How to Get on QVC

In Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich, he tells a story of a man who stopped digging for gold and sold his mine to a junk dealer. Soon after, the junk dealer made an enormous discovery. Three feet past where the digging had stopped by the previous owner, he unearthed the world’s largest vein of gold. Great for him, not so great for the previous owner.

It makes me wonder how many people are three feet short of getting their product or million dollar idea off the ground.

For many people that I have met, the problem is marketing. Where to start, what to do, the question of financial resources, and so on. And no matter what scale your business marketing budget revolves in, whether small or large, you have to look at the most effective methods of marketing and this often entails the effective use of leverage.

Leverage is when you get maximum results for minimal effort. In other words, if you only had one opportunity to market your product, what could you do that would give you the greatest exposure and opportunity for your product with the least amount of effort.

Leverage is the secret of all great businesses and below is my list of high leverage activities that you can incorporate into your marketing efforts:

1. Get your product on one of the shopping channels (QVC or HSN) - one exposure here is the equivalent of having a sales force of hundreds pounding the pavement for your product.
2. Participate in a trade show - hundreds of buyers attend industry tradeshows - having a booth in one of these gains great exposure for your products.
3. Find a qualified manufacturer’s representative to pitch your product to the major stores. Leveraging the work of others gives you the time you need to focus on things within your strength.
4. Create a viral word of mouth video campaign using the internet. Many videos on Youtube that have gotten millions of hits are produced with nothing more than a consumer video camera. Creativity and humor are just a few keys to going viral, so place your creative inventive mind to work for you in the area of video ideas and you’ll be surprised what you can come up with.
5. License your product or idea - quite often licensing provides the product creator with phenomenal leverage. Yes, you’re missing out on profit, but you’re also not doing the day to day work and marketing of your product. The key to going the licensing route is to of course have great ideas, but also to have many of them working for you. If you’re focusing on day to day business activities you won’t have as much time for idea creation and thus the power of licensing when it comes to leverage.

Throughout the years I have been asked some wild questions about QVC and what it takes to get on the home shopping giant. I plan on sharing many of the questions and answers I’ve received, including the wild and funny ones, but for now here are a few of the serious ones.

Question: Will QVC replay my appearance?
Answer: No, QVC is a live broadcast 24 hours a day, 364 days a year. The one day in the year that it does not broadcast is Christmas Day.

Question: How long do you have to ship your orders to customers after your air date?
Answer: In almost all cases your product is due in QVC’s warehouses well before your air date, so you won’t be shipping direct to customers, QVC will.

Question: Can I sell golf clubs on QVC?
Answer: QVC recently updated their list of product categories they are not actively pursuing and golf related items is one of the categories on the list. Some other categories they are not actively pursuing include condiments, salsa, sauces, and computer software. This does not mean that they won’t sell them, it’s just that they are not actively seeking them.

Question: I have a product idea that I know will be a big hit. Will QVC manufacturer it for me?
Answer: Generally, QVC does not finance or assist inventors, entrepreneurs, or businesses with the manufacturing of products.

Question: How much does it cost to be on QVC?
Answer: It doesn’t cost anything to be on QVC. QVC is free. The only cost to you is the cost involved in manufacturing your product. Plus, you are responsible for your own travel expenses and lodging.

Question: I heard QVC is also in England. If you get your product on QVC in the United States will you automatically get on in England?
Answer: Not only is QVC in England, it is in Germany and Japan as well. But being on QVC in the US does not guarantee an appearance on any of the other stations. Being successful in the US does work to your advantage and you may be contacted by buyers in the other countries if your product is a fit, and you can also contact them. If you have been successful in the US you will certainly gain their attention.

Throughout the years I have been asked some wild questions about QVC and what it takes to get on the home shopping giant. I plan on sharing many of the questions and answers I’ve received, including the wild and funny ones, but for now here are a few of the serious ones.

Question: Will QVC replay my appearance?
Answer: No, QVC is a live broadcast 24 hours a day, 364 days a year. The one day in the year that it does not broadcast is Christmas Day.

Question: How long do you have to ship your orders to customers after your air date?
Answer: In almost all cases your product is due in QVC’s warehouses well before your air date, so you won’t be shipping direct to customers, QVC will.

Question: Can I sell golf clubs on QVC?
Answer: QVC recently updated their list of product categories they are not actively pursuing and golf related items is one of the categories they are currently not active in pursuing. Some other categories they are not actively pursuing include condiments, salsa, sauces, and computer software. This does not mean that they won’t sell them. The listing clearly states that they are not actively pursuing these categories.

Question: I have a product idea that I know will be a big hit. Will QVC manufacturer it for me.
Answer: Generally, QVC does not finance or assist inventors, entrepreneurs, or businesses with the manufacturing of products.

Question: How much does it cost to be on QVC?
Answer: It doesn’t cost anything to be on QVC. QVC is free. The only cost to you is the cost involved in manufacturing your product. Plus, you are responsible for your own travel expenses and lodging.

Question: I heard QVC is also in England. If you get your product on QVC in the United States will you automatically get on in England.
Answer: Not only is QVC in England, it is in Germany and Japan as well. But being on QVC in the US does not guarantee an appearance on any of the other stations. Being successful in the US does work to your advantage and you may be contacted by buyers in the other countries if your product is a fit, and you can also contact them. If you have been successful in the US you will certainly gain their attention.

Stay tuned for more…