Billy Mays Superstar Direct Marketer & Salesman

Billy Mays passed away last week at the age of 50.

He got his start as an Atlantic City boardwalk barker and parlayed his face-to-face sales experience into the consummate infomercial production.

In this short interview, Billy Mays and his Pitchmen co-star, Anthony Sullivan, describe the necessary components of a blockbuster product.

Here they are:

• A product that has mass market appeal
• A product that solves a common problem
• A product that’s demonstrable (the demonstration in the video is wicked, isn’t it?)
• A product that’s new and unique
• A product that has a patent
• A product that adheres to the kiss principle (keep it simple stupid)

Also of note in the interview is something I’ve observed to be true of many super successful direct marketers and businesspeople. They’re willing to take massive risk and lay it all on the line for their passion and belief in their product.