The Golden Rules of Money Getting: P.T. Barnum

The sources provided discuss P.T. Barnum’s The Art of Money Getting, subtitled Golden Rules for Making Money,The sources provided discuss P.T. Barnum’s The Art of Money Getting, subtitled Golden Rules for Making Money, both through the direct text of the work and through the contemporary perspective of businessman Russell Brunson.

In the larger context of The Art of Money Getting, Barnum’s “Golden Rules for Making Money” are presented as a comprehensive, foundational set of principles focused on behavior, personal effort, and integrity, which are highly relevant even today.

The Golden Rules and the Art of Money Getting (P.T. Barnum)

P.T. Barnum, described as America’s second millionaire, outlines his “Golden Rules” as the means to achieve financial independence. The core philosophy is straightforward: the road to wealth “is as plain as the road to the mill” and consists simply of expending less than we earn. While making money in the United States is generally “not at all difficult for persons in good health” due to numerous opportunities, keeping it is the challenge.

The text details the following specific rules, which constitute the core of the work:

1. Don’t Mistake Your Vocation: Success depends on selecting a profession that is congenial to one’s natural aptitudes or “peculiar genius”.
2. Select the Right Location: Even with the right vocation, an improper location (where there is no demand or too much competition) can lead to ruin.
3. Avoid Debt: Debt, especially for consumption (“what you eat and drink and wear”), is a “slavish position”. Money working against a person through interest is likened to “working for a dead horse”.
4. Persevere: One must cultivate “go-aheaditiveness” and determination, never losing faith in oneself just before reaching the goal.
5. Whatever You Do, Do It With All Your Might: This means working thoroughly, early and late, and never deferring tasks. Success requires “ambition, energy, industry, perseverance”.
6. Use the Best Tools: In business, this primarily refers to securing the best “living tools” (employees) who possess “heads” that “think,” not just “hands”.
7. Don’t Get Above Your Business: It is a mistake to believe one can succeed with borrowed or unearned money. The best way to acquire a fortune is to start poor, “make their own money and save it”.
8. Learn Something Useful: Everyone should learn a trade or profession as a “tangible” fallback against life’s changing fortunes.
9. Let Hope Predominate, But Be Not Too Visionary & Do Not Scatter Your Powers: Avoid being too visionary and focus undivided attention on one kind of business.
10. Be Systematic: Conduct business by rule, having a time and place for everything to accomplish more work with less trouble, though one must avoid being too systematic (“red tape”).
11. Read the Newspapers: In the modern age, consulting a trustworthy newspaper is essential to stay informed about world transactions, inventions, and improvements, as one without a newspaper is “cut off from his species”.
12. Beware of “Outside Operations”: Sudden poverty often results from leaving one’s legitimate business to engage in speculations they don’t understand.
13. Don’t Indorse Without Security: Never become security for others beyond what you can afford to lose, and always insist on good security, as easy money tempts borrowers toward “hazardous speculations”.
14. Advertise Your Business: If an article is genuine and valuable, the fact must be advertised persistently. Advertising is the “sowing” that precedes the “reaping”.
15. Be Polite and Kind to Your Customers: Civility is the “best capital ever invested in business”. Customers who pay should be accommodated, as “like begets like”.
16. Be Charitable: Charity is a duty and pleasure, and even as policy, a liberal man commands patronage. The best charity helps those willing to help themselves.
17. Don’t Blab: Do not share business secrets, profits, hopes, or intentions in conversation or letters, as revealing difficulties leads to loss of reputation.
18. Preserve Your Integrity: Strict honesty is the foundation of all financial success. Integrity is “more precious than diamonds or rubies” and secures the trust of the community.

Contemporary Relevance and Interpretation

The principles laid out by Barnum are still considered highly relevant. Russell Brunson, who collects old books including Barnum’s 1880s version of The Art of Money Getting, views the work through a modern entrepreneurial lens focused on value creation and speed.

Brunson’s modern take on the “Art of Money Getting” emphasizes:

• Value Production: Wealth comes from producing “more value than you are consuming”. This echoes Barnum’s foundational rule of expending less than one earns.
• Creating the Offer: Instead of competing on price (a strategy Brunson dismisses), success involves creating an irresistible “offer stack” by adding bonuses to increase the perceived value and make the offer unique.
• Storytelling: Telling a story about each element of the offer increases its perceived value.
• Speed (One-to-Many Selling): Brunson asserts that mastering the Art of Money Getting is about increasing the speed of making money. He notes that Barnum himself understood this, gathering “the many” to a circus or event to sell to them simultaneously, rather than relying on one-on-one sales. Today, this means using webinars, videos, and live events to conduct “one to many” presentations.

For both Barnum and modern interpreters, the ultimate purpose of money-getting is laudable when the wealth is used as a “friend to humanity,” funding institutions of learning and art. Barnum’s extensive list of “Golden Rules” provides the behavioral and operational blueprint for attaining wealth, while modern interpretations focus on maximizing the creation and delivery of value to large groups to accelerate the process.