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I agree with Brent, it isn't useful to insult people and is not a source of motivation to change. I would scrap the site. I think education is much more important and many people with weight issues repeat childhood eating patterns that they need clarity on. Also people are not aware of how high in calories certain foods are that look very innocent.

Debbie

It is definitely a funny title but not funny if you are sort of like me with that pot belly. lol

I thought it was funny as hell (me previously being overweight) but have doubts as to the... marketability of the site in general..

Perhaps there is another audience that I can build a list from. Not overweight people, but maybe some other demographic...

You're Fat Because You're Stupid

Yep, I would definitely KEEP the domain name and build it up. You can ABSOLUTELY position it in a way that is NOT insulting.

My first thought was it reminded me of "Why Smart People Do Dumb Things".

Perhaps your angle could be one of education mixed with humor and straight talk. Would people respond to that? You bet they will!

I have to humbly admit that I'm a bit surprised at some of the responses so far, especially coming from Warriors.

Anyway...I think it CAN be done right, but you do have to be mindful to not cross the line.

Okay, that's not perfect, but you get the idea.

All the best,
Michael

Thanks for the suggestions guys.
MY first thought is to simply add an an optin box and see how the list builds.
The site already gets some traffic just from backlinks and such..
Not sure how well that would convert but at least my testing phase could start there.

I think with the right copy it could definitely work. Until a few months ago, nobody would've thought a nursery rhyme with swearing would sell but the guy that came up with "Go the #$^@ to Sleep!" proved that to be very wrong. People don't seem as defensive or as easily insulted as they used to be so give it a go and let us know how it works out.

It's an excellent name and I would develop it!

how do you tell who the pioneers are?? they're the guys with arrows sticking out of their backs...

you might be able to get a small sub-segment of the weight loss market with that, but never the masses... which might be profitable enough for your income goals...

but really - the biggest successes in that market have always been very empathetic & sensitive towards the feelings of overweight people - think Richard Simmons - the KING of selling to fat people

because the core pain for overweight people is really low self esteem...

but what do i know - i just write copy for some of the biggest names in this market

f*&^ it - why not give it a try - maybe you'll be the pioneer that makes it big - or big enough to pay your bills at least!!

you'll only lose time & money if it fails... best of luck!

Does this website get any targeted traffic at all? I would expect something like this to be a joke site, not a place to actuallly learn to lose weight. I would try to get rid of this domain to be honest.

Hello,
this would be a better domain:
your fat because you eat to much

Great name for the site. Get's one's attention and the copy builds up the emotion of being overweight and then trashes several excuses that people have. Should generate some sales if you get it in front of targeted traffic.

Obviously it would be more polite if you used the word "Ignorant," but Stupid definitely will bring in the eye balls. Also this picture is absolutely wild.

Cool name :-)
I has potential for really obese people.

i will just close the window!!haha...

With the f-bombs and insults throughout that site, I can't imagine anyone buying anything from it. It's really an awful site.

Yer i have to agree people that are fat do not want it slammed in there face even if they are looking for help.

That site is really insulting for those who are fat. If someone finds it as insulting you could never expect them to buy it.

Brent is correct! No one would dare to buy the site because of the name. Who would want to be insulted?!?! The name itself is not a good idea.

Can I request that you take my picture off the website?

It looks bad, but I think my chair was just really small.

Edgy but effective.

Well maybe fat, but she certainly isn't stupid.

She has a membership site where she charges people to watch her eat. Her aim is to become the biggest woman in the world. WoW!

This just seems unbelievable to me but people will pay for anything.

Update.
I added an optin block at the bottom of the page a couple of months ago.
So far 250 people signed up. Turns out there is a steady flow of traffic. Enough to build a list.
I have decided to dump the site on flippa though. I am too busy to produce a product and dial it in.
L

But what is your target market? Is it people who are fat? Because I agree with the majority of the previous comments - I think most people in the market to lose wight and who may therefore buy weight loss products will find it insulting - and I'm not just saying that because I have my own weight loss blog! Its also a very competitive market so you really do need to know who exactly you are targeting. And if your target market is people who want a laugh at the expense of fat people, then what are you planning to sell them ? They aren't exactly a niche crowd.

Make a good-looking blog on it, and give it a "funny weight loss blog" that makes weight loss a bit more fun. Then sell both the idea and brand. Also get yfbys.com and bundle it up. Could be a hit for the right person!

Millions of different types of people with different interests are online everyday, so you are bound to find a target market. It may not be easy selling to them, but if the site becomes a high traffic site then you have the potential to earn money through advertisers.

Stop listening... and just take action.

Anything can work if marketed properly.

If you need an example of how this type of marketing can work, look no further than the Rich Jerk.

-G

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Maybe, you never know.
There are people out there who do not care about the title.
All you need a few thousands to make some money.

All the best.

The name makes it sound like a website made by an idiot.

I agree with Brent. In my own opinion: the person who wrote the book is the stupid one. What an insulting piece of work.

I think you would of been better off with something like Eat cake And Lose Weight as this talks to the subconscious of someone who wants to lose weight.
Regards
vivi62

Some people will be offended by the title while others might feel intrigued or challenged by it. Personally I would put some good copy on the site and see what happens. Frame it as, "You are still fat because you have been doing it wrong." Then offer them the correct, "smart," way. As someone above said, shock them with the title, pique their curiosity then show them you're on their side. Just make sure you really are providing quality information and products to these people. Don't offer them any false hope unless you can help them.

I think it could really work. Remember The Rich Jerk? That was one of the biggest selling products online for years. His whole shtick was insulting the reader...done with tongue in cheek and a bit of humour could really set you apart from the crowd.

I can see it working for sure, however with so much on my plate, I'd rather just sell it off..

Very insulting. People aren't fat because they're stupid. People are fat for many other reasons, and it CAN be their thyroid or some other kind of health problem. MOST PEOPLE DON'T WANT TO BE FAT AND OVERWEIGHT! This site is ignorant and insulting and silly. There's not a lot of truth to it either.

There are many many intelligent people who are fat and they don't want to be! Maybe you should work in a niche market where you happen to know something about it. Just sayin...

Test It...With Diff Tones...Else Flip it...

hehe is is very funny but I think it's not so much funny for fat people..

I would def stay away from American market and try on English market, en well this 'type' would perhaps also do well in the Netherlands . I think (sorry to generalize this) Americans are a bit to sensitive for this for this kind of 'brutal' truth.

However I do think people from the UK / NL could appreciate the hard truth I'm not sure you will make them buyers with this..

Perhaps you should think going completely overboard with the concept and make it about exercising for computer nerds like me or something making the 'stupid' part more of a big WINK.. because there IS a big different saying you are an idiot or stupid..

Everybody can be an idiot in something, you can say this without insulting somebody his /her intelligence.. stupid is more about your intelligence which is more insulting I think..

To much insulting ... don't expect to get any people that order from the site.

Timo

The link is too long.

Insulting the person won't work.

It's not even SEO friendly.

I see no use in it.

I am a Fitness Trainer, and I agree with all the comments about it being a bit insulting. Gaining trust is what its about as far as health and wellness is concerned.

I have to admit I loved the website. Will probably make me sound evil too.

The problem is I don't actually know how it will work for you. On one hand people with weight issues may have insecurity issues, on another hand those are EXACTLY the types who will be attracted to the site (& moreso the type you NEED).

You're definitely not attracting confident, fat people to the site so that should be a given.

Lets look at this realistically. What if I made a site "yourstupidbecauseyousmoke.com".

That might work better because many people believe smokers are of a lower intelligence level. The fact remains that being either fat or a smoker is NO sign of low intelligence.

It IS a sign of low intelligence in a certain area of life. But there are different forms of intelligence, things people will naturally be smarter at than you. Maybe not weight loss, maybe accounting who knows?

It doesn't matter. Its just that on a certain very core level, what you're promoting is obviously not true.

You're going to need to find VERY insecure people to sell to. I also don't think this will be hard because theres more than enough of these types in the world.

So the website is what it is. I love the excuse about "my thyroid" I honestly wanted to make a blog about that a LONG TIME AGO.

Many of these people with thyroid problems, claiming its genetic, have NO IDEA being fat is what actually messed up their hormone levels, thus effecting their thyroid. Same thing with diabetes. "I got diabetes because my dad had it". Um noo, you got diabetes because your dad was fat, he taught you horrible eating behavoirs, you got fat, and so you got diabetes. If you live a healthy life, and get diabetes being a healthy old man, THEN you have reason to say its genetic.

If you're 35, overweight, a diabetic/have thyroid problems, genetics had a lot less to do with it than you think.

Genetics never mandate you will get problems like this as much as lifestyle choices do.

When you are overweight for a long enough time, your adrenals burn out, your kidneys, your liver, your thyroid, your pancreas so its just a matter of which goes first.

I'm not even overweight but burnt out my adrenals from drinking too much sugar in my coffee. I was begining to put on weight the second my hormones started acting up (this is something I always get checked every 6 months). I IMMEDIATELY STOPPED drinking sugar, my hormones started producing again, and off came the little bit of weight I gained. It took sacrifice, time, and change of behavoirs.

Had I not made that choice, in a few years I could be diabetic.

Other people simply don't care. I still can't say they're stupid, but moreso have no education at all towards their health. Since health is directly related to survival, you do have a good arguement. But in this politically correct day and age too many people would have a problem with it.

Still not saying its good or bad, it just is what it is.

-Red

Maybe if the website was created by Dr. House MD

In our own IM space, we had the Rich Jerk who resorted to similar marketing and it worked.

Pissing people off on the internet is not necessarily a bad thing. If you can generate some actual controversy and get people riled up, commenting, linking to you on forums, calling you a genius, calling you an ass-hole and all that, you could be onto something.

Key is to be more than just purely insulting though. You have to balance between making sense and getting people incensed.

What part of your brain thought:
“I have curves!” No, you f**king don’t!!" was brilliant marketing?

You have pictures of people that your demographic are not going to related to. Even if they are the same size, they won't see themselves reflected. They will just see a basher, and a school yard bully. They are flatout mean.

I could almost see this site working with some sass and humor. If the name pulled someone in, I think you could go with a quick change to a helpful tone. I think you could even test it with some sassy pitch, with a "Rich Jerk" type tone.

You're use of the words, "disgusting", "STFU", and "Liar" are lunacy. And I just skimmed it! You are trying to sell something right? It looks like Andrew Dice Clay got into IM. People will read it for the shock factor, but ya ain't gonna sell diet books.

hahaha i love the title, and tough love always worked for me...but most people have very sensitive egos so insulting them (even though you're right) won't open up their wallets to you.

however, it could be a really funny website like people of walmart or 9gag....

What do you plan to do with this? I dont think people like to talk about stupid beacuse they are fat.
But let us know what you do.

You could have tested it out till now. Just throw in some money and get some banner ads together. Test it yourself rather than posting it here

You could try selling something with a twist like others said - or even try making it a community site for jokes and things like that to build it up.

Some people will respond to this favorably and others wont. If you can find out more about the kind of person that responds favorably then you can better market to them. In the Marine Corps we didn't say a lot of positive sounding things to each other but that didn't necessarily mean we were insulting each other. It was just the way we talked. Maybe you can try marketing this to Marines except Marines aren't usually fat and if they are they are kicked out of the Marine Corps. Some people see the negative tone as a challenge and that motivates them to improve. Your task as a marketer is to find out who they are and find out more about them so you can better tailor your message to them.

OMG! it's really funny and would insult overweight people just enough to see what the *** your site is about, but...... be careful! I agree with some of what has been said: change your tone and dive right into the facts of why most people are overweight. Try and be understanding, because IT AINT FUNNY BEING OVERWEIGHT!

About the pictures: use creative common pictures from flickr and give the owner credit. You should be safe then.

Oh! this could be a great line to use in ads. The most important thing is to get the attention of the reader. Good luck!

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The language is so far over the top it detracts any desire to take your copy seriously. It borderlines on childish in my opinion. Even if your approach appeals to a small portion of your viewers, there is no doubt it will not appeal to a much larger percentage. I'm surprised you have 250 subs, especially given the fact that your opt-in is buried underneath 2 pages of "****" and "****".

With that said, the copy isn't that bad. It gets you down the page easily. I'd remove the excessive foul language (It doesn't provide anything useful unless you're trying to turn away visitors) and add an email opt-in at the bottom of page one. Give them page two for their email and place your offer on the bottom of page two.

I'd be interested in hearing how this does for you on Flippa, although some of the stuff that sells on Flippa still amazes me.

Best of luck.

Most definitely many consumers would gain a lack of interest seeing how they would be offended b/c of the title