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Mr. Info: Take the Money—It’s Free!
April 26, 2004
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Late-night TV infomercial icon Matthew Lesko had advice for entrepreneurs: Take the money the government wants to give you. A report from a recent talk at HBS. | by Wendy Guild Swearingen
Whether you are an insomniac, work the graveyard shift, or are simply a night owl, chances are good that you know Matthew Lesko.
Matthew Lesko, a.k.a. “Mr. Info,” has been an information consultant to Fortune 500 companies, and is a columnist, best-selling author and regular talk show guest. He showed up for his talk, “Building Your Business on a Shoestring,” co-sponsored by the HBS Marketing and Entrepreneurship clubs at Harvard Business School on April 5, wearing a trademark lavender suit emblazoned with dark purple question marks with matching bowtie, violet socks, periwinkle sneakers, and rainbow-hued spectacles.
Speaking about his famed late-night TV commercials, Lesko said, “I don’t pay for any of those ads.” Instead, he has “relationships with media people.” He splits the profits garnered from the commercials with the stations and networks, like ESPN, that carry his ads.
This barter system has worked well for Lesko, keeping his overhead to a minimum. “You make more money if you don’t buy anything,” he said. “My cost of goods sold is really zero.”
There was no mistaking the enthusiasm Lesko has for his product. So, what exactly is Matthew Lesko selling to his bleary-eyed public? For starters, his enormous (as in 1,100 pages), best-selling 2002 book, Free Money to Change Your Life. He has more than fifty books, e-Books, and CDs to his credit, among them Free Legal Help, Free Health Care, Free Stuff for Seniors, and Gobs and Gobs of Free Stuff. Are we seeing a pattern here? But what Lesko is really selling is a chance for his readers to improve their lives.
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