Award-winning journalist and freelance copywriter, Susanna K. Hutcheson, presents news, thoughts and ideas on the world of business, marketing, copywriting and much more.

You Gotta Spend It To Make It --- the Secret To Making Big Money In Hard Times.

The people who get rich spend lots of money to get that way. Pinching pennies just gets you pennies. Let me explain.

A wealthy coin dealer by the name of B. Max Mehl of Fort Worth, TX was, at one time, the best known and richest coin dealer perhaps in the world. Allow me to take an extensive quote from "Illegal Tender" to illustrate my point.


"Born in Lithuania in 1884 and settled in Texas with his family at age eleven, Mehl was the first coin dealer to recognize the value of spending money to make money. Though a dull, runtish man with slicked-down hair, he became a P.T. Barnum-like character. His eyes darting suspiciously behind rimless glasses, he always started (sic) straight past the camera, tight-lipped, unsmiling, seemingly bereft of humor - except in print."


Mehl was a shameless self-promoter --- not unlike many here on the Web. He advertised coin collecting and himself to the public in grandiose terms as no one before him or since him. By 1919, he was spending $5,000 a year in advertising. By 1924 he was spending ten times that. THROUGHOUT THE DEPRESSION YEARS HE WAS SPENDING A SENSATIONAL $100,000 A YEAR ON ADVERTISING! That was about $15,04921.04 in 2007 dollars.

The result? He made millions. His clients included people like King Farouk, who spent millions with him. He got over a quarter of a million inquiries per year from his advertising. And, remember, this was during the Depression.

So here's my point. You can pinch pennies and have lots of pennies or you can spend big money and have much bigger money.

The decision is yours.

Susanna on 02.24.08 @ 07:17 AM CDT [link]