Jane Fonda, eat your heart out!
 

Hmmm.... Sometimes you think almost any idea can be a business....

Sick of aerobics with people all in spandex, to mindless pop music?

Now, you can do aerobics in your ripped-to-shreds clothing, to mindless punk music - with Punk Rock Aerobics! (And here's their web page....)

Hmmm.... It's surprising what kind of businesses are out there.... :)

- Dien Rice

"shape what your mama gave ya"
 

The fitness craze is in revolution;
check out what "crunch" gym is offering....
They're taking "x"rated to a new level(don't
worry the website article is safe ;-)

Michael's Report talks about "looking
deeper"; notice how "fitness" stays the
same but the "elements" within the
subject change..There's some good lessons
here. I wonder how much variation we'll
see in the future in the fitness industry.

Hmmm.... Sometimes you think almost any idea
> can be a business....

> Sick of aerobics with people all in spandex,
> to mindless pop music?

> Now, you can do aerobics in your
> ripped-to-shreds clothing, to mindless punk
> music - with Punk Rock Aerobics ! (And
> here's their web page ....)

> Hmmm.... It's surprising what kind of
> businesses are out there.... :)

> - Dien Rice




shape what your mama gave ya

What simple "twists" are still waiting to be discovered?
 

Hi Sandy!

Thanks for the link to that article.... Sometimes it's amazing what "twists" can be added to something like an aerobics class!

I wonder what "twists" there could be in other types of products that we just don't see yet?

It sure makes you wonder what simple, profitable ideas are still waiting to be discovered, and used by someone - maybe by one of us here - to make a good living!

- Dien

That's *the* crucial point
 

Hi,

Your fingers typed out:
> I wonder what "twists" there could
> be in other types of products that we just
> don't see yet?

You're talking about a theme that I'm very interested in: underutilized assets. People live and die by how well they use their assets. Sometimes you can't even see what assets you have--most of the time, probably. Mr. "X" could use "talent Y" or he could sell "Item Z" and make a million dollars, only poor Mr. X doesn't realize it and keeps on buying marketing ebooks until he goes broke. You mention putting a twist on something to make it new or to make it work better: to use their assets people just need to figure out the best "twist" to put on them. With the right "twist" anything will become a million dollar product--even the skills of the people reading this. They just have to use the assets they already have--I realize this is a lot easier said than done. Brine shrimp are basically gnats that live under water, but an entrepreneur realized he could call them "Sea Monkeys" and he realized a certain demographic would buy "Sea Monkeys" and he realized how he should present the product to the market, and he ended up making a fortune from an essentially worthless product.

That's all I got, bye.

- Boyd

Sea Monkeys - why did they succeed?
 

Hi Boyd,

Interesting post...!

I was thinking (as I read your post).... WHY did Sea Monkeys succeed as a product?

I'm sure there were plenty of factors.... One possibility which comes to mind is that they are a kind of "pet", without all the problems of regular pets.... They don't make a mess, they're not dangerous, they're not prohibited (the way some pets are prohibited in apartment complexes)... Yet (according to the sales material), they have a lot of the advantages - they do tricks, etc. Hmmm.... Any other ideas?

By the way, I think it's clear why "punk rock aerobics" and the "sensual dance" type of exercise seem to be succeeding.... There clearly were niches of people who wanted to get fit, but who were not completely happy with the offering of standard aerobics. (For the "punk" market, regular aerobics was probably way too "mainstream" - since I think they tend to pride themselves on being "alternative".) And I guess, these new forms of exercise help to solve some of the "obstacles" presented by regular aerobics, for those niche target markets....

- Dien Rice

I believe it was a combination of two things
 

Hi,

This has to be quick, my wife is screaming at me that I was supposed to take her somewhere instead of surfing the stupid net all the time.

I think Sea Monkeys succeeded because there were two factors present: 1.) Underwater gnats have a mild appeal, and 2.) The entrepreneur focused on selling them for a long time, improving his offering as he went.

That's it. Making a lot of money ain't that hard, if it was the Gurus wouldn't be so successful at it.

Best,

- Boyd