of OUTRAGEOSITY - the Secret Golden

For When You Want To GET THEIR ATTENTION !

by Scott Andrew Ley
scotty at secretsgolden dot com

You might be thinking, well, some people might be thinking, that it's offensive for me to use a word like "outrageosity". And I take full responsibility for this word! I've never seen it written or heard it spoken anywhere.

oops! I just did a search on the Internet for this word, and it has found usage! Limited usage to be sure. The search engine asked me if I meant "outrageously". And there were 32 hits of web pages worldwide showing that a few people have already used this word before me.

(In case I forgot to mention it, my secret web pages are very easy on your eyes! I use a special code for the background color that is actually good for your eyes as you read. It's called Digitale, and it makes this a site for sore eyes! Anything for you, Gentle Reader !-)

So... "outrageosity" is not an official English word, but then, So WHAT? I'm hoping that by now you're grinning a little along with me. And if you are, then you already have an idea that if you want to get somebody's attention, you sometimes have to do something out of the ordinary, something AMAZING! something a bit OUTRAGEOUS! something... "remarkable".

Joe Vitale, a.k.a. "Mr. Fire", one of my long-time teachers, related a story about this in his seven-day email marketing course, his very first lesson in fact. Here's an excerpt...

The PR Folk Hero I gain a lot of inspiration from ballyhoo artists from the past. One such giant is still considered a folk-hero in the public relations business. James Sterling Moran became a legend in the publicity business with such stunts as selling a refrigerator to an Alaska Eskimo. Moran pushed outrageousness to the outer limits to seize the attention of the buying public. He once searched for a needle in a haystack for 10 days to publicize a piece of real estate that was for sale. In 1946, he sat on an ostrich egg for 19 days, 4 hours, 32 minutes before hatching it, all to publicize "The Egg and I," a best-selling book soon to become a film comedy starring Claudette Colbert. During the 1944 presidential campaign, he changed horses in midstream - literally - in a Nevada river after the ruling Democrats urged voters not to "change horses in midstream" by voting for Republicans in the middle of World War II. In 1989, Time magazine called him "the supreme master of that most singular marketing device - the publicity stunt." As you can see, Moran knew how to be outrageous. But he also made his craziness practical. He tied what he did to a product. One of Mr. Moran's cleverest schemes went nowhere in its time. An avid kite flier, he hit upon the notion of using kites to fly midgets over Central Park. The police refused to grant him a permit and nipped the scheme in the bud. Moran said, "It's a sad day for American capitalism when a man can't fly a midget on a kite over Central Park." Well, that example proves that you need to be practical in order to succeed. I'm not sure what Moran was trying to sell with the idea of flying midgets on kites, so I'm not surprised it never, well, flew. But notice how clever Moran was. You and I want to begin to think like him.

Now that's what I'm talking about. That's "outrageosity"! It gets people's attention. And when people pay attention, then whatever you do next is SEEN and HEARD by them! This is a much more intensely powerful idea than most people think. Remarkable acts catch a person's eye and ear, and you can use this tool, this outrageosity, to make your life better and better!

Oh, and just so you'll know, you can take Joe Vitale's free seven-day course (yes, i said "freee!) just by sending a blank email to "class@aweber.com". You'll be so glad you did!

I did something pretty outrageous once, believe it or not. Yes, I sure did! You never know when or where you might find and instantly realize an opportunity to make things better for yourself and for those you love.

Many years ago, I found myself needing a job, so I drove a luxury limousine for a time. One of my first clients was a mother and her three daughters. One of her girls was celebrating her 15th birthday, and she had been given a choice. She could either rent a limo and ride all around the city anywhere she liked, or she could go to a live M.C. Hammer concert. And, of course, she had made the right choice!-)

But she didn't think so! As soon as I pulled away from their house, I began to feel a tension in the back. Seems the young birthday girl was having second thoughts about her choice to ride in a limo. All she and her sisters could talk about was the live M.C. Hammer concert and how they wished they had gone to see it. Mom was becoming more and more irritated by her girls' attitudes. As I pulled up to a red light, a hush fell over the back seat of the limo.

The silence was deafening! I wanted to see what I could do to lighten the mood. So I did something you might not expect from your limo driver. I did something outrageous! Abruptly, I blurted out the only words I knew from M.C. Hammer's big hit song, "U Can't Touch This". In my best, loud imitation of Hammer's voice, I sang,