www.inc.com/magazine/20080101/bill-zanker-never-wants-t -
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Published on: 12/23/2007
Last Visited: 2/20/2008
Bill ZankerLearning Annex founder Bill Zanker: "As expansive as the self-help business is, it's just beginning.There's so much of it out there!It's just starting!"
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Bill Zanker knows what you're thinking.He knows that you paid $99 or $149 or, if you absolutely had to have the VIP package, $499 to come here, to the Broward County Convention Center, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to figure out how to get rich.
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And there is Zanker, off to the side, circling a pillar like a dog that's about to lie down.He dances awkwardly but unselfconsciously, almost in time with the song, then bobs into the line of patrons, delivering high-fives with great verve.Zanker is founder and president of the Learning Annex and the ringmaster of this circus."We change people's attitudes," the 53-year-old says as he points to a man about to pass through the door."Look at this guy.Watch his face."The man in question looks like someone who is about to enter a seminar, which is to say his face is absent of expression.A few high-fives later, he's practically giggling.
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Zanker absolutely hates empty seats.
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Lots and lots of money…" "It's a subliminal thing, to get you thinking about money," says Zanker, who practically bursts with glee at the sight of 5,000 people doing his silly dance."We're reprogramming people."
It's 8:27 a.m. Who's ready to talk taxes?
"This is a small show," says Zanker."The big shows are five times this.Five times everything."His Real Estate & Wealth Expo drew 70,000 people in San Francisco; 50,000 turned out in Toronto.This weekend, in Fort Lauderdale--in the dog days of June--he'll do 27,000, which is just fine with him.Zanker is at this moment bouncing on a mini-trampoline in the green room, a small lounge where speakers can relax and nosh on almonds and raspberries in the vast area behind the main stage where the Expo's nerve center is located.