Telebrand's Founder Looking For Next American Inventor

For all the wanna-be inventors out there, the “As Seen on TV” infomercial king, AJ Khubani, is holding auditions for the next hottest egg slicer, singing bird clock, fog-free shower mirror or other must-have product to sell on late-night TV.

In true American Idol style, Khubani is taking his quest on the road. Visiting several cities across the country, a panel of judges is giving everyone from toilet brush entrepreneurs to vibrating rake inventors a chance to convince them why Americans simply cannot live without their product.

In a time of emerging social media, why all the buzz over infomercials? For one thing, with an estimated increase of 10 percent of businesses using direct response TV, many small companies are thriving according to an article published in the Wall Street Journal last year.

For example, Khubani’s company, TeleBrands Corp., creator of the PedEgg foot-care product, reported a 30 percent increase in profits over the previous year and Shamwow maker, Square One Entertainment, has reportedly sold 48 million of the handy wipes since its launch in late 2007. Smart for Life has also had great success. After investing $600,000 to produce two spots in 2008, they have since sold over $22 million worth of weight loss meals and products.

With a decrease in the cost of television advertising time, direct response TV offers businesses the opportunity to reach a wider audience for less money with a faster measurement of results. Sam Catanese, president and chief executive of Infomercial Monitoring Service Inc. told the WSJ that tough economic times has a lot to do with this. “The recession means more sales as businesses are getting better air time at lesser prices and more people are watching in places they weren’t watching before."

But with 25 years in this business, Khubani also warns that infomercials aren’t for everyone. “Our new product launches fail 90% of the time, and that’s one of the highest batting averages in the industry,” he said.

So even if your company has the next Snuggie or Clapper, Khubani reminds small businesses looking to sell products through infomercials that they still have to evaluate their products closely through good market research. That, and using a little flair to sell your invention to the judges may just help you make it through to the next round.