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Kevin Harrington, CEO of TVGoods.com LLC, cofounder of OmniReliant Holdings, Inc., and former judge on ABC’s hit television show Shark Tank is widely acknowledged as the pioneer and principal architect of the “infomercial” industry. With more than 500 product launches resulting in sales of over $4 billion worldwide; twenty of these products reached individual sales of over $100 million, creating dozens of millionaires. In 1991, Harrington’s first company, Quantum International, which began in the mid-1980s, merged with National Media and grew into a multinational corporation with $500 million in annual sales and distribution in more than 100 countries.
In addition, Harrington’s philanthropy has established two important global networking associations; the Entrepreneur’s Organization (E.O.) and the Electronic Retailing Association (ERA).
Favorite Success Quote
“Whatever you vividly imagine, ardently desire, sincerely believe and enthusiastically act upon, must inevitably come to pass.” – Paul Meyer
Key Points
1. Develop a “Curiosity Overload”
One of the hallmark traits of excellent entrepreneurs is that they suffer from an acute “disease” called curiosity overload.
They are constantly exploring new industries, trends, and ideas and thinking of ways that they can provide value to each one.
Great entrepreneurs all have an insatiable curiosity for learning new things and expanding their horizons beyond what most people would consider normal.
Whether they are attending tradeshows on new industries, going go to conferences about unconventional marketing tactics, or just subscribing to magazines that aren’t directly related to their own business, they are always curious and always eager to know more.
2. Don’t Keep All of Your Eggs in One Basket
The greatest mistake that most entrepreneur, investors, and even freelancers make is that they keep all of their eggs in one basket.
They bet all of their chips on one hand, and when that hand falls through… they are screwed.
Diversity is not just a buzz word in the political and corporate worlds, it is a motto that you should live by.
You need to make sure that you diversify your business as much as possible.
Never take on clients who will make up more than 50% of your bottom line, because as soon as you lose them you are in deep trouble.
Always have multiple streams of revenue, and work as hard as you can to ensure that your life would not be majorly affected by the total collapse of any one pursuit.
3. If You Want to Succeed in Any Endeavor then Get Passionate
If you want to succeed, then you need passion.
If you don’t have passion for something then you are not going to go after it.
But there is a caveat here that most people don’t realize.
Your passion doesn’t have to be for your industry or company.
You can be passionate about the lifestyle that you are creating, the people that you can help, or just the wealth and the freedom that you are going to build.
You don’t have to be passionate about the product you are selling or the company you are building (although that certainly helps) as long as you can find a way to elicit feelings of massive passion around your business, you will find a way to succeed.
4. Do It Yourself and Make it Happen
If you want to be a winner then stop waiting for permission and make it happen.
Winners make it happen.
Winners go and get what they want while everyone else waits to be handed what they want.
Cut the excuses and cut the crap.
Take massive action, rely on yourself, and go after your dreams.
5. Experience Always Trump Education
Even though there are instances where a formal education is necessary (practicing law, medicine, or accounting), in most entrepreneurial endeavors, the person with the most experience always wins.
So often, young men go to college because that is what they are “supposed” to do, not because it is congruent with their goals and mission.
If you really want to succeed as an entrepreneur, then focus on experience and not on education.
Go work for a highly successful entrepreneur for free until you can learn exactly what they did to achieve success.
Spend the $120,000 you would have spent on school and spend it flying out to meet mentors and learning from people who have what you want.
Experience is the mother of all success.
So unless you have a very strategic reason for attending college, you should probably forgo your formal education and focus on gaining experience instead.
Influential Books
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook by Gary Vaynerchuck
Act Now by Kevin Harrington
