Selling – With the Right Strategy, One Can Even Sell Despair
September 20th, 2009It is tough to sell a product today unless you can find the right “niche,” that small group of customers who value what you have to offer.
Of course, you can help create a valued item by adding just a little ingenuity, a sound packaging scheme and the proper marketing strategy.
Motivation Industry
For the ultimate in niche creation we turn to Despair, Inc®. On the web site, Founder and COO E.L. Kersten, Ph.D., addresses the source of his idea: the thriving motivational commodities and services industry.
“Psychology tells us that motivation – true, lasting motivation – can only come from within,” states Kersten. “Common sense tells us it can’t be manufactured or productized. So how is it that a multi-billion dollar industry thrives through the sale of motivational commodities and services?
“Because, in our world of instant gratification, people desperately want to believe that there are simple solutions to complex problems. And when desperation has disposable income, market opportunities abound.”
In regards to his major point, Kersten is likely dead on – today’s speed of light, technological world is complex. And it cries out for speed of light, technological solutions to problems that were unimaginable a generation ago.
While noting that simple solutions don’t exist, Kersten presumes, rightfully so, that others just might share his basic view on the matter.
Hence, his niche:
“At Despair, Inc, we believe motivational products create unrealistic expectations, raising hopes only to dash them,” Kersten explains. “That’s why we created our soul-crushingly depressing Demotivators® designs, so you can skip the delusions that motivational products induce and head straight for the disappointments that follow!”
The Demotivators® Designs
Much like the motivation industry, Kersten relies on clever packaging and rich, evocative sayings to draw immediate interest. He then adds just the proper level of cynicism and tongue-in-cheek humor to draw you in.
As with the motivational industry, there is no shortage of posters. Consider:
- BAILOUTS – From each according to his ability, to each according to his lack thereof.
- INCOMPETENCE – When you earnestly believe you can compensate for a lack of skill by doubling your efforts, there’s no end to what you can’t do.
- ELITISM – It’s lonely at the top, but it’s comforting to look down upon everyone at the bottom.
- INNOVATION – If it can make your job easier, it can probably make it irrelevant.
Each offers a requisite visual spoof that makes just the right mockery of the typical motivational poster format.
There are note cards for “when you only care enough to share the despair.” There are smaller versions, Variety Packs that are “virtually guaranteed to strengthen your relationships by utilizing the most powerful interpersonal bonding technique known to man, shared misery.” Or if you just can’t decide, there is the Notecard Super Sampler Pack featuring 84 designs representing the “perfect way to tell someone that misery loves company.”
There are coffee mugs and the ultimate office gift: the Pessimist’s Mug. The mug/glass offers the classic half-empty reminder though it will take a true pessimist to “understand why it had to be so big.”
And then there is my personal favorite, the Points-of-View-Glass, featuring a single glass but with “eight different perspectives on it.” From optimist to pessimist and sexist to capitalist, this item is a must have for the home or office collection.
Finding a Niche
The Demotivators® Designs certainly demonstrate how to sell a product. From its extremely clever packaging to its stylish presentation, Kertsen has done exactly what a good business man should, create the proverbial niche.
But while he seems to have something for almost everyone sharing his view, be forewarned. If you visit, your emotions will be not be spared.
Sometimes the knife can cut very deep, as in:
BLOGGING – Never before have so many people with so little to say said so much to so few.
