032: As Seen on TV – Getting Your Product onto QVC & Wal-Mart, From Zero to a Billion Dollars in Sales (w/ Bill McAlister)
Summary: Bill McAlister is the owner and president of Top Dog Direct, the newest company in the direct response television (DRTV) industry. He has over 24 years’ experience in the manufacturing and wholesale distribution of consumer products. Throughout his career, Bill has sold more than $ 1 Billion worth of “As Seen on TV” products. He focuses exclusively towards the Direct Response TV arena which has resulted in the successful development of innovative TV marketing formats for a host of popular new products. He specializes in finding products, developing marketing strategies, and implementing the plans. His success stories include dramatic wins in both short-and long-form advertising and home shopping sales <br> <br> Period in full time business <br> <br> Never worked for anybody. Has owned businesses since he was 7 years old starting with lawn mowing/snow shovelling services and later while in high school, a painting company which put him through college. After college, he started an import company which led him to start his current business, Top Dog Direct. <br> <br> Was the first person to import products for QVC and also worked on air selling the products which led him to specialize in the “As Seen on TV” products industry. Made more than 3,000 appearances on air within a 5 year period. QVC later bought his 100-Million dollar import company <br> <br> Tough moments starting the import company and overcoming them <br> <br> Was fortunate enough to get his first client as QVC which depended on him wholly as their sole importer thus ensuring sustainable revenue for him in the long-term. <br> <br> Tip 1: Try to do one thing and do it very well <br> <br> Tip 2: In business, when you do what you do very well, clients automatically recommend you to other clients <br> <br> Reason for starting an import company and getting the first customer <br> <br> Got introduced to the import business by a friend who had experience and success in the industry. The friend gave him the necessary industry knowledge and contacts necessary to set up his import entity. <br> <br> Tip: Do not start a business without a game plan and make sure you develop a good business plan <br> <br> Finding manufacturers/suppliers for his products <br> <br> Currently works with the most established company in East Asia, Base4, which has offices across China, Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea. The company has been manufacturing all his products exclusively for the last 15 years. <br> <br> Growing the current business <br> <br> Doesn’t worry about growing the business, concentrates more on getting new products to keep sales going due to the fact that the “As Seen on TV” products business is primarily dependent on new products that attract demand. <br> <br> He finds products from inventors, produces them; and sells them on TV and through online channels <br> <br> Core revenue streams <br> <br> The primary sources of revenue are retailers and online channels which have so far been extremely profitable <br> <br> Product cycle from inventor to the market <br> <br> Takes product ideas from inventors and has his engineers develop CAD/CAM drawings. It can take up to 90 days to develop a mould of the product and an additional 30 to 45 days to put out a television commercial of the product after which the product is tested on television with $25,000 worth of media. When the product sells well on TV, Bill approaches retailers like Wal-Mart so they can buy the product in large scale. <br> <br> Works on 14 to 20 products a year with only 3 to 4 making to the market and thriving in terms of sales. Comes across thousands and sometimes tens of thousands of products every year. Constantly looks for new products online (for example, Kickstarter), Amazon, QVC, and other sources. <br> <br> Selling inventors’ products on TV without charging them any money upfront <br>
