#$%^&*AU2011202905A120130110.pdf#####Abstract: This business method invention provides financial motivation to individuals for attaining and maintaining weight loss goals. It requires individuals to compete against other individuals for a prize made up from the sum of contestants' monetary stakes. Willing contestants are coordinated by a website into joining contests beginning with initial weigh ins at a company office, followed by dieting for a set duration, then concluded by a final weigh in. Those who meet the winning criteria for a given contest are paid their prize typically by direct deposit. All stakes are paid by contestants to the website before commencement of a contest, and are used by the company to earn interest revenue for the duration of the diet, after which the sum of the principals are used to pay the winner(s). Advertising on the site provides a secondary revenue stream. In addition to deriving diet motivation, contestants also benefit from social networking advantages the website affords them. The scheme's implementation and commercial viability relies on an artificial tool - the website to source and link up like minded strangers, and on a physical tool - the official company scales - to ensure result accuracy and contest integrity, without which the scheme cannot effectively operate. The standard and alternative embodiments of the business method demonstrate several advances over the prior art.
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