Your Own Business: Fear No One Will Buy Your Stuff

So you want to start your own business, but you’re afraid no one will buy your products.

Well, we talk about fear and it’s potentially disasterous effects on any venture in alot of posts on here, so today I want to talk about the reality of seemingly worthless endeavors–the “nothings” of the product world.

Joan Rivers does this show on tv called “How’d you Get So Rich?” where she goes around interviewing people that have become millionaires and essentially getting the backstory on their millions.  I think it is really just an episode of CRIBS with a louder host, but you can decide 🙂

I’m not an avid show fanatic but one day I did watch her show and she interviewed the people that made the fake hillbilly teeth and the makers of Butt-Paste (you know, the diaper rash creme whose name you’ll never forget).They are two different people, and I can’t remember if it was one show that interviewed both of them in two segments or if I watched two shows…anyway.

I don’t remember alot about the show other than here are these people living in million dollar mansions, driving million dollar cars, and everything else that goes with a millionaire lifestyle, and they arrived at this level of affluency by selling seemingly worthless junk.Meaning, that the reality here is that people will buy seemingly worthless junk, and MILLIONS of it.

Hillbilly teeth have got to be the bane of every mom whose 7 year old makes a mockery of these things. Turning previously adorable children (and some adults) into hilrariously under-groomed hicks, while Butt-Paste is just one of four million kinds of diaper rash creme on the market today.  So how in the world did they sell people on these products? Aren’t “people will think it is gross” arguments against both these items? Possibly. It’s kind of like Seinfield when they try to sell people on a show about nothing. Sounds crazy, but it worked out pretty well I’d say.

So if their products are so simple, what are their secrets to making their millions? Well, you’ll have to watch Joan Rivers’ show for the nitty – gritty there, but some things to notice are that these items are not what you might consider “Brilliant” concepts. They don’t save you from cancer, they aren’t the next big techno gadget, and I’m pretty sure you can’t even drink a decent cup of coffee with those hillbilly teeth in. So why are they successful? They weren’t afraid. They believed in what they were doing and they marketed their passion to the world. And it paid off big time

So whatever venture you’re considering, it might work and it might not, but don’t hold back just because your target audience might think it’s annoying or the name sounds gross. Studies show these two things can work highly in your favor.