This Business Has Legs

"Me? I'm the guy behind the ThighMaster", says author Peter Bieler. "It's a dubious distinction", he continues, infomercials being such an odd way of selling, "unless you appreciate the difficulties inherent in capturing the attention of the whole country, in selling six million ThighMasters in less than two years and doing it all without a war chest the size of General Motors". In fact, the phenomenon that grossed over $100 million began with, no money, no product, and no experience. But there was always a plan. Where others looked at infomercials and saw only goofy products and fast money, Bieler saw a new business strategy. With a single infomercial, he got a phenomenal amount of national advertising and product name recognition for a fraction of the cost of a conventional ad campaign. He used this to get retail distribution. He put ThighMaster into Kmart, Wal-Mart, and other big chains, and went on to make even more money. Incredibly, Bieler turned an unglamorous product originally designed for injured skiers into a household name that turned up in David Letterman's monologues and George Bush's speeches. Whether you're a Fortune 500 company or a start-up entrepreneur, if you've got a consumer product to sell, you can't afford not to consider infomercial advertising. In "This Business Has Legs", Bieler explains everything you need to know about direct response television while regaling you with some of the most colorful characters to be found in a business book. A must-read and a highly entertaining account of one wild ride across the infomercial frontier.