Businesss Career

Education Center

Business Career

Search Your School

Home | Business Career | Oprah's Business Career: A Survey in Self-Improvement Marketing

Oprah's Business Career: A Survey in Self-Improvement Marketing


Oprah has evolved over the years, and she's pulled America right along with her. Whether shifting her talk show from tabloid status to an introspective hour or transforming her physical and spiritual health, Oprah offers daily insights and hope. With millions of viewers claiming Oprah as a dear friend, it's no wonder that when she does any sort of marketing, her loyal audience buys what she's selling.

Oprah's Roots

Born in Mississippi and subjected to the challenges of poverty and abuse, Oprah built a business career out of sheer will to create "another way of being." She matriculated to Chicago, taking over morning talk show AM Chicago from dead last to the very top. On September 8, 1986, the show was renamed "The Oprah Winfrey Show," and she remains host of the number one talk show in America.

How Oprah Markets Herself

So why does everyone love Oprah so much? Possibly because she reaches out to her audience in so many different ways. Not only does Oprah attempt to "make the connection" every afternoon on TV, but through "Oprah's Book Club," O, the Oprah Magazine, Oxygen Media, and her numerous philanthropic efforts worldwide, Oprah is marketing the pursuit of a more abundant life, intellectually and spiritually.

Joining the Oprah Bandwagon

As the world watches Oprah's constant reinvention--falling in love with a new book, discovering new fitness plans, or indulging in her "Favorite Things"--people can't help but follow her lead. As far as books, therapists, and the latest technology goes, if they have Oprah's seal of approval, marketing is a cinch from there on out.

As for her own business career, so long as there is something going on in the world, everyone wants to know what Oprah has to say. Standing alone as the world's only black female billionaire, Oprah remains an icon of triumph for millions of men and women internationally. Hers is a business career built upon the marketing of a healthier, happier, more meaningful life, and the world has widely embraced her for this.

Fast Facts:

Name: Oprah Gail Winfrey
Born: January 29th, 1954
Hometown: Kosciusko, Mississippi
Education: Tennessee State University
First Job: News anchor for Nashville's WTVF-TV
Current Job: Talk show host "The Oprah Winfrey Show"
Net Worth: Over $1.4 billion

Sources:
Oprah Winfrey (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oprah_Winfrey)
Woopidoo Biographies (http://www.woopidoo.com/biography/oprah-winfrey.htm)

About the Author
Marianne Salina has a B.A. in Literature and Creative Writing and enjoys researching and discussing the myriad of online degree options in her articles.