How a seen on TV product made him a star salesman

Now here is the story of one of the most successful entrepreneur of a seen on TV product who initiated one of the first "As Seen On TV" infomercials. Ron Popeil started to sell his products mostly kitchen appliances at fairs and Woolworths across the country.

One day, he decided to try and advertise his products on television. He said to himself:

"Why not advertise on TV and make it available to TV viewers only via mail order and a 1-800-43-RONCO (the name of his company) phone number ?"

In fact, he thought millions of buyers of his products could send a money order or check to a TV station or post office box number. And boy was he right !

"Ladies and Gentleman, I'm going to show you the greatest kitchen appliance ever made !" - Ron Popeil

New . . . a seen on TV product makes your cooking easier

For example, he advertised the Veg-O-Matic, a slicing and dicing kitchen appliance, and sold more than eleven million units at $7.77.

His headline read, "Slices and dices and juliennes to perfection."

He rarely used any scripts in his presentations because he rehearsed all of them at fairs and Woolworth kiosks. His first commercials were in black-and-white with a simple kitchen counter. No fancy camera shots, no audiences, no music, or wipes and dissolves. Good old plain salesmanship.

Now he hosts his own a seen on TV product program, "Incredible Inventions," in a rented studio with a hostess, Charla Rhines, a paid audience ($35 each and a lunch for the day), multi cameras, music, and sophisticated editing equipment.

The total cost for his first a seen on TV product hovered around $33,000. Today you may be looking at $75,000 or more.

A seen on TV product program is twenty-eight minutes and thirty seconds in length. During his a seen on TV product programs, he usually interacts with his hostess and audience. In one of his other famous a seen on TV product, he sold his Pasta Machine at $159.80. And to increase his profits, he came up with the idea of four easy payments of $39.95 to alleviate buyer's remorse.

Would you believe that he sold more than 250,000 units with gross profits around $40 million dollars ? Yes, and that's not all folks.

He used back-end marketing strategies to make more money. As soon as they get the buyer on the phone, they ask him to purchase more accessories like pasta shaping dies, four-way ravioli makers, a video cookbook, and all for just an additional $39.95.

With his GLH (hair spray that covers bald spots) he became a media celebrity. In fact, he appeared on 20/20, Prime Time Live, CBS Evening News with Dan Rather and Connie Chung, Good Morning America, NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw, The Maury Povich Show, The Joan Rivers Show, USA Today and he was featured in many newspapers.

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Here is a sample of his record sales:

-> Veg-O-Matic 11 million units at $7.77.

-> Pasta Machine 250,000 units at $159.80.

-> Twenty Top Hits by the Original Stars records. 500,000 units at $3.99 to $4.99 total $22,500,000 in sales.

-> The Buttoneer (sows on buttons automatically) 540,000 units at $4.99.

-> GLH (hair spray that covers bald spots) 900,000 cans in one year at $19.95.

-> Ronco Spray Gun (washes your car and fertilizes your lawn) 1 million in 4 years.

What's more amazing about the a seen on TV product business is that you know every morning how many products you've sold the previous day. Most callers pay with their credit cards and operators register their purchase online with computers. And the money is directly deposited in your company's bank account.

How about that for instant wealth!

Can you duplicate Ron Popeil's success with a seen on TV product ?

He believes you can do it. But first you have to obey three rules.

1. Create the right product that's needed by lots of people at the right price and the right time.

2. Solve a problem by asking a question. And

3. Move quickly because copycats will do so and cut into your profit potential easily.

To find and develop a unique product, you need to study trends, apply new technology, improve a best-selling product, save the customer time, and imagine you're from another planet (he prefers Mars).

Remember that 97% of people who go into a seen on TV products lose money. But if you use a step-by-step approach, your chances of success are greater plus you won't lose the shirt off your back. So how can you test you're a seen on TV product ?

First, test it at fairs and discover its potential sales power. Next, go to two or three small broadcast TV stations. Hire a good telemarketing company like . . .

West Tele-marketing (9910 Maple Street, Omaha, NE 68134, 1-800-542-1000) who will provide you with 800 numbers, answer your calls, and do back-end sales of your accessories. And remember to focus on your product and get a fulfillment house to ship your products. Then expand into other cities gradually.

Stay away from cable stations because their viewer numbers are oftentimes inflated. To start off, buy two or three small cities like Sacramento, Las Vegas, Raleigh, or Bangor for the first two weeks. Next, increase your target market to five or six demographic areas and buy for only one week. You can get more detailed information with a TV advertiser's book from Standard Rate and Data Services (available at most local libraries and on the web at a subscription price).

You start small, take your profits, and pyramid your success. Success breeds success. Then you'll arrive with a sure winner at the big audience centers like Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles.

Ron suggests you don't spend more than $25,000 tops for your first big week. In one tremendous success, Ron spent 60 million in 3 years on advertising for the Food Dehydrator. In his first week, he spent $40,000 because of the cash flow coming in and went as high as $500,000 (an exception !).

Of course you can test your products and services on the Internet. I highly recommend the Make Your Site Sell eBook by Dr. Ken Evoy to get you started on building a web site that sells.

Click here to get more information on Make Your Site Sell.

Also the most practical software program I've ever used to create my web sites is Site Build It. Honestly you can't afford to be without this software program that gives you the power to concentrate on your ecommerce web site solutions.

Again Dr. Ken Evoy has created a package that will allow you to create theme-base content that pre-sells your products.

Click here to discover all the benefits of Site Build It!

(By the way, the copywriting on this site is the best that I have ever read. Just go there and study the writing it is simply amazing. And the product is five stars.)

Click here to read more how to Make Your Words Sell (copywriting online and offline).

Late nights, weekends, and early mornings give the best results when people are in the alpha state (very relaxed). Sometimes a one- or two-minute direct-response ad will work if your product sells for under $30, but for higher ticket items, it's best to use the full-length a seen on TV product.

During your a seen on TV product, you need to ask for the order at least two or three times 60 percent through the commercial. Give the viewer enough information to help him make up his mind.

Sometimes you can negotiate a per-inquiry deal with some local broadcasters desperate for money. They give you air time for free and pick up a percentage of each sale. Unfortunately, this strategy can backfire if you get a high rate of returns and not enough air time. Yes, you can run into problems and lose money.

Ron came up with a stroke of genius when he asked General Mills to use their Gold Medal flour with his Pasta Machine during his a seen on TV product. In fact, they offered him $100,000 for this service (WOW!). And he arrived at a similar agreement of $10,000 with the Bertolli Olive Oil Company just to showcase the bottle on the screen. With this money, he paid his production costs.

Always remember to videotape your guest appearances on TV or ask for a free copy of the tape. Also, you can use clips from your TV appearance to insert in your a seen on TV product or play them on a VCR at your kiosk.

Next, once your a seen on TV product is a success, you can easily get a home shopping agreement with QVC or The Home Shopping Network. Of course, you need to submit your product for review.

Most important, TV exposure gets you into retail stores and onto The Home Shopping Network or QVC where the real money is made. Once you've sold your product on TV, you can use these ads to upsell to the retail industry.

Imagine if you sell only one of your products every week to retail giants like Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Target, Costco, Sam's Wholesale Club, Caldors, Macy's, Thrifty, Walgreen and Woolworth that amounts to a total of 6,600 stores times 52 times your profit margin. And if your profit margin is $20, then you rake in $6.8 million dollars. Not bad, if I can say so myself !

Here are some more a seen on TV product success stories as related by Ron Popeil in his book, The Salesman of the Century.

General Publishing sold out 8,000 books worth $240,000 in sales in 17 minutes, its entire supply of the 20th anniversary book to celebrate CBS's 60 Minutes.

Also, home shopping network QVC host Bob Bowersox sold 155,000 copies in 24 hours of his book, In the Kitchen with Bob. Remember though that Bob appears regularly on QVC and viewers know him very well. But still it's an impressive number of book sales.

What does the a seen on TV product guru, Ron Popeil, watch on TV ?

He watches TV commercials and a seen on TV products on one of a dozen TV sets all over his house, all with VCRs. Unbelievably, he doesn't watch his competitors' a seen on TV products, occasionally he watches 60 Minutes and 20/20. I invite you to read Ron Popeil's great book, The Salesman of the Century.

Some people envision viewers will click on their remote control, drop down a menu, give out their credit card info, buy, and give out their address. And that most products and services offered will be personalized to satisfy every clients needs. Fact or fiction ?

Well for sure today streaming video can save you thousands of dollars in production costs for your a seen on TV products and commercials.

Also, the Internet provides you with the opportunity to sell your products and services with a seen on TV product directly to your consumers.

Right now to read more stories about a seen on TV product, I invite you to click here to read more about a seen on Tv Product and my new eBook.

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Email Pierre at: pierre@TheSuccessProgram.com