10 Guaranteed Ways to Make Money

Ten licences to print money...

Let me be clear.  This is list, based on my 25 years experience, of the ten best markets in the world.  It is not a guaranteed formula for making millions for zero effort but more an acid test for your business.  If your proposition hits one or more of these – you are onto a winner and ahead of the game.

1.       Fear

Anyone who addressed a deep human fear will be showered with gold.  The deeper the fear, the more compelling your solution, the more money you will make.  Take, Viagra as is a case in point.  Hard (sic) to think of a more intimate male fear than not measuring up.  Others working this rich seam include the security market and panic alarms for the elderly.  Show a smiling old lady surrounded by a family and you will sell one unit.  Show her lying at the bottom of the stairs, contorted after a fall, reaching for the alarm and you will sell hundreds. Fear resonates universally and needs little prodding to become a compelling need / want.

 

2.       Inspiration

Just missing out on the top slot is ‘inspire me’.  This is the realm of Hollywood, of hero, of celebrity.  It is music, the arts and scientific discovery.  We raise statues to individuals who inspire us and fill the pages of history with their stories.  IPhone is a global phenomenon because it is inspiring – full of passion, genius, a breath of fresh air.  Steve Jobs brings inspiration to Apple – in every sense of the word.

3.       Pleasure

Only number three?  Internet porn should lift pleasure to number one on its own, right?  Well, half the population find pleasure easily – in fact, it finds them – so it I the other fifty percent that fuels this market that embraces everything from bubble bath to restaurants.  It is all about the experience.  Bubble bath with candles or restaurants with rooms understand this market, well.

 

4.       Direction

Many individuals are lost.  Where am I going with my life?  What’s my purpose? Everyone needs to feel they are on the right path and that it delivers on the three wants outlined above.  Tony Robbins is a master – playing on unrequited fears of failure before inspiring his audience and bringing a sense of pleasure.  Once the event finishes, they feel a lack and so come back for more.  I know one individual who has spent over $200,000 with Tony.  Can you see how addictive these top four can be?

 

5.       Love

It seems a shame that ‘all you need’ comes in mid table.  Lust would appear more lucrative with internet porn earning $3,000 a second but dating is not far behind.  16% of US adults have tried dating on-line, making it a $1 billion market in the US alone.  Love also infuses the pet industry and passionate markets ranging from golf to wine, art to pinball machines.  If your market loves your product (and you put love into it, too – you are home and dry.

 

6.       Prove myself

More than half the world population feels it has something to prove and it is not yet good enough, successful enough, beautiful enough, fit enough, clever enough etc. etc.  This is why most training programs give you a gong at the end in the form of a certificate, a diploma, a degree, a masters, a doctorate (phew, am I good enough yet?).  Status brands hit squarely into this market.  My home, my car, my partner, my dog, my clothes, my fragrance, my spectacles, my pen, my phone etc. etc. all say something about me and whether or not I have arrived at the right level in life.

 

7.       Overcome harmful habits

When Bob W and Dick B wrote their 12 Step program for Alcoholics Anonymous they probably did not anticipating over 2 million active members – but that is what they have now, in North America alone.  Add to this Weightwatchers, the nicotine patch, obesity, all-nighters on the playstation, chocolate, too much red wine etc. and we can see that this is a major market.  A large number of us just need help to stop doing what we know is bad for us.  The Betty Ford clinic is truly on to something.

8.       Freedom

This is a clever market that not only includes getaway holidays (escaping to our own island in the Maldives or deep-powder slopes in the Bugaboos) but extends to time management, email etc.  Our mantra is ‘if I just get rid of this thing in front of me, then I will be free’.  This myth of freedom extends into pensions (er, what is one of those?), debt restructuring and lies at the heart of drugs, alcohol etc. where we escape our everyday world.  It is also a component of the escapist book and film industries, too.

 

9.       ‘More’ (enough is not enough)

Take all of the above and second-sell ‘new’ and ‘improved’. You’ve got how many pixels on your camera?  No, ten million is not enough.  You have how many gigabytes on your laptop?  You need a terabyte, amigo.  You need video on your phone.  You need HD on your TV.  We are insatiable.  We want more of everything – and we want it for less.

 

10.   Grab me some attention

Ah, the bottom of the barrel.  Big business but tough, tough, tough, ask anyone in advertising.  Helping people attract is hard and the client fickle.  They always think someone else might do better and so they leave.  All communication and media is ‘tomorrow’s chip paper’.  A big market but hard to make it last.