Through my contacts in the business book industry, I obtained some draft sample chapters from a book proposal allegedly authored by Bernie Madoff, the alleged purveyor of the world’s greatest Ponzi scheme.
Unfortunately, Bernie’s book project was interrupted by unforeseen circumstances, so there are (alas!) only three sample chapters available. (Here are links to the first chapter, as well as a draft promotional video!!) Below is the second chapter. Enjoy!
CHAPTER 2: GET RELIGION… FAST
A lot of sales professionals go to church or temple in the hopes that God will help their careers.
Wotta buncha dopes!
The only reason to go to church or temple is because that’s where you’re gonna find prospects!
Back in 1995, when I first started thinking about “creative” business models, the Foundation for New Era Philanthropy (great name, by the way) landed $700 million from around a hundred evangelical Christian churches. And just last week, an enterprising entrepreneur in Manhattan got $600,000 right out of the pockets of parishioners.
And I’m sure you’ve noticed that those interesting “business opportunity” emails from Nigeria always have a religious flavor to them. [[
Note to editor: can I get some royalties from this plug?]] And no wonder, the people who respond to them tend to be avid churchgoers.Why are religious institutions the happy hunting ground? Simple. To secure tithes and donations, your local pastor, priest, rabbi or imam must constantly harp that that “faith” in unverifiable “facts” is a positive personality trait. The religiously observant are thus already primed to cough up dough without applying much (if any) skepticism.
Thus, if you want to extend your business network and pick up relatively easy sales without suffering through a lot of pesky objections, you want prospects who are already paying somebody big money to talk with an imaginary friend.
Religion! Don’t go on a sales call without it!
Stay tuned for additional chapters later this week.
The Bernie Madoff Book Proposal
