Basedow started his career as a reporter on a New York nightly news program and then co-created a syndicated television show called Images. After Images, Basedow, who was then out of shape and described his body as a "bowling pin on legs", set a goal to get in good enough shape to appear in a fitness magazine. After unsuccessfully trying various regimens to become fit, Basedow managed to get into shape through his own program, which he dubbed "Fitness Made Simple." By following his "Fitness Made Simple" program, Basedow achieved his goal and was featured in various exercise-related publications. He subsequently commercialized the "Fitness Made Simple" routine and began selling it through a series of successful DRTV infomercials as a set of DVDs and CDs. Due to their popularity, McGraw-Hill offered Basedow a publishing deal and he authored his first book, Fitness Made Simple : The Power to ChangeYour Body, the Power to Change Your Life. The commercial marketing success was in part due to Basedow's business strategy of opting for frequency over length, which was a novel approach for fitness infomercials at the time. Basedow made deals for discounted unsold commercial inventory enabling an unusually high frequency of the ads. Over time, the availability of unsold airtime decreased as networks decided to promote themselves and some Multiple System Operators ceased to exist, in turn reducing the viability of Basedow's "Fitness Made Simple" commercials.
In recent years, Basedow has become an active social media personality. In 2007, an outside production company launched an online reality show entitled "John Basedow TV" on YouTube. In 2011, he served as the host for the popular YouTube series, Lesbian Video Speed Dating. Following that, Basedow launched the YouTube series New Media Stew and Culture Pop, covering pop culture and celebrity news. He encourages the use of social media as a form of empowerment and motivation. His #WakeUpWords motivational Vine and Instagram videos, which promote positivity and self-empowerment, have been featured on Fox's Good Day New York. In 2017, Basedow was featured on an episode of Viceland's The Untitled Action Bronson Show. In 2018, Basedow was a guest on the Tom Shillue show, and a keynote speaker at the "I Am Success Summit" in Syracuse, where he also appeared on a panel with MTV's Justina Valentine and Starz Power cast memberRotimi. In 2018, he was a guest on Viceland's Fuck, That's Delicious.
