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Under The Big Top P.T. Barnum was more than master of the show; he may very well have been the greatest salesman on earth.

By Bill Kelley

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Quick: Name your favorite sales guru. Zig Ziglar? Tom Hopkins?How about P.T. Barnum? Well, Barnum wouldn't be my first choiceeither, but Houston consultant Joe Vitale says he should be on thetop of any serious businessperson's list. "He was a mastershowman, for sure," says Vitale, who teaches a sales andmarketing course based on the 19th century entrepreneur'sbusiness philosophy. "But he was also a really greatsalesman."

Vitale, author of There's a Customer Born EveryMinute (Amacom), says that once you get past the image ofBarnum as a well-dressed carny, you'll likely find asalesperson who was far ahead of his time. "Barnum had greatrespect for the customer," says Vitale. "Long before itwas popular, he believed it was a key to beingsuccessful."

Notes Vitale, Barnum had other ideas on how to sell that are asimportant today as they were more than 100 years ago. Amongthem: