Amazing Inventions

Is Your Product Made for TV?
We all have seen those late night infomercials...BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE! BUY NOW, GET A SECOND SET FREE! Commercials and infomercials get inventors very excited once they have a working product ready to sell. Everyone wants their product to be on TV and thinks that is the best way to tell the world about their product and sell lots!

Unfortunately that is only somewhat true. Yes, TV is a great way to inform the world of a new product, but only if it's on national TV. TV is not necessarily the best outlet for selling any new product.

Direct Response TV companies are very picky about their choices when selecting a product to license and sell on TV. There are a few elements an invention needs to have before being considered for TV.

1. The product must solve a problem. The problem must be common enough to effect the majority of the population.

2. The product should save the consumer time.

3. The product should save the consumer money.

4. The product should make the consumer's life easier.

5. The product should save the consumer space.

6. The product should allow the consumer to use it throughout the year.

7. Usually the product can be used in many different ways by consumers of most ages.

8. The demographic of the product should contain mostly women.

If you cannot answer yes to most of the questions above then your product is probably not the best product for TV. But does that mean you don't have a good idea or product? No. It just means that your product probably won't be very successful in the DRTV world and needs to go down a different path for success.

If you can answer yes to most or all of the elements above, then your product may have a good chance to make it on TV. But wait...there's more! Now that you have all of the above elements in your product, you need to make sure your product has a good offer price.

A simple way to calculate an estimated price to sell your product would be multiplying the COG by 5. This means your COGs must be very low. If it costs you $6 to make your product, then you would have to sell it for $30 just to come out close to even after paying for distribution, manufacturing, call centers, infomercial, and media buy. The lower you can make your COGs, the better chance you have for your product to be wanted by a DRTV company and be successful on TV.

Other elements to consider for your invention for TV are the costs of media buy, infomercial, distribution, manufacturing, and call center. This could all amount at least $75,000, and that's just for the initial two week test. Most companies who sell their products on TV through infomercials are not necessarily looking to get rich from the TV sales, but using it as education for the consumer so when the product hits retail everyone wants it and is ready to buy it. Retail is where the inventor or company makes profit on the product.

So who has the brains and strategy to sell a product on TV and make it successful? We will discuss that answer next week! I will explain the creative process of the infomercial spot.

But if you have any questions or would like to learn more about your product being on TV, please do not hesitate to contact us. Visit our website, www.amazinginventions.com to learn more about our company and for contact information.

Good luck with your inventions!

Amazing Inventions, Amazing Results!