And Just When You Thought It Was All Over...

So I wake up yesterday morning preparing for my "Friday" in my workspace since lately I've been working in there Sunday - Wednesday. Not long after I wrote the rant about the sales rep you see below I got an email from - of all people - a producer for The Early Show. You know, that big national show on CBS every weekday morning. Yeah, the one that's seen by apparently 2.8million viewers every day (based on the only stat I could find from January '08). Um, Wow.

They had heard about us (no idea how, I asked but they never told me) and they wanted to know if they could have samples for their gift show centered around my industry that will be broadcasting next week. They even offered to return the samples after the show. I, of course, said yes and told them they could just keep the samples and share them with the staff. So I boxed up a few samples yesterday and dropped another $75 to get them overnighted. If nothing else I'm keeping FedEx in the black these days.

I'm hoping I'm being smarter about it this time then I was with People Magazine. I realized while looking at the People Magazine spread that I think one reason I may have gotten cut is that I don't think I sent the right photo. I sent some damn good photos but not something that worked with their layout. I totally blame myself for that oversight. I even worked as a freelance writer for some major consumer publications at one point in my past - I should have been thinking like a reporter and not a product manufacturer. At the end of the day a reporter (for a consumer publication - not necessarily a news organization) is looking for photos that will fit properly with their layout and I don't think what I sent was right.

So this time, trying to approach it more like a journalist, I tried to envision what would look good on TV. One box of product wasn't enough so I sent one of each variety (a seasonal and an 'everyday' version of the product they requested). Then I realized that I should probably send more than one of each so that they can show the boxes closed up and beautifully packaged but also show what the inside of the box looks like. And, since the product is a 'make-it-yourself' type of thing I also sent them several samples of the finished product - which are damn cute if I do say so myself - figuring that the final product is also part of the visual appeal of the product. Now I need you to pray for two things for me - an incredibly slow news day so that they don't preempt the segment with late-breaking news (and heh, a slow news day is really a good day for everyone being that there are no emergencies) and that they actually choose my product this time. If you're interested, the segment is supposed to air sometime during the Tuesday morning broadcast. You can garuntee I'll be glued to the TV with a cup of coffee starting bright and early at 6:59am.

Course now I'm vexing over how much product to have on hand. Will this segment air? If so, will they choose my product? If so, will people be intrigued enough to click through and buy? And if so, how much do I need to be prepared for? Part of me thinks I should just suck it up and build up as much inventory. Not including what I have on hand, I could essentially spend approx another $1200-$1500. That would leave the opportunity (assuming all of the above align correctly) to make about $5000-$6000. Yet the other part of me, while knowing that $1500 is peanuts for many businesses, is just sick and tired of putting things onto the credit card and is just ready to get it paid off and take a rest through the end of the year. Plus there's that little voice in the back of my head that worries that I'll spend the money and it won't result in any additional sales. The good news is that I can just use the products next year so they wouldn't totally go to waste, but I'm thinking that AMEX wants to get paid sooner rather than later. Got any advice?