Sept. 3, 2011 – Don Lapre, the self made mega millionaire, has died due to his own hand last Sunday in Tempe, Arizona. This marketer has created a company with $52 million dollars in sales in one of the nation’s worst recessions in history. This is the guy who got me thinking about leaving the advertising art cubicle and creating a marketing dynasty for myself.
I bought one of his courses on how to create money off of placing tiny classified ads. I made money with his techniques. I got this at a time when the recession was rising up on this country in 2000. I was in advertising and all I knew was how to cut out digital pictures and animate them. I had no idea how to create money or how to pull in customers. Don kicked the door open for me and showed me how this was possible. I was intrigued and I got an 800 number and went to work.
The money didn’t happen overnight as I made a lot of blunders and errors. I tried different products and services and a lot of them bombed. But I could see how making money using these techniques could really work.
911 And The Aftermath
A week before 911 I did a stupid thing. I went down to Times Square, NYC and started taping flyers to the light poles. Being from Ann Arbor, Michigan and not knowing any better, (that’s how Michigan people market by the way – for the most part) I figured this was the way to go. After all, a lot of people come through Times Square and it was going to be a great way to get my name out there in the public. Well a gigantic Neanderthal built NYC cop grabbed my arm and nearly pulled my shoulder ball joint out of socket and grabbed my flyers. He threatened to give me a fine and offered to put me in jail. He got right in my face and started screaming at me. I grabbed my arm back and went the other direction. I wonder if this cop is still alive today since 911 happened the very next week?
Either case, I figured this was not the way I wanted to market my services. I went back to what Don Lapre was doing and decided to do it right. 911 created such a disturbance in my life that I ended up high tailing it back to Detroit, Michigan. I ended up there for ten years. In that ten years I learned marketing and started to create a little bit of money – NOT MUCH MIND YOU – BUT enough. Don, on the other hand went out and masterminded a phenomenal windfall of $52 million dollars.
That’s genius.
In an age where people are losing their homes, jobs, and peace of mind this guy goes out and creates a fantastic lifestyle for himself. Lapre is accused of a lot of things but he never did wrong by me and if anything I owe him and his family a humungous thank you for getting me out of the corporate grind. I would later go on to study with Dan Kennedy, Jeff Paul, Seth Godin, Tom Hopkins, Derek Ghel, and Orange Beetle.
There should be books on this guy because he was one fascinating character. Wealth came in fast and his company grew. Like me he made some mistakes – most notably for his vitamin, “THE GREATEST VITAMIN IN THE WORLD!”. This drew some unwanted attention from the FDA and created some investigations and he had to hire lawyers. I knew he had some problems with investors and that his cash flow escalated to a whopping $52 million dollars. This is one amazing person. Despite his many mistakes he is worth looking into.
The American Mindset On Wealth and Capitalism
There seems to be an unnerving repulsion to capitalism and wealth. A lot of people have written horrible things about Lapre over the last few 72 hours. But there is a definite difference between fraud and bad results. I had some hit and miss experiences with Lapre’s courses but I would hardly call him a fraud. I paid him for some course materials and CD’s. He delivered them. That is not fraud. There were disclaimers on his products that results may vary. That is not fraud.
Work has to be involved in this process and with that comes various degrees of positive and negative experiences and that is not fraud. People were upset that they did not received a boat load of money from Lapre’s teachings but how many of those people actually went out and tried to create a solid business? Dan Kennedy creates info courses and sells them to the public. He has written informercials for Gunthy Renker which supports late night programming like for the Lapre company. There are lot of people who support Kennedy and a great deal of them are not successful. Believe me, I have met a lot of these types over the course of 10 years when I say they are NOT SUCCESSFUL.
The general consensus on American wealth is very disturbing. Laziness is very attractive in the wealth building process in America. Capitalism has taken some negative hits in the last ten years. As the job market continues to crash through the floor it may be the best friend you have. Yet, it is looked down upon. The “evil corporation” mentality ensures that the Ramen noodle sales will keep afloat for quite some time.
2010: Alternative Health and Kooky Religions Are Big Profit
The new space age – new age – mentality has taken over America and has it locked dead tight in a sleeper hold. The danger here is not very obvious but alternative medicine and new age products pull in $333 million every year. That is rising as we near the dreaded 2012.
Here is how the other – Big Boys – stacked up in comparison to Don Lapre.
ORGANIZED RELIGION - $15 BILLION – Annual Sales
PORNOGRAPHY- $14 BILLION – Annual Sales
ORGANIZED CRIME - $11 TRILLION – Annual Sales
U.S. PHARMACEUTICALS - $2.8 BILLION Annual Sales
GENETICALLY ENGINEERED FARMING - $75 BILLION
CREDIT CARD SALES - $612 BILLION
These are some of the biggest criminals in history. Don Lapre is just a small kid on the block next to these ruthless hooligans who sack your health, wealth, and living conditions. I rope in religious leaders into this category too because soul stealing is big business. Pornography ranks just below organized religion and that is definitely noteworthy. Control is a big money maker no matter who calls the shots. You can look at the truth and make a stand for yourself or you can block it out and run away like most Americans. It is a daily truth that none of us are willing to face.
Capitalism on its own is not necessarily a bad thing. How and who uses it for what end offers up a whole slew of unsavory industries.
Don Lapre brought marketing to the masses. His courses were based on his own luck and experience. He introduced it to you on a late night informercial. Capitalism is an American institution. The mere idea is not evil and practicing it just may save your neck.
Regardless of what you may think of him and others who strive for something better in life – he is one of the catalysts in my life that pushed me further. He is gone now and may he rest in peace. Lapre offers a simple goodbye on one of his websites. He wanted to thank the people who supported him in his short life. He hopes that his experience has somehow made a small difference in their lives. I can speak for myself and say that this guy was pretty awesome.
Most of you will never achieve the kind of wealth that he masterminded. You will never have the kinds of companies that he has created for himself or work as diligently. His money came fast and his fame took off quickly and his life became more difficult to manage. He killed himself violently and is no longer among us. Before you attack him you owe it to yourself to study him. He is a fascinating character in American history.
Posted by Ted Cantu - Oct. 5, 2011 - Detroit Michigan
