\n<\/p>\n
Dr. Forbes Riley built her career in front of the camera, turning products into must-haves and generating more than $2.5 billion in cumulative sales. Over the course of three decades, she became a fixture on home shopping networks like QVC and HSN and the driving force behind 197 infomercials, mastering the psychology of what makes people say yes and pull out their credit cards to buy a product.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In 2020, at the height of her success, Riley made an unexpected pivot. She stepped away from selling products to teach the one skill that powered every deal she had ever closed: how to pitch.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What began as a bet on herself quickly gained traction. Riley launched the Ultimate Pitch Academy and scaled it to $1 million in revenue within nine months. Today, the business generates millions of dollars a month. She trains a wide range of clients, from entrepreneurs and executives to stay-at-home moms, on how to communicate. In total, more than 100,000 people have gone through her programs, all learning a skill Riley says is at the core of every success story: the ability to sell an idea.<\/p>\n
The following interview has been lightly edited for clarity and concision.\u00a0<\/p>\n How did you generate $2.5 billion in sales?<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s cumulative over about 30 years, through a combination of home shopping and infomercials. I helped pioneer the infomercial industry after starting out as a TV actress on shows like 24 and The Practice. That evolved into projects like the George Foreman Grill, which sold hundreds of millions of dollars.<\/p>\n How did you actually get into pitching on TV?<\/strong><\/p>\n I walked into an audition as an actress and saw a pen on the desk with a note that said, \u201cSell me this pen.\u201d I thought it was stupid because I hadn\u2019t grown up with money and selling made me uncomfortable. So I told a story about my mother writing me longhand letters when I went to college at 15 and how a pen could touch someone\u2019s heart. Jake Steinfeld, who created Fitness Plus, one of the first 24-hour cable networks where the last 15 minutes of every hour were dedicated to selling health and wellness products, came out from behind the camera, grabbed my face and basically said, \u201cYou\u2019re going to be a star.\u201d<\/p>\n Why do people call you the \u201cgodmother of TikTok Shop\u201d?<\/strong><\/p>\n On Fitness Plus, I hosted one product after another\u2014ab machines, tooth whiteners, bread makers, roller skates, you name it\u2014and over five years, I pitched about 1,500 different products. That network sold for $500 million in 1993, and a lot of what people now call influencer marketing is built on that format we created back then.<\/p>\n What is your \u201cUltimate Pitch Formula\u201d?<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s an eight\u2011step formula I\u2019ve developed over decades, which I now teach in a four\u2011week training I run every month. It includes concepts like the \u201chub,\u201d \u201cassumptions,\u201d \u201crelatability,\u201d the \u201cspringboard story,\u201d and especially a tool I call the \u201cquestion flip.\u201d<\/p>\n What exactly is the \u201cquestion flip?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n It means you start by identifying someone else\u2019s pain or desire, then ask a question you already know they\u2019re likely to answer \u201cyes\u201d to. For a weight\u2011loss doctor, instead of pitching the product, you might say, \u201cIf you\u2019ve been hearing about fast Ozempic\u2011style weight loss, are you willing to trade bone density and long\u2011term health for speed?\u201d Most people say no; then you offer an all\u2011natural, side\u2011effect\u2011free 30\u2011day solution and ask if that\u2019s interesting. Once they say yes, you have permission to talk about your solution.<\/p>\n Where does someone actually start when crafting a pitch?<\/strong><\/p>\n You don\u2019t start by writing the pitch \u2014 that\u2019s the end. First, you go through the \u201chub\u201d: why you\u2019re in business, what the business actually is, what it sells, whether it\u2019s a product or a service, who the competition is, and what value the listener gets. Only after that do you decide who you\u2019re pitching\u2014consumer, investor, media, etc.\u2014because each of those requires a different pitch.<\/p>\n You talk a lot about \u201cassumptions.\u201d Aren\u2019t we told not to assume?<\/strong><\/p>\n We\u2019re told not to voice assumptions, but you must make them internally. When I pitch you, I notice your hair, glasses, background, clothes, and I make educated assumptions that may or may not be true. If I don\u2019t, I sound like a cardboard billboard \u2014 generic and forgettable.<\/p>\n Can you give an example of using assumptions and relatability in a pitch?<\/strong><\/p>\n If I\u2019m pitching SpinGym, a handheld fitness product I created, to a woman on Zoom, I might say, \u201cAs a woman, when winter\u2019s over and we take our sweaters off, pick your arm up and feel the back \u2014 nice and tight or a little wiggly\u2011jiggly?\u201d Then I paint a picture: imagine playing with SpinGym at your desk five minutes a day, a few times a week, for three weeks \u2014 your arms get tighter. Then I ask, \u201cIs that something you might want?\u201d I\u2019m aiming for an easy \u201cyes,\u201d because once you say yes to wanting toned arms, you\u2019re far more likely to ask, \u201cHow can I get one?\u201d<\/p>\n How did the pandemic change your business?<\/strong><\/p>\n COVID was a perfect storm. My husband, a competitive bodybuilder, was in a serious motorcycle accident on January 2 and spent six months in a wheelchair. As everything shut down, my then\u201117\u2011year\u2011old daughter came downstairs and said, \u201cMom, let\u2019s start a business. You won\u2019t be able to rely on China to manufacture SpinGym; you should teach pitching online.\u201d<\/p>\n What did your daughter bring to the table?<\/strong><\/p>\n She had quietly been building websites and had $100,000 in her bank account at 17.<\/p>\n How did your first webinar perform?<\/strong><\/p>\n We hosted a webinar with 25 people and offered a four\u2011week, $1,000 Ultimate Pitch program. The next morning, I checked the dashboard, saw \u201c25K,\u201d and asked my daughter what the \u201cK\u201d meant. She laughed and said, \u201cYou made $25,000 last night.\u201d We repeated that small, 25\u2011person webinar four times and created a six\u2011figure business\u2014$100,000\u2014in our first month.<\/p>\n If you had to boil it down, what\u2019s the core of great pitching?<\/strong><\/p>\n Stop telling people what they need; get them to want what you have. That starts by understanding their problem better than they do, then offering a solution that feels like a win\u2011win. When you do that, people say yes, they say thank you, and your whole life\u2014from parenting to travel upgrades to fundraising\u2014gets easier.<\/p>\n You draw a distinction between pitching and selling. What\u2019s the difference<\/strong>?<\/p>\n When you pitch someone well, they usually say \u201cthank you.\u201d It feels like a gift \u2014 like your editor thanking you for a powerful story. Selling, as most people experience it, ends with a credit card transaction and often stops there, with no relationship. That\u2019s why I think retailers like Macy\u2019s and JCPenney collapsed: they were late to loyalty programs and focused on cash\u2011for\u2011product instead of nurturing ongoing relationships.<\/p>\n What\u2019s the most common pattern you see among founders who have great products but can\u2019t sell them?<\/strong><\/p>\n They don\u2019t understand the art of pitching because no one ever taught them. They rush to tell you all about their product or, worse, spend the first 60 seconds on why they started the company, which I call the \u201cspringboard story.\u201d That story can be powerful, but not until the listener is interested; you start with their problem and your solution, and only when they say, \u201cTell me more,\u201d have you earned the right to share your origin story.<\/p>\n What\u2019s the single biggest mistake you see in the first 60 seconds of a product pitch?<\/strong><\/p>\n They talk too much and treat everyone the same. They don\u2019t know who they\u2019re talking to and don\u2019t seem to care.<\/p>\n How did you \u201cread the audience\u201d when you were pitching on QVC and HSN?<\/strong><\/p>\n Before I opened my mouth, I\u2019d ask: \u201cWho is home on a Tuesday at 9 a.m.?\u201d It might be stay\u2011at\u2011home moms, remote workers, people caring for aging parents, or someone home sick with an autoimmune disease. I\u2019d then speak directly to those possibilities\u2014like showing how SpinGym can work your upper body even if you\u2019re lying in bed\u2014so a huge slice of the audience felt seen.<\/p>\n Could you actually see how your pitch was performing in real time?<\/strong><\/p>\n Yes. All we see is a sales counter: if the numbers stall, we know something\u2019s off; if they spike, we double down on whatever we just did. I\u2019m listening to a producer in my earpiece, talking to a host, and constantly adjusting. Once the counter showed zero sales after a segment, and I was horrified \u2014 until the producer cut in to say the counter had glitched and we\u2019d actually sold 1,200 units in about five minutes.<\/p>\n How do you help people introduce themselves more powerfully \u2014 say, at a networking event?<\/strong><\/p>\n When I asked how you answer \u201cWhat do you do?\u201d you said, \u201cI\u2019m a business news reporter for Entrepreneur.\u201d That\u2019s true, but it doesn\u2019t drive your goals forward. I suggest something like: \u201cAs someone who loves business and entrepreneurs, I write for Entrepreneur. If you or someone you know has a great story, I\u2019d love to hear from you.\u201d In one sentence, you\u2019ve framed your passion, your platform, and a clear call to action.<\/p>\n You say you use pitching at home, even with your kids. How?<\/strong><\/p>\n I grew up with parents who yelled, \u201cClean your room or you don\u2019t get dinner.\u201d It worked, but we resented it. With my own kids, I decided to \u201cpitch\u201d instead. I\u2019d ask, \u201cDo you smell the cookies in the oven?\u201d and \u201cHow about I play cards with you after dinner, no phones?\u201d Once I had two yeses, I\u2019d say, \u201cGreat. Now go make the floor spotless in 15 minutes, and then it\u2019s cookies and cards.\u201d They cleaned happily because they were pursuing something they wanted. That\u2019s pitching.<\/p>\n Do you really believe pitching should be taught in schools?<\/strong><\/p>\n Absolutely. We\u2019re taught math, geography, science, maybe a language \u2014 but not money, relationships or pitching. Yet pitching is the skill that helps you get jobs, raise money, sell products, negotiate and even parent more effectively.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nA 30-year career and the birth of infomercials<\/h2>\n
The ultimate pitch formula<\/h2>\n
Building a million-dollar business with her daughter<\/h2>\n
Pitching vs. selling and the biggest mistakes founders make<\/h2>\n
Reading the room \u2014\u00a0even through a camera<\/h2>\n
Pitching in everyday life<\/h2>\n