Why Isn’t Nightingale Conant a Household Name? Article by: Jim Rohrbach

Some great brands don’t feed your head like NC — what’s up with THAT?

“We become what we think about.” From “The Strangest Secret,” by Earl Nightingale, who founded Nightingale-Conant Corporation in 1960 with Chicago area direct mail marketing businessman Lloyd Conant.

I’m a self-confessed “Conant Head,” a person who regularly listens to motivational/educational/inspirational audio programs from the world leader in the field, Nightingale-Conant Corporation. I require all of my coaching clients to acquire this habit as well because, to paraphrase Earl Nightingale’s quote above, “We become what we listen to.” One Friday afternoon several NC employees and I were sharing a drink at our favorite watering hole, Graziano’s. I was having a conversation with Mark Rader, NC’s Director of Purchasing, and said, “Y’know, ‘The Strangest Secret’ ISN’T ‘We become what we think about.’ It’s the fact that Nightingale-Conant isn’t a household name.” And Mark snapped, “Yer damn right — let’s do an article together about that!”

So here goes, folks: A shameless rant about why Nightingale-Conant should own a hell of a lot more mindshare than it does. Let’s take a look at brands that are household names and see how NC stacks up:

Coke. Things go better with Coke. Coke adds life. Have a Coke and a smile. The truth is, Coke is nothing more than a sugary-sweet carmel-colored soft drink. Yeah, I have one once in a while. But what does it REALLY do for you and me besides give us cavities, gobs of empty calories, dietary-induced diabetes and maybe take some rust off of a bumper? Listen to NC audio programs and you’ll learn how to make enough money to keep you in Coke for a hundred lifetimes.

Microsoft. Billionaire Bill Gates has made the world a better place by attempting to putting a mouse in every house — I’m grateful for his contribution to improving our access to personal computers. But unless you upgrade your “mental computer” with ideas from NC programs, you’ll be sitting in a back office somewhere doing programming at minimum wage for someone who has.

Lexus. They’ve raised the bar for luxury car manufacturing. Cadillac used to set the standard, but c’mon — the only thing cool about them lately was their Led Zeppelin “Rock ‘n Roll” commercials. (If truth be told, for their performance in the automotive marketplace, GM should be using “Dazed and Confused …”) But if I hadn’t made a habit of listening to NC audios on my morning commute years ago, I’d be driving a beat up Chevy.

McDonald’s. The “I’m Lovin’ It” campaign confuses me — lovin’ WHAT exactly? A mediocre hamburger, fries and shake experience that makes it more likely I’ll succumb to a heart attack? They’ve sold BILLIONS of burgers over the past 50 years — if NC had sold billions of programs, there’d be a lot more people in the world saying, “My life? I’m Lovin’ It!”

Nike. I confess — I’ve been sending my basketball sneaker money to Oregon for over 20 years now — somebody’s gotta pay for those multi-million dollar athlete endorsements, right? And Nike loves me for that. (Unfortunately in my case, it ain’t the shoes — I still can’t jump.) But whenever I really want to “Just Do It” in my career, I don my earbuds and let a motivational speaker on a Nightingale-Conant audio program inspire me to “take it to the hoop.”

Disney. Us baby boomers got hooked on Walt Disney’s creations a couple of generations ago, and we’re happily passing down our addiction– from cartoon movies to toys, clothes and theme-park visits — to our kids, and their kids. But if you don’t use NC audio learning to improve yourself, you’ll be living a Mickey Mouse life in Fantasyland.

Harley-Davidson. With the advent of “weekend warrior” motorcyclists who may be going through a mid-life crisis, the bad ass image of Harley riders has tamed somewhat in recent years. Harley-Davidson survived a crisis of its own back in the mid-eighties, barely avoiding bankruptcy — their management team was forced to change its M.O. or go the way of the horse and buggy. Likewise, if you don’t retool your thinking with NC audios, you’ll be on your way all right — it’ll be on a rickety Schwinn 10-speed bike.

Starbucks. They’re everywhere, and growing so fast I’m surprised they haven’t opened a new outlet in my back bedroom. And sure, you can get a major jolt of java for around five bucks. But what about giving your brain a jolt of information from an NC audio? You’ll get ideas you can use to move up in your career, and you won’t get the shakes like you do from all the caffeine.

I would never be one to knock the success of these other high profile companies — I’m just questioning the value of their offerings compared to what I get from listening to the archived ideas of the leading minds of our time. I guess the bottom line of what Mark and I are talking about is that we’re mad as hell and wanna know what’s it gonna take for Nightingale-Conant, “The World’s Greatest Library of Recorded Wisdom,” to become a household name?

If YOU, Dear Reader, have any ideas about how to rectify this gross injustice in the marketplace, lemme hear from you right away: Coach@SuccessSkills.com

PS — When was the last time you told a friend of yours to turn off blowhard Rush Limbaugh, potty-mouth Howard Stern, some poser rapper, a dinosaur rock band/country bumpkin singer, etc., and TURN ON a Nightingale-Conant audio program, hmmm? (Inquiring minds want to know …)

Success Skills Coach Jim Rohrbach, “The Personal Fitness Trainer for Your Business,” coaches business owners, entrepreneurs and sales professionals on growing their clientele. He has helped hundreds of individuals to achieve their goals since he developed his first coaching program in 1982. To arrange a Free Consultation with Jim, go to www.SuccessSkills.com.