Planting the Seed

I had a call last week from a great voice-over talent that I've worked with for years. He had read my book and it reminded him of a project that he had done some work on a number of years before. He asked me to give him an evaluation on the project and I agreed.

Without disclosing too much, I'll say it was a music collection in a very strong genre, the songs recorded, all packaged and ready to go. The group had taken it straight to WalMart, who of course, offered them the worst terms in the world and so they let the whole project slip off the burner altogether. That was a few years ago.

Reading my book and especially the part about starting first on TV as the best way to get to retail, and making sure WalMart was the last stop on the retail line, Mike got fired up, called me and we talked about it at great length. I listened to some of the songs yesterday, Mike and I spoke at some length and I think there may be something there. The music is done, I think it would be a charming 90 second, or 2 minute DRTV spot, selling a couple of CD's for $20 or so and it should go, if handled correctly, almost directly into retail.

The big catch there is if it's handled correctly. You see, what needs to happen with a product like this is the TV commercial becomes the "retail driver". People see the commercial and if they don't order, the chances of converting them when they see it in retail are much higher and of course, the retailers all know that!!

Naturally, we'd love to have the TV spot make money, but it would also be fine if it just made enough to pay for itself running on TV and "driving" those retail sales.

The point of all this is, if you put your time and passion into creating something you love, you may have an opportunity to do something substantial with it, like make money from your passion.

Of course, there are no guarantees, but these folks have taken what could be a very exciting step into turning this project into something. And the investment on their side?? They don't need to put up any money, if they are asked to put up money, then there's a good chance they're getting scammed, one of the most common rip-offs in this business....now I need to see if we can put this together and who will want to put it on the air..
I will keep you posted on progress...
Keep your eyes peeled for ideas, products, new angles on old ideas...the next better mousetrap is always out there..
Mark O