Daily Grommet Product Submission FAQs
A few weeks ago, I featured Daily Grommet's Jules Pieri and many of you expressed interest in learning more about Daily Grommet's product submission process. Jules and the "Discovery team" head, Joanne Domeniconi were kind enough to answer some FAQs about the Daily Grommet submission process.
(Pssst...if you're a mom entrepreneur who's invented a product but doesn't think it's right for Daily Grommet, I'd still prepare a "pretend pitch" just for the practice of selling your product, its uniqueness and its point of difference.)How do you find the Grommets?About half of them come our way via idea submissions from people all over the world. The other halfare ideas we surface through our own outreach and research.We also like to run “Tell us a Grommet idea” events and competitions with online communities. We had a great one with Kirtsy and have one running right now with Grandparents.com The Kirtsy event gave us some really strong ideas…that community seems to really appreciate what we do.The bottom line is just about everyone has a product they feel they discovered and they would like to share….we give them a great vehicle to do that and really make a difference.How many do you reject?Well, most of them, because we get so many. Sometimes an idea is just too similar to one we already featured. Sometimes the quality of the product is not up to snuff. Or it may just simply not be a real discovery.Even if we decide a product isn’t quite right for us, we try to give constructive feedback about why. We can be very helpful to a product creator or manufacturer…we see so much and have a great deal of experience in all aspects of consumer products.One of my favorite Grommet moments was when we rejected a product, gave suggestions for improving the product, and the creator actually wrote a blog post about how great an experience it was to be rejected by Daily Grommet!We are always very, very respectful of the blood, sweat and tears the people pour into their products. Creating new products and the associated companies is honorable work. It takes courage, it creates jobs, and Grommet producers can make a meaningful difference in the world.What are you looking for when evaluating a possible Grommet?1. We are very aware of the calendar; seasons and events so we are always thinking about products and services that respond to the real-time events in a person’s life. For instance, when it is vacation season, we propose an innovative portable luggage scale, or an all-natural sunscreen.2. Second, it has to be a real discovery for most of our community. If they have seen the product widely distributed or reported, it might be a wonderful product but it is not a discovery for us. We have to surprise people as often as possible. They want to learn and be entertained at the same time. So do we! We are nuts about the hunt…finding the “great” Grommets.3. It has to have a wonderful story….either about its creation or its use.4. Grommets always have one or more of the following characteristics:
a. Wonderful craft
b. A practical problem solver
c. Eco-friendly manufacture or use
d. Philanthropic benefits
e. Terrific taste or style
f. Technological innovation
5. Grommet creators are always passionate about what they do, and eager to share their stories. We look for that, as well as their relentless concern for quality and the customer experience.What makes a great Grommet?Someone said it is a “bewitching” product. I think he meant it’s something that truly captures your imagination and you want to know about it.It has to be something that a person who buys thoughtfully will appreciate…we want to provide a deeper, richer connection behind the products people buy and their true stories.How do you evaluate the Grommets?We’re people who have spent our whole careers in product development, so we can make very qualified initial screens on the general ideas, uniqueness, story, and quality. But we also test each Grommet, and for that effort we spread out into our community and recruit friends, family, and fans to give the Grommets a go. We are still the primary testers, but we recruit specialists (kids, pet owners, chefs etc. as appropriate). It also really helps that we are insatiably curious and truly passionate about our mission to help people find the good stuff.What do people expect from you? Why do they keep coming back?Because we make it super fast and fun to learn about a wonderful new or innovative product. Our community loves to support the good guys…and they trust us to figure out who they are.What are the most popular Grommets?In general people love innovative problems solvers--like a new way to slice a pineapple, or a shirt that shields you from bugs and sun with a cool technology, or a product to quickly and easily cover grey roots. They also respond very, very strongly to products or services with strong green or social enterprises roots. But, honestly, we are very adventurous, and our community is too. We keep experimenting and they keep responding.Do people pay you to do a Grommet?Absolutely not. We operate independently in curating each Grommet.What are some of your favorite Grommets?The truth is a huge proportion of the Grommets find their way into my personal use. I fall for our own finds and their true stories all the time!You cover such a huge range of products from food, to online services, to books and music, to tools and gadgets. Does that confuse people?It can confuse people if they aren’t responsible for a household, or if they are generally not that adventurous. But anyone who runs a household, either by themselves or for a family, has needs in all our categories and they appreciate both the breadth and serendipity of our experience. Beyond that, anyone who buys gifts for a range of people find Grommet to be a lifesaver.Any Grommet testing or video disaster stories?We taste a lot of yucky food in between the good stuff. We see a lot of useless single-purpose gadgets that take up unnecessary space and resources.As for the video, we don’t script anything so there is plenty of room for surprises. Once I had a custom made piece of jewelry lined up for a video. I planned to surprise my partner Jules, by giving it to her “live” as we were taping. I did. But I gave her the wrong box…it was empty. It was funny, so we left that moment in the video anyway.
P.S. from The Mogul Mom...you might notice that I've added a Daily Grommet video widget to the right sidebar of my blog. Now y'all can see the cool products that Jules & Jeanne serve up every day!