Without fear, the goal

“Becoming Fearless” is a new featured section in Huffington Post.  I discovered this because I follow Arianna Huffington on Twitter.  I also follow a few of her guest columnists, as well as Howard Fineman, her very fine editorial director.

Huffington is fearless.  I am not read-it-all consumer of The Huffington Post; it is just too much.  But I greatly admire the fact that the “HuffPo” has been so very successful at monetizing its popular website.  Ms. Huffington herself is a model of fearlessness when it comes to striding out.  So some reflections about “Becoming Fearless” seem in order.

First, Huffington is wealthy.  Note the tie-in with Arianna Huffington’s 2006 book of essays titled, On Becoming Fearless.... in Love, Work, and Life.  Find it at Amazon.com: Kindle edition–$8.99, hardcover-$4.40, paperback-$10.73.

Second, Huffington is careful.  Read the disclaimer at the bottom of the website page.

This website is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

Third, the assumption is that women have more fears than men.  The Blog section features a list of current blog posts with 10 female writers and 6 male writers.  Look also at one of the the current Sponsored Links list.  It is two-thirds pitched towards women:

Fear of being fat - “Get Skinny By Summer” by www.DietRatings.org

Fear of being old - “53 Year Old Mom Looks 33” by www.consumerproducts.com

Fear of President Obama – “Romney vs Obama” by www.msn.com.  (AP photo copyrighted by Mary Schwalm)

Fourth, advertising aims at our emotions, including fear and anxiety.  Another sponsor list  for the Front Page sub section plays on the fears of readers:

Fear of being afraid - “3 Herbs that Beat Anxiety” by www.WiseLifestyles.com

Fear of identity theft - “LifeLock Official Site” to purchase their identity protection plan at www.Lifelock.com

Fear of being in the 99% forever - “Penny Stock Jumping 856%” at www.MyPennyStocks.com

Fifth, the Huffington Post Wants you to read as much as you can on their website.  Note the tie-in with HuffPo’s Healthy Living section, aka "Fear of Dying."  Here are that page’s sponsors:

Fear of Being fat - “5 Diet Pills that Work” at www.DietRatings.org

Fear of identity theft - “LifeLock Official Site” to purchase their identity protection plan at www.Lifelock.com

Fear of a heart attack – “Heart Attack Triggers” at www.Newsmax.com 

Sixth, sponsors want something for their investment.  So they maximize exposure to the product through advertising.  It might even be fun and beneficial:  Enter Toyota Corolla’s “Most Fearless Tweet” contest.

Official Rules:
1. To enter the Contest, you must first create a Twitter account. It's free! Go to Twitter.com for the how-tos.
2. Follow @HealthyLiving.
3. Tweet about fear or fearlessness in your own life by sending a tweet to @HealthyLiving and using the hashtag Third, notice the tie-in with Huffington’s 2006 book of essays On becoming Fearless. . . In Love, Work and Life. New from $4.40; Kindle $8.99.#becomingfearless. It's that easy!

Seventh, there is widespread assumption that we are more fearful than usual these days. For example, out of some sort of morbid fascination,  I have watched a good number of the Doomsday Preppers shows on the National Geographic channel. They are a really scary bunch who base their lives on preparing for the worst things that they imagine could happen.  Somehow I cannot imagine these folks ever reading the new Becoming Fearless section of the HuffPo.