Jonathan Pritchard

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Category: Persuasive Professional

  • The Man Who Knows

    The Man Who Knows

    This is me with the world’s best metal bender, Alain Nu.

    He’s also known as “The Man Who Knows.”

    (Which is a callback to Alexander, for all you Mentalism nerds out there.)

    I took the whole crew out to his show at the Notoriety Theater in Vegas and it was a delight for me to hear their conversations & theories about what they saw.

    On stage he’s warm, personable, and always has a glint in his eye as he shares random shower thoughts with the audience.

    Off stage he’s warm, personable, and always has a glint in his eye as he shares random factoids with you.

    He’s a monster in the Mentalism world and this was the first time I’ve gotten to see his whole show even though we’ve known each other for years.

    It’s such a great show and he uses his space in delightful ways.

    Example: one of his spotlights is too narrow and aimed low (on purpose) so he has to crouch down to fit into it.

    What a delightful little detail, and his show is full of ’em.

    It’s those kinds of things that separate the big players from the wanna-be’s of the world.

    If you ever have the chance to see Alain work in person, make it happen; whatever it takes.

    Best thoughts,
    ~Jonathan

  • Where Do We Put The Booth?

    Where Do We Put The Booth?

    Trade Show Video!

    I took the opportunity to make a couple videos while I was out in Vegas for the IFA conference.

    This is the first one and it deals with one of the most common questions I get for my trade show consulting.

    There’s a simple answer that can get you 2x as much traffic by your booth.

    You’ll kick yourself for not figuring it out sooner!

    If you’re planning a trade show, then head over to ROI Trade Shows for more articles & insights like this to help you get more out of your next exhibit.

    Best thoughts,
    ~Jonathan

  • World’s Best Mind Reader

    World’s Best Mind Reader

    While I was in Vegas I made sure to reserve time to watch some of my favorite people work.

    The first one I checked out was Banachek’s mind reading show at the Strat.

    We’ve known each other for 20+ years by now, and we both had the same mentor, James Randi.

    It was fantastic getting to see him do his best material: blindfold, mind reading, and the ever-scary DEATH TEST using razor sharp pocket knives.

    What was even better is seeing him make his dream come true.

    He’s been working on getting a Vegas show for years, and now he has his own showroom built out at a big ‘ol casino.

    It’s the best thing ever seeing your friends doing well.

    Careers aren’t built in a day, but a little bit of effort every day for decades can surprise you!

    Best thoughts,
    ~Jonathan

  • Surprising Connections

    Surprising Connections

    There’s an underground Mentalist who I have respected for years. He creates experiences that are direct, powerful, and professional. They’re perfect for me.

    And he’s a reclusive cat.

    He can disappear for years. No email. No website. Nothing.

    Then he comes back with new material to share with the community before going off grid again.

    Hardly anyone in the magic world even knows about this guy.

    That’s why I was so surprised this week.

    The Scene

    I’m in the booth at the International Franchise Association doing my thing for one of the country’s largest digital marketing agencies.

    I get done entertaining an older guy who says, “That’s fantastic, really is. It reminds me of a guy, UNDERGROUND MENTALIST. You ever heard of him?”

    What?!

    “Yeah, he’s great. We worked together a lot over the years. Love that guy. Hard to get ahold of, though. Haven’t heard from him in years. If you ever cross paths, let him know I say hi. In the meantime, though, give me a call. I think it’s time to start doing this stuff again.”

    I take his card.

    He’s a VP at Bank of America.

    You could have pushed me over with a feather.

    Isn’t that how it always happens? You’re doing one thing that leads to another and before you know it you’re living your wildest dreams.

    That’s the power of connection & relationships.

    Best thoughts,
    ~Jonathan

    PS: Did you know I created the ZAVANT Sales System? It combines powerful mentalism principles, a tiny bit of showmanship, and a whole lot of good thinking into a foolproof process for landing small-to-enterprise level opportunities? I’m about to add even more insights, which means the price goes up too. More details soon!

  • Psychology of Selling A Suit

    Somebody complimented my suit yesterday and it reminded me of how much fun I had buying it.

    Weird idea, but I genuinely love watching other salespeople in action. Makes it even more exciting to be the customer!

    And there’s one particularly powerful approach to selling suits that I’ve seen nearly every time.

    Here it is.

    Sell the suit first.

    THEN sell the shirt, the socks, the cufflinks, the tie, the pocket square, etc etc.

    Why?

    Because the big number of the suit’s price makes the other prices look much smaller.

    You think “I’m already spending $1,000 on the suit. Why not another $100 for the shirt?”

    If they did it the other way, you watch that $100 jump to $1,100 reaaaaaal quick and it freaks you out.

    What did my guy do?

    None of that.

    I came in with very clear opinions on what I was looking for.

    “I need something that travels well; I’m going to be wearing it on the plane and I might need to go straight from that environment to standing on stage in front of my audience. And to that point, I need it to be lightweight. That spotlight tends to get hot so I don’t need to wear something that’s going to make me sweat even more. I need it in a darker color; something conservative so I can blend in with my audience before going on stage; once I’m there I need to look like I belong.”

    “Ok” my guy thinks. “This isn’t Jonathan’s first rodeo. I’ll be best suited (pun intended) by focusing on what he says he needs.”

    And since he didn’t try to sell me on a whole bunch of extra crap, I bought 2 suits before heading out.

    And I’m glad I did; gotta keep the compliments coming!

    Best thoughts,
    ~Jonathan

  • Viva Las Vegas

    Viva Las Vegas

    Well, the conference is wrapping up.

    I had a great time getting to read some minds, make some friends, and connect with some big opportunities at the trade show.

    This group was especially fun.

    I’m not even halfway through the presentation and they’re asking me if I would speak at their conference & whether I could do workshops for their franchise owners.

    I said yes, of course!

    It’s incredible what happens when you have fun with your work & focus on making others the star of the show. That’s how you become a business rockstar!

    Best thoughts,
    ~Jonathan

    PS: Looks like my email setup was expecting me to have something written and sent the email update without the update. I was standing on my feet for 14 hours and didn’t get a chance to get to the keyboard in time to write one. Whoops! Thank you for letting me know that you got a couple weird blank emails; that’s what happened. ::high five::

  • You Can Be Anything

    . . .Just don’t be boring.

    That’s what I’m thinking about as I walk through all the blinking lights & ding! ding! ding! of the casino and seeing droves of people completely focused on their bright machines ignoring everything else.

    Houdini understood all this. He knew in his bones that his audience was the source of all his success.

    The conduit between his success & his audience was his ability to command their attention.

    Not just be interesting.

    But commanding.

    He was so daring. So dynamic. So overwhelming that you could only pay attention to him.

    And it wasn’t because he was physically imposing. He was a short dude.

    It was his single-minded focus on being the greatest the world has ever seen.

    How do you look away from that?

    So what’s most interesting about you? What are you interested in?

    I want to know! Hit reply, and I’ll read your answer.

    Looking forward to hearing from you.

    Also!

    New video posted 👇

    I got quite a bit of feedback from the 5 pillars email last week, so I turned it into a video. Hope you like it!

    Best thoughts,
    ~Jonathan

    PS: If you want to learn more secrets of Houdini’s success combined with cutting edge internet strategies, then I have a whole course about it in ZAVANT University.

  • Harsh Truth

    Randi & I are walking through the South Pointe Hotel & Casino.

    We’re here for “The Amaz!ng Meeting” like every year.

    He says:

    Vegas is built on the backs of losers.

    He doesn’t mean it as a qualitative damnation of people.

    He means it as a statement of fact.

    Vegas is possible by people who think a 93% return on their money is a good deal.

    Now that it’s more than a decade after he said that, I still hear it every time I’m here in Vegas.

    Sure helps me avoid the temptation & thrill of gambling; that’s for sure.

    Still fun to be here though!

    What about you? How do you think about Vegas?

    Best thoughts,
    ~Jonathan

  • Life Is Sales

    You have to sell yourself on the idea that your life can change.

    You have to sell yourself on the idea that you can have the life you want.

    You have to sell yourself on the idea that you’re worth it.

    All of this has to happen, first, before anyone else can buy into your dream.

    And that’s what sales is: helping someone else share the same vision as you.

    Most people don’t know how to do that. They’re stuck in the same way of thinking. The same way of doing things. The same way of ‘just getting by.’

    That’s why I’m so passionate about understanding the psychology of why people decide to change, how they think about doing it, why they buy, what motivates them, and more.

    Once you unlock that fundamental secret, then you can help people make incredible changes.

    That’s what I’m thinking about this morning as I’m waiting on my flight to Vegas.

    How about you? What’s the biggest idea that you’ve sold yourself on? What’s the biggest deal you’ve closed (for yourself or with someone else; could be both!)?

    Success starts in the mind & works its way out into the world from there.

    That’s why I am 1000% convinced that founders, engineers, managers, introverts, extraverts, and everyone between would benefit from learning sales.

    What do you think?

    Best thoughts,
    ~Jonathan

    PS: I’m thinking of dialing the emails back to twice a week. Once to let you know about the new video/topic, and the second as an article like this talking about psychology, life, & business. That means they’d be longer vs a more bite-size note like this. What do you think?

  • Heading To Vegas

    This weekend I’m helping a company that’s exhibiting at a trade show.

    I’m in their booth with three jobs to do:

    1. Stop people in their tracks
    2. “Info-tain” them enough that they want to hear more
    3. Hand ’em off to the sales team to schedule conversations for later

    In other words: I’m gonna be their big blue screamin’ monkey.

    I’ve been working with them for a couple months to understand what makes them so great, how they help their clients, and what a potential client needs to know about them before they’ll do business together.

    Once I was clear on those, I built a custom presentation for them that combines my library of interactive mind reading demonstrations with their marketing messaging to create something amazing.

    We even teased the event.

    Since it’s in Vegas, we leaned all the way into the magic/mind reading angle.

    I created an interactive mind reading video that people can watch & play along with on the phones or computers. It’s branded with my client’s logo & theming, too.

    When we reveal that we know what they’re thinking, it has our booth number & an invitation to stop by for even more cool stuff.

    Can’t wait.

    Now I have to hop off of here so I can go over my packing list for the millionth time.

    Best thoughts,
    ~Jonathan

    PS: Do you know someone who helps plan their company’s trade shows? We should talk!