6 Weeks to OMG: I'm richer than all my friends.

Unless you have been living under a rock, you would have most likely heard about the new diet book, "6 Weeks to OMG: Get skinnier than all your friends" by Venice A Fulton. Now, I haven't actually read the book but have seen the reviews. Some are positive but most aren't. Most are saying it's just a quick fix that caters to people's insecurity about their body issues.

In fact, he seems to be copping a fair bit of criticism.

However, he hasn't broken the law and he's certainly not forcing anyone to buy it. Whatever your view, the fact is, he has done it and that's the secret to success. There are literally millions of people out there with similar, if not better ideas but fail to act on them. He is the one that is now credited with a best seller and is literally an overnight millionaire. He took a chance and was willing to put himself out there.

He also, very cleverly, managed to tap into what many were thinking. He was listening to what people wanted and tailored his product to suit.

Let’s start with and break down the title.

• 6 weeks appeals to our need for urgency. Most of us want things yesterday. We haven’t got all day and want an immediate solution to our problem. This might not be the best approach to weight loss but the author is just giving people what they want. This is the key.

• OMG taps into a language that we can all relate to, especially amongst teenagers, whom he is mostly targeting here. He is literally speaking their language. People don’t necessarily need to understand you but they do need to be understood.

• Skinnier is also what most people think in terms of weight loss. Once again, he is tapping into a language that the consumer can understand. Despite the vast amount of information provided by fitness professionals, Dr’s, scientists etc most people just want to be skinnier!

• Friends are what most teenagers are comparing themselves to. There will always be someone in their group that they wish they were better than. In this case it just happens to be their body shape. This was a stroke of genius by the author. If the first 3 didn’t hook them in, then this was the clincher.

Personally, I say well done and congratulations for the success of this book. It has gotten people talking and is selling by the truckload. He has challenged conventional wisdom and that’s a good thing. He has done some research to back up his claims and it’s up to the reader to decide whether or not it’s right for them. Either way, whether you agree or disagree, you can’t argue with the success of this book.

In the end, it’s about the results on the scoreboard that matter most, not necessarily how you accumulate them. If the author was being judged on points alone, then he comes out on top.

Are their better diet books on the market?

Possibly, but if no one is reading them, then what’s the point? You don’t necessarily have to write the best book for it to be best seller but you do have consider what people want. In this case, he’s done it in spades and been handsomely rewarded for it.