Mar. 31, 2022

Grand Junction, Colorado – “Are you sure this is the place?” My wife asked.

Google maps said it was just up to the left, on a dirt road. But that way was mostly blocked with two basketball hoops. Looked like a private drive. I inched forward another 20 meters so I could read the small sign up ahead, set onto a pinkish concrete wall-like structure.

“Seton Village” it read with some kind of script below.

Seton Village Sign - Santa Fe, NM

“Well – we’re close, that’s for sure.”

I turned right onto another dirt road, that branched off to several private homes and found a suitable parking spot. The sun was out, a nice spring day. We stepped out and got our bearings.

The dirt road with the hoops led up to the top of a small rise. The likely spot for the destination we sought. It will have a good view to the south and west, I thought. A good spot to build a home and a retreat.

What was this destination you wonder?

We were making our way back north. Intermediate destination, Grand Junction, Co. where my wife Jan has a first cousin.

View to the southwest, near Seton Castle

But instead of heading straight there from Sedona, AZ. I wanted to take a detour to a little settlement, 6 miles south of Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Why?

It was here that an early 20^th century naturalist, artist and writer decided to build his “Castle” and live the last years of his life. A man for whom my middle name was given, Ernest Thompson Seton. (1860 – 1946)

This is a man who was born in England; raised in Toronto, Canada; homesteaded in Manitoba, camped in Yellowstone with President Roosevelt; co-created a wild-life  movement and co-founded the Boy Scouts of America.

A man, whose father, when he turned 21, gave him an invoice for $537.50, the total of all disbursements that had been made for Ernest, since birth, including the doctor’s bill for delivering him, into the world.

To which his father announced; “Hitherto, I have charged no interest; but from this on, I must add the reasonable amount of 6 percent per annum. This I conceive to be a duty I owe to myself as well to your own sense of duty and manhood; and I shall be glad to have you reduce the amount at the earliest possible opportunity.”

Can you imagine, instead of a ‘loan’ or a perhaps gift, to help you get started in life, you had received a bill, just for being born?!

Now, think about this place we had detoured to visit – his literal “Castle”.

A 6900 square foot home on 2500 acres of land.

How did an indebted young ‘artist’ build up enough savings to afford him the luxury to buy and build such a place and then set up the surrounding land as a place to encourage others to understand and foster a continued enthusiasm for all things wild and natural?

Let me summarize it for you.

He had a gift of art and worked hard.

He was not shy at asking for work and promoting himself at every turn. He used his skill with bird and animal illustrations to get hired by magazine and print shops of the day.

He was thrifty with his spending and saved and later invested his earnings.

He found that he was able to combine his observations of animal tracks with his accurate drawings to be able to create stories of the wild that the public at the time had a great interest, so he produced, at first, series of short stories.

All of these activities gave him income, but no real wealth. And here is where Seton shows us his entrepreneurial quality.

He took all of his short stories and illustrations to one of the leading publishers of the day, Charles Scribner’s Sons.  Scribner liked the idea and gave him an offer of 10% on the published price, plus a little extra for the illustrations, after telling Seton what a hazardous profession was publishing, how most books are failures, etc. etc.

Seton then asked an important question. “How many must you sell to cover your outlay?” The answer came back – 2000.

Seton then proceed to give the man a counterproposal with this preamble:

“Remember, my plan is not simply to throw (this book) into the hopper with a hundred other new books. I am going to go forth to talk about it, lecture about it, give exhibitions of my illustrations, and sell copies in every town where I lecture.

I am so sure of its success that I will forego all royalties on the first 2000 copies, which lets you out, provided you will double it ever afterward.”

This was back in 1898.

Within 3 weeks of its release on Oct 20, the 2000 of the first edition were sold; and before Christmas of that same year, three more printings. The book was a best seller and stayed so for several years.

That book was Wild Animals I have Known. I highly recommend it. He went on to write many more.

Note that Seton did not give the responsibility of the book’s promotion to the publishing house. He took on that himself.

He gave the published a “Godfather Offer”, one they could not refuse, so he, in turn, ended up earning twice what he might have.

He used Speaking as a platform to promote.

But that is not all.

As he wrote in his autobiography; “Men and Women, interested in my books, wished to see the man who wrote them. One club in New York offered me $100 to come and talk to them. I went gladly and enjoyed myself for an hour…”

Seton became quite an orator and inserted realistic animal sounds, in his talks. And naturally, promoted more sales of his books.

Eventually, he partnered with a fellow who handled his “lecture circuit” and for many years Seton did this tour, 20 weeks a year.

Speaking, cross-selling, authorship – greatly augmented the earning power of his skill and knowledge on subjects few knew much about but became entranced to learn more.

Those three marketing strategies can used for any and all businesses. It’s up to you to decide how much more would you like your earnings to be.

Until next week…

Stay healthy and focus on profit!

- Hugh
The “Profit Accelerator” Expert

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