Robin Boudreau (now Robin Palmer) started on Broadway. She played leading roles in Broadway musicals for years. Most notably she played Linda Ronstadt’s little sister in “The Pirates of Penzance” with Kevin Kline, co-starred opposite David Cassidy in “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” and sang “Memory” in “CATS,” in addition to other roles.

But these days Robin has a family and a typical, hectic lifestyle. And its that hectic life that gave Robin an idea and an invention. She kept waking up each morning, wishing she had an affordable personal trainer who would motivate her to wake up and work out, before the day’s schedule took over. “Necessity is the mother of invention!”

Robin created “My Workout Wake Up Call™”, a unique motivational alarm clock, featuring daily motivational messages that inspire listeners to wake up and work out! “My Workout Wake Up Call™” contains a month of eight to ten-minute messages.

“My Workout Wake Up Call™” inspires Robin and her husband to wake up in the morning and work out. She believes it has made a huge difference in their fitness–and she’s hoping her motivational alarm clock will become a national sensation. Check out Robin’s website at www.mywakeupcalls.net.

Wake and take center stage

“My Workout Wake Up Call™”

Besides finding new and interesting products as I travel around the US–I am also introduced to innovative websites. One that I use often is Buzzillions.com (www.buzzillions.com). This site is sort like TripAdvisor for products. With the help of a company called PowerReviews, Buzzillions surveys consumers that actually own the product in question. Then using an algorithm, they are able to rank products in that category. I find this very helpful. Very often hosts, anchors or viewers ask me what product they should purchase–which LCD TV or which point and shoot digital camera–I can’t test every product, but I can turn to Buzzillions. I find real feedback from real consumers is very refreshing. From ear buds to backpacks, Buzzillions has the information I need. I should also point out that they don’t sell any products–the site is editorial clean.
During my TV segments I often do a Buzzillions Face-Off, where I have the anchor/host guess which product consumers really preferred. I pit an equally priced top 1% product against a bottom 10%. Since the anchor hasn’t used the product, they are making a decision based on just the packaging and the reputation of the products brand–just as most consumers are forced to do when they shop on-line or in store. More times than not, the anchor/host picks the wrong product. It shows viewers that before they make a purchase–do the homework. That’s why when I travel I go to check out TripAdvisor and when I purchase a product I visit buzzillions.com

I am always being asked the question:
“How can I get my product on television?”
 
It’s a good question–
If you’re launching a product, television is a great way to start the process.
 
Besides being the author of Gadget Nation, board member of the United Inventors Association (UIA) and a featured contributor to SBTV.com,  I also appear just about every month on television showcasing innovative products in NYC, Philly, Wash DC, Seattle, San Francisco, Miami, Chicago, Houston, and several other TV markets.  A few times each year I also show up on NBC’s Today Show and the CBS Early Show.
 
If you’ve never seen one of my segments, here are a few links:
 
NBC’s Today Show (Wacky Summer Gadgets)

Each time after my segment hits the airwaves, inventors, small business owners and PR professionals hunt me down and ask if I can put their product in my segment.   I honestly appreciate hearing from people who have an innovative new product.  Over the years it is how I’ve found some of the best products for my segments.
 
But those same people need to understand that not every product pitched can make it into every segment and pitches need to short and to the point.
 
For a television gadget segment,  I’m looking for products that are fun to demonstrate and are easy for viewers to see and just about instantly understand the purpose of that product.   If the pitch to explain the product is 3 paragraphs long, then its probably a product I have to pass on.  Keep in mind, if the product does make my segment, I only get maybe 20-30 seconds to explain it to viewers.  When I email TV show producers about my segment, I only get one line per product to WOW them.  If they are not WOW-ed, the product is dropped
 
Twitter is all about passing information along within 140 characters—a good pitch for a product should be about that long.  In that brief pitch, you need to tell me what’s unique about the product.  Is it the “world’s first ever” or the “smallest” or maybe the “least expensive” whatever?  Give me something that makes this product “news worthy.”   What problem does it solve?  Why would viewers care about it?
 
And since my medium is television, the product needs to be visual and better still needs to actually be doing something when the cameras go to it.  Products that move or let the hosts interact with them usually move to the front of the line.  So if your product has an easy to demonstrate feature–let me know that–send a photo along or a link to YouTube so I can see your product in action.
 
Fun, interesting products make my segments fun and interesting.  If my segment is entertaining and informative, I’ve inviting back on to that show again.  So please help me help you to help me.