"Only in America could a would-be monk convince a faded televisionstar to pitch a rehabilitation device designed for Scandinavianskiers and create a nationwide sensation. The marketing strategyalone is worth the price of admission." --Paul B. Brown Special Correspondent for the Business News Network(BNN) and coauthor of Customers for Life "This is the first time the person behind a fad lays out the wholemarketing strategy he used. Even I learned a lot." --Bob Rice Pet Rock Promoter "Within a matter of months, Peter Bieler created a $100,000,000industry out of nothing. This fascinating book chroniclesstep-by-step how he did it." --Steve Dworman Publisher, Infomercial Marketing Report "As a jack, in an emergency, if you have a very small car ... As arack to dry homemade pasta ... Prop it on its side and presto! Twinpicture frames ... Have it bronzed and claim it's a very earlyHenry Moore ..." --Diane White columnist for The Boston Globe on alternate uses forthe ThighMaster See Inside for Exciting Contest Details! The inside story of how Bieler started with no money, no product, and no experience, and somehow created a $100 million business selling the "Thighmaster" through infomercials. Far more entertaining and fun than any infomercial, and, in many ways, a mind-boggling book about how new industries are created in this modern world. Recommended. Admit it! While surfing through the channels on cable television, we've all paused, if only momentarily, on one of those ubiquitous infomercials. Rather than admit any morbid fascination, we instead mock the hosts and the products they hawk. Perhaps no one or no product has been ridiculed as much as Suzanne Somers and the ThighMaster, even though sales of that simple piece of exercise equipment now exceed $100 million. Bieler had been a part-time movie producer and marketing executive for Proctor & Gamble when he came upon this exercise gadget and the idea of using Somers and television to market it. With the help of former Worth magazine associate editor Costas, he tells how it was done. Not only is his story amusing, it serves as an instructive case study for using the infomercial as an effective marketing tool. David Rouse This is the first time the person behind a fad lays out the whole marketing strategy... Even I learned a lot. -- Bob Rice, inventor of the Pet Rock In this book Peter Bieler explains everything you need to know to succeed in direct response television while regaling you with stories of some of the most astonishing characters to be found in a business narrative. One billion dollars worth of goods will be sold through infomercials next year. When reading this book the following questions will be answered: Do you need to have a background in advertising or video production to be successful in business? Why should corporate executives advocate using direct response in their marketing mix? How much does it cost to hire a star spokesperson? Where do you find good products to sell? And how do you choose correctly? This book is packed with resources and behind-the-scenes tips and tricks. "Some brilliant and witty endorsement from the guy responsible for marketing the pet rock." --Tim Rice, creator and marketer of the Pet Rock. "this business has legs" How I Used Infomercial Marketing to Create the $100,000,000 ThighMaster ® Exerciser Craze "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. More than just a fun read, "This Business