list, like a modern-day laptop
entrepreneur.
And new products were created easily by simply interviewing experts with... a
little tape recorder!
"Joe Weider asked if I would take a tape recorder ad interview the other
bodybuilders. I didn't have to write the stories, just make the tapes, and the
writers would turn them into a series of articles giving readers the inside scoop.
All I had to do was talk to the others about their training routines, their diet,
what vitamins they took, and so on."
Arnold barely spoke English and yet found success in the mail-order business.
If you're reading these lines right now, you can do it too!
p.s. Schwarzenegger only found success in Hollywood movies at the age of 35,
in the 1982 swashbuckling epic 'Conan The Barbarian'.
"The money Joe paid me never went very far. I was always looking for ways to
earn more. I would give seminars at Golds and other gyms. Each netted $500.
I also launched a mail-order business out of my apartment. It grew out of the fan
mail I was getting. People wanted to know how I trained my arms, my chest.
And they asked how they could git themselves.
I couldn't answer all these letters, so in the beginning, I got the writers at the
Joe Weider magazine to help me with standard letters that I could send out.
That gave me the idea of selling a series of booklets.
In America, unlike Europe, there weren't a million obstacles to starting a
business. All I had to do was go down to city hall and pay $3.75 for a permit,
and then rent a post office box to receive the orders.
When Franco and I started a bricklaying business it was the same thing.
We walked out shaking our heads, and Franco said, "This is why they call
this the land of opportunity." We were so happy. [...] Joe Weider was big in mail order of course, but he didn't really see his
bodybuilders as competition.
Many bodybuilders failed at mail order because they'd accept the money but
not get it together to mail the product. You had to fill your orders within a
certain time by law. If the post office received complaints, it would take away
your post office box, and your business would be gone.
[...] But I was super-efficient. There were bins for incoming mail, checks,
envelopes, and outgoing orders. My booklets were a success. Soon I added
an Arnold Schwarzenegger weight-lifting belt and other products, enough for
a double-page ad. This brought in even more business.
I always showed Joe any ad I wrote before putting it in the magazine because
he was a merchandising genius. "Why didn't you write 'Fill within days'?" he'd ask.
'Put that in the ad! People want to know you're dependable! And you should say
'This booklet is a limited edition'! People love limited editions'.
I loved being an American entrepreneur. With mail order I was doing what
Charles Atlas had done!"
I found this passage fascinating. Arnold was buying advertising space, driving
traffic to his offers, building a list, and selling products!
I always remind my seminar attendees of this 'Millionaire Secret'... sell products,
don't sell your time. If you sell products, your earning potential becomes
uncapped!
He ran his business from home, building his list, like a modern-day laptop
entrepreneur.
And new products were created easily by simply interviewing experts with... a
little tape recorder!
"Joe Weider asked if I would take a tape recorder ad interview the other
bodybuilders. I didn't have to write the stories, just make the tapes, and the
writers would turn them into a series of articles giving readers the inside scoop.
All I had to do was talk to the others about their training routines, their diet,
what vitamins they took, and so on."
Arnold barely spoke English and yet found success in the mail-order business.
If you're reading these lines right now, you can do it too!
p.s. Schwarzenegger only found success in Hollywood movies at the age of 35,
in the 1982 swashbuckling epic 'Conan The Barbarian'.
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