While home this weekend recovering from dental surgery, I watched an interesting segment on MSNBC about the Oprah effect..
The hour program was about what it meant for your product to get onto Oprah’s most liked product list. If you ever doubted that getting on Oprah could help you become an overnight success….. you are dead wrong!
The stories they shared were testament of how we as a business need to stick in there, even when we feel like throwing it in, and we doubt our success. It just proved to me that no matter how I want to give up trying to get on the Oprah Show with my message of how small companies can get their products into mass retailers; I am gonna stick to it man! Even though I do not have a product for her list, her audience is my target of whom I can help teach how to bring their products from their kitchen table, to Wal-Mart. I visualize myself on her set all the time. You have to hang in there folks! Be patient and keep trying.
One of the products that caught my attention the most was a fragrance company called LAFCO. This company’s tenacity and perseverance on never giving up, was phenomenal and very inspiring. LAFCO kept trying year after year to get on her list with their various products. They submitted many product packages, with many different product variations, for SEVEN years. Yes, you heard right, SEVEN.
Finally, after all those years of relentless efforts, and being turned down, they got the call! The call from Harpo Productions saying that their product has made it into the “O” list! WOW, what a day for them, they were so excited that they kicked into high gear to fill all the orders that were to follow. They actually sold $1 Million dollars of product in a month as a result of Oprah’s exposure. Now, again, if that does not satisfy your hesitation, I do not know what is wrong with you man. If that is not motivation to getting that one idea or product that you have always dreamed about to Oprah, I do not know what is….
I know many great product developers that sometimes have a tendency to hit a wall right out the gate, then give up. I want to just say that most of the defeated products that never make it to the market, were just steps away from breaking it big…..before the developer gave in! We all experience the agony of defeat, several, if not many, times in our careers. I am here to tell you, based on LAFCO’s luck, you need to be a little less willing to throw in the towel after not getting what you want the first, even the sixth time.
After the Oprah show, LAFCO experienced an outrageous amount of business, that still comes in today. It is a dream of all of us to get our products on Oprah. She only chooses 20 a year for her “O” best of list, and if your lucky enough to have what she likes, your life and business could change forever!
Visit http://www.lafcony.com/ for more information on this company.
Good luck, and remember never give up!
Always DREAM BIG!
Kim Babjak
