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Donna Simpson, a 42-year-old mother from New Jersey, US, weighs 602 pounds, or 43 stone, or 273 kilograms. Her dream is to build that up to 1,000 pounds, or 71 stone, or 454 kilograms, making her the world's fattest woman.

Why not, she says. “I love eating and people love watching me eat. It makes people happy, and I'm not harming anyone.”

Her claim that people "love" to watch her eat may be an overstatement, but the fact that some people are fascinated by the sight of a very large woman eating very large amounts of food is undeniable.

We know this because Donna Simpson has a web site which offers live video of her eating, on average, "four burgers and fries, a loaf of bread with peanut butter and jam, four servings of meatloaf and mashed potato, a large pizza, a chocolate cake with ice cream and cream, 12 cupcakes, two cheesecakes and fizzy drinks" a day.

That's a direct quote from Donna.

Simspon says she spends about US$600 a week on food, but has 260 web site subscribers, including some from Australia and Japan, who pay US$12 a month, giving her more than US$3,000 a month.

It's a solid return, and obviously has growth potential, considering it was launched just four months ago.

One can help massage growth potential, of course, with some astute marketing. But how to promote a video feed of a fat woman eating a lot? How to hit the headlines of the big city papers and, yes, the bloggers?

Hey, we know, how about announcing your intention to become the world's fattest woman!

The magazine exclusives, the book and the reality TV show are not far away.
story: dailymail.co.uk; image: James Ambler/Barcroft USA

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Posted By: Chris Champion - Category: North America, US, Odd Spot, Small business

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Happy birthday to me 1

June 28th 2009 02:21

It's been a long time since I had a first birthday, but today is the anniversary of my first step into the world of blogging.

If anyone had shown me 365 days ago, when I created Zoomies, or 371 days ago, when I created Vyoos, a road map of the consequent journey, I would have dismissed it as fantasy.

Twelve months ago blogging was a mystery to me. Today I maintain five healthy and growing Orble blogs, one rather undernourished one, and six company blogs as part of the prospering Salient Point corporate blogging business.

A year ago I was a blogging beginner, standing at the door of a strange new world. Today I write with authority (or possibly bravado) about AdSense and optimisation of search engine visibility, and field phone calls from chief executives demanding to know what the heck a corporate blog is and how can I justify the monthly fee in terms of return on investment.

It's been life-changing.
image: www.pepperspollywogs.com

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Posted By: Chris Champion - Category: Blogging, Salient Point, Self-employment, Small business

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How Gen Y are you?

May 24th 2009 08:45

"You are so Gen Y," my friend Cathy told me yesterday.

I didn't know whether to say thank you or argue. I didn't really know what she meant. Until fairly recently, I didn't even know what the term Gen Y meant.

I decided on an intelligent and diplomatic response delivered in a friendly but enquiring tone. "Huh?" I said.

Before giving her reply, I should explain the circumstances. We had been discussing business. Cathy runs a consulting business of the mature and established type. She provides and implements marketing and promotional strategies to government, semi-government, public, private and intergalactic organisations. When it comes to business contacts, Cathy knows everybody.

I run a corporate blogging business which has been around for quite a few weeks now and provides a great deal of hope that some day we may do business with government, semi-government, public, private and intergalactic organisations. As for business contacts, I know Cathy.

So while she spends her days ruling the world for her clients, I spend mine writing blog material for potential clients. I work hard at it, and on occasions, when deep in meaningful word smithing, I ignore the phone because I don't want to disturb the creative flow.

"Why don't you answer your phone any more?" asked Cathy.

I tried to explain the need for prioritising creation over conversation. I have a business partner whose job is to sell our blogging service. My job is to write, and I can do it more effectively when uninterrupted. Cathy was silent for a moment so I added, "You can always email me," I said. "I prefer emails to phone calls anyway."

Oops. That's when she accused me of being Gen Y. Huh? "Because," she said, "Gen Y people prefer social media and texting to phone calls."

I still don't know whether to say thank you or argue. How Gen Y am I? How Gen Y are you?

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Posted By: Chris Champion - Category: Blogging, Salient Point, Self-employment, Small business

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I am in business

March 3rd 2009 06:52

Like many people, I suppose, I have dreamed about the freedom of working for myself. Self-sufficiency and the exhilaration of knowing that I will never have to answer to a boss again - how hard can it be?

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