Infomercials Books

After watching yet another infomercial I began to wonder how the business started. Thinking back to when I was a child and watching TV, even then I liked the commercials and can still remember many of the commercials that I watched as a child. There must be more people like me if a commercial can now be an infomercial and last almost 30 minutes. It wasn't hard to find out who was behind infomercial business. Being referred to as the Father of the Modern Infomercial showed the respect that Mr. Hawthorne has from his industry. After reading The Complete Guide to Infomercial Marketing, it made me realize that many of Mr. Hawthorne's experiences in the Direct Response Television market could be used in many, many types of marketing - not just infomercials. Using the checklists in the book enables the advertiser to keep track of how the show is working. Mr. Hawthorne gives hundreds of tips and pointers throughout the book on how to develop strategies, how to be cost effective, how to plan and budget for your product and even how to tie in aftermarketing. I found the Glossary particularly helpful, not knowing 'the language'; it was a huge asset being able to find out what a term means with a layman's definition. The other resources from Mr. Hawthorne's years of experience are invaluable. I feel Mr. Hawthorne is very frank and forthright informing the reader about the infomercial business. The ups and downs, the good and the bad are all touched upon by Hawthorne. . The Complete Guide to Infomercial Marketing can be used as a guidebook for the novice and a reference book for the accomplished.

I heard Steve Bryant on the Rollye James show on XM Radio. I was so impressed that I ordered his book a few days later.
It is a great book that is full of terrific advice laced with humor. It would be a wonderful read for the beginning salesperson and a fun and common sense reminder for the seasoned marketer! It doesn't stop there. It would be great for anyone who has contact with other human beings!
I am encouraging my entire staff to read it.

For anyone entering into the DRTV industry as I am, Dworman's interviews helped me prepare and strengthen my strategy. Many of the interviewees covered areas I hadn't thought of or motivated me to change my previous plans. Peter Bieler (Thigh Master & Body Solutions) and Rick Cesari (Juiceman) were particularly insightful, while AJ Khubani (Telebrands) was intimidating and Steve Scott (American Telecast) inspiring. Much of my research groundwork was covered through reading about how media buying works, writing scripts, retail distribution, etc. If the industry hadn't changed as much since the book was released and dated some of the information, it would be a perfect research source. I would highly recommend it to anyone remotely involved in the DR industry.

I have been buying books on Amazon.com on all subjects for many years. This is quite possibly the worst purchase I've ever made. It's a very basic collection of superficial interviews about the infomercial business.

I'm certain that Dworman had all of his buddies give it high marks. It would be entertaining for $9, but the price adds insult to injury.

Dworman's a well-regarded figure in the infomercial/dm field, and this candid collection of interviews with top success stories from Steve Scott, Tony Robbins and others is essential reading. Excellent for all marketing professionals.

Dear BR...

I'm sorry that you feel that my book is the worst purchase you've made on Amazon. Fortunately thousands of others have benefited from it, including major Universities that have ordered it for their libraries. The industry experts that contributed to this book reveal information on marketing that can not be found in any other source.

I truly am happy to personally refund every dime of your purchase if you email me at steve@itreallyworks.tv with your name and address. I'll send a check to you the day I receive your information.

I greatly appreciate you trying the book. I'm sorry the information in it was not to your liking.

Best wishes,

Steven Dworman

Dworman has long been the ultimate chronicler of direct response TV advertising, especially the world of infomercials.

He knows all the serious players and rounded them up for his book.

It's a must have and I would have gladly paid ten times the cover price for it without blinking an eye.

I bought this book and loved it... but in the processing of moving I misplaced it and had to co back to Amazon and buy it again... it's that good!

Sugarman is brilliant marketer and seems like a great human being. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in mastering the art of marketing... whether on tv or not!

Jesse Cannone

Sugarman is a TV home shopping success and after reading his book I now know why! Hard work, good insight, lessons learned both good and bad and energy! It is a tough business and this investment will pay off many times if you stick to Joe's way!

I found this a fascinating look inside the world of marketing and infomercials, as well as a view of the author's experience turning a utilitarian product into something sexy and wanted by millions.

The book goes from staking out the county fairs for ideas to corporate takeover attempts. The section of selecting a product shows that no one is completely right 100% of the time.

Not just a look at the world of infomercial marketing, but an honest peek at the characters that populate this industry. The treatment is creative -- a tongue-in-cheek look at a world that is completely different than the one I market in from day to day.

This is an excellent (and well-written!) case study of bringing a popular product to market with infomercial marketing. I liked it so much I read it cover to cover, which is rare for me. I am recommending it to all my students at copywriting university.

Emphasis on marketing, typical business production/legal issues, plus very motivating on persistence while being an entrepreneur.
I liked the testing details, copywriting and media buy numbers.. very eye-opening to me, and extremely insightful.

Peter Biehler has written not only a sensational book about infomercials, he has unwittingly written an entertaining and profound book on motivation and persevering to attain one's goals. He provides an indepth understanding of the key components of how to put together an infomerical and succeed. It was more like reading an engrossing novel than the uusal dreary business books.

I read this book a few years back, and remember it fondly. The book starts off with a little history of advertising, and it was fun to read. After that, the book gets into the meat of what is possible with cable television. I don't think the whole scope of what Mr. Evan's envisioned has come to pass, but I think he got close.

I borrowed, "Making Videos for Money" from the local library.

Unfortunately, the book may have been incorrectly titled. Instead of, "Making Videos for Money", the book would have been better titled as just, "Making Videos". The most important part of the title, "...for Money" is not delivered as promised. The book does not provide relevant "...for money" information concerning Finding customers, Sales, and Marketing! A rather disappointing book.

This book is a great resource and guide for the emerging corporate video producer. The layout is easy to follow and case studies deal with real world examples. If your interested in video production as a business and already have the technical skills of shooting and editing, this book can help you round-out your skills to see the whole project.

I had already worked as a production manager for a small studio producing mid-sized industrials. This book was good backup in setting up my own business.

This book is a great resource and guide for the emerging corporate video producer. The layout is easy to follow and case studies deal with real world examples. If your interested in video production as a business and already have the technical skills of shooting and editing, this book can help you round-out your skills to see the whole project.

I had already worked as a production manager for a small studio producing mid-sized industrials. This book was good backup in setting up my own business.

What's this guy talking about? Where's HIS evidence? Trudeau is a scam-master. After having claimed that he can cure mental retardation, autism, and cancer, after conning millions with his sham products, the government finally banned him from selling his quack elixirs. Being the genius that he is, he turned to writing books, claiming that the government is trying to suppress the fact that most diseases can be easily cured. If we cured them though, the medical industry would go away, and so would all that money. So why do doctors and their families die of cancer at the same rate as the rest of us? Are they SO afraid of the government that they refuse to use the secret cancer cures that Trudeau claims they know? Of course not! There is no cure for cancer! Let's hope Trudeau doesn't develop cancer soon, the nut! Or perhaps, let's hope he does! He is, after all, ultimately a predator, preying on the gullible, desperate, and uninformed. You have to buy this book, which contains NO natural "cures," and then you have to PAY again to access his website, which, surprise surprise, also contains NO natural "cures." Sure, he makes some claims, for instance: calcium cures cancer; the sun does NOT cause skin cancer, sun BLOCK causes skin cancer, etc., etc. His claims are so outlandish that they would be humorous if people didn't take him so seriously. If sun block causes skin cancer then why did people get skin cancer before sun block existed? He may claim that more people get skin cancer now, but that would only be because of the fact that "back in the day" most people didn't live long enough to develop it! It reminds me of the old quack claim that milk actually causes osteoporosis, because in countries where people don't drink milk, women don't develop it. These are third-world countries though, where most women don't live long enough to get osteoporosis!

Complete BULL. Do your research. You will see just how many times the FDA has tried to cover up the truth by slapping out false accusations, created bad evidence, and destroyed GOOD people and GOOD companies that are only trying to tell the truth and help people in ways that are 100% natural and GOOD for them. So OF COURSE the FDA will jump in and find SOMETHING wrong, they want to keep you blind, under their total control, and completely dependant on them so the money keeps pouring in.

Going to Herbalogist and natural doctors will keep you healthy the rest of your life in NATURAL ways your body was made for. Going through the Pharacutical companies will only get you taking pill after pill for the rest of your life to keep you functioning to a degree (guaranteeing you have to get more pills for the side effects you will experience from taking the first pills). If you don't believe me, do your research.

I really like this guy and his website, The Ridiculous Infomercial Review Page. This book, however, suffers from bad or even non-existent editing. There were actually typos and misspellings in this book. The content of the book was funny, but the story felt forced and completely unrealistic. Also, after trudging through the first part of the book and finally starting to care about the main character, the author switches gears and starts to write about a completely different character for several chapters. I was so frustrated that I almost tossed the book in the trash. However, I stuck with it for the ending and was left speechless by how terrible it was.

I can't really recommend this book at all. It was a frustrating read that wasn't resolved at the ending. It was a good idea, but a terrible execution. I really wanted to like this book, too, being an infomercial junkie.