CW 603 FBF - Swim With The Sharks & Get Your Foot In The Door with NY Times Best-Selling Author Harvey Mackay
7 Dec 2025 · 26 min
A Flashback Friday episode of the Creating Wealth podcast (host Jason Hartman) featuring an interview with bestselling author Harvey Mackay about his book Use Your Head to Get Your Foot in the Door and networking/job-search strategies. The episode also includes a motivational poem (The Reluctant Investor's Lament by Donald Weil, 1977), several real-estate investment pitch examples (properties in Dallas, St. Robert MO, Indianapolis), event announcements (Creating Wealth boot camp planned for July 31), and statistics cited on unemployment and job-change patterns.
Questions this episode answers
Use Your Head to Get Your Foot in the Door
If after six months you don't have a job, Harvey Mackay signs the back cover and will give you your money back.
Over 10 million books sold; translated into 42 languages and distributed in 80 countries.
Number four on the New York Times bestseller list (also listed on USA Today and Wall Street Journal lists).
14.8 million Americans unemployed; 6.3 million of those have been looking for seven months or more.
Chapters
This show is produced by the Hartman Media Company. For more information and links to all our great podcasts, visit hartmanmedia.com hey, this is Jason Hartman. Thank you so much for joining me. Do you know what day it is? Yes, it is Flashback Friday where you hear the best of the Creating wealth show and you hear some good prior episodes, some good review. Remember, we've got almost 500 episodes out and you know what? ITunes doesn't even hold them all. If you're an itunes listener, if you are listening on Stitcher. Thank you for joining us. So we want to bring you some good review stuff. Now, what's interesting about Flashback Friday, It's a little scary for me. I gotta be very, very candid with you on that because you, the listener, you get the chance to hold my feet to the fire. Did I make any predictions? Was I right? Was I wrong? I've been right about a lot of things, but I've been wrong about a few. So you can give me a hard time about that if you wish. But it's Flashback Friday and we will give you the uncensored best of the Creating wealth show with a prior episode. So let's dive in. Here we go. Remember, this is not current. It's Flashback Friday.
Welcome to the Creating wealth show with Jason Hartman. You're about to learn a new slant on investing some exciting techniques and and fresh new approaches to the world's most historically proven asset class that will enable you to create more wealth and freedom than you ever thought possible. Jason is a genuine, self made multimillionaire who's actually been there and done it. He's a successful investor, lender, developer and entrepreneur who's owned properties in 11 states, had hundreds of tenants and been involved in thousands of real estate transactions. He this program will help you follow in Jason's footsteps on the road to your Financial Independence Day. You really can do it. And now here's your host, Jason Hartman with the complete solution for real estate investors.
Thank you for joining me today. We've got listeners in 26 countries around the world and we've noticed the ratings and the downloads of the shows going up a lot lately. So we thank you for referring your friends and family. Special show for you today. We've got a very famous author, Swim with the shark, Harvey McKay. And he'll be talking about his new book today which is entitled Use youe Head to get yout Foot in the Door. Aren't all his books, they have such great titles. And we'll get to my interview with Harvey here in just a moment, but wanted to just make a couple of quick announcements and share a little poem with you today. First of all, we've got our next Creating wealth boot camp event coming up. Our date that we're scheduling that for is July 31st and I just should let you know we are thinking about doing that event, although we have not confirmed the location in Los Angeles near LAX Airport or maybe even in Long beach near the Long Beach Airport. We're of course located right here in Orange county near the Orange County Airport. But we just thought maybe we'd try a different location and look at some different connections for our out of town visitors who seem to be coming to the event more and more. And if you have any feedback for us on that, talk with our investment counselors here. Shoot us an email through the website@jasonhartman.com and if you have any location suggestions, preferences, maybe you've wanted to come to one of our event but events but that the travel has stopped you because it's more difficult than you want it to be and we'd love to try and accommodate you. So any feedback would be appreciated. Before we get to the interview with Harvey McKay, I'm going to share a couple of properties with you. But before we do that, I want to share a little poem. And this is a very, very inspiring poem and it is written in 1977. Can you imagine that? This is a perspective from 33 years ago and it's just interesting. I love to watch old movies and read sometimes those compilations of old front pages from the newspaper 50 years ago, 100 years ago, even 10 years ago. Because it's just so interesting to get a perspective of what were people thinking about back then? Well, this poem is entitled the Reluctant Investor's Lament and it's by Donald Weil and it was written in 1977. And it is so telling. When you look at the opportunities that we are faced with today as investors, the opportunities couldn't be better because I think unfortunately for most people, the chances of extremely high inflation in the future couldn't be worse. Now some people say that inflation is going to hit us in 18 months, some say in two years, some say in four, five, maybe even not until six years. But we all know it is coming, it must come. There is simply no other choice ultimately. And we also know that we are going to see interest rates increasing. So our strategy again, packaged commodities investing, my little trademark term there you tie up long term commodities that have long term universal need, universal value, and you tie them up with three and four decade long fixed rate mortgages so you don't have to even see inflation. Remember, you're listening to Flashback Friday. Our new episodes are published every Monday and Wednesday. If you just see higher interest rates, that should have the effect of dramatically, dramatically increasing your income from your properties. So again, even though this poem is based around the concept of price increases, it's not just about price increases. Remember, income property is a multi dimensional asset class and all of us regular listeners, we know that we get it. So this is just a really good perspective. Then I'll talk about some properties real quickly and then Harvey McKay talking about getting your foot in the door. So here it goes. I hesitate to make a list of all the countless deals I've missed Bonanzas that were in my grip I watch them through my fingers slip the windfalls which I should have bought were lost because I overthought I thought of this, I thought of that I could have sworn I smelled a rat and while I thought things over twice Another grabbed them at the price it seems I always hesitate Then make up my mind when it's much too late A very cautious man am I and that is why I never buy when tracks rose high on six and third the price asked I felt was absurd those block fronts, black and bleak with soot Were priced at just 30 bucks a foot I wouldn't even make a bid but others did yes, others did When Tucson was cheap desert land I could have had a heap of sand When Phoenix was the place to buy I thought the climate was much too dry Invest in Dallas, that's the spot but my sixth cents warned me I should not and that is why I never buy How Nassau, how Suffolk grew North Jersey, Staten island too when others called those sprawling farms and welcomed deals with open arms a corner here, 10 acres there compounding values year by year I chose to think and as I thought they bought the deals I should have bought the golden chances I had then Are lost in and will not come again today I cannot be enticed for everything in 1977 is so overpriced the deals of yesteryear are dead the market's soft and so's my head Last night I had a fearful dream I know I wakened with a scream Some Indians approached my bed for trinkets on the barrel head in dollar bills worth 24 and nothing less and nothing more they'd sell Manhattan Isle to me but the most I'd go was 23 the red man scowled, not on a bet and sold to Peter Minuet at time a teardrop drowns my eye for the deals I had but did not buy and now life's saddest words I pen if only I'd invested Then don't be the reluctant investor. Do not let that be you. We all have regrets in life. I am sure we all have regrets of some sort. It's the coulda, shoulda, woulda. You've got to seize the opportunity. And I am telling you, the opportunity is so great. Now in the midst of this global financial crisis, the population is increasing, the government is spending irresponsibly. Municipal bond funds are going to default like crazy. States, cities, counties will declare bankruptcy. And that means one thing. More fake fiat money will be printed and things will become meaningful. And money, well, I shouldn't say money, I should say currency, namely dollar bills, will become more and more worthless and our debt is denominated in those dollar bills. Think about the opportunity to use someone else's money, the bank's money, to stock up on things, things that have universal need. Things matter. People say money isn't important. Well, I don't know about that, that's debatable. But I will say that things are far more important than money. Things really do matter. And we say use other people's money to buy lots of things, things that everybody needs. Get in control of the resources that have universal need. That is the road to wealth. Let me talk to you about a couple of these resources right here. So here's a property in the Greater Dallas area. Three bedroom, two bath, built in 2006. It's just four years old, almost 2,000 square feet. You can buy this property for a total cash out. Go. Closing costs everything, just over $44,000. It's $77 a square foot. The projected rent is 1450 per month. The cash flow is $144 per month based on that projection. And the return on investment is projected at 21% annually. What if it doesn't work out so well? What if you only get half of that? Well, that means you would earn 10.5% annually. And you know what? That's going to be about 10 times better than you'll earn in any bank right now. And it's probably a heck of a lot better than you're going to earn in any mutual fund. I know that. Here's another one, this we've talked about before. These are our little duplexes that we have in St. Robert, Missouri, big military town. Three bedroom, two bath units, two of them brand spanking new, new with Warranty. And even the not new homes, they all come with warranties. All the stuff we, we recommend. 2,640 square feet. $183,069 a square foot. It only takes 15,000 total cash invested. Now on these, because they're brand new and we've got a unique financing opportunity. You do initially have to deposit in a secured CD, $36,000. But you get a bunch of that back at closing. So ultimately you're only putting in just over 15,000. Cash flow is projected at $253 per month. That's over $3,000 per year in flow. Return on investment is projected at 58%. Did you hear that? 5, 8%, 58%. It only has to go 1/10 as well as projected. And you're still gonna beat the bank and you're probably gonna beat the heck out of the stock market. Here's another one in Indianapolis income property bond country. 2,100 square feet. $74,000. 35,000 and change total cash in only $35 per s. I bet it would cost you double to build that house today. This is a 2007 house, only 3 years old. Again, the ones that aren't new, they're all bank foreclosures, pretty much. That's pretty much all we're dealing in now. Positive cash flow projected at $413 per month. That's almost $5,000 per year in positive cash flow. Return on Investment projected at 24% annually. Cash on cash return 14% cap rate, 12.1%. Try beating that. Let's go back to the big d. Dallas, Texas. Four bedroom, two bath. 2003. I'm looking at the picture. This is a really, really nice looking property. 2,373 square feet. 135,000 40,000 total cash in, $57 per foot. $190 per month projected positive cash flow and $2,300 per year positive cash flow projection, total ROI, 22% annually. Folks, do not be the reluctant investor. Do not be the one who says now life's saddest words. I pen. If only, if only I'd invested. Then changing the subject here, my pleasure to interview Harvey McKay just recently. And let's hear that interview now. Harvey McKay is a very famous author. Now this interview should be interesting to you for multiple reasons really. The book, his new book is really about getting a job. And it's entitled Use your Head to get yout Foot in the Door. Unique job search secrets that no one else will tell you. However, we Talk about his other books. If you are in sales. And listen, everybody's in sales. If you are interested in ever being an author, a publisher, a speaker, Harvey MacKay, you can learn a lot from this guy because he is an incredible, incredible success story. He started out as an envelope salesman and through just sheer networking, like if you want to learn how to network, Harvey McKay is your guy. You'll really like this interview. So without further ado, let's just go to the interview and we will play that interview in just less than 60 seconds. Be right back with Harvey McKay.
Want to know what you've missed in the Creating wealth series? Well, here's your opportunity with Jason's five book set that's shows 1 through 100 through digital download. You save $288 by getting this five book set. Learn all of the advanced strategies for wealth creation. For more details, go to jason hartman.com.
Just a reminder, you're listening to Flashback Friday. Our new episodes are published every Monday and every Wednesday.
It's my great pleasure to welcome Harvey McKay to the show. You certainly know of him. He is the man with all of those book titles. First and foremost, many years ago it was how to Swim with the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive. Many other best sellers in between. His latest book is Use youe Head to get yout Foot in the Door. And he sold over 10 million books translated into 42 languages, distributed in 80 countries. I've enjoyed his syndicated, nationally syndicated column for many, many years now. And Harvey, it's great to be talking with you.
Jason, nice to be with you. I've been looking avidly, looking forward to this interview.
Well, good. Tell us about your most recent book, if you would. It is so timely and I hear that it just hit number four on the New York Times bestseller list. Congratulations.
Well, I'm very proud of that. Found that out about 24 hours ago. Yes, this coming Sunday. So kind of proud. Along with USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestseller. You know, you work on a book for two years and you like to get results after all that effort. So I'm a very happy camper. The book has a little unique feature in it on the back of the book. If everybody turns it over, if they eventually had a book, it would say the do not read this book, study it, underline it, highlight it, use post it notes. And if after six months you don't have a job, all right, I personally and I sign it right there on the back cover will give you your money back. People, Jason, have asked me and I've Been out on the road Now I've got 23 cities left, seven down, 23 to go. So I've done numerous radio and television, maybe over 50 or 60 interviews already. Everyone asked me, how can you make a, a claim like that? Well, my answer is I've been doing this for 45 years. Calling from Minneapolis where the company I founded right here, the K. Mitchell Envelope Company. I've had about 500 people through my front door in the last 40 or 45 years. They've gotten exactly what they wanted. When I wrote Swim with the Sharks, I had in the back page, money back, guarantee. If you don't like this book. Well, five million copies of Sharks were sold. 18 people, Jason. 18 people asked for their money back. Seven of them were my best friends.
Well, you know what? No prophet is ever revered in his own circles.
So anyway, and if I could set the stage for you, and this is not a typo, our listeners have to know these are real numbers. And I know this goes to many, many, many countries. I've had an opportunity to speak in about 80 different countries. So I'm sure virtually every country that is listening, person listening from a different country. I think the concepts don't change, the philosophies don't change. Nothing has changed in the last hundred years or the next hundred years as far as being successful now, how we get our information and everything, that's a whole different new world. But here is the setting for the table, if I may, this very moment. And this is not a typo. This is Federal Bureau labor statistics. There are 14.8 million Americans looking for work, unemployed, downsized, restructured, right sized mergers, acquisitions, consolidations. 14.8 million people, 6.3 million of the 14.8 have been looking for seven months or more. That is just unrealistic. That number is only a million and a half five years ago. The average college graduate this coming June, he or she will have 10 to 14 different job changes in his or her career. And now get this, three to five different career changes, 10 to 14 job changes by age 38. I'll repeat that by age 38. 10 to 14, three to five different career changes. Three to five different career changes in their entire career. So you see, it's a perpetual job search that we're talking about out there.
Yeah, times have definitely changed. Nobody's going to work for the Same company for 40 years and getting a gold watch anymore, are they?
That's correct. My father was a writer, headed the Associated press here in St. Paul, Minneapolis for 40 years. He did get the gold watch. But that's right. Not anymore. So you have to prepare to win. You have to do your homework. I've got 300 pages, 69,000 words that give a lot of reveal a lot of secrets how to be successful. Make sure you're not one of those 14.8 unemployed.
I love some of the stuff you cover in the book and it's so timely again with so many people looking for positions and wanting to use your network. And by the way, Harvey, I got to tell you, one of my other very favorite book titles of yours that I have talked about in many speeches I've given.
Can I take a guess?
Sure. Yeah, go.
All right, I'm just going to guess. Dig your well before you're thirsty.
You got it. I love that title. And that's really what that applies to networking and job searching and so many opportunities in life, doesn't it?
It's in 200 universities. Dig your well before you're thirsty. And guess what? I don't sell anything on my website. This is for all the listeners around the world. They will receive just by listening this very minute. They can receive a $12.95 book. It's the Harvey McKay Rolodex Network Builder which summarizes the Dig youg well before you're thirsty. No charge free. They can download it. I sell nothing on my website. They can get that book free. They can get all kinds of reports free. They can get a 66 question customer profile, just all kinds of gifts on there. They can do all of those things at no charge. So, yes, thank you for mentioning that book. And that's a very good opportunity for all our listeners to go to that website and get that free book which will help them not only in getting a job, but it will help them climb the ladder the rest of their life. You see, what I wrote here, Jason, is an A to Z career resource book. This is not a book just for someone looking for jobs. It's for entrepreneurs. This is for CEOs, managers, people who hire, who fire, negotiations. It's all in there. And they'll find out by hitting my website.
I remember a long time ago Learning about the McKay 66, as you call it. And Harvey, tell us how it relates to job seekers.
Surely you actually, you must memorize the book because that's the number one key ingredient definition of a secret is when one person knows. And there are maybe over 100, I think, secrets and good ideas in the book, but this is number one. You just nailed it, Jason. You nailed it. And here's what it is. The McKay 66 question customer profile I came up with at age 21. I was an envelope salesman working for a huge company. And I decided that every company I called on, of course there's a purchasing agent. They're called purchasing managers. Today there are 300 buyers I was calling on. Well, I decided that I wanted to humanize my selling strategy at age 21. So I came up with these 66 questions that I would love to know about the customers that I call on. I want to know about their hobbies, their recreation, if they happen to be married, anything about their children, their previous jobs, where they take their vacations, political preference, odd jobs they've had before, spouse's interest, children's interests. These are all the things I wanted to know. And therefore I put that in swim with the sharks. And that's one of the reasons why I guess it went through the roof. But now let's apply this. And I call that humanize your selling strategy. Incidentally, in that little 1295 book I just talked about that everyone gets free that's listening to this program that can download within seconds. There's 20 pages in the 112 page little booklet there, 20 pages of my speech that I delivered to the MBA program at Harvard, MBA students. And it's called, of course, humanize your job search or humanize your selling strategy. So now let's get back to your question. If you're going for a job, a lot of people will Google the company, but they forget that people, which is wonderful, you have to do that. But now there's a human being that's hiring you. People buy from other people and people hire other people because of chemistry, because of likability, because of people skills. You have to level the playing field. So we teach our salespeople to read the desk, to read the walls, to read the reception area when you walk in, to keep gathering information about your customers, to stay close to them. And then again, you humanize it. So that's how you get your foot in the door. That's how you get the business. Example, just a brief example. Let's say, Jason, you're going to interview me and for some reason or another, you don't grant me an interview. I've been calling, I've been calling your assistant, your HR director of an XYZ company, and I can't get my foot in the door. Well, if I go to the invisible web, which is again in the book, 10 pages on the invisible web, which gives you search engines and databases virtually 99% of all the listeners have never heard of before. I can find out some of your interests. I can find out your golf scores. I can find out what your golf handicap is. I can find out who you contribute to, believe it or not. And let's just say that I find out that you're with the Salvation Army. I mean, as a volunteer, you're on the board of directors or the United Way, whatever. What I'll do is I'll write you a little letter and I'll say, dear Jason, I've been trying to get an appointment with you and to no avail. Just wanted to let you know I know you're involved with United Way, Salvation army, whatever. I'd be happy to volunteer 25 hours to that organization if you'll give me an interview.
Right, right. What a unique way to get your foot in the door, huh?
Won't that you stand up and listen a little bit to a creative candidate?
Absolutely. Very creative. Very creative. And you know, you figure if that candidate is so creative in getting in the door, they're going to be creative in their position with your company. They're going to think out of the box, they're going to go the extra mile and really bring revenue to your company.
You want to be a differentiator in all aspects, whether you're looking for work or anyone listening right now that has a job already. Differentiator outside of the box. All the studies known to mankind prove the following theory, and it's in practice too. All right? There is no, zero, zip, none, no correlation between IQ and creativity. I've studied it for 40 years. Every listener on this program right now can become way more creative than they ever thought they could. And so that's what they have to study, that's what they have to learn, that's what they have to apply. I've always said in Swim with the Sharks and in a few of my books, knowledge does not become power until it's used. I want to repeat that. Knowledge does not become power until it's used. Ideas without action are worthless. So therefore, you have to take that self help book and you have to take from those pages all the creative juices that you're going to learn about and you have to take them to the marketplace.
Absolutely. Very, very good point. Let's talk a little bit about the job search. And I do want to leave some time to go beyond that to some of your prior work about salesmanship, management, leadership, etc. But what are two or three questions every candidate should be prepared to answer on an interview.
Thank you for listening to the Creating Wealth Show. This is Jason Hartman, your host and we appreciate you following the show. We have many, many episodes, hundreds of episodes, and some of the older episodes have been archived and placed in our Members section and that applies to this one. So we include a sample that's about 25 minutes long and then for the rest of the show you can go to our members section@jasonhartman.com Many of the other shows are still in their full length completion version. However some of the shows like this one are in our Members section where you can hear the show in its entirety. And again, you just need to go to jasonhartman.com and you can get the full show there in the Members section. Plus a whole bunch of other great members benefits and resources, whether it be documents, forms, contracts, articles, other video and audio content. Just a great resource. So be sure to join the as a member@jasonhartman.com and thanks again for listening to the Creating Wealth Show.
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