Oprah Winfrey to Unveil Own Network

Not only will Oprah Winfrey have a successful magazine, website, XM radio channel, school, daytime talk show and an upcoming reality show but, starting in late 2009, she’ll also have her own network. The Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) will be a joint deal between Winfrey-owned Harpo and Discovery Communications, a company that already runs 13 channels in the U.S. Content from Winfrey’s already-functioning website Oprah.com (which currently promotes her talk show on ABC) will also carry original content alongside the channel. In addition to originally-created programming, she points out there is strong potential of moving her daytime-reigning talk show which is now on ABC to OWN. “You won’t have the show or reruns of the show [for now] but eventually that will happen, we hope,” she explains and adds that it could happen anytime after the show’s exclusive distribution contract with ABC ends in May of 2011. Discovery Chief Executive David Zaslav contacted Winfrey after seeing his wife’s copy of O, The Oprah magazine. “There’s not a stronger brand in media than the Oprah brand,” Zaslav says.

But unless you’ve got the name “Oprah,” building a brand can be a tough yet necessary step when starting your own business. Brian Jones, vice president of the Virginia-based CJM Wealth Advisors and the author of Getting Started the Financial Guide for a Younger Generation, agrees and says the biggest mistake many first-time entrepreneurs make is not having a viable marketing plan.

Steve Brilling, the executive director of the Entrepreneurship Center at Seattle University agrees and says how your think about the brand of your future company is a factor that needs to be developed right away. “Branding starts at day one,” says Brilling. “If you don’t think about it, you’re going to put a lot of different messages out there – it’s not just marketing hype.”