“Incredible Discoveries” Sets Up Phone Appointment
I unexpectedly received a call from Incredible Discoveries. They want to set up an appointment with me to discuss some “possibilities”.
It is strictly an initial first-contact, exploratory call. The conversation went quickly where the purpose was to set up an appointment to discuss further with a “Senior Director of New Product Development”.
I am certainly intrigued with what they have in mind. However, at this point, I am unclear. The call was a bit of a blur and I think they mentioned something about “lease-options”.
I am guessing they noticed some of my lease-option books and they want to explore the idea of a new lease-options product and see if it is feasible for an infomercial.
I am not overwhelmingly optimistic because I think most infomercials don’t really tell it like it is and it is overwhelmingly salesy. I really don’t want or need the “ick” factor attached to my name.
Update: You can read my impression of the subsequent phone calls. Basically, Incredible Discoveries wanted $75,000 from me to “get started”. I got very suspicious and quickly said, “No thank you”.
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The latest information can be found on The Incredible Discoveries Information Page.
June 21, 2007 @ 9:58 am
HI Matthew-
I understand the skepticism people have with infomercials- some of it is certainly warranted. I mean for years the medium was relegated to pitchmen and fortune tellers with fake Jamiacan accents.
These days however the advertising community at large has seen the infomercial segment as a new and far less expensive way to introduce products to market. Example:
Say, you’ve got a product- a book maybe- and dealing with distributors and publishers who have agreed to get the book made, but aren’t allocating any money to marketing the book. You’ve got it on shelves but since no one has heard of it, no one is buying it.
Now you decide that books tours and fairs and college campuses and whatever else, just aren’t moving product so you start to expand your ideas of how to get the book noticed- after all you did spend significant time writing the thing.
If you’ve got 25 million dollars laying around you produce a commcerial, buy airtime on nationwide television and try like the dickens to tell the story of your book to the world in the alotted 30 second time frame. At the end of the day you’ll never have any real measurement of how your commcerial and the consumer were able to interact and how the airing affected sales.
Welcome infomercial. Longer format with more time to really form a contextual relationship with the consumer. Far less expensive and I mean far less. PLus, you are generally airing in targted markets nationwide. Now here’s the real kicker: you are airing say a 28 minute infomercial (versus a 30 second commercial) and getting heaps of exposure for your book, plus you are actually generating at least some amount of revenue because people are calling to buy the product. The real goal for an infomercial is to at the very least make $1 for every dollar you spent producing the infomercial and buying media time. If you look at it that way, you just got national television exposure in a 28 minute format with no clutter and it cost you nil.
Man, so many big fortune 500’s are using this medium now you’d be surprised: Amex, nearly every pharmaceutical company, Proctor & Gamble, etc.
Be skeptical like you are with all your business decisions, but I wouldn’t count out the infomercial medium.
June 25, 2007 @ 2:31 am
Spection,
Thank you for the well thought out reply. I am typically an optimist and am open to opportunities in its various and sometimes unexpected forms. That is why I am still willing to hear this out. I have not totally counted it out but I will certainly be listening for the details.
I am a big believer in publicity and exposure but I also think that the kind you get is relevant. It is so difficult to build positive, credible exposure and it is so easy to tear it down.
Currently, I do not target the “general population” although my products are available and affordable to almost anyone. I focus on tight markets right now and it will be interest to hear how an infomercial producer might interpret my materials.
The nice thing about Internet marketing is greater control. And I am beginning to get more practice in using video to tell our message. I know it is never the same since TV reaches a whole lot more people. But maybe this conversation will stretch my brain a bit.
I tend to believe an infomercial can only be as good as its producers and directors.
Matthew Chan
June 25, 2007 @ 8:03 am
Before making any type of investment in a so-called “infomercial” (especially based upon phone solicitation only), companies are urged to invest the time into due diligence.
Research, research, research. If a production company has had a long-standing history of legitimacy, they should be able to provide numerous references with documented media airings, profit, etc. Don’t think for a moment that people won’t fabricate references, as this assumption may cost you quite a bit of money. Take advantage of “Google,” and you’ll be surprised as to what you might uncover.
To that regard, there was a comment made here about an entry on the “Rip Off Report” (likely linked from Google), which gave me pause for thought. You see, although I did not author the post (which in fact uncovered just some of the truth about a South Florida company that now calls itself “Incredible Discoveries”), I could have. In fact, anyone else who even briefly worked for “Tricom Picutures” “Intermediate Marketing Management” “Park Bench Productions” or whatever the people known as “Incredible Discoveries” call themselves today (Immediate Capitol Group ?), can vouch for the accuracy of the “Rip Off Report” post. Every word of that entry is not only true, it just scratches the surface of this type of operation.
This leads me to a possible conclusion that perhaps a financial transaction is what brought about any “vindication” of this company by “Ripoff Report”, since it certainly wasn’t the truth that did so. It is important, therefore, to understand that even if a company like “Incredible Discoveries” has produced and aired one or even a couple of legitimate infomercials, this does not negate the scores of other companies the principals did business with, for which a production never aired.
Florida’s civil court records are accessible online. (www.netronline.com – Public Records Online). It is well worth the time and effort for any company considering an investment with any company in this state, to research public records (in the case of Incredible Discoveries, a search in Broward and Palm Beach counties would be a good starting point) for any history of civil litigation.
As to this particular company, it is important to do research of all other names they were known by, such as “Site2Shop”, “Hispanic Direct”, “Buyers Shopping Network,” “National Shopping Club,” “Great Buys Television,” “Park Bench Productions”, etc.
Each of the above entities has a significant amount of civil action involving them. Whether as plaintiff or defendant, one cannot help but ask the question: “Why would a legitimate production company have to be involved in any type of dispute, involving either non-payment of “vendor fees” or allegation of lack of “specific performance” under the terms of an agreement ?
For any company wanting to do an infomercial, their best bet would be to contact the people responsible for “The Magic Bullet”, and other products with a well known history of success via television marketing. It also wouldn’t hurt to contact legitimate TV Shopping channels like QVC and HSN, and ask if they’ve ever heard anything about a company you are considering doing business with.
Any and all disreputable companies, no matter what they are holding themselves out to be, should come under investigation and be held to account for all wrong doings. Anything less would be injustice for all. I guess the best one can hope for in situations like this is justice for some.
June 25, 2007 @ 10:10 am
Hello Justice,
I want to make it clear that although I am fairly ignorant of the infomercial business, I have a healthy dose of caution on my side. Additionally, unlike some other entrepreneurs, doing an infomercial as a way to market products is not something I have ever seriously considered. Even if I do consider it, I have no interest in funding or sponsoring such an endeavor.
The only way I would consider it is if it was similar to a publishers arrangement where they fronted all the production costs and I provide the talent/knowledge/product. It is not that I am unable or above financing my own marketing efforts. I am simply aware of my own ignorance.
I am not going to fund something that I have no clue or experience in. And like I have said to Incredible Discoveries and publicly, I have a bias against infomercials because of the things I have seen and the stories I have heard.
But I also cannot throw out the baby with the bathwater. I do like your advice on due diligence however. It makes a lot of sense. Thank you for your comments here.
Matthew Chan
Incredible discoveries | Keglerscorner
June 2, 2011 @ 2:00 am
[…] “Incredible Discoveries” Sets Up Phone Appointment | MatthewI unexpectedly received a call from Incredible Discoveries. They want to set up an appointment with me to discuss some possibilities. It is strictly an … The latest information can be found on The Incredible Discoveries Information Page. […]