Maybe you are unaware of the toxic mold epidemic in U.S. homes. You will be rudely educated when you go to sell your home, as I was when I sold one of mine. Once there was no "mold detection" and "mold treatment" industry; today it's a billion dollar business.

Sort of like sexual harassment litigation. Both prove a point: entire industries are created constantly out of thin air. From ideas. From long standing problems no one paid any attention to before. Each one spawning tentacles, each an opportunity octopus.

For about $13,000.00, you can get into the mold detection biz by purchasing a trained "mold dog". Such dogs outperform detection equipment, putting their sensitive snouts right on the spot of the mold, even when concealed behind walls or under floors. A mold inspection can run $500.00 or so, so it only takes about 26 jobs to recover the investment in the pooch, not including, of course, shots, flea powder and chow.

I marvel.

An entire industry of mold dog trainers, mold dog trainer certification schools, the mold inspection businesses, certifications for the inspectors, advertising and marketing services for the inspectors, a trade magazine, association, convention – and on and on. I presume there's www. mold-dog.com.

In your category of business, whatever it is, there is probably an entirely new industry waiting to be birthed and exploited and multiplied. Beneath your feet lies a fortune waiting to be uncovered. "Acres of diamonds" and all that.

There was a kid in my neighborhood who owned a great big (to us) sheep dog. Like the kind that have a flask under the neck and go save people buried in avalanches. He tied the dog to his wagon in the summer, sled in winter, and charged other kids ten cents or a comic book in trade to go for rides. On his command, the dog would lumber along at a heady pace, dragging the bouncing vehicle and passenger over hill, rut and rock. About five minutes for ten cents.

Lost track of that kid. Wonder if he's selling mold dogs.

In your next Success Marketing Strategy I'm going to talk about adapting and finding a market for anything.

Dan Kennedy