Are You Ready for QVC?

Get an inside look at the TV-shopping giant and how you can get your product in front of millions.

This article is reprinted with permission from Entrepreneur.com.

Over the past fiftenn years, TV shopping networks have exploded onto the retail scene, offering viewers an interactive shopping experience without ever having to leave their living rooms. It’s proven to be an extremely successful formula, creating loyal, consistent customers (who are primarily female) who relish the products and the experience. In fact, QVC is considered by some measures to be the second-largest TV network in the country, with millions of daily viewers tuning in and making purchases. QVC has also been a great boon to entrepreneurs, who can achieve extremely high exposure in a short period of time—even for new products. 

So how do you get your product onto the promised land of QVC? And what are the pros and cons? I recently entered the QVC world with one of our Mom Invented products—Good Bites Crustless Sandwich Cutters—and I’d like to share my experience to help entrepreneurs who might be interested in pursuing a similar path. 

QVC is always on the lookout for new, innovative products. And the company is supportive of entrepreneurs—especially female ones. In fact, right now, QVC is offering a program tailored specifically to women entrepreneurs. Sponsored in conjunction with OPEN from American Express and Count Me In, the Make Mine a $Million Business program is designed to help women grow their sales by offering a combination of money, marketing and mentoring opportunities. It consists of three separate product searches and educational seminars, all whose goal is to help women surpass the $1 million sales mark in their businesses. 

Of course, not every product suits the network’s format or marketplace, so here are some questions to ask yourself to help determine if your product is the right fit: 

    -  Does it demonstrate well?

    -  Does it solve a problem or make life easier?

    -  Does it have unique features and benefits?

    -  Does it appeal to a mass audience (as opposed to a niche)?