Oprah & Me

The amazing effect Oprah has on businesses has quite the opposite effect on my checking account. Yes, I have every book in the Book Club and yes I am an O Magazine subscriber, and if Oprah told me that the sun was purple I would believe her. I have no shame in this. None. But the most important business that Oprah has led me into is the business of giving and this began in 1997 when she started the Oprah Angel Network.

The Angel Network has been able to award funds to hundreds of organizations throughout the United States and in more than 30 countries around the world, helping numerous individuals by improving access to education, protecting basic rights and so much more.

With Free The Children, Oprah’s Angel Network built more than 55 schools in 12 countries, providing education for thousands of children in rural areas throughout the world.Oprah’s Angel Network provided more than $1 million worth of school supplies, including school uniforms and shoes, to 18,000 impoverished South African children.As part of the Hurricane Katrina and Rita recovery efforts, the Network helped more than 1,000 families get back into their homes and helped build or restore more than 400 homes in eight communities across Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama.Through Oprah’s Book Club Awards, Oprah’s Angel Network provided books for under-resourced children in regions where a book club selection is set. For example, book club awards were distributed in Beijing, China for “The Good Earth” by Pearl S. Buck and in St. Petersburg, Russia for “Anna Karenina” by Leo Tolstoy.http://oprahsangelnetwork.org

At some point in life someone has probably told you that one person can make a difference, that one person can change someones life and usually you will just grin and nod....but Oprah makes me believe it. That's why she rules my world.

  
Disclaimer: The opinions or statements expressed here are my own and should not be taken as a position, opinion, or endorsement of Sinclair Community College.

Oprah in the Community

Oprah has moved into the neighborhood.....kind of. A local business at the Greene is selling an Infinity scarf that was featured on the Oprah show and in O magazine.They are using Oprah as a marketing tool.

 Using Oprah's endorsement of the scarves have brought people in the door. whether they buy anything or not hasn't actually been determined. when I saw this sign the first thing I thought was, "Does this actually help in a small area like this?" I know that mentioning things on a show with millions of viewers helps in sales no matter what. According to the manager the scarf is now one of their biggest sellers.. As I tend to live in Oprah land I'm going to say that the sign has made this so. The lure of Oprah is to great to resist.

 I think I will try out the Oprah effect my self during the bake sale this week. All I need is a bright sign that says Oprah loves my cupcakes. I'm sure they will go flying out the door.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3C5_eBEe5Q


Disclaimer: The opinions or statements expressed here are my own and should not be taken as a position, opinion, or endorsement of Sinclair Community College.

Oprah Down Under

At the beginning of her 25th and final season Oprah surprised her audience with an all expenses paid, 8 day and 7 night trip tp Australia.Apparently Ms. O wanted to outdo herself for her final season premiere. I'm pretty sure she did.

Even more surprised after this announcement were the people of Australia. Turns out the country will be footing the $3 million dollar bill in hopes that it will boost Australia's economy. martin Ferguson Australia's Tourism Minister, believes it is a small price to pay to have Oprah in Australia filming her show. he says that having Oprah there for the price of $3 million dollars will bring in more revenue than the millions they have spent in the past trying to do the same.http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=611951&publicationSubCategoryId=200

Only time will really tell if this will pay off. On a personal note, I am going to Australia next fall and I noticed that there were a few more hits on the website I browse after this announcement was made. Of course I'm sure we would all go to Australia if someone else were footing the bill.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBpiOp9vnls

Disclaimer: The opinions or statements expressed here are my own and should not be taken as a position, opinion, or endorsement of Sinclair Community College.

As If Being The Queen Of Daytime Wasn't Enough.......

O: The Oprah Magazine, is a monthly magazine founded by Oprah and first published on April  19, 2000. As of June 2010 the total circulation was 2.6 million which, like everything else she does, gives Oprah one of the top ten selling magazines in the country.

Getting published in O is like winning the Academy Award. It is a distinction that can take you from a virtual nobody to a giant in business in just a few short months. One at home entrepreneur who had an article written about her in an issue of the magazine, saw her sales rise by 160% in one month. She now sells her homemade lotions at major department stores around the country.

Just like her T.V. show, Oprah also has a spread in the magazine about her favorite things for the month. Also, like the T.V. show, the things on this list become instant best-sellers and sell out within days of the magazine being printed and sent out. Electra's Ladies Bicycle was listed in the July issue and now has back-orders through December. They expect their revenue to triple that of last year's.http://www.allbusiness.com/retail-trade/miscellaneous-retail-miscellaneous/4144702-1.html

Two simple sentences in O Magazine and you are making more money than you ever thought possible. I believe I will trade in this paralegal business and devote my life to inventing something and being featured on the O List.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQ0qkT55Ui4

Disclaimer: The opinions or statements expressed here are my own and should not be taken as a position, opinion, or endorsement of Sinclair Community College.

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things.......

Oprah’s Favorite Things is a show that airs every year, usually around the holidays. On the show Oprah shares products with her audience that she feels are noteworthy or that would make a great gift. In addition, the audience members present during the taping of the episode receive items from that year’s list for free, which as you may know send them into what looks like a drug-crazed frenzy.

The list is mighty, and usually consists of things most people wouldn't or couldn't buy for themselves. One good thing about the show is the fact that the audience is usually filled with people who deserve these things. The audience has ranged from school teachers, Hurricane Katrina victims, and volunteer workers. If, like me, you are a believer in all that is Oprah, you can find a list of her favorite things at http://www.oprah.com.

The effect that Oprah's Favorite Things Show has on business is astronomical as should be expected. One company, Garrett's Popcorn in Chicago, had over 100,00 hits on their website that afternoon alone. Sales increased by over 100% in the month of December according to the company's vice-president Scott Schroeder. (FYI: everyone should have this popcorn at least once in their life).

Another example is a business called “We Take the Cake”. Oprah decided to select it for her Favorite Things in 2004.  The impact following that episode caused “We Take the Cake” to get so many phone orders that their voicemail would fill up every 45 seconds. It crashed their web server and helped to double their sales.The bakery was soon selling their cakes through the Neiman Marcus catelog, their batter to Whole Foods, and they are now baking wedding cakes for high-end resorts for the tune of $5,000 to $20,000. "We Take the Cake" is now estimated to gross over one million dollars a year.

I wish Oprah would make me one of her Favorite Things.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coAYrOvWlxM

 

Disclaimer: The opinions or statements expressed here are my own and should not be taken as a position, opinion, or endorsement of Sinclair Community College.

You Get a Car! You Get a Car! You Get a Car!

At the start of her 19th season Oprah gave everyone in her audience a brand new Pontiac G-6 worth $28,400. Pontiac also agreed to pay all of the sales tax on each car. Everyone in the audience was chosen because someone they knew had written in to tell of how bad their cars were and why they deserved a new one.http://money.cnn.com/2004/09/13/news/newsmakers/oprah/

Website searches for Pontiac increased by 1000% the day of the show which led to Pontiac having a waitlist of over 300 people in one day. This gave Pontiac estimated sales of over 8 million dollars. This was the biggest single-day waitlist in Pontiac's history according to GM.

Once again, with a few words, Oprah helped a company make more money in a day then they usually make in a few months. The G6 model went from a relatively unknown make of Pontiac to one of their best sellers that year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcI-rHO0yko

  Disclaimer: The opinions or statements expressed here are my own and should not be taken as a position, opinion, or endorsement of Sinclair Community College.

Book Club

Oprah's Book Club started as a feature on The Oprah Winfrey Show in 1996 and has become one of of the most influential forces in publishing. When Oprah announces a book club selection on her show, the book's sales often push into the millions.It's the greatest force in publishing today, with the power to raise authors from the dead (Leo Tolstoy) or crucify them on the national stage (James Frey).

  
According to an article featured in The New York Times, book selections from Oprah's Book Club resulted in sales of more than a million copies each. Deep End of the Ocean by Jacquelyn Mitchard, one of the first books featured on the show, held 71 weeks on USA Today's bestseller list as a result of Oprah's book recommendation. Nineteen years after it was published, Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon became a bestseller again in 1996 and went through 10 reprintings when selected.

 

The all-powerful Oprah Book Club is not so much a club as an influential marketing vehicle, with the power to alter best-seller lists, Amazon rankings and royalty payments. Random House alone, with 21 of the titles selected, has received a windfall of $100 million over the run. A few years ago when Oprah decided to take a hiatus from the Book Club,  the announcement caused one publishing executive to exclaim "Holy sh**!"  Exactly.

  Disclaimer: The opinions or statements expressed here are my own and should not be taken as a position, opinion, or endorsement of Sinclair Community College.