Back in the summer of 1984, an Australian doctor performed an unusual experiment.
He took bacteria from a petri dish, mixed them into a cup of beef broth, and chugged the nasty brew down.
Within a few days, he started vomiting in the mornings.
He started feeling sick and fatigued.
Not surprising. An endoscopy showed his stomach had become colonized by the bacteria. He had developed gastritis, and without treatment, he would soon also get stomach ulcers.
Maybe you’ve heard this story before.
It’s the true history of Barry Marshall, one of the scientists who discovered that H. pylori bacteria — and not stress — are the cause of stomach ulcers.
Marshall’s dramatic demonstration finally helped him sell his big discovery, and led to him eventually winning the Nobel prize.
But it wasn’t easy.
Before Marshall took the step of using himself as a guinea pig, he had already performed a lot of convincing reserach connecting H. pylori and ulcers.
He had done biopsies of ulcer patients that showed infections…
And he showed that antibiotics, which eradicated H. pylori, could permanently cure ulcers.
And yet, none of this convinced other doctors.
His papers kept getting rejected, and his ideas ignored. In the meantime, people who had ulcers were suffering, and often had to have surgery to remove their stomachs.
It was against this background that Marhsall decided to take the dramatic step of ingesting the bacterial broth himself.
And the point I want to make is that having the right solution — or a great product — is often not enough.
You need to test out different kinds of proof, and find something that convinces your audience. And even with the best proof, you might still face indifference or resistance for a while.
So is it worth persevering?
That’s a question only you can answer.
If you believe you have a great solution that can really help people, then the answer is probably yes.
And with a little luck — and some marketing help — you might achieve success and acceptance of your idea a little faster than Barry Marshall did.
I can’t help you with the luck part. But if you want some help with your marketing, then check out the following: