Bill Zanker started The Learning Annex with $5,000 and grew it into a $5 million a year company. That was before he met Donald Trump. Thirty months later, after Zanker learned to think BIG himself, The Learning Annex is generating over $100 million a year in sales--and still growing.
Together, theyre living examples of how thinking BIG and knowing when to back up your opinions aggressively--regardless of what your critics or opponents might say--can help you maximize your personal and professional achievements. For the first time ever, you too can learn Trumps secrets to thinking BIG and kicking ass! Learn:
- Momentum: the Big Mo. How to get it and how to get it back.
- Revenge: how and when to get it (and why its so sweet).
- I love you, now sign this! Why contracts in business and personal life are so important.
- Real-life stories from people whove applied the think BIG formula in their own lives.
These strategies are proven and attested to by those whove learned to think BIG from Donald Trump and found success in their own lives. Bill Zanker used Donalds strategies to grow the revenues of The Learning Annex twenty times in under three years. Both of them have been down and out, and know what its like to feel the whole worlds against you--and both have risen to dizzying heights of success by thinking BIG and kicking ass! It is an attitude that can be easily learned.
Questions for Donald TrumpAmazon.com: Was there ever a time when you didn't think big enough?
Trump: I dont think so. I always had big plans, even when I was very young. I would build skyscrapers with my building blocks.
Amazon.com: What was your first impression of your co-author Bill Zanker when you started doing business with the Learning Annex?
Trump: Bill Zanker had tremendous enthusiasm and focus, and he still does. I knew hed succeed in a big way, and the success of The Learning Annex proves that I was right.
Amazon.com: What has becoming a television star on The Apprentice meant for your business?
Trump: My brand became more famous as I became more famous, and more opportunities presented themselves. I was already very well established, so I was well prepared, but things escalated and in a good way.
Amazon.com: There are stories everywhere that the real estate market is in trouble. How should an investor or an entrepreneur respond to the current market?
Trump: This is actually a very good time for entrepreneurs or investors. I would say to be positive and look for the opportunities, because the opportunities are there.
Amazon.com: Youre critical of the give me attitude that you see in many young people today. What do you look for in a young person you are bringing into your business?
Trump: They have to be eager to learn and willing to work hard. I work hard and I expect the people around me to have a strong work ethic. I need people who can be part of a team and yet be able to think independently. Thats one of the qualities I look for on The Apprentice--they have to be capable of both dimensions.
Amazon.com: Did you really make Lee Iacocca cry? [See Think Big and Kick Ass for more details.]Trump: No, he made himself cry.
The Trumptser Does it Good
A book about success, managing and leading ideas has to include The Donald. This is a very well written book - also a quick and easy read - with many stories about the greatness of Mr. Trump. And when he feigns modesty, Bill Zanker, the founder of the Learning Annex, steps up with some great Trump stories. However, Donald has done and accomplished much - he has been at the top only to fall toward the bottom and then to rise up even higher. This alone is an accomplishment that business managers and future leaders should read about and can learn from.
The book gives specific circumstances and ways to handle them. The Donald, being such a well known public figure that always appears to tell it like it is, brings to the book a familiarity and personality that we know and can relate to - even though very few can much the wide breath of Trumps activities. Bill Zanker started a small business that grew after he made a bold move by paying Donald Trump $1,000,000 to make a presentation at his Learning Annex and promising Trump he would deliver 15 to 20 times more students than had previously attended a single program.
The book is written in a parallel style with Trumps stories and advise and Zankers experiences growing his business. I like it - if anything it keeps the pace moving. The main focus of the book is thinking big, bold and out of the box. The kick ass part is not much of my liking, but because of the gossipy style, keeps the book moving.
Some of the specifics in the book are the need to surround yourself with great dedicated and bright people, recognize the time that bold moves are necessary and acting on them, have a passion for what you do, importance of the right timing, using your instincts but only after youve done all your homework and gathered all your backup support - no one becomes successful like Trump without planning, preparation and hard work. Trump uses a quote by golf legend Gary Player who has said the harder I work, the luckier I get. Not to fall into clichés, some are fully appropriate and there is a chapter subheading that says Good luck happens when opportunity meets preparation.
Other things in the book talk about being open to new ideas and opportunities, making learning fun, leveraging momentum, be focused, branding is important - it tells people what to expect and a high end quality brand makes it easier to deal, always have a prenuptial agreement - and a business shareholders or partners agreement, look successful - how you dress is important, and enjoy what you do.
I dont agree with the revenge part of the book. My way of dealing with people who screwed me is put them out of my mind and forget about them and not waste any energy on them - except if I cross paths with them in a new deal and then I do what I could to have them not get too far in that endeavor.
Buy Think Big: Make It Happen in Business and Life by Bill Zanker At The Lowest Price!
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