What you can learn from these bad “Shark Tank” pitches

I love how bad some “Shark Tank” pitches are. To view this email as a web page, [click here]() {NAME}, I love how bad some “Shark Tank” pitches are. Exhibit A: The Man Candle The Man Candle solves the problem nobody had. Supposed problem: It’s hard to find candles that make your house smell good, especially if you’re a guy. Solution: The Man Candle. It’s available in BBQ and other masculine scents so that your house doesn’t smell like lavender. [Who doesn’t want their house to smell like a football? ] Who doesn’t want their house to smell like a football? WHAT SUNK THE DEAL: The whole company is too gimmicky, and there just weren’t enough customers or profits. Exhibit B: Wake 'N Bacon [Yes! An alarm clock shaped like a pig!] Yes! An alarm clock shaped like a pig! Who doesn’t like the smell of bacon in the morning? What? I have to spend eight hours sleeping next to a piece of raw bacon, and then have an oven start up right by my head while I’m sleeping? What could go wrong? But the next pitch makes the BBQ candle and Wake 'N Bacon seem like billion-dollar ideas. Exhibit C (my favorite): Throx Imagine you’re back in college. It’s 3:00 a.m., and you’re putting off a term paper and flipping through TV channels. Shazam! A magician with a mullet appears and says, “Do you hate losing socks?” Sure, we all do. Then he launches into his pitch: “The other day, I just wore one sock because I couldn’t find its partner. It drove me insane. If you hate wearing mismatched socks or buying hundreds of identical pairs … finally, there’s a cure for the missing sock. Behold: Throx.” [“But wait, there’s more...”] “But wait, there’s more...” [Sock advertisement] Now you know the real reason I was barefoot on the cover for the first edition of my book: [I Will Teach You To Be Rich Book] If only I had Throx (and shoes, like I do in the [second edition]()) It’s easy to laugh because everyone knows why these businesses are failing: - Their products are awful - They don’t have customers (nobody wants to buy three socks) - They don’t have a business plan - They aren’t profitable — and lack the systems or any real plan to grow You can learn a lot by looking at failed (or failing) businesses and lousy products. But what if your service or product is great — and you want to take a side hustle or small business to the next level? Maybe you’re already making a few thousand dollars on the side by working hard in your business. Maybe you’re already supporting yourself full time with your business. But you've hit a plateau and found that the same strategies and tactics that got you to where you are now aren't moving you forward as quickly as they once did (let alone reading 2x, 5x, or even 10x your current revenue). You’re not able to live the Rich Life you envisioned — weekends with friends, weeks to travel, picking up kids from school. [Images of Rich Life examples] What you need is a nudge in the right direction, someone who’s been there to show you the way. That’s what the rest of this week is all about. I’m going to show you some of the systems and mindset I implemented to bust through plateaus at I Will Teach You to Be Rich (and I’ll show you even more next week). Here’s what’s coming: - Tomorrow: I’ll show you how I overcame three crushing fears I had when starting my business. Once I learned how to confront them, I earned a $25k check for a few hours of work. - Friday: I’ll share one of my best strategies for finding — and signing up — new clients (hint: clients will be begging you to work with them). - Next week: Even more of my most advanced material, including a special offer for business owners looking to take their successful business to the next level Warning: The things I’m going to share are fairly advanced, so I don’t usually mention them to most of my readers. But for the right business owners, they can be a game changer (and for those of you just starting out with a business, they’re a peek into what your business can become). Talk soon, [Signature] P.S. Over the years, I’ve read a lot of advanced business articles. Here are a couple of my favorites (note: these may only be useful if you’re an advanced business owner): - [How Data-Driven Marketing Helped Karmaloop.com Claw Its Way Back From Bankruptcy](): Look at the difference between guessing what your customer wants and knowing what your customer wants. - [Barbells vs. Treadmills: A Fresh Take on Content Strategy](): I love articles that challenge conventional wisdom. - [What does, “it’s too expensive,” mean?](): Seth Godin breaks down how to stand out and command a premium price, in any niche. - [Management Time: Who’s Got the Monkey?](): A classic. One of my favorite articles on managing and how to handle tasks as you have more employees. Featured Products [Learn how to be your own boss, do what you love, and earn more.]() [What if you woke up EXCITED to go to work? I show you how to achieve it, step by step.]() [Ready-to-use mental frameworks for increased happiness, confidence, & success.]() [No guilt, no excuses, no BS. Just a 6-week program that works. Over 1,000,000 copies sold.]() The I Will Teach You To Be Rich Podcast Raw, unfiltered conversations with real couples: - One partner is $300,000 in debt, but shrugs it off. The other cries at night, anxious about the future. - A couple that’s so worried about money, they feel like they’ll never have enough. They go to a restaurant and order chicken instead of steak to save $10. Their household income: $600,000. - Two parents who feel overwhelmed by work, kids, and debt. When I ask them how they’d describe their lives, they instantly say the same word: “Stuck. ” Listen in to hear real money conversations from behind closed doors today. [Apple Podcasts] [Apple]() [Spotify]() [Google]() [IWT]() Follow Ramit: [insta]() [Twitter]() [twitter]() [youtube]() [Linkedin]() Was this forwarded to you? [Sign up here.]() This email was sent to {EMAIL}. 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