The Oprah Effect In Harlem And Beyond: Personal Finance

Business

Talk show superstar Oprah Winfrey is one of the most well known cultural and financial icons of our time. If you’re lucky enough to create a product she loves, a mention on her show just might make you a millionaire!

The Oprah Effect

Getting on the Oprah Winfrey show could be the biggest opportunity of someone’s life.  About 20 companies strike gold every year when their products are featured on Oprah’s yearly “Favorite Things” show.

Oprah’s Favorite Things — Spanx

In 2000, Oprah chose Spanx shape wear as one of her “Favorite Things.” The Atlanta-based clothing company quickly sold $50 thousand products in just three months. The company has helped millions of women feel a size smaller and made $350 million in retail sales along the way.

Oprah’s Favorite Things — Garrett’s Popcorn

In 2002 and 2005, Oprah selected Garrett Popcorn as one of her favorite things. The Chicago based company had a hunch there would be a rise in sales – but not to the extent that occurred. The afternoon of the broadcast in 2002, the company had 100,000 web hits and the sales for the month of December increased by 100 percent. Garrett Popcorn went from making popcorn eight hours a day to 24 hours a day.

Oprah’s Favorite Things — Kindle

One of the most recent and dramatic examples of the Oprah Effect is with Kindle, a wireless reading device launched by Amazon.com. Oprah introduced the Kindle on her show on October 24, 2008 and offered a special discount code for Oprah viewers to receive $50 off of their purchase. Sales went through the roof and Kindle sold out of inventory during the 2008 holiday season.

Oprah’s Favorite Things — We Take the Cake

The mention of Lori Karmel’s struggling “We Take the Cake” bakery shop on The Oprah Winfrey show in 2004 pulled her company back to life and out of bankruptcy.

Today, the company’s sales are more than $1 million a year. The ultimate icing on the cake is Lori and her team now bakes high-end wedding cakes for posh hotels that sell for $5,000 to $20,000 each.

Oprah’s Favorite Things — Carol’s Daughter

Lisa Price has loved fragrances ever since she was a child. Her mother encouraged her to make and sell her own fragrances at a flea market more than 15 years ago.

An appearance on ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’ took the small business to the world stage. Today, Carol’s Daughter is a multi-million dollar company with her headquarters in Harlem.

Oprah’s Favorite Things — LAFCO

LAFCO’s Jon Bresler and Vincent LaRouche found a 120-year-old artisanal soap factory in Europe called, Ach Brito. This great find is where LAFCO began making its long-lasting, luxurious, handmade soaps to export to the US. Once this luxury soap made it on Oprah, sales peaked over a million dollars in just 30 days. The impact of Oprah’s show takes LAFCO to a whole new level of business.

Celebrity Status

Oprah also boosts many a career from Dr. Phil to Rachael Ray to Dr. Oz. Starting out as professionals in the fields of psychology, cooking or medicine, each has their own talk show and a new level of celebrity status, thanks to Oprah. Dr. Phil specifically is the author of six #1 New York Times bestsellers and is ranked the second highest-rated daytime talk show in the nation behind, of course, Oprah.

Oprah’s Book Club

In 1996, Oprah’s career hits a pivotal landmark when she starts a book club. The book club ads another dimension to Oprah’s talk show and she’s received praise for converting a nation of viewers into a nation of readers.

Her book club recommendations have had a huge impact on publishers and authors alike. In this photo Oprah stands with Toni Morrison, author of Song of Solomon, an Oprah recommended book.

Living Oprah

What could this Chicago blogger and yoga instructor possibly have to do with Oprah? Everything. Robyn Okrant is the founder of livingoprah.com. For one entire year she conducts her living Oprah experiment and follows Oprah’s every word. Okrant puts Oprah’s advice to the test. The results? She gains notoriety, her blog reaches an estimated 10,000 readers a week and she has a book deal in the works.

Media Coach Susan Harrow

What does it take to get on the Oprah Show? Ask Susan Harrow, the author of “The Ultimate Guide to Getting Booked on Oprah.” As a successful media coach, whose phone rings off the hook with clients, she will help coach you on TV presence, how to speak in sound bites, and even how to pitch ideas to Oprah’s producers. Some of Harrow’s most successful clients have expanded their businesses so much that they are speaking worldwide and acquiring seven-figure book deals.