ONLINE FEATURES Book Reviews BW Video Columnists Interactive Gallery Newsletters Past Covers Philanthropy Podcasts Special Reports BLOGS Auto Beat Bangalore Tigers Blogspotting Brand New Day Byte of the Apple Economics Unbound Eye on Asia Fine On Media Green Biz Hot Property Investing Insights Management IQ NEXT: Innovation NussbaumOnDesign Tech Beat Working Parents TECHNOLOGY J.D. Power Ratings Product Reviews Tech Stats Wildstrom: Tech Maven AUTOS Home Page Auto Reviews Classic Cars Car Care & Safety Hybrids INNOVATION
& DESIGN Home Page Architecture Brand Equity Auto Design Game Room SMALLBIZ Smart Answers Success Stories Today's Tip INVESTING Investing: Europe Annual Reports BW 50 S&P Picks & Pans Stock Screeners Free S&P Stock Report SCOREBOARDS Hot Growth 100 Mutual Funds Info Tech 100 S&P 500 B-SCHOOLS Undergrad Programs MBA Blogs MBA Profiles MBA Rankings Who's Hiring Grads

AUGUST 12, 2002

IN BOX

Hits of a TV Salesman
A movie about indomitable schlepper Bill Porter has done more than make him famous. It has flooded his Web site with customers


  STORY TOOLS
Printer-Friendly Version
E-Mail This Story

POLL INSTANT SURVEY >>
My company provides sexual-harassment prevention training:

Periodically
Once, when the employee is hired
Never
Not sure

VIEW POLL RESULTS >>
  PEOPLE SEARCH

Search for business contacts:

First Name :
Last Name :
Company Name :

PREMIUM SEARCH
Search by job title, geography and build a list of executive contacts

Search by Zoominfo
Since William H. Macy portrayed him in the TNT made-for-television movie Door to Door, Bill Porter still gets up at 8 o'clock every morning, makes himself breakfast, and schedules sales calls around reruns of Matlock. But for the 69-year-old salesman who, despite cerebral palsy has been selling home products for the Winona (Minn.)-based Watkins Inc. for almost 47 years, one thing has changed: He is unexpectedly on his way to becoming a rich man.


In just three days after Door to Door first aired on July 14, Porter's Web site, which offers products ranging from organic dishwashing detergent to barbecue sauce, tallied $60,000 in sales, according to Shelly Brady, Porter's longtime friend and business associate who was also portrayed in the movie.

By comparison, Porter was named "Salesman of the Year" in 1989 for sales of $42,460. Hits on his Web site have risen steadily, from 80 per second in the first days after the broadcast to 200 per second at the end of July. The result: more than $125,000 in gross sales for the month, 44 times more than he makes in a usual month.

The first thing Porter plans to do with his newfound wealth? "Pay income taxes," he says. "Then maybe build a new house. Mine's getting old."


By Andrew Heller

Get BusinessWeek directly on your desktop with our RSS feeds.XML

Add BusinessWeek news to your Web site with our headline feed.

Click to buy an e-print or reprint of a BusinessWeek or BusinessWeek Online story or video.

To subscribe online to BusinessWeek magazine, please click here.

Learn more, go to the BusinessWeekOnline home page
Back to Top
AUGUST

TODAY'S MOST POPULAR STORIES

  1. The FCC Approves the XM-Sirius Merger
  2. XM-Sirius: Land Mines Aplenty
  3. How Can The New York Times Be Worth So Little?
  4. Cash for Trash
  5. S&P Puts Fannie and Freddie on Credit Watch Negative

Get Free RSS Feed >>
  MARKET INFO

Portfolio Service Update

Stock Lookup

Enter name or ticker



Copyright 2002, by The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved.
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy

Media Kit | Special Sections | MarketPlace | Knowledge Centers
McGraw-Hill Cos.