Craig Garber: Great Ralph:, thanks it’s real nice to be here and real good to be talking to you.
Ralph Zuranski: I appreciate the opportunity to interview you, I wanted to ask you a couple of questions, what is your definition of heroism?
Craig Garber: The definition of heroism, well to me it’s someone who makes life better either by eliminating some of the existing pain your going through or by giving someone a chance to enhance their life in some way, shape, or form. An unexpected opportunity also.
Ralph Zuranski: What is your perspective on goodness, ethics and moral behavior?
Craig Garber: Goodness, ethics, and moral behavior. Well, I guess to me the definition of integrity is doing the right thing when no one’s looking, if you know what I’m saying, so if you maintain your level of integrity, that covers all of it.
Ralph Zuranski: What principles are you willing to sacrifice your life for?
Craig Garber: That’s a good question, I think that’s the kind of question that is really easy to answer on the surface because it’s easy to say ‘well I’d give My life for this’ or ‘I’d give my life for that.’ But I think when your pressed up against the wall in real life situations I don’t think the knee-jerk answer you’d have is the reality.
Craig Garber: I think if your pressed up in a situation like this that people who do sacrifice their lives for things, they’re probably not the things that they would’ve imagined they’d be sacrificing their life for. Whether it’s to jump in front of a complete stranger and push him out of the way of a car or something like that that you end up sacrificing your life for.
Craig Garber: I think it’s those things you wind up sacrificing your life for. So as far as principals I think that it would be really hard for me to tell you what I would sacrifice my life for, I would say without a doubt that, unquestionably I would always sacrifice my life for my wife and kids, to protect them and keep them safe. So that’s the only realistic answer that I can give you.
Ralph Zuranski: So you’d say that it’s sort of a moment by moment thing, so you’re saying that if somebody’s in danger of being run over by a car or somebody’s in a burning house it would be hard to do it at that time, like a lot of people look at heroes as firemen and soldiers and stuff that are actually being paid to do those types of things, and I think that this person is a much greater hero if they’re not being paid to do a job, but actually you’re willing to sacrifice your life in a moment to save the lives of others.
Craig Garber: Yeah, I think that people who sacrifice their life, most of the time don’t go into something thinking that, Okay, I know I’m going to sacrifice my life for this. So, that’s kind of a hard question to answer, I think about 9/11 for example. I think in that situation that a lot of the firemen and the cops, and the guys who ran in there, they probably had a conscious level of awareness of, I’m probably going to be sacrificing my life to do this.
Craig Garber: But that situation doesn’t happen to often, when it’s, ‘I know I’m going to be giving my life up for this cause.’ I think you do things that are important to you and, Hey, Who knows what the outcome of anything is going to be, what actions are going to be taken.
Ralph Zuranski: Yeah, I think that those guys are real heroes because you can just walk off the job, to have the courage to basically go in and know that that may be your last day on Earth, I think that that is real heroism. That’s the same with our troops.
Craig Garber: Absolutely, that’s balls.
Ralph Zuranski: Yeah, so did you have a dream or a vision that set the course of your life?
Craig Garber: I did, but I guess I had two different, you know as you age and evolve or should I say mature instead of age, as you mature, your vision, and what’s important to you changes. That has evolved like that for myself as well. I guess when I was younger my dream or vision was just to get the hell out of where I was.
Craig Garber: I had a pretty miserable childhood, I guess. I just wanted to get out of where I was. I grew up in a violent and abusive household with a lower income, you know, you see the projects on T.V. in New York City that’s where I grew up in, the Bronx, that’s where I grew up. I didn’t know the rosy side of the world. I had a sense that better stuff existed out there, but I was never exposed to it, but people will often say, how can these guys in the ghetto be holding people up and be so violent, that’s all they know. They don’t know that if I work hard and I study, that I can go out and make a million dollars.
Craig Garber: No, all they know is that they live in poverty, my mother lived in poverty, my mother’s mother lived in poverty, and my kids will live in poverty. So they’re programmed for all that negative stuff, so I was programmed for that, but in the back of my head I knew that my dream or vision at that time was to get the hell out of that place.
Craig Garber: I didn’t know how to do it, I didn’t know what it looked like, didn’t know where it was but I knew I had to do it, and I knew that’s what I wanted.
Ralph Zuranski: You know that’s interesting because the scope of the in search of heroes program is to give those people in the communities that you grew up in hope, that they can compete with the profits in drugs and in crime by marketing the products in their local community on the internet or just come up with products on their own.
Craig Garber: There’s a huge need for that, no doubt about that, if you can reach out and change some lives, you really will be changing the course of the world for these people, because there is a shortage of hope in places like that, I know there was in my neighborhood, in my house, and you know there still is for the rest of my family, I was just fortunate.
Ralph Zuranski: How did you become an optimist? Because, to be able to get out of that situation you had to actually have a positive view of the future and you could change your life.
Craig Garber: I have no idea, I don’t know, I thank God every day to tell you the truth.
Craig Garber: I just beat the odds, I really don’t know how I became an optimist, I think how I became an optimist was I had faith in me. I knew I was better than where I was living. Not that I was a better person than the people that were living there, but that I could do better.
Craig Garber: I just didn’t know what was out there, I had to know what better looked like, so that was the pain and the growth process for me was how to act in better, how to act when your in better, what does that mean.
Craig Garber: The other thing was I realized how little I knew and I always sought out information, I realized the importance of information. I was schooled in everything what “not to do”, which is a valuable lesson, but I had know idea what “to” do.
Ralph Zuranski: Well, obviously it took a lot of courage to pursue new ideas, because most people are trapped in the place where there at for fear of doing anything new, or disrupting their peer group that they hang around with.
Craig Garber: Well, in a way I had it easy that way because I’m a risk taker and I’m at the bottom, so what if I fail at this, where am I gonna’ go? There’s no way that I can be worse off than I am now.
Craig Garber: You know, there’s no way that things can be worse than they are now. If I screw up, then just go on to the next thing and maybe that’ll screw up, so you know I think in a way from the fear of failure, you know some people are to lazy to take action, that stuff never bothered me because I had always known that there’s only up. It may not work, but you know I probably couldn’t get further down.
Ralph Zuranski: So you were willing to experience discomfort in pursuit of your dreams?
Craig Garber: Oh yeah, Look you have to, you know everybody sees the end result of people, you know, ‘you’re a success, you’re this, you’re that.’ It’s like a band, these guys came out of nowhere, you don’t know the ten years of sleeping in vans, and laying in vomit in hotel rooms with fifteen other guys. You have to be willing to sacrifice a little bit, it’s a misnomer and it’s something that people don’t want to believe, but nobody has it easy. Everybody’s had a struggle, some people have to struggle more than others, some have to struggle a lot more than others, but there are very, very few people that are actually given something.
Ralph Zuranski: How important to you, was it to believe that eventually your dreams would turn into reality?
Craig Garber: I had to, I had no choice, what was my choice? The pain of living in the reality I was, was much greater than the pain of these setbacks on the road ahead. It was easier to go with these wacky thoughts going through my head. I thought, I was put on this Earth to do something a lot better than where I am now, I don’t know what that something is, I don’t know what it’ll be, I don’t know what it will look like, but let me go and find it. I always believed that.
Ralph Zuranski: You’re paralyzed by doubts and fears and they just won’t let up, most people are afraid and that fear keeps them from being successful. How were you able to overcome your doubts and fears?
Craig Garber: Look, I still have fears when I do things, but they’re not fears of failure. Like I said that I’ve never had fears of failure. In fact to be perfectly honest with you, I struggled for years and years with fear of success, again because of that programming I had as a kid, that failure, that scarcity mentality, that failure programming, and you know what happens is every time you’re about to embark on a new adventure that can turn out positive that old dodgy, rusty tape recorder in the back of your head flips that play switch.
Craig Garber: Flips that negative programming play switch in your head, and it spills that garbage out. So, you have to know, and it takes place now once in a while, but now I’m aware of it, now I’m aware of what’s going on, now that it’s just, I think Steven Pressfield said in the book I don’t know if you’ve read it, “The War Of Art”, he said that’s just resistance coming up, but now I’m aware of it, again as supposedly I’m a mature adult guy and I can talk myself through it, acknowledge it, and recognize it, and I think to some extent it might be healthy because it keeps me hungry.
Ralph Zuranski: Yeah, yeah, I understand that.
Craig Garber: And also the other thing is I’d be lying if I didn’t say my wife had a really big role in this, because there were times I did want to give up, she stuck with me and said Craig: I don’t want you doing this, I don’t want you giving up, I’m willing to hang in no matter how desperate or no matter how bad times get, I’m willing to hang in there as long as you will.
Craig Garber: I want to you to do this I believe in you, I know what you can do, and so quite often, there were times where I did want to give up and fold up when things weren’t going well in business.
Craig Garber: I said God, I don’t know if I can do this anymore, what a loser I’d be if I didn’t at least try. She deserves this, at least. That got me through a lot of tough times to be honest with you.
Ralph Zuranski: So, she’s the one that gave you the will power to change the things in your life to make it better ?
Craig Garber: My wife has been a real strong catalyst for change in my life, and I think we’ve done that with each other, we’ve been real lucky.
Craig Garber: I’m one of those one in ten jillion people that actually finds a soul mate, I mean I like hanging out with my life, I mean she’s my best friend, she’s always my first choice of people to hang out with, she’s been a tremendous influence of me, and support of me, my cheering section.
Craig Garber: She’s a strong woman too, because I’m the kind of guy, I’m a pretty strong personality, when I’m down I need someone to be there for me. She’s always done that, and I think we’ve done that for each other.
Ralph Zuranski: Yeah, I feel the same way about my wife also. She won’t let you get over on any of your you know what.
Craig Garber: Yeah, I mean look you know, it’s good, if you get something like that, you truly are blessed, you’ve hit the lotto.
Ralph Zuranski: Yeah, that’s the truth in relationships and I’m sure this is true in your relationship also. How important is it to forgive those who upset and oppose you ?
Craig Garber: It’s very important, but I got to be honest with you for me very few people upset, offend, and oppose me. As long as I’ve got my wife and kids, there’s really nothing outside of that nobody can really rub me the wrong way that I’m going to be all up and on them about anything.
Craig Garber: Look, in business sometimes people accommodate you and sometimes they don’t, that’s just business, I don’t take any of that stuff personally. You just figure out another way to do things, or you work around it or you work with someone else. You got to compromise to, you know that’s part of life, you don’t get everything you want, you got to compromise.
Ralph Zuranski: Do you experience service to others as a source of personal joy?
Craig Garber: Yeah man I love helping others, I don’t just like helping people out, I like showing people that they could do things that they thought they couldn’t. Like when it comes to marketing for example people call me and we’ll have consults, you know they say, I’ve given up, I can’t do this, this, and this. Sometimes it’s a real simple answer, have you ever thought changing x, y, and z.
Craig Garber: Or, change your headline, it really puts a spin on it, you see the light go on in peoples lives then. You see them walking around their house and the shades are drawn, and the windows are taped up, and all of a sudden, boom! It’s sunny like it is here in Florida, the windows are open, it’s bright, the house smells good all of a sudden, so yeah I love doing stuff like that.
Ralph Zuranski: How important is it to contain a sense of humor in the face of serious problems, because you know that everybody has serious problems in their lives and, how important is humor in that?
Craig Garber: It’s tremendously important, I mean, people who know me well, know me, I love to cut up and crack jokes at people, I do it with my kids, I do it with my wife, sometimes when you’re down in the skids, that’s the only thing that gets you through, poke fun at your situation and, I think the other thing that gets you through is having a high energy level.
Craig Garber: A can-do attitude, a humor, and a high energy level, that’s the kind of thing that gets you through.
Ralph Zuranski: We know your wife’s a hero in your life, who are some of the other people that you consider a hero in your life?
Craig Garber: Other people that are heroes in my life… My older son is probably one of my heroes, he had to deal with some stuff when he was a kid that certainly wasn’t fair, I say that he shouldn’t hae had to deal with it, and he did, how he handled himself, I’m real proud of all my kids, but he’s taught me a lot, and he communicates real well, he tells me ‘Dad your screwing up’, you know, I respect that he’s a together neat kid.
Craig Garber: Like you said, my wife’s a hero of mine, and she’s definitely been a guiding light for me and has been a huge catalyst for change. That’s probably about it, as far as that goes.
Craig Garber: If I use my definition of heroes, to some extent Gary Halbert was a bit of a hero of mine, he came in and gave me the confidence, he took me under his wing and gave me the confidence, switched what I was doing, I owned a financial planning business for 9 years, he told me that I was the greatest copy writer he’d ever met.
Craig Garber: That wasn’t a testimonial, he sent me that after I did a couple of jobs I did for him, I thought he was winding me up, I thought he was giving me a bunch of crap. I called him up and I said I got this e-mail from you, and he said ‘yeah, I meant every word.’ That gave me the confidence to make a change in my life and so I could live the lifestyle that I wanted which was for me, was spending more time with my wife and kids.
Ralph Zuranski: That’s really great so those people have made and continue to make a positive difference in your life.
Craig Garber: Yeah, well I’ll tell you what there’s another guy that, again going by my definition of heroism, is someone who’s unselfishly given from himself, a client of mine, this guy came to me about six or eight months ago, a guy named Chet Roland, you might have heard of him he’s a, Dan Kennedy’s always talking about him.
Craig Garber: Anyway he lives down here. He’s a client of mine, and he’s turned out to be, using that definition of a hero, he’s a hero, he’s promoted me, and just so influential in my career with a lot of other things, and a lot of prominent information marketers, and he’s just a great guy to be around, he’s just inspirational, he’s a high energy guy like me, and just a good guy to be around, so I’d have to say Chet’s you know not only a friend, but to some extent using that definition of heroism, a hero as ell.
Ralph Zuranski: That’s great, who do you feel the real hero is in our society today?
Craig Garber: Okay, the real heroes are not Oprah and Doctor Phil, not that they don’t do heroic things. To me I think the real heroes are good parents.
Ralph Zuranski: I do to.
Craig Garber: See, there’s a big difference, Ralph:, and as a parent I know this, it’s not easy.
Craig Garber: There’s a huge difference between giving your kids things and giving your kids a sense of independence, the sense of responsibility, and being able to hit the pause button, if you want to call it that, whenever they need to of things going on right then and there and help teach them a life lesson.
Ralph Zuranski: Boy, that’s so important.
Craig Garber: Yeah those are the real heroes, the little, the people doing those little random acts of kindness in your life, especially when they’re being consistent with your kids. Those are the true heroes.
Ralph Zuranski: That is so true. So, why are heroes so important in the lives of young people?
Craig Garber: Well, like I reference myself when you don’t have a guide post when you don’t have someone you can model yourself after, I think a lot of people have role models, but they’re not comfortable with them, like me.
Craig Garber: You sort of feel like a sailboat out in the middle of the ocean, without a sail, you’re just going along with the waves, and you’re just trying to figure out what’s going on trying to figure out what is what. So if a child can get an anchor and someone to help them steer their lives, they’re going to grow much quicker, they’re going to be much more successful people, much earlier, and therefore they can contribute positively to themselves and other peoples lives in their world.
Ralph Zuranski: Why do you think that heroes like the moms, and the dads, and the grandpas, and the grandmas, and the coaches, and the teachers, and the spiritual leaders, that they’re not getting the recognitions that they deserve today?
Craig Garber: You don’t want to see them on the T.V.
Ralph Zuranski: I would, I’d like to see it.
Craig Garber: I’d like to see it to, but it won’t sell.
Ralph Zuranski: Why do you think that is? One of the great people I interviewed, Gregory Allen Williams, was a cop on Baywatch, he said that ‘If it bleeds it leads’.
Craig Garber: Yeah, right, it will sell as a tail end of a show, tonight’s closing story we have grandma Essy, who is 97 years old and takes care of fifteen kids. Yeah, I think that’s too mundane and people discount it. I think that people don’t acknowledge that that’s the way the world goes round. Whether you have different opinions, or similar opinions, but that’s the thing that makes the world a great place to live in. It’s to mundane, people want to see sensational stuff. They’re not going to stop and consider stuff like that.
Ralph Zuranski: Do you think that people’s emotions are so jaded that they need one catastrophe, after another catastrophe just to feel stimulated?
Craig Garber: I think people are busy, I think that people are so caught up in their lives, we talked before about taking action, most people don’t want to take action. I think that the hustle and bustle of today’s world is so draining on most people that not only do they not have time for other people, but that they don’t have time for themselves, few people take time out during the day to sort of do something for themselves, do something good for themselves, read a book, I mean watching T.V. is not good for you. So, I just think that people are too involved in their lives.
Ralph Zuranski: Watching the shows on T.V. puts fear into a lot of people’s lives, and it’s a fear that they absolutely cannot overcome, why do you think that people have such an addiction to T.V.? I know that some people watch it 40, 50 hours a week.
Craig Garber: I have no idea; I watch 2 hours of T.V. personally, that’s a lot. But, it’s escape, again most people, I think Thoreau said most men lead lives of quiet consternation, quiet desperation, and I think that’s true.
Craig Garber: People want to escape, it’s nice to turn to T.V., and imagine, I mean I can’t believe these reality shows, it cracks me up, I see USA TODAY everyday, who got thrown off American Idol or something like that, and to me how you can be preoccupied by other peoples lives that have nothing to do with you, it’s funny, not funny but people do lead lives of desperation.
Craig Garber: Too many bills, not enough money to pay it, to much on their plate, schedules are hectic, too many kids, blah, blah, blah. And so hey, I get to watch hot half-dressed women on T.V. or I get to see how someone’s new car is getting pimped, you know.
Ralph Zuranski: How do people become heroes? From your definition.
Craig Garber: Giving hope to others. You introduce hope into other peoples lives, and sometimes, you know where I grew up it was hard to be a hero.
Craig Garber: You’ve got to attract those people to you, you can’t go and seek them out because, looking at marketing, you’re talking to an audience that’s not interested. The people who want hope, you’ve got to put that out there and let people come to you, because it’s hard to find people who have hope in those areas.
Ralph Zuranski: You know I’ve been on the internet for the past three years, taking photos of all the seminars, of all the speakers doing their power points, and just to see what kind of people they are and to see who would help out the heroes program. I’m finding out who has followed through with their promises. How does it feel to be recognized on the internet as a hero, because you’re following through in a big way?
Craig Garber: Well, I’m flattered, I really appreciate it. The good thing is, I don’t know what it’s going to do for my life. That’s the beauty of life, and I’m ready for the adventure, I’m ready to find out. Then contribute what I can, and something will come out of it in some way, shape, or form.
Ralph Zuranski: Why do you think you were selected for this unique honor?
Craig Garber: I was thinking about that Ralph:, I met you and we talked real briefly, I would suspect either we had good chemistry, or you saw something in me, or I my voice, or the way I held open the door for somebody, or something in my body language that said “hey I think this is somebody that I might want to get with to help me with this good cause”. I don’t know, why was I selected Ralph:?
Ralph Zuranski: You were selected because you volunteered to help, you heard what the program was, to recognize moms and dads, and the people that don’t get the recognition that they deserve, and the impact that they make on the lives of their kids and other people in the community, just by offering, and following through, and that was the reason why I gave you this unique honor, you are a person that follows through, you are a person with integrity, and you do respond to my e-mails, you wanted to give your best on this interview, and you want to do it even when you’re tired, you are a person that should be recognized as a hero, you do love your family, you do love your kids. You work hard for your family, you take care of your body. That’s the example that I would like to hold up as a role model for young people. You are actually making the world a better place.
Craig Garber: Well I don’t blush too easily but I’m blushing now, and I really appreciate all those things you said. I’m just doing my thing you know, doing what I can to make this little world a better place.
Ralph Zuranski: Well, I know that you’ve been through a lot in your life, and I know that you’re from the projects, and there is always problems facing society. How do you have or do you have any ideas on how to get rid of the problems in the society?
Craig Garber: Okay, well I probably have some thoughts on that, but they’re going to be hard to do.
Craig Garber: Number 1, people have got to start taking responsibility for their own actions. It’s so easy to write sales copy, you know, “it’s not your fault”. It’s kind of a funny drop back amongst copywriters. “It’s not your fault”, but it is your fault, it is 100% your fault man.
Craig Garber: The sooner you take responsibility, the sooner your life’s going to become better, in everything. “It’s not my fault that I have a low paying job, it’s not my fault that I’m late paying my bills.” So, the first thing, is taking responsibility.
Craig Garber: The second thing to deal with some of those problems, child abuse, racism, is just be open-minded a little bit. Understand that not everybody’s going to agree with you. You don’t have to agree with anybody, you don’t even have to like anybody, but you know what? There would be so much less stress in the world and so much less stress in your life if we accepted everybody.
Craig Garber: I don’t like all my neighbors, they probably don’t like me, in fact I know they don’t like me. I don’t sit there and obsess about it, hey people are different, you know that’s the way it is, you’re going to disagree with people in your own household sometimes. Just accept that everybody’s got a different opinion and that’s okay. You don’t all have to agree. I you could do those two things, if people can be open-minded, except that things are different, not judge them, and then just take some responsibility, I think you’d eliminate almost all those problems.
Ralph Zuranski: Yeah, I agree, that’s one of my dreams of the heroes program, once it starts going to every community that the kids would realize that, that reading the blogs, from other kids in other communities that they have an open mind and are able to allow new information, and accept that and ponder it, and try to believe that they are good, but may not have the same perspective on life as they do.
Craig Garber: Yeah, see why is it, kids are a perfect example. Kids, you tell a kid hey man would you like to interact with this kid over in England, or this kid in Japan, or Vietnam, or Denmark and kids are like yeah, what’s going on, what’s their world like?
Craig Garber: Why is it that adults are like, screw that, I just want to stay in my little corner, or my little block, my neighborhood, or my street, or myself in my house?
Craig Garber: Kids are definitely more open and into accepting things, so if we can implement your program, to the kids, that’s where we’ve got to get it. You got to get them open, because they are open minded, they are very open minded, and wide-eyed with anticipation of what the world has top give them, and it’s just… Why do people beat kids? They beat them because they had a rough day, and they can’t handle it, and they don’t know how to deal with the energy.
Craig Garber: They’re miserable, and, “It’s not my fault that it happened”, but it is, just fix the freaking problem.
Ralph Zuranski: Yep, you know I really believe that, that’s true. If you had three wishes in your life that would instantly come true what would they be?
Craig Garber: Well they would probably be, number 1 and 2 like you asked me before, is for people to take responsibility for themselves, love their fellow man and start accepting people. I think that immediately people would chill out a lot. I guess end suffering from poor health — watching someone suffering — that’s got to be brutal, and emotionally agonizing. Suffering because of poor health is terrible, it’s brutal. I’ve gone through some of it myself. That would be my third wish I guess.
Ralph Zuranski: What do you think about the search for heroes program and what it’s done for kids, parents and business people?
Craig Garber: Ralph: I think it’s a great program, any time you raise awareness about children’s needs for heroes is fantastic. Getting people talking about those things is great. Like my son yesterday, he came home from the bus, and he said kids were arguing about the war, or the presidency, and I said look, even if you guys disagree, at least you guys are talking about it, being aware about it.
Craig Garber: Either way if you and these kids vote at least you’re getting involved in a positive decision in your life. So, raising awareness is important. Look, you’re trying to save peoples lives, especially young people, as I said before you’re the hero here, not me. You’re the one setting all this up, and making a positive approach to things. I think it’s fantastic.
Ralph Zuranski: We’ve got tell kids that they can change the paradigm that was something great once. Either they were surged on by adrenaline, or make that one act, that it’s more of a daily action, of choosing the way that you’re going to act. As Gregory Allen Williams said ‘there’s a little bit of good in the worst of us, and there’s a little bit of bad in the best of us.’ The hardest thing about that is finding the equilibrium, I think we all suffer from that.
Craig Garber: Absolutely, absolutely.
Ralph Zuranski: What are the things that parents can do to help their children realize is that they to can make a positive impact on the lives of others?
Craig Garber: That’s a really good question, it’s something I’ve given a tremendous amount of thought to, because having three kids, and knowing all the wrong ways to raise kids I had to because I didn’t want to make those same mistakes with my kids, my own children.
Craig Garber: I would say that, my oldest son is fifteen so I would have a bit of experience about this, so if had to sit and reflect, and say the most important thing is let your kids be kids. You only get one childhood, there’s no do-over. Okay, let them be kids. You ask a six year old, why are you doing this, I’m six.
Craig Garber: I’ve got a five year old and a fifteen year old, and one in the middle, so believe me, I’m much more realistic of that with my five year old than I was with my fifteen year old, because you’re older and you’ve made these mistakes, so you realize these things. Don’t judge them, don’t judge your kids let them be who they are. Some kids will not be good students, that’s okay you’ve still got to love them, that’s just the way they are. They’re not into school, are they good people that’s what’s important.
Craig Garber: Don’t set expectations for them either, like I said before, your kids are separate individuals from you. I coached all my kids, and my daughter’s five so she’ll be starting to play sports soon. I coached them in soccer, my wife and I actually coached, and then I coached one or two years after that. And then with my middle son in basketball for years. I see these parents and they live or die with these kids, about foul shooting. It’s almost like the kid is definitely more well received when he’s doing well, than when he’s not.
Craig Garber: The parents hang onto their kids. I was the oddball, I could care less of what my kids do. I just wanted them to have fun. They were playing sports, not for me, I could care less of how they did. My kids are in karate, and now I know they’re red belts, but there was a time there when I was sitting in karate one time and someone asked me what belt my kids were, and I didn’t know.
Craig Garber: It’s not that I didn’t care about my kids, it’s just that I didn’t care what ranking they were. I think one was orange, I didn’t even know. That’s not why I was there, I was there for them to have fun, and maybe something good would come out of it for their lives.
Ralph Zuranski: So you think that parents are just pushing their kids to hard, and they’re just forcing them to achieve the level of success that they never achieved in their lives?
Craig Garber: Yeah, I think they’re pushing them too hard for the wrong things. These same people that push their kids hard to score another soccer goal, or make sure they make 90% of their lay-ups. Then when the kid’s rude he doesn’t say hey, you know, why don’t you say thank you or please.
Craig Garber: In the long run, they’re going to have a lot more easier time getting along in this world learning how to say thank you and please than learning how to make foul shots or getting lay ups in. So, I think they’re looking for things to put on the wall, and I think the mistake that most parents make are looking for tangible signs of evidence of success in your children’s life, I don’t think tangible signs of evidence measures their success.
Craig Garber: Now, if you have seen people say ,oh that guy’s lazy, or his kids aren’t performing well, I have wall-full of stuff, I don’t care about that stuff though, what means a lot more to me is that when a parent comes to me down the block and says, your son Casey is so polite, all the other kids come to the house, he is such a nice kid, so nice to deal with.
Craig Garber: That to me says that Anne and I did a pretty good job of what we’re doing with our kids. It happens with all three of our kids, and I see how they interact with others, they’re polite, they say hello, they care about other people, they don’t step on other people. They care about other kids.
Ralph Zuranski: That’s one of the reasons why I created the In search of Heroes program, is because to honor the moms and dads, and the kids that act that way. I’ve talked a lot with professional sports stars here in San Diego and some of the stars up in L.A., I’ve found that their just absolutely the worst role models possible. You see the kids taking on the same activities that the sports stars that are on steroids or have attitudes that are anything but disproportional for kids.
Craig Garber: Right, because your kids, you know, you don’t realize the role you play in their lives, they will imitate everything you do. You don’t realize this because it’s going on behind the scenes. The other thing that’s really important is that you’ve got to give your kids confidence, and the way to do that is letting them be independent, not doing everything for them.
Craig Garber: My son’s working, one of my weekly tips was about the job that I helped him get, he’s almost fifteen, he’s been working almost a year. He’s doing real well. I think it’s important, he’s earning quite a bit, he’s going to get his permit soon, we’re going to have to deal with that, it’s the thing to do, I don’t feel safe putting him on the road, but I do feel safe teaching him how to drive. It’s better to sit out there with me for a year, so I know what he’s got, rather than, “Here’s your license.” — we’re both screwed then.
Craig Garber: I’ve always tried to be there for them, so we can talk about it, but, now they’ve got the courage, the more things you do the more things you think you can do. You just build on that, you build on it, and build on it.
Craig Garber: All my kids are extremely independent and I’ve let them fail, as long as we’re here for them that’s all that matters. It’s important to know what’s going on in the world, letting your kids know. Good times, and bad times. My kids have come to me and said they heard me saying that we can’t go out to eat tonight or something like that. They always say if you need any money we’ll give it to you.
Ralph Zuranski: Thank you for contributing your time, I know you’re very busy, and have a tremendous amount of clients that really respect you and appreciate what you do, once again thank you very much.
Craig Garber: Ralph:, I appreciate your time and I appreciate being part of the program, I’m just looking to contribute and help out and I think what your doing is a great thing, thanks very much for including me. Thanks for asking me all these questions. If I could help you out with anything, don’t hesitate to let me know.
Ralph Zuranski: Thanks, I’m really looking forward to looking at your sales letter to promote the In search of Heroes book, which contains the best of the best of what I’ve found in marketing, copywriting, and technology, and just ask for promotion for the foundation thing that will help every community to be successful. I’m just thankful to you and for all the help you offered.
Craig Garber: No problem, take care Ralph.
I create front-end lead generation programs and sales funnels that attract highly qualified buyers. As you know, there are few business problems that can’t be solved by having an abundance of qualified leads. In some cases, the systems we wind up creating, literally work like “magic.” These systems typically work both online and offline, and more often than not, use media from both worlds.
I create unique marketplace positioning for you, that makes you to stand out, head and shoulders above your competition, allowing you to charge (and collect) much higher prices. This positioning is usually the golden ticket that leads you out of the “convincing” business (convincing people to work with you), and into the “attracting” business (attracting clients who are eager and excited about working with you, right now).
As a result of numbers one and two, you’re now in a great position to make “Maximum Money” using a few other strategies I help you put in place. These strategies allow you to profit more while doing a LOT less, and they’ve proven to be extremely effective for both myself, and for literally hundreds of other clients.
Virtually all the work I do is based on emotional direct-response marketing principles, with a heavy emphasis on the “emotional” part. I seem to have a sixth sense when it comes to understanding why people do and don’t react to things — especially your buyers. And by the way, I don’t pretend to have all the answers, by a long-shot — but don’t worry — if I’m going to come up short, you’ll be the first one to know. My clients are:
Primarily business-owners in the service or consulting business, who sell high ticket products and services. Customer value tends to be in the thousands or tens of thousands of dollars, and most of my clients are grossing between $250,000 on the very low end, to… $5 Million+ on the high end.
Now a little background about me: The Introduction to “How To Make Maximum Money With Minimum Customers” opens up with, “I am Mr. Nobody, from nowhere… and here’s my story.”
And while I couldn’t include this section of the book, because it’s just W-A-A-Y too long… the story I’m about to tell you is a little lengthy. But at least, by the time you’re finished… you’ll know who you’re dealing with.
Which is important — especially online. So now, let me tell you how it all started…
I got involved in direct-response marketing back in March of 2000. At the time, I was living in Plantation, Florida (just outside of Ft. Lauderdale) and running my financial planning firm.
Craig Garber & kids
Just after I started in direct-response marketing. That’s me, with Sam, Casey, and Nick.
And when I say, “running my financial planning firm,” I pretty much mean “running it into the ground.” See, although I was very good at what I did, and honest as the day is long… I was like most small business owners, when it comes to marketing: I didn’t have a clue.
I’d grown up in The Bronx, in a violence-filled, rage-filled household — the oldest son of a toll collector and a local saving bank customer service rep. And of course, I knew nothing about business.
The only thing I heard while growing up, even remotely related to money, was that “rich people are bad…” “money is evil…” and all the other kinds of cliched and highly inaccurate phrases people who grow up in blue collar homes are probably familiar with.