Joseph Sugarman is probably best known for his BluBlocker™ sunglasses, which he sold in print, by infomercial, on QVC, and retail. Although this book is ten years old, his key insights are still relevant today.

The book is written autobiographically, sharing the lessons he learned by doing. On the way, he developed 21 theories for TV marketing. Many of these are also appropriate for print marketing as well:

Theory 1: An infomercial is simply a three-act screenplay whose purpose is to cause your prospects to exchange their hard-earned money for your product or service. He further names the acts (“Entertainment”, “Selling”, and “Closing”) and the play (“How May I Serve You?”). This is an abbreviated form for any sales system. First, you need to get your prospect’s attention. Then you need to tell them about your offering. Finally, you need to tell them how and why to get it now.

Theory 5: If you have a number of segments to present in an infomercial, present the humorous portions early in the show. Once people are entertained, they stick around, hoping for more entertainment. By leading with a tease, you get their attention.

Theory 9: The desire to belong and identify with a group of people who own a specific product is one of the most powerful factors in why people buy. This is true for B2C (when selling directly to consumers), but is rarely true when selling to other businesses (B2B) or government (B2G).

Theory 12: When you pick the show format, you also pick the demographics of your audience. Since everything in your marketing message causes reactions, ensure your marketing strategy is aligned with your marketing actions.

Theory 17: Every time you run your direct response commercial you are conducting a test. You are testing that commercial in a specific market at a specific time during specific financial conditions and during specific news events or political conditions at a specific place in time and space. The key to marketing success is paying attention to the whole feedback cycle. Be curious about everything in your marketing. Be willing to spend the necessary time to evolve your message, and be willing to change it over time as your audience changes.