04/ 01/ 2005
by Harvey King
I’m not a big fan of reality TV. Donald Trump is my idea of a fingernail scratching across a chalkboard. And frankly, anyone who has really had to say or hear those two words finds nothing entertaining about the phrase, “You’re fired.”
I’m not a fan of TV shopping channels, either. I can’t comprehend the idea of using even a small fraction of my life sitting at a TV watching a product being peddled by an actress whose last role was on “Falcon Crest.”
But recently, I heard of something that marries reality TV and shopping TV with a result that sounds right up my alley: The QVC Product Search Tour. Each year, folks from the cable shopping channel hit the road to audition business owners who believe they have a product appealing to the QVC customer.
At each of the five stops around the country, QVC merchandisers listen to as many as 500 hopefuls. To me, this sounds so much more entertaining than “American Idol” or “The Apprentice.” There are no “You’re fired,” or “You can’t sing, and you’re ugly,” comments from the judges. Everyone gets to demonstrate their wares and discover later whether or not theirs will be one of the 100 products chosen to be sold on QVC that summer.
After that, it’s up to the consumer: my kind of judge. No calling in to vote; you call in to purchase. Recognizing that other MyBUSINESS readers might find this opportunity too good to pass up, I decided to spend four hours on a recent Saturday afternoon watching QVC to research what types of products appeal to their customers. Based on that research (OK, a couple of hours of my research were interrupted by a nap), here are my findings:
Your product should be either something guaranteed to make a mess, or something that helps organize a mess. On QVC, there are lots of products that are “systems” with lots of parts. Arts and crafts being big on QVC, there are endless opportunities to purchase sets of buttons, beads and assorted things to decorate pillows. However, all of these random pieces and parts require lots of containers, so also big on QVC are boxes, trays and assorted plastic holders, which are also called “systems.” Hint: Call your product a “system.”
Another hint for pitching your product to QVC is to have it be something related to gaining or losing weight. On QVC, an endless array of delicious meat and fish products are sold, along with the pots and pans and microwave ovens and deep-frying devices necessary to prepare them. Cutlery, slicers and dicers are a QVC staple. Losing weight is equally big on QVC. Diet and exercise products seem to compete with food and cooking products. Bottom- line hint: Your product should be a system for eating, exercising and organizing your hobby materials.
Good luck. I’m pulling for you. I’ll be watching this summer when those 100 newly discovered products hit the airwaves. I promise to call in and purchase your gizmo. Make it something to cure baldness, and I’ll buy two.
