How to Get on Oprah's "Favorite Things" List

Each year around Christmas time, Oprah presents her "Favorite Things" list on her national television show. As a result, the products that she presents receive a major marketing boost. Oprah offers the products to everyone in her audience, causing a veritable frenzy on the company's websites and stores for the products that she gives away. Obviously, it would be a boon to any company to have its product featured on Oprah's list. How do you make this happen? It's difficult because there's a lot of competition, but here's how to increase the odds of having your product featured on Oprah's "Favorite Things" list.

Research the things Oprah loves for the first six months of the year. You can do this by picking up her magazine, "O," and looking at her monthly feature, "The O List." This will show you the types of products that Oprah likes well enough to feature on her "Favorite Things" list. If you don't already have a subscription to "O," you can obtain one here: oprah.com/magazine/omagazine

Compare these products with your own product and decide if it is similar to a product that Oprah has already featured.

Start contacting the show's producers in July about possibly sending a sample of your product to them for consideration. July is the month that the producers begin looking for great products for Christmas. You can contact them via email or phone, both of which are available on the Oprah website's contact page: oprah.com/contactus.

Relate how you started your company and how the product development came about. The Oprah producers love products that have good backstories.

Send samples of your product to the producers if approved verbally or in writing. You can send samples to P.O. Box 909715, Chicago, IL 60690-9715.

Make sure that you have enough product for the entire audience and for the increase in demand for your product if approved. Products are donated in large quantities to Oprah's audience in exchange for the promotional appeal of Oprah's show.