INTRODUCTION

T ony Robbins is a multi-millionaire. He’s a best-selling author. He’s a TV star. He has the jet set lifestyle and the beautiful blonde wife. He is treated like the Messiah by his millions of loyal followers, people who hang on his every word and will do anything to attend one of his face to face seminars. His rags to riches story embodies the American Dream and has inspired people around the world to buy into his teachings, to learn his techniques, and to try to build better lives for themselves.

This book is a short introduction to Robbins, his life and work. In it we have endeavoured to distil the information into 50 bite- size lessons which you can read and learn from. Whilst we cannot guarantee you too will earn the best part of half a billion dollars (at least not overnight!), by studying Robbins’ approach to marketing and self-promotion, you can raise your own profile, negotiate more effectively and, as a result, capitalise on your self-development for financial gain.

CHILDHOOD AND EDUCATION

Tony Robbins’ childhood was a recipe for failure, so if you ever think that your impoverished, unhappy background will hold you back, look no further than Robbins for a role model of what anyone with luck and the right mind set can achieve.

1 It doesn't matter where you start in life, it is where you end up which counts.

Born as Anthony Mahavoric in Hollywood, California in February 1960, Robbins was the eldest of three children. Unable to support his family financially, Robbins’ father walked out when Robbins was just seven years old. His mother, depressed and unable to cope, turned to drink and prescription drugs. Her children were left more or less to fend for themselves, and Robbins took care of his younger siblings. His mother worked her way through a series of husbands, including semi-professional baseball player Jim Robbins, who adopted the children and gave them his name. Robbins describes this period of his life as being characterised by abuse and chaos.

2 Poverty and a troubled childhood are no excuses for failure.

Against the odds, Robbins remained in high school in Glendora, California, supporting himself working as a cleaner whilst he studied. He proudly earned $40 a week, and put it towards his first car. Robbins was President of the Student Union in his senior year of high school and may have had the ability to go on to college, but fate took a twist, and it wasn’t kind. His mother had another breakdown and chased him from the house with a kitchen knife. Robbins was just 17 years old, and after that he never returned home. He had to work to survive.

EARLY CAREER

Even as a teenager, Robbins knew that life had more in store for him than a career as a cleaner, but also that nothing would be handed to him on a plate. He would have to work for it, and hard. He took his inspiration from the rags to riches story of Jim Rohn, arguably the founder of motivational speaking as a discipline in the United States, and when Rohn gave an evening seminar in Robbins’ hometown, 18–year old Robbins spent $35 of his $40 weekly earnings to attend. By far the youngest and least experienced person in the room, Robbins sat at his future mentor’s feet, enraptured.

3 Even when times are tough, you have to invest in your future.

Robbins first proper job was working for Rohn as a sale rep, pitching Rohn’s seminars. Robbins took to sales like a duck to water, and made a fortune selling seminars on commission. But as fast as he earned it, he spent it. Grossly immature, and desperate for affection, he threw his money around, hoping it would buy him love, or at least attention. It was a period of tragic self-sabotage, and Robbins was soon once again desperate and broke. Hating himself and at a life-long low, Robbins realised that he had to take responsibility for himself, to be the positive force in his own life. He wrote in his journal everything that he despised, everything that he wanted to change, and set about finding out how to do it.

4 You have to be able to self-critique before you can implement lasting changes.

Two of Robbins’ earliest discoveries were Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) and Eriksonian hypnosis. He trained with NLP’s co-founder, John Grinder, believing that he could train his own mind to operate in its peak state. In a demonstration of self-control, of self-mastery, he learned to fire walk and then began to give seminars about how the mind can be used to conquer one’s fears. Robbins was attention grabbing, utilising not only fire walking but also board breaking and skydiving to capture his audiences’ attention, and he went head to head with traditional psychiatrists on the radio, curing their patients of long-held phobias. Such behaviour raised his public profile immeasurably, and once again the money started rolling in.

NEURO-LINGUISTIC PROGRAMMING (NLP)

5 If you want people to listen to you, you have to do something which will grab their attention.

Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) is not a science but a set of guiding principles and techniques which practitioners can use to change, adopt or eliminate certain behaviours in themselves and others. This gives greater control over your mental, emotional, and physical states of well-being, and advocates believe that by having greater control over ourselves and our ability to communicate and interact with those around us, we are better placed to shape what happens to us, now and in the future. NLP is a popular tool amongst business and political leaders, sports stars and film stars, and it has allegedly been used by Bill Clinton and Tony Blair, Bill Gates and Oprah Winfrey, Tiger Woods and J.K. Rowling.

6 You can change your behaviour, and that of other people, by controlling your thoughts and emotions.

NLP has three core components:

1. Subjectivity

We experience the world subjectively through our five senses and language. Before something happens, we create in our heads a subjective representation of the event, what we will see, hear, smell etc., and there is a discernible pattern or structure to this. We can modify behaviour (our own and that of others) by understanding and manipulating these subjective representations.

2. Consciousness

Human consciousness actually has two parts: the conscious and the unconscious. Subjective representations often occur in the unconscious mind, and so we need to be able to access, and exert some control, over this.

3. Learning

We learn by imitating, or modelling. You can codify and reproduce someone else’s behaviour by understanding their subjective representations during a particular activity.

In terms of techniques and processes, NLP has four main stages. These are establishing rapport between the NLP practitioner and the subject; finding out information about goals the subject wants to achieve, or the problems that they are facing and want to overcome; using specific techniques to make interventions; and integrating specific changes into the subject’s daily routine. Communication between the NLP practitioner and the subject is both verbal and non-verbal.

7 Even complicated concepts can be broken down into manageable chunks which anyone can master.

There are multiple techniques for building rapport between the practitioner and the subject. The practitioner might, for example, mirror the body language of the subject, repeating certain gestures so that the two feel that they know each other well. Maintaining eye contact is very important as it suggests that the practitioner is concentrating on, and cares about, what the subject has to say. The practitioner will insert certain, often emotionally charged, keywords into the conversation to achieve a certain outcome. They will also deliberately alter the pace and tone of their speech, subconsciously encouraging the subject to copy the changes.

8 You have to build rapport with someone if you want to influence them.

Finding out information about goals and problems also requires both verbal and non-verbal communication: certain hand gestures, glances or ticks, reveal topics which make the subject feel uncomfortable, or about which they are excited, for example. A set of meta-model questions are typically used by the practitioner, and the subject is encouraged to think about the long-term impact of achieving (or not achieving) their goals, or changing their behaviour. A subject who wants to lose weight, for example, might be encouraged to think about benefits to their health from weight loss, how they might look and feel, and the impact that this might have on their personal relationships. Positive emotions will be tied to positive behavioural changes, reinforcing the incentive to implement them.

9 Take time to get to know your subject and to understand them in order to increase your impact.

In order to implement changes, subjects are encouraged by the practitioner to visualise the future, taking advantage of the subjective representations we all already produce. Subjects can mentally rehearse actions and scenes in their head, and through guiding the subject’s language, the practitioner can make the subject take ownership of the problem and the strategy for overcoming it, or the means for achieving specific goals. This shifts responsibility for behavioural change from the practitioner to the subject, making it an ideal technique for self-help.

Mastering Neuro-Linguistic Programming

Tony Robbins is not the only self-help guru to have mastered NLP and made it part of his mission to teach others the technique: the likes of Paul McKenna and Derren Brown have also used NLP to great effect, making the technique (and particularly its hypnotic elements) appear like magic. Their 10 steps to mastering NLP successfully can be summarised as follows:

1. Understand what you are getting into

NLP is complex and mastering it takes time and effort. In fact, gaining control of your mind may turn out to be a life-long endeavour!

2. Understand what NLP actually is

NLP is a pseudo-science with many detractors. Lots of industries try to adopt aspects of it for their own benefit, without really understanding how it works. You need to find out what NLP is, what it can do for you, and what it cannot do. Only then can you decide whether or not it is worth making the effort to learn.

3. Understand how NLP works

NLP is about input and output. What we put into our brains, and how we process it, determines what comes out. The process is as simple as that. The hard bit is how we manipulate the data.

4. Understand how NLP has developed

NLP was first developed by Richard Bandler and John Grinder in the mid–1970s. Since then, it has become a global, multimillion dollar movement. It isn’t a static practice: it is changing continually as people learn how to optimise the techniques. Keep abreast of these developments if you want to be able to implement NLP as well as possible.

5. Learn from the experts in NLP

Robbins is one of the most high-profile practitioners of NLP, but there are many others out there, many of whom are prepared to teach others. Watch them at work, in person or via online videos, and read what they have to say.

6. Understand that there are many paths to mastering NLP

Although many people will sign up for a course to learn NLP, this is by no means the only way to do it. At least in the early stages, you might be satisfied reading books and online forums, and watching videos on YouTube. Remember that everyone learns differently, and has different reasons for wanting to learn NLP. You need to find the strategy which works best for you.

7. Experiment with NLP

NLP is not a science, and there is no one ‘right’ way of practising it. Take time to experiment and find out what works best for you. Once you have mastered the basic techniques, there will be things which occur to you that you want to test out. Go for it. Keep experimenting and keep learning, and you will keep improving.

8. Interpret NLP in your own way

Our brains are incredibly complex, and NLP is incredibly flexible. It is perfectly acceptable to branch out from the usual techniques and functions of NLP, and reshape the practice as works best for you.

9. Extend your limits

There is no limit to what the human mind can achieve! Use NLP to unlock your potential. Want to master astrophysics, or memorise every FA Cup winning team since time began? How about learning to recite The complete Works of Shakespeare? Whatever your memory, learning or communication objectives, NLP can help you achieve it.

10. Enjoy NLP

If you enjoy something, you will work harder at it and ultimately therefore be more successful. NLP isn’t supposed to be prescriptive and dull: it is supposed to be creative and enjoyable. If you aren’t having fun whilst you are learning and experimenting with NLP, look at a new way of learning and practising it.

INFOMERCIALS AND VIDEOS

Robbins knew that his sales pitch had to be perfect: marketing was as important as the actual treatment, if not more so. The 1980s was a golden age for television and television advertising, and so he jumped on the band wagon and began producing a series of cheesy infomercials to be shown in the ad breaks between late night TV shows.

10 You have to find ways to make yourself highly visible in your chosen marketplace.

Robbins gave audiences exactly what they wanted to see: his hair was slicked back, his teeth were sparkling white, and his message was engaging, convincing. The public began to buy into Tony Robbins as a brand, and as his fame spread, the calibre of his clients increased. When Quincy Jones, Andre Agassi and even the White House came calling, it did Robbins’ reputation no harm at all.

11 You are your brand. You are inseparable from you brand. You must remember that at all times.

Through his infomercials, Robbins sold his seminars and coaching videos. The tapes sold by the hundreds of thousand, and when he spoke at an event, he could pack out an arena like a rock star. Robbins was commercial gold dust, but though his marketing pitch was exemplary, in other areas of business he still wasn’t quite so savvy. Leaving his unscrupulous manager to handle his financial affairs, he was unaware that the manager embezzled three-quarters of a million dollars. When it did come to light, Robbins was faced with a dilemma: should he declare bankruptcy, leaving his career in tatters, or find another way? For Robbins, it wasn’t really a choice. He was a success. He was a leader. He was determined to show the world what he could do, debts or no debts. Robbins did 275 days straight on the road, speaking anywhere and everywhere, and within a year the debts were repaid in full. What looked to be an impossibility had come to pass. Robbins was back in control.

ROBBINS’ BOOKS

12 Integrity and hard work always pay long-term dividends.

Although Robbins’ seminars attract hundreds of thousands of people every year, those seminars are the end of his sales funnel: attendees’ attention is caught much earlier, online, through articles and advertising, and many of them start their commercial engagement with Robbins by buying one of his books. By promising to educate his readers, to enhance their understanding of themselves, and that they will be able to optimise their lives, achieving wealth and happiness, he draws them in. Buying and reading his books is just one step to unearthing his secrets, which he will benevolently share in their pages.

UNLIMITED POWER

13 Books are a great way of spreading your message to people who you would otherwise be unable to reach.

The first of Robbins’ books, Unlimited Power, was published in 1987 when Robbins was in his mid-20s with a young family at home.

14 No one is too busy to write!

In the book he unveils his seven disciplines for success, which can be summarised as follows:

1. Do not think of success or of failure, only of outcomes. Use your own power to produce the outcomes you want. To do this is within your capability.
2. Take charge of your own life and create the world you want to live in.
3. Always stretch yourself: if you do so, you will be able to achieve more tomorrow than you could today.
4. Commit to unconscious competence: make a skill become second-nature so that you can perform it even whilst executing another task.
5. Always act with personal integrity. Your beliefs may change over time — they need not be static — but you must remain true to your values, and adjust your behaviour accordingly.
6. Communication is not about the communicator, but about the person who receives the message. Their understanding of that message is paramount.
7. You must be committed to do whatever it takes to succeed.

Unlimited Power was published in 17 different languages and put Robbins on the path to becoming the household name he is today. In it, he discussed his views on health, persuasive communication, building and maintaining relationships, and how you can conquer your fears. The book drew heavily on the concepts of neuro-linguistic programming (see Neuro-Linguistic Programming), though Robbins also added his own thoughts about how we can better utilise our brains.

More than a decade after it was first published, Unlimited Power did cause some difficulties for Robbins. He had dedicated the book to his first wife, Rebecca “Becky” Jenkins (see Personal Life) and much of its content focused on how to achieve success in relationships, including marriage. When Robbins and Jenkins’ marriage broke down and the couple divorced, this called into question to some extent Robbins’ credibility: if his advice didn’t even work in his own life, why should it work for anyone else?

15 Be aware of the long-term implications of what you say, write and do.

Although Robbins did inevitably lose some followers during this period of emotional upheaval, the majority of his devotees did stay true to their guru. The extended length of time between the publication of this book and Robbins’ divorce may in part account for this: Robbins had moved on in his thinking in the intervening years, published updated titles, and his readers were aware of this and respected it.

AWAKEN THE GIANT WITHIN

Robbins’ hotly awaited second book, Awaken the Giant Within, hit the shelves of bookstores across America in 1991. A lengthy 539 pages, many considered it to be the Bible of self-help books.

16 A book demands a sequel, a product demands an upgrade!

In Awaken the Giant Within, Robbins returned to his earlier topics of enhancing one’s own body and mind to optimise personal and professional relationships, but he expanded the scope of his advice to include taking control of your finances, managing your emotions, and overcoming detrimental habits such as drink and drug addiction, and over-eating. In doing so, he drew attention to common readers’ vulnerabilities — things they worried about most — and suggested ways in which they might be able to solve their problems. Robbins’ message running throughout the book is that none of our everyday behaviour, good or bad, is beyond our control. There are small, relatively easy changes we can make in our lives which will have a longterm, positive impact. We are, in short, the force which shapes our own destiny.

17 Small changes in your behaviour and habits can have a significant, positive impact.

Robbins opens Chapter 1 of Awaken the Giant Within with a quote from the 19 ^th century British Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli:

“A consistent man believes in destiny, a capricious man in chance.”

This may seem a little high-brow for a glorified personal trainer, but that is part of the attraction of Robbins: he encourages his readers to aspire to greater heights, personally, physically and intellectually. Robbins packages such content in a way which is easily accessible, and readers then feel a sense of intellectual superiority when they have grasped the concepts.

18 Draw inspiration and tips from greater men and women than yourself.

Throughout the book, Robbins combines inspiration, advice, and personal anecdotes. On the topic of dreaming, of aspiring, for example, he talks of what is required to keep one’s dreams in focus, and to realise them. He talks of his own dreams, and tells the story of flying over a building in his helicopter, realising that it is the same building where 12 years earlier he worked as a janitor. This kind of anecdote is prevalent in Awaken the Giant Within, and hugely important as it builds rapport between Robbins and his readers. In a few short sentences, he is able to remind readers of his humble origins and earlier struggles, and of his monumental rise. This is inspirational: if Robbins can do it, so can you. All you have to do is to follow his advice. Similarly, by dropping the mention of the helicopter into the story, Robbins dangles the carrot of aspiration: this is what you are working towards. Robbins already has what you want. Again, follow his advice and you can become like Robbins.

19 Dreams and aspiration are powerful motivating factors.

From a marketing point of view, Awaken the Giant Within is a masterpiece. Right from the very first chapter, Robbins lays a trail of breadcrumbs for his readers to follow: you read my book, you attend my seminar, and then you can become like me. The path is clear and certainly seems easy enough. He talks of the number of people trying to attend his talks – 7,000 on one occasion, when only 2,000 were expected. He points out in the story that the auditorium will only hold 5,000 guests, so not everyone will fit into the room. Still, people have come, crowding onto the helipad waiting for him. All that these people want is a sighting of Robbins, and perhaps the chance to touch him, or to thank him.

In this way, Robbins builds up his image to be like that of a Messiah: he is the chosen one, the teacher. He creates this picture in which people are desperate to be in his presence, to hear his words, and by doing so he creates in his readers a desperate fear that if they do not join the crowd, they will be missing out on something terribly important. If so many people want a piece of Robbins, there must be something amazing about him, right? Robbins is a master at creating his own hype, creating demand for his product. He uses the fervour of the crowd (which he himself has deliberately stimulated) to sell his message, to be his cheerleaders. All he then needs to do is to give them what they want and expect: apparently easy solutions to life’s little problems, and the possibility that by fixing the small things in life, bigger problems might also be solved.

MONEY: MASTER THE GAME

20 People want to be inspired, and they want to be led.

Robbins’ followers had a long wait for his third major book, Money: Master the Game. It wasn’t published until 2014, and though it reached the #1 spot on the Amazon best-sellers list, it met with mixed reviews from readers and the press.

21 Commercial success does not necessarily equate to universal approval.

Although still within the self-help genre, Money: Master the Game took a different format from Unlimited Power and Awaken the Giant Within. A weighty tome of nearly 700 pages, the insights Robbins gives here are drawn from both his own experiences of making mega bucks, but also those of others: he interviewed more than 50 leading businessmen and financiers, including Warren Buffet, Steve Forbes, and Carl Icahn. He then attempted to distil what these individuals were doing into seven actionable steps which readers could implement in their own lives.

22 Never be afraid to draw from, and quote from, the experiences of others.

The seven steps, and a brief explanation of them, are as follows:

1. Make the Most Important Financial Decision of Your Life

   You have to make an active decision to become an investor rather than just a consumer. Commit to saving some of what you earn, even just a small amount, and automate your investments.

2. Become the Insider: Know the Rules Before You Get in the Game

   Find a financial advisor, and do your market research. You shouldn’t absolve responsibility for your financial decision making to someone else, but learn about the market, fees, and available investment plans.

3. Make the Game Winnable

   Use realistic financial data and create a plan which is both actionable and achievable. You have to know what your financial goals are, what is required to achieve them, and how you can optimise your return on investment through various means.

4. Make the Most Important Investment Decision of Your Life

   Understand topics such as risk, asset allocation, security, growth and cash flow, and make informed choices.

5. Create a Lifetime Income Plan

   Plan for the long-term. Take advice from those who are already investing successfully, investigate tax-efficient investment strategies, and insure your income.

6. Invest Like the .001%

   Read the book’s core interviews and learn the take-away lessons that the interviewees offer. Lessons come from the likes of Charles Schwab, Warren Buffet, and Mary Callahan Erdoes.

7. Just Do It, Enjoy It, and Share It!

   Committing to be wealthy is in itself a gift to yourself, so start now. Think about your expectations and legacy, and make a positive difference in the world.

The criticism of Robbins and Money: Master the Game came from multiple quarters, and much of it is justified. Cullen Roche of Market Watch, a finance industry insider, stated that, “While a lot of it is useful, the self-help guru contradicts himself and confuses readers.” For a man who usually prides himself as being clear in his explanations, this is particularly unfortunate.

23 You won't please everybody all of the time.

The root of the problem seems to be that although he has a lot of money, finance and financial management is not Robbins’ area of expertise: he is a marketing man, not an investor, economist or financial advisor. Though he has taken advice from the right quarters – men and women who really are experts in this field – it’s a case of Chinese whispers: what might have started out as a clear and concise message has become addled by the time it reaches the reader. More stringent editing might have helped.

24 Stick to what you know, and if you do venture into unfamiliar territory, listen to expert advice.

Robbins rightly stresses the important of getting involved in investing (you can’t just expect your money to multiply unless you invest it) and in getting professional advice. The problem is that although this is crucial, Robbins steers his readers right into the arms of his own companies and partners. This is understandable, but means that the book reads not like a genuine self-help tool, but an advertising pamphlet. Readers are coming to Robbins looking for objective, unbiased advice, and they are being sold specific products and companies instead. The fact that Robbins advocates a low-fee approach to investment, but then endorses companies which charge high fees, makes him look hypocritical or, perhaps even worse, that he hasn’t bothered to check out the companies he is recommending. Given that his career is built on trust between writer/speaker and reader/audience, this is concerning.

25 There is a fine line to be trodden between recommendations and endorsements, and straying onto the wrong side of it might cause people to question your credibility.

Much of what is written in Money: Master the Game is confusing for the casual reader at whom it is aimed. The commentary which Robbins gives often contradicts the points made by the interviewees: Robbins advocates using passive index funds, but also recommends asymmetric returns and active strategies; he cites his own market-timing calls as exemplary, ignoring the fact he’s lost vast sums on the stock market in the past; and he at once puts some high-fee, active managers on a pedestal, making them look like geniuses, whilst decrying their high fees model. Collectively, such issues undermine Robbins’ credibility as a financial commentator and advisor, something which is reflected by the unusually high number of 1* reviews the book receives on Good Reads and other such peer-review sites. The Guardian newspaper, in its November 2014 review of the book, points out that, “anyone who listened to him in 2010 would be hurting financially now.” It is a rather sobering thought.

26 Be cautious in what you say.

On the plus side, it is a positive step forward to get the general public thinking – and talking – about money and how they can take a more active role in their own financial planning. This has to be better than just running up vast debts and advocating responsibility for financial due diligence to the government or financial advisors.

27 As a leader you have a social responsibility to educate others and stimulate debate about important issues.

Robbins is also contributing the profits from the sale of Money: Master the Game to his charitable organisation, Feeding 100 Million People (see Philanthropy). In the book’s final chapter, Robbins outlines what he calls, “The Final Secret”: generosity brings happiness and satisfaction to the giver just as much as to the recipient. To some extent, then, the critical reviews of the book matter less than the fact that it is generating sales for Robbins, further raising his public profile, and those in need are benefitting from the sales.

TAKING BUSINESS ONLINE

Robbins was a businessman of the 1980s and 1990s, and the arrival of the Internet could have spelt the end of his career: why would people keep buying books and videos, and turning up to seminars in person, if they could access the same content, and discuss it, online? Luckily for Robbins, he was quick to identify and exploit the new technology, making the internet version of self-help his own.

28 Keep abreast of technological developments so that you can remain ahead of the competition.

Robbins served on the board of directors of a company called DreamLife, a penny stock, and with his input the company grew dramatically, peaking at $18 a share. Robbins drew on his own fame to publicise the offering, and also brought in famous friends such as Tom Brokaw, Andre Agassi and Bob Wright (the President of NBC) to participate. DreamLife crunched, along with many other tech firms, in the dot.com crash, but during its brief lifespan Robbin learned enough about how to exploit the online marketplace.

TONYROBBINS.COM

29 Events outside your control can dictate the ultimate outcome of your endeavours.

Today, Tony Robbins’ primary communication and marketing vehicle is his website, www.tonyrobbins.com . Slickly designed and reminiscent in its styling of a law firm’s site, the homepage is dominated by Robbins’ webcasts. Although he can write effectively – and continues to do so – Robbins realises that the best way to communicate with his audiences is visually. Not everyone can come to one of his seminars in person, either for geographical or financial reasons, but they can glean some of his advice from watching him online, and, importantly, this begins to build rapport (see Neuro-Linguistic Programming). He whets audiences’ appetite for his products, and in doing so sets them on the first step of his sales channel.

30 Your website is the shop window of your brand. Exploit its full potential.

The webcasts on Robbins’ website are offered for free, but viewers must sign up in order to be able to watch them. This is important in marketing terms for two reasons: firstly, viewers have to invest a small amount of effort and time in order to access Robbins’ material. Having invested, they are more likely to appreciate it. Secondly, Robbins has been able to capture their contact details. He can therefore send them an ongoing stream of emails and notifications about new content, engaging in an e-conversation and further building rapport so that he people are more likely to buy his products in the future. The basic contact information capture form on the homepage has the same role.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

31 Capture contact details as early as possible to get potential customers into your sales channel.

Also on the homepage you see What People Are Saying. This newsfeed trawls the internet for stories about Robbins, and displays key quotes. At the time of writing this book, the top feeds state Tony Robbins ranks as one of the “Top 50 Business Intellectuals in the World. "(Accenture); Tony Robbins ranks among the “Top 200 Business Gurus. "(Harvard Business School Press); and Tony Robbins named one of the top 6 advisors to help clients take their business to the next level. (American Express).

32 Use the words of others to endorse you and your products.

Robbins uses such quotes to draw attention to his achievements and the high regard in which he is held by the business community and the press. Of course, he (or rather his marketing team) have chosen these quotes deliberately to project a particular, positive image, to tell a particular story. It is effective, though, because rather than just hearing Robbins extoll his own virtues (which we would consider to be arrogant, and probably just a sales pitch), it appears that other, credible sources rate him highly. As these quotes are taken from authoritative organisations, we are more inclined to believe them, to buy into Robbins’ aura of success.

33 Tread the line carefully between self-promotion and unattractive immodesty.

The balance of Robbins’ website is divided into four key sections: Products; Events; Coaching; and Resources.

PRODUCTS

The number seven is a recurring theme in Robbins’ work: there are seven disciplines for success in Unlimited Power ; and seven simple steps to financial freedom in Money: Master the Game . Perhaps it is a lucky number for Robbins (or at least an effective marketing tool), as he lists seven categories of products on his website too.

Under Personal Growth and Development you will find boxed sets of Robbins’ motivational and self-help DVDs. The sales copy suggest that more than 50 million people worldwide have already used these DVDs to improve their lives, though that probably does overestimate their impact, given that many of those who purchased such a course will still have it sat on their shelf collecting dust, without ever having played it.

34 Hyperbole and exaggeration do have their place in sales when used sparingly.

The DVD sets command top-notch prices, but here too Robbins is a master of marketing. The Ultimate Edge, a three-part course, is advertised as having a value of $649, but there are numerous come-ons to make you buy: you can buy the course for a discounted rate of just $299; it’s free for the first 30 days; you can return it and pay no fee within that period if you don’t like it; you can pay in instalments; you get bonus material in the form of an audio magazine; you get a free personal profile, supposedly alone worth $250; and there is also a $100 discount voucher which you can use towards any of Robbins’ events. Readers are left feeling that the package is such good value, they cannot afford NOT to buy it. What is more, having invested this not insignificant amount of money, they must then use the voucher to buy a further product – a ticket to one of Robbins’ events – so that that money is not wasted. Readers have entered Robbins’ sales funnel, and are, through their own fear of missing out and/or wasting money, automatically moved on through it. At every step, Robbins makes money. It is genius.

35 Always make customers believe that they are getting value for money when they buy your products.

Equally interesting is Robbins’ approach in Love and Passion, the courses he has produced with his second wife, Sage Robbins (see Personal Life). The couple appears in the opening shot of the YouTube video which graces this page of the website, telling the viewer immediately that the course is drawn from personal experience (in theory, therefore, increasing its credibility) and also that by following these steps, viewers can also obtain the marital happiness that Robbins and his wife apparently share.

36 Everyone wants to buy into a love story.

Love and relationships are sensitive topics, and seen to be key to personal fulfilment. Even someone who is exceptionally successful in business may be unlucky in love, and looking to find a special someone to fill that gap, or need, in their life. Robbins is acutely aware of this, and plays on our insecurities. He uses highly emotive vocabulary – true fulfilment; emotional power; passion – to emphasise what readers are currently missing in their own lives, but also what they might be able to have in the future if they buy the course.

37 Playing on people's emotions is a very effective, if controversial, sales tool.

Co-authoring the course with his wife is a shrewd marketing move because readers are assured that this will not just give a man’s perspective on marriage and relationships: the woman’s perspective and advice will be communicated also. As on the homepage, Robbins uses other people’s endorsements to give him authority: in this case, a quote from Grammy Award-winning musician Quincy Jones (a personal friend of Robbins’) states, “Witness what the power of love can do in 90 minutes. Tony Robbins is a gift to humanity and most certainly a huge blessing to my family.” Covering his tail from a legal perspective, however, Robbins follows the quote with an important caveat: results obtained vary, and specific outcomes may not occur. He is, at once, offering visitors to his site everything they have ever wanted, but at the same time promising nothing.

EVENTS

38 If you may not be able to deliver what people are hoping to get from your product, ensure caveats protect you from legal action.

Robbins’ events are the main opportunity he has for followers to meet him in the flesh. They can read his books, watch his podcasts and DVD courses, and see him interviewed on the television, but still there is a huge attraction to seeing him in person, as if by being in close proximity to him, some of his success might rub off. Like all great orators – Winston Churchill, Adolf Hitler and Enoch Powell among them – Robbins knows full well that it is not just what you say that counts, but how you say it, and with a physical crowd in front of you, you can drum up emotion and manipulate the atmosphere until it reaches fever peak.

39 Oratory is a hugely powerful skill to learn, and it can be used for good or ill.

A video trailer of an event appears on the Events page, and the opening shot shows Robbins, larger even than life within the screen, reaching down to the outstretched fans of his disciples. The image is deliberately evocative of Jesus preaching to the crowds on the shores of Lake Galilee, or of Mahatma Gandhi, or of Martin Luther King. When we see this picture we immediately think of the great leader and game changers of history, and mentally put Robbins in their camp. We want to be a part of his story, and to hear his message and be changed by it. The only way we can do this is by being one of those people at his feet, arms outstretched towards him. We have to buy a ticket. We have to be at the next event.

40 If you have the ability to create a personality cult, do so!

Alongside this video is a continually updating calendar of forthcoming events. The titles – Dates with Destiny Leadership; Business Mastery ; Unleash the Power Within – are highly emotive and attention grabbing, but what is most important to note here is the text beneath many of the event entries: LIMITED AVAILABILITY; SOLD OUT. These two-word phrases are vital marketing tools: they show huge demand for Robbins’ events, and make readers terrified that if they don’t book their tickets now, they will miss out. Fear on missing out, on being left behind, is a tremendous motivating force which drives sales. No wonder Robbins’ events are selling out.

Interestingly, the prices for Robbins’ events are not immediately obvious. We are used to loading a website and immediately being told the prices of everything, bombarded with discounts and special offers. Robbins is far more subtle. He isn’t selling on price. He is selling on value. He creates demand for his products first. You have to look for information, investing your own time reading about the event and building up an appetite for it. This means that when you do eventually find the price – which may well be upwards of $2,000 – you have already bought into the idea and want it. You aren’t put off by the price tag, and the long list of benefits (segregated by ticket type so you can always see what the next level offers, what you are missing out on) and risk-free satisfaction guarantee further convince you that this is acceptable value for money. In fact, Robbins is doing you a favour: he is giving you a bargain. All you have to do is part with the cash.

41 It is always better to sell your products and services on their value, not on their price.

Throughout the Events section, readers are time and again advised to call Robbins’ 800 number to enrol. The same message is repeated over and again. The fact that booking takes place over the phone rather than via a simple online form is significant because it gives Robbins’ sales force the opportunity to upsell their products. Engagement with another human – even one working in call centre who we know to be there to sell to us – makes it more likely that the deal will be closed, and the profit for Robbins optimised.

COACHING

As with his video courses, Robbins offers a teaser/taster session of 30 minutes of free life coaching. You can sign up via the website, and one of his consultants will then contact you to schedule an appointment. As usual with Robbins’ site, there’s a YouTube video and testimonials, and has the initial session is free, users are more inclined to try it out and see if they like it.

The 30-minute life coaching sessions are with what Robbins terms Results Coaches. These are coaches selected and trained by Robbins, in sales as well as in coaching. You don’t get time with the man himself, but rather his employees. This is fascinating because Robbins has been able to turn himself and his ideas into a brand. The transformation has been so effective that he can delegate his teaching to others, and clients will still buy into it. They are paying to learn the Robbins method from an intermediary.

42 Build a business model which is scalable, i.e. where you can delegate running of the business to others.

Robbins also advertises business coaching through his website, using his nickname “the CEO whisperer” – coined by Fortune magazine – to entice his customers. The sales patter describes how Robbins has spent the last 30 years training the world’s most successful business executives on the psychology of peak performance and organisational turnaround. The pitch is targeted specifically at CEOs, business owners and sales team leaders, and focuses on their desire to increase sales, empower their teams, and be better leaders.

Again, it is only when you read between the lines, however, that you realise that Robbins isn’t actually providing this coaching himself. You will be paying for a professional business coach to work with you, and it will be someone trained by Robbins, but that is not the same as having facetime with the big guy. The sales copy is slightly misleading in this regard, and one wonders what you would actually have to do in order to get a training session with Robbins himself. If President Obama or Yahoo’s Marissa Mayer called up and put their cash on the table, would they be granted time face to face with Robbins? I would imagine so, not necessarily because they would be paying a higher fee and thus getting better service, but because Robbins intimately understands the power of celebrity endorsement to ordinary Joes, and would want such individuals on his customer list. Their value in his marketing strategy is what is most important.

RESOURCES/EXPERIENCES

43 If you create a big and strong enough brand, you can use it to sell others as well as yourself.

The resources section (also labelled Experiences in some parts of the site) is probably the most comprehensive section of Robbins’ website, and the sales message here is more subtle, though no less effective. Visitors are encouraged to, “Experience the magic of Tony Robbins” as though he is some mystical being with superhuman powers. Well, that is how he wants to be seen.

This section of the website contains a number of free tools that Robbins’ fans can use. I say ‘free’ because you don’t pay to use them, but they are there to guide you along the sales channel, buying other Robbins’ products recommended to you at the different stages. You have to register and login to access much of the content, giving up your contact details and automatically subscribing to Robbins’ mailings as you do so.

44 Nothing should ever be totally free.

The content is a mixture of general information, activities, and the opportunity to engage with other fans on discussion boards and through the Crew Community, a group of volunteers who share their leadership skills and expertise as a means of giving back what they have gained through Robbins’ intervention.

This is one of the most effective parts of Robbins’ website, for two reasons. Firstly, readers feel that they are being given something of value: there are blogs on business, finance and how to change your life for the better; short workshops you can do for free; and a free eBook. Briefly, you don’t feel that you are being sold too, but rather than Robbins has chanced upon, then honed, techniques that have changed his life, and he is willing to share them with you. Once you drill deeper, you realise that this is part of his effective marketing strategy, but there is a moment when you almost believe he is doing it for your good.

Secondly, this part of the site works because it builds a sense of community amongst Robbins’ followers. The testimonials on the site are generally from celebrities and hugely successful business leaders, but on the discussion boards you can read and share the dreams, observations and tips of ordinary people just like you. The discussion boards are integrated with Facebook, for ease of sharing content via social media, and this further expands the reach of Robbins’ material. He is making use of peer to peer marketing: when you read one of his posts and like or share it on Facebook, you are, in essence, endorsing his views and products to everyone in your social network.

45 Creating a sense of community amongst your customers increases their loyalty to your brand.

The Crew Community appears to take its inspiration from the evangelical churches in the USA, and as we’ve discussed before, as Robbins sees himself as a Messianic figure, and exploits this view in his marketing materials, this should come as no surprise. Those individuals who have attended one of Robbins’ live events and been inspired by it are encouraged to give back by volunteering at future training sessions. Robbins thus reduces his staffing costs to almost zero and ensures he has a ready-made team of evangelists to proselytise on his behalf. In fact, the interaction with these converts might well be the most useful part of signing up to one of Robbins’ live events, as participants will be able to get face time with the volunteers, even if not with Robbins.

IMAGE AND APPEARANCE

By any account, Robbins strikes an imposing figure: he is six foot seven, a growth spurt he attributes to a teenage pituitary tumour, and he fully occupies the space around his body, in every dimension. Larger the life, and with endless confidence, his audiences are captivated by his every move. And that’s before he opens his mouth.

With such an absorbing presence, Robbins has little need to impress those around him through his clothes. Like Steve Jobs, another inspirational business leader and disruptive thinker, Robbins dresses most often in a black shirt and dark jeans. This keeps the focus on his face, his facial expressions and hand gestures, and his words.

ROBBINS AND THE MEDIA

From the very beginning of his career, Robbins has actively courted the media, especially in the United States, because he recognises its power in raising his public visibility, increasing his credibility, and thus driving sales. From television appearances to celebrity endorsements, Robbins is a superb, one-man PR agency.

46 Use other people – your customers and the press – to raise your profile and thus do your advertising for you.

As a celebrity in his own right, Robbins has had cameo appearances in a number of films. Most notably, he hypnotised Hal, Jack Black’s character, in Shallow Hal so that he sees the inner beauty of the women around him; and he also makes a small appearance in Men in Black. If you watch the scene of screens showing aliens masquerading as humans, you will probably be able to spot Robbins.

On the small screen, Robbins has had mixed results. The comedians behind Family Guy caricatured him in an episode titled “When you wish upon a Weinstein”: the cartoon’s star, Peter Griffin, goes to one of Robbins’ book signings but is then inexplicably swallowed by Robbins. How odd!

Although Robbins had been featured on a number of shows over the years, it was in 2010 that he was given his own billing. On NBC, Breakthrough with Tony Robbins followed Robbins in his daily life as he tried to help his audiences overcome their problems.

The show mixed self-help with reality TV but it struggled to gain popularity amongst television viewers: in the end, NBC aired just two of the six episodes they filmed, and cancelled the series. OWN Network did, however, re-run the original series in full in 2012, followed immediately by a second series.

47 Not everything will work out the way that you want it to the first time.

Riding on the back of Oprah Winfrey’s fame, Robbins returned to the small screen in 2012 as part of a panel of spiritual teachers in Oprah’sLifeclass: The Tour, which also aired on OWN. Robbins was by no means the star of the show – he was just one of a number of contributing guests – but the close association with, and apparent endorsement by, Oprah Winfrey had a significant and positive impact on his product sales. Once again, Robbins demonstrated the importance of celebrity endorsements in increasing one’s own profile and credibility in the marketplace.

CONTROVERSIES

For a figure who courts public exposure so aggressively, and has done so over such an extended period, it is remarkable that Robbins has not become embroiled in more controversies than he has. There have been, it seems, no major fraud scandals, no rape accusations, and no downward spirals into drug and alcohol abuse. He is, on the face of it at least, clear and wholesome.

There are, though, as one expect, some smaller areas where Robbins has strayed into the grey, and for which he has been rightly criticised, and some of these involve financial irregularities. In 1995, Robbins’ company, Robbins Research Institute (RRI), was accused of misrepresenting potential returns to franchisees. RRI never admitted guilt, but did settle out of court, committing to pay claimants more than $200,000 in compensation.

Robbins was also forced by a court to pay more than $650,000 in damages to a competing self-help guru, Wade Cook, who alleged that Robbins infringed his copyright and plagiarised his ideas in his seminars. Cook’s own book, Wall Street Money Machine , had never had the same commercial success as Robbins’ titles, but Robbins has foolishly copied some of the proprietary terms used within it.

48 When you are in the wrong, for whatever reason, step up to the plate and expect to compensate those who have been hurt.

Under Books, we have already discussed the criticism of Money: Master the Game by the financial and general press, but this is by no means the only one of his books to have been seriously questioned by other experts. Unlimited Power includes a chapter about health and energy, of which The National Council Against Health Fraud (NCAHF) has been especially critical. Writing in NCAHF’s journal, Dr. William T. Jarvis explains:

Robbins reveals his ignorance about physiology as he misinforms readers about how the body rids itself of metabolic wastes…

Robbins combines misconception, misinformation, and misguided advice based upon the crackpot theories of Herbert Shelton, a self-styled “nature doctor” who operated a “health school” in Texas…

Robbins recommends the American Natural Hygiene Society, which promotes Shelton’s dangerous ideas. He also advances the unfounded notions about diet and crime promulgated by Alexander Schauss, a self-styled expert who promotes himself with dubious credentials.

Given Robbins’ very public platform, his huge number of devoted followers and his ability to influence their thoughts and behaviour, such criticism is deeply troubling. It is one thing to endorse and promote ideas which, though ineffective, are not actually harmful, but quite another to give oxygen to ideas which could be damaging to health, and to distribute misinformation. It is, one would think, the responsibility of someone like Robbins to check the credibility of his own sources, to get a second opinion where necessary, and to only write about what is proven to be correct and safe. This would not only protect the individuals following his advice but would also protect Robbins’ own reputation, something which he is sure to fiercely defend.

Apart from this, the most valid criticism of Robbins is surely that he manipulates the vulnerabilities of his followers to sell them products. His marketing strategy and sales channel is fine-tuned to be as effective as possible, which in itself is understandable, but there are those who see NLP as a pseudo-science, and his advice as little more than common sense and encouragement. They question how a man with no academic training (Robbins only just graduated from high school, see Childhood and Education) should be able to work in this way, calling him a con artist and his methods a scam.

This is a very difficult area to explore, to investigate and, indeed, to defend. The prices Robbins charges for his services are very high, and there are no guaranteed results: disclaimers to that effect pepper his website, as we discussed before. He does not claim to be able to work miracles, and for every detractor, there are at least two or three fans who will come forward and state publicly that following Robbins’ advice worked for them, that doing so has changed their life. No one can doubt that Robbins is a master of self-publicity and has built an enviable business empire. This will, of course, make some people jealous. It must also be said that though Robbins is undeniably very convincing in his sales pitches, no one is forcing customers to buy his products. They buy because they want to buy, and Robbins will charge whatever the market will allow. This is the basis of market economy, and what has allowed him to become such a successful businessman. Whether or not you approve of his promotional methods, of his commercialisation of advice and help, is an entirely different issue.

PHILANTHROPIC GIVING AND OUTREACH

Robbins founded the Antony Robbins Foundation to give back some of his wealth, which is estimated at around $480 million. The foundation claims to feed 4 million people around the world each year, and it also supports programmes in schools, prisons, service organisations and shelters.

Robbins’ most high profile philanthropic activity is his partnership with FeedingAmerica.org, a hunger relief charity in the United States. Perhaps due to his personal experiences in poverty as a child, Robbins knows what it is like to be hungry, and that despite everyone talking about the American Dream, poverty and hunger do still exist in the USA.

Launched in December 2014, the 100 Million Meals Challenge is, as one would expect from Robbins, a smart piece of marketing. Robbins pledged to donate 50 million meals, and asked the American public to match his donation so that 100 million meals would be given in total. These would be distributed through Feeding America’s 200 food banks over the course of 2015. Robbins’ gift was funded by profits made on sales of Money: Master the Game (and hence helped to further publicise the book), and also a donation from Robbins’ private wealth. The total value of Robbins’ gift was in the region of $5 million, a not inconsequential sum.

PERSONAL LIFE

49 If you have been fortunate in life, give back to an organisation who supports issues you care about.

Robbins’ lively personal life, the result, perhaps of his own tumultuous childhood, began well before he was famous. Though he has spoken little about his earliest romantic encounters, in his early 20s his then girlfriend, Liz Acosta, became pregnant with his child. Their son, Jairek Robbins, was born in 1984 in Santa Monica, California, and Robbins junior has taken full advantage of his father’s fame to launch his own relatively successful career as a coach and motivational speaker. Though no best-seller, he is the author of LIVE IT!: Achieve Success By Living With Purpose and has delivered TEDex talks.

Robbins’ relationship with Acosta broke down almost immediately after the birth of their son, and within a year Robbins had married another woman, Rebecca Jenkins, who he met at one of his seminars. Jenkins was 11 years Robbins’ senior and had three children from former relationships, all of whom Robbins legally adopted. Their marriage lasted 14 years, ending in divorce by mutual consent in 1997. Neither Robbins nor Jenkins spoke publically about the reasons for their divorce at their time, but subsequent interviews with Robbins suggest he had never wanted to marry but did so in order to provide stability for Jenkins’ children and his own. The marriage turned bitter in its latter stages, and was drawn out as the couple debated how to divide their considerable assets. Before the divorce was finalised, Robbins met the woman who would ultimately become his second wife, health food store clerk Bonnie Humphrey, and there are allegations that her affection for Robbins was a major contributing factor in her own marriage breakdown.

Robbins and Humphrey (now known as Sage Robbins) married in Palm Beach, Florida in October 2001. Together the couple has written Love & Passion: The Ultimate Relationship Program and they also write a blog of the same name. Marriage has clearly been a profitable enterprise: at its peak their collective wealth was estimated to be in excess of $480m. They own fast cars, boats, planes and private islands. Put simply, Robbins is living the dream.

CONCLUSIONS

50 Your personal life and your professional life go hand in hand.

When journalists write about Tony Robbins, they usually call him a self-help guru. Yes, that is how he projects himself, and that is the brand which his followers have bought into, but in actual fact, that is not what is at the core of his identity. It is not what has made him a success.

Robbins has not made his money from self-help. He has made his money, and his career, from marketing and continual, effective self-promotion. He could have made his fortune selling cars, newspapers, religion, or a political ideology. The same techniques, the same strategies, and the same approaches would work in all of these fields. Robbins just happens to have chosen self-help and business coaching as the industry through which to demonstrate his considerable marketing skills.

If you want to have a lifestyle like Tony Robbins, if you want to earn just a fraction of his wealth, or to stand on a pale imitation of his pedestal, learn to sell. Learn to sell yourself, and learn to sell your products.

Start by identifying your target market, what they want to buy, and how they can be sold to. Identify their interests, their vulnerabilities, and what you can do to inspire them. How can you convince them that you, and what you have to sell, is the answer that they have been looking for? Only when you know this can you decide what product it is you need to sell, how you can package it, and what your sales pitch should be.

Robbins teaches us that these skills, though naturally more developed in some people than in others, can be learned and honed over time. Whether you choose to study NLP or other similar psychological techniques, you can improve your memory, your visualisation, and your communication skills. You can become more effective at relationship building. You can become more persuasive in your language and in your non-verbal communication. It is worth investing time and effort in these skills, practising them on others, and observing the impact that they have. Deployed in the right circumstances, you can use such skills to be a better negotiator, a better lover, and a better leader.

From Robbins we can also learn that once you have built a brand, you can use that brand to sell anything. Robbins sells DVDs. He sells books. He sells seminars. He sells coaching sessions. And he doesn’t even have to deliver these himself. It may even be that his books are ghost written for him too. But that is the power of his branding. These things don’t matter. Robbins is associated with these products. He has endorsed them, and that is why his followers want to buy them. They want to buy a little piece of Robbins, to get close to him and how he thinks, in the hope that some of his success, personal and financial, will rub off on them too.