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Lesson #3: Be a Dreamer

Article Overview: “I’m a kid in the candy store,” says Hefner. “I dreamed impossible dreams. And the dreams turned out beyond anything I could possibly imagine.”

Lesson #3: Be a Dreamer

“I’m a kid in the candy store,” says Hefner. “I dreamed impossible dreams. And the dreams turned out beyond anything I could possibly imagine.”

Millions of men around the world consider Hefner one of the luckiest men alive, and he agrees. “I’m the luckiest cat on the planet,” he exclaims. Less to do with luck than with having an entrepreneurial mind and fierce determination, Hefner knew as a teenager that he could achieve great things and he set out to do just that.

His Midwestern, Methodist home did little to stimulate his creative energies, forcing Hefner to escape into a world of music and movies that was more along the lines of the life he saw for himself. Hefner had no Hollywood connections, no publishing connections and no previous experience in the world of business. But, he had dreams that he was not just going to let slip by the wayside.

“First and foremost, see what it is you really want to do,” says Hefner. “Hold on to the specific dreams that you have and then stay focused on it.” He warns that one of the major problems for entrepreneurs is their loss of focus. It is essential that you strive towards your goals, or else motivation and focus will easily slip from your grasps. “We are handed a life by peers, parents and society; you can do that or follow your own dreams,” says Hefner. “Life is too short to be living somebody else’s dream.”

When Hefner first set out to launch Playboy, he only had $8,000 to his name. “You don’t start a national magazine with that kind of money,” he reflects. “Of course, I didn’t know that I couldn’t do that, so I went ahead and did it”. With just a table, typewriter and some letterhead in his home, Hefner set about creating the magazine. General manager, advertising director, and editor all in one, Hefner was undoubtedly dreaming big by thinking he could do this. But, when the first 50,000 copies immediately sold out, Hefner knew he was onto success. “The interesting thing is how one guy, through living out his own fantasies, is living out the fantasies of so many other people,” Hefner jokes.

He recognizes today that it was due more to his ability to dream up creative ideas than to any superior business sense that enabled him to succeed. “I’m fairy successful in business not because I’m a good businessman, but because I’m a very good entrepreneur,” says Hefner. “My skills are essentially marketing, editorial and creative. “It’s the products and services that I created that speak to people, the things related to my magazine and the company in my life. These are the things of which I’m proudest, and that I do best.”

Hefner believes that the rise of the Internet as a tool for business has enabled today’s generation to dream even bigger dreams than he ever could have. “The changes in technology make all things possible,” he says. “The opportunities are everywhere now.”

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Article Tags: advertising director, candy store, creative energies, fantasies, grasps, hefner, hollywood, hollywood connections, impossible dreams, letterhead, methodist home, money, motivation, parents, peers, playboy, teenager, typewriter, wayside, world of music



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Dan Kennedy Marketing Methods - We haven't sent out the physical letter yet as the person owning the list wanted to make modifications to the letter that we knew would work well but the List owner had a point - it didn't reflect her personality so her clients would know it didn't come from her. Lesson learned for me. We're back to the drawing board with the list owner more involved in the development of the letter and emails. I should have known better being a Business Analyst in my day job that you never leave the end-user out. So Evan we haven't had the opportunity to test any of it yet but it's been a fun process for me to stand back and look at.


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