Today, I had a nice long conversation with my Toy & Game Broker, Mike Marra from Marra Design Associates and I told him that I submitted my board game, “Global Quest” to the Shark Tank on ABC TV today. Since he watches that show religiously and has had a friend that was actually on the show, this is what he had to say…
The judges on the Shark Tank TV show are investors, which means they are not going to be doing any work for you. They are simply investing their money and are looking for a return on their investment. As a result, when you are on the show, the first thing they are going to ask you is, “What are you sales numbers like?” Just like a major toy company that you might pitch to license your next great toy or game, they want to see if you have been able to sell several thousand pieces in a short period of time (i.e. one year) on your own before they consider investing in you. If you don’t have a proven sales record, then more than likely, they are not going to invest in your product or service.
He also said that sometimes, another way you might be able to get onto ABC's Shark Tank with just a prototype is if you have an absolutely ridiculous and/or dangerous idea (i.e. An alarm clock that awakes you by cooking bacon in your room. Imagine how quickly that would cause a fire in your house, much less trying to avoid food poisoning from leaving uncooked bacon exposed in the open over night before you cook it.) Since this is a reality show, they are looking for ideas like this for the sole purpose of embarrassing these types of individuals. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want my 15 minutes of fame to be from humiliating myself in front of millions of viewers around the world.
Here’s the kicker. He told me that he had a friend that was a contestant on the show but was turned down by all the judges. His friend mentioned that even if your product is rejected by all the judges and you still decide to go out on your own to make a business and sell your product that was on the show, then the ABC or the Shark Tank TV show (I'm not sure which) still gets approximately 10% of all your profits because they gave you national exposure on television. Can you believe that?!?!
If after reading all of this advice, you still want to submit your product or invention to Shark Tank, their instructions are to submit your name, age, contact info, a recent photo (no larger than 1 MB) and a brief NON-CONFIDENTIAL description of your business product or idea to SharkTankCasting@yahoo.com.
NOTE: Before you email the Shark Tank TV show, make sure to go to their website first and read their “Terms of Use”: Here is the Shark Tank TV casting link. Good luck!
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
My Toy Broker
This blog is response to all the great feedback I received for my previous blog, Finding the Best Toy & Game Broker/Agent.
Today, I contacted Michael Marra from Marra Design Associates, LLC and I told him about how many of you were asking about him. This is why I really like the guy - we had about a 40 minute conversation on the phone about the toy and game industry; getting feedback about my idea to put my board game on the TV show called, "Shark Tank"; and games that he's created that have done well and others that did not. He's very genuine and really seems to love what he does with a sincere desire to help give people the best advice and direction.
What separates Marra Design from other Toy and Game Brokers is that they do not take your game to toy fairs and try to pitch your game or toy to major toy companies. Michael explained that this is because the major toy companies are at the toy fair to attract buyers to buy their latest and greatest products. (This makes sense, because I remember when I once attended the New York Toy Fair and Mattel and Hasbro had their areas sealed off and only open to buyers, not inventors.) Instead, because Marra Design has been bringing new Toy and Game products to market and for the past 22 years, buyers from major toy and game companies come to him!
For those of you that want the contact information for Marra Design, here you go! (Tell him Luis Aponte from "Treasure Hold 'Em" and "Global Quest" sent you!) Michael is a good guy and I think you will have a good experience with him. Good luck!
Marra Design and Associates
Website: http://www.marradesign.com/
Phone: (952) 937-8141
Fax: (952)934-1180
Email: mda1mike@aol.com
Address: 7007 Dakota Ave., Chanhassen, MN 55317
Today, I contacted Michael Marra from Marra Design Associates, LLC and I told him about how many of you were asking about him. This is why I really like the guy - we had about a 40 minute conversation on the phone about the toy and game industry; getting feedback about my idea to put my board game on the TV show called, "Shark Tank"; and games that he's created that have done well and others that did not. He's very genuine and really seems to love what he does with a sincere desire to help give people the best advice and direction.
What separates Marra Design from other Toy and Game Brokers is that they do not take your game to toy fairs and try to pitch your game or toy to major toy companies. Michael explained that this is because the major toy companies are at the toy fair to attract buyers to buy their latest and greatest products. (This makes sense, because I remember when I once attended the New York Toy Fair and Mattel and Hasbro had their areas sealed off and only open to buyers, not inventors.) Instead, because Marra Design has been bringing new Toy and Game products to market and for the past 22 years, buyers from major toy and game companies come to him!
For those of you that want the contact information for Marra Design, here you go! (Tell him Luis Aponte from "Treasure Hold 'Em" and "Global Quest" sent you!) Michael is a good guy and I think you will have a good experience with him. Good luck!
Marra Design and Associates
Website: http://www.marradesign.com/
Phone: (952) 937-8141
Fax: (952)934-1180
Email: mda1mike@aol.com
Address: 7007 Dakota Ave., Chanhassen, MN 55317
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