So much of the advertising industry is based on taking advantage of people’s fears, psychological disorders and negative self image. Advertisers prey upon psychological dysfunction every day, and it is becoming more widely spread. Like many of you, I often sit up late at night and watch all those ridiculous infomercials. Do marketers sit around asking themselves questions like, “What is wrong with me and how can I fix it? Not only that, how can I do it easily with hardly any effort?”

To run an infomercial costs thousands of dollars each day they run, but someone is buying those products. Ultimately, any Internet marketing blogger would love to have an infomercial – I know I would! Most of them are get rich quick courses which endlessly run 365 days per year. What people fail to realize, is that once you purchase any of them, you have declared open season on yourself to be incessantly bombarded with more advertising. They want you to pay for seminars, mailing lists and try to milk every last penny from your bank account. The truth is, most people never get rich using these schemes and waste their money on them. I’m not saying they are all bad, but many are.

What’s Wrong With You?

Are you fat? Is your skin wrinkled? Are you not perfect? Don’t you want to have a perfect body with minimal effort? Are you an impotent man? Is your libido weak? Are you bald? Do you want to make $100,000.00 per week? These are common questions answered by infomercials as well as by Internet marketers. I have a pet peeve about people shoving lavish lifestyles and the perfection of Hollywood beauty in our faces 24-7; however, that’s what marketing is all about. It’s about making money…purely and simply.

One of the biggest marketing scams is in the area of male sexual performance. The American male has been sold the insane idea that if he cannot perform sexually three times per day, every day of the year at any age, there must be something wrong with him. We’ve all seen the Enzyte commercial with “Smiling Bob.”:

smiling bob

smiling bob

This creepy, perpetually smiling guy is the guy next door who walks around with a boner and sleeps with your wife while you’re at work. He never lacks performance and always smiles because he takes Enzyte, a bullshit product that preys on the weakened psyche of sexually depraved men all across the world. Some of the active ingredients in the product are Tribulus terrestris (an herb used as a vasodilator that became popular in the 1980′s among bodybuilders), Ginko Biloba (an herb used to increase circulation and cognition), ginseng and a few vitamins. Does the product work? Based on a highly educated guess, I’d say no. No matter what I say, Enzyte is a wondrous marvel of marketing. The commercials are unforgettable and they have sold millions of their product. Check out my article Homeopathic: Bogus Remedies or Million Dollar Ideas? for related reading.

When studying nutrition science in college, I did a research project on Tribulus terrestris and other flavonoid complexes, so I am knowledgeable in this area. For crying out loud, if you have a bad night of sex, it doesn’t mean you need a magical cure. Actually, products like this are not safe and may end up causing problems rather than fixing them! If you take Ginko Biloba, it thins your blood. What if you get in a car wreck and need immediate surgery – unable to tell the doctor you’re taking these products? You will possibly bleed to death on the operating table. If you have a bad performance, it is probably related to something other than a physical problem. Just relax and you’ll be alright – it’s probably psychological.

The biggest market in infomercials is women’s beauty products. Are you old and wrinkled? Rub this magic fluid or spackle this miracle makeup on your face and you’ll be Hollywood beautiful with perfect, creamy skin. The way advertisers prey upon young women is ridiculous. Read my post The Insanity of Stereotypes, Labels and Generalizations for related information. Another article of interest is my How Society Rewards Liars, one of my favorites.

Conclusion

The most profitable niches are the ones generally listed in infomercials. The make money blogging niche is one of the best examples. Really, the sites that make the most money don’t actually show you how to make money, they are selling you the idea that you’ll somehow make money from their methods.

Chances are, you’ll need to do something differently than the popular sites. Look at John Chow’s followers, they are in the millions. Most of them will never make any money. That is because they are followers, not leaders. John Chow is a leader and a master of creating buzz. You don’t have to buy an expensive book to learn how to do it, you can look at how others do it just buy taking a hard look at their blogs. Do as they do, not as they say do, and be yourself.

Some of the best niches are right under your nose and you don’t see them, though many are in your face all day long. The problem I’ve had is that I see through most of the lies and think, “I can’t believe people actually buy this or that,” but they do. They buy it all day long every single day. Accepting this fact has been difficult, but I am ready to take advantage of psychological dysfunction too – it is at the very core of nearly every successful niche. I will however do it ethically and will not lie to my customers like so many others.

Right now, we are all on the Internet’s ground floor. There are billions to be made and you can do it too. I’ve been studying Internet marketing for a long time now, and want my piece of the pie. I will not necessarily use this blog to do it because I already have an audience and don’t want to kill my traffic. I do some advertising here, but most of my articles will remain peppered with my insane slant of imagination and bizarre fiction – I don’t want to disappoint.

I’ve come to the conclusion that good marketing provides a solution of some sort. Find out what people need to fix themselves, and sell it to them. From selling cars, I learned that a good deal is a state of mind and nothing more. I’ve been working on ideas for other sites, so expect to see them soon. Please, wish me luck! :mrgreen: