All the Sharks will be returning this season, real-estate mogul Barbara Corcoran, infomercial pioneer Kevin Harrington, technology expert Robert Herjavec, fashion owner Daymond John and financial expert Kevin O’Leary. Comedian Jeff Foxworthy will join the Sharks for 3 episodes, adding a little mainstream star power to the group.

At first glance Jeff Foxworthy may not seem like a business tycoon like the rest of the Sharks but he has turned “You Might Be A Redneck If…” into an empire. Publishing over 25 books, selling 15 million records, creating a line of greeting card, owning restaurants, staring in a game show, his own brand of beef jerky, and BBQ sauce.

There is no information about casting as of yet but when it becomes available I will let you all know.

“You may be a redneck if . . . you think you are an entrepreneur because of the “Dirt for Sale” sign in the front yard.” – Jeff Foxworthy

ABC has one episode that has yet to air in the US, it has how ever already aired in Canada on Global. The episode features LightFilm and THINgloss.

‘Shark Tank’ to return — for one episode

Mark Burnett’s “Shark Tank” will return to ABC this summer — for one episode. The airing is a holdover from last season. The well-regarded, if ratings challenged, reality effort will air Thursday, July 15, at 8 p.m.

ABC still has some time before the deadline to decide on a second season; producers have pitched shaking up the panel of sharks by adding a high-profile name or two. So far, however, there’s still no official verdict on “Shark Tank”

This is a good thing in my mind, this means that the show is not dead, and ABC has not given up yet. I can only hope that the episode has strong ratings!

Welcome to the very first Shark Hunt. Each on of the questions below must be answered correctly to win. The answers can be found on somewhere on each Sharks website OR by searching the web. Some of the answers will be fairly easy to find and others…not so much, but the FIRST fan to email ALL of the correct answers to sharkhunt@boomdigital.com will win todays prize.

Todays prize is a personalized autographed copy of Daymond John’s new book The Brand Within.

Good luck shark hunting folks.

__________________

TODAY’S QUESTIONS

1. What business school does Kevin O serve on the board of?

2. How long did Daymond say the element bars deal took to negotiate during the filming process?

3. What was the name of the ship that the Harjavec family arrive in Halifax on?

4. How many siblings does Barbara have?

5. How many years ago did Kevin H produce his first infomercial?

6. What is the reason Robert favors taking his red Lamborghini to work over his orange one?

In October of 2008, Mark Burnett and Sony Pictures Television signed a deal to turn the wildly successful, Japanese show Dragons Den into Shark Tank for ABC. Shortly there after the producers started a casting call, looking for amazing ideas or products. Soon audition tapes started to appear on YouTube,

the producers of the show were also looking for interesting ideas, contacting entrepreneurs who they thought would work well on the show.

At the end of March 2009, ABC announced that they would order seven episodes as a pilot, the show would be similar to the U.K and Canadian version of the show Dragons Den. Mark Burnett said “We have made bigger deals and more deals in our pilot than (other versions) make all season.” After that the Sharks were introduced, Barbara Corcoran a self-made millionaire real estate tycoon, Kevin Harrington the king of infomercials, Daymond John the creator of FUBU, Kevin O’Leary a venture capitalist who sold his business to Mattel for $4.2 billion and Robert Herjavec who owns a large IT security’s company.

Another round of casting was announced, with June audition dates in Los Angels, Orlando, New York and Chicago. On August 9^th Shark Tank premiered, and ran most Tuesday nights until October. At this point ABC had aired 10 episodes and had 3 more left to air, but ABC pulled the plug on Shark Tank in its Tuesday night slot. Then announced that they would air five more episodes, this included the 3 episodes that had yet to air and 2 more episodes that would be put together from already shot footage that had not made it into the show. On January 8^th 2010 Shark Tank replaced Ugly Betty on Friday night at 9pm, until February, although ABC had ordered 15 episodes only 14 aired.

So where does that leave us now?

Well Shark Tank topped out at about 5.9 million viewers with a rating share of 1.8/5, in comparison The Biggest Loser aired on NBC in the same timeslot with 9 million viewers and a 3.4/10 rating/share. Shark Tank was not exactly a powerhouse in the ratings but perform relatively well. The show should be relatively inexpensive to produce in comparison to other reality shows. Both time slots were not ideal, on Tuesday running against NCIS and The Biggest Loser and then being moved to Friday night.

The Sharks have continued to promote the show, on TV, news and social networking such as twitter. Recently Barbara sent a 340 page color brochure filled with statistics and testimonials about the businesses that she personally invested in after they appeared on the show. Eight copies were sent to network execs at ABC to try to convince them to run another season of Shark Tank (Barbara if you are reading this I would love to take a look at that brochure). The Sharks have been encouraging people, particularly on twitter, to let ABC know that you want a second season, by either contacting them directly here or posting a message of support on the Shark Tank message board.

Since there has been no word about the shows cancelation I still hold hope that ABC will order another season of Shark Tank. This is where you come in, you need to tell your friends about Shark Tank, they can still watch clips of the show on ABC’s website and Hulu. I have heard from so many people who have found the show in the last few months online and have gotten hooked. You can also send a message to ABC asking for another season of Shark Tank, or you can go onto their Shark Tank message board and leave them a message.

Follow me on Twitter and I will keep you up to date on the latest news @SharkTankABC.

For a full and updated list click here.

Make sure you bring the completed audition consent and release form.
For more information click here.
Good luck and I hope to have more news about the second season of Shark Tank, when it comes available.

First into the tank was Michele Kapustka and Melisa Moroko two sisters who teamed up to start their business, Send a Ball. The sisters were looking for $86,000 for 20% of their business. Send a Ball, creates custom made inflatable play balls with fun messages that can be sent in the mail, like greeting cards. They can be personalized for the recipient, and are a fun and unique greeting card. Currently they have sales of $100,000 a year, and can’t fill orders fast enough, they’re shipping between 50 and 70 balls a day and only expected that to increase.

The sisters are running the business out of their garage, with the help of their kids, they hope to use the sharks money to move to a permanent location and buy equipment that will give them, greater control over their product. They predicted they could break even by selling 100 balls a day. The sharks pointed out that anyone can copy their business, they have nothing proprietary, which makes it hard for them to invest. In the end the sharks said to go get a bank loan, they didn’t need the sharks investment.

Next into the tank was Mark Burginger with his construction toy Qubits. Qubits is a toy that can curve into many different shapes, like no other toy out on the market. Mark has patented the toy, and has spent $60,000 to bring it to market, but is only sold $8000 worth of product since 2007. Mark is looking for $90,000 for 51% of the business, he wanted the sharks experience, and felt he could get it if he give up control of his company.

The sharks wanted to know why he hadn’t just gone to a large toy company and try to license the product to them. They pointed out that all he would’ve had to do is develop a prototype and patented, shopped it around to the major toy companies, and saved himself a lot of money in manufacturing. Daymon excepted Marks offer with the contingency that they get a deal with a big toy company. Mark accepted the deal.

Third into the tank was Nicole Jones with her business the Pillars of Slippers. Nicole is incredibly confident and a energetic presenter, her business definitely benefits from her. Pillars of Slippers is similar to Tupperware parties but instead of Tupperware she sells shoes. Nicole was looking for $150,000 for 15% of her business.

Although she operates a retail store, she realized there was more money to be made from online sales, and these parties. Her goal was to franchise her business, for $100,000 each which would include a Hummer and all the equipment and inventory they would need. Her average party generated $725 in sales, with costs around $300. Without paying for new inventory, wages or any other costs a franchise would have to host 236 parties in order to break even just on the franchising cost. The sharks suggested that she try to bootstrap (lower cost) the franchise, eliminate the Hummer and make it more reasonable for franchising. She walked away without a deal.

Phil and Aida Lough were next to test their skills against the hungry Sharks. Llama Brew is a liquid fertilizer made from liquidized llama droppings, it’s a natural fertilizer where most fertilizers use chemicals. The business is relatively new, but they had generated $4000 worth of sales. Phil and Aida were asking for $125,000 for 10% equity in the business. The couple had a provisional patent on the process of converting the excrement to fertilizer.

The biggest stumbling point for Phil and Adia is a large cost of educating the public that llama fertilizer is superior to other forms of fertilizer. Their evaluation of their business was crazy, a single llama costs about $1000, the sharks could buy 125  llamas and open up their own fertilizer business for that investment. All sharks were out.

Last into the Shark Tank was Alan Kaufman and his business Nubrella. Nubrella is a new type of umbrella that won’t invert, will keep the user warmer, can be used hands-free, and can even be used while riding a bike. He was looking for $200,000 for 25% of his business. It is currently selling for $49 at a cost of $14 apiece. He had sold 3000 already and had invested $900,000 into the business. It goes without saying with such a large investment he had the product patented.

Kevin Harrington offered $200,000 for 65% of the business, Alan rejected the offer. Daymon and Kevin H. joined together to make an offer of 200,000 for 60% of the business. Daymon said as long as there was orders he would fund production for the lifetime of the business. After some more negotiations they settled on $200,000 for 51% of the business, giving control to the sharks. Alan took the deal.

Nicole Jones “The Shoe Professa” and her business Pillars of Slippers, her business offers fashionable shoes at a reasonable price. Nicole wants to franchise her business which throws ‘shoe parties’ similar to Tupperware party’s in peoples houses.

Phil and Aida Lough will pitch their business Llama Brew is an econ-friendly liquid fertilizer made out of llama manure. You have to love an entrepreneur who is making money selling shit.

Michele Kapustka and Melisa Moroko are a sister team who will bring their small business Send a Ball to the Sharks. Send a Ball is an internet based greeting company that sells play balls with personalized messages on them, they are then sent fully inflated in the mail to who ever you want.

Qubits is a business owned by architect Mark Burginger. Qubits is a new type flexible building toy, which helps kids learn about engineering.

Alan Kaufman developed a new type of umbrella that will not invert and can even be used with out hands. Nubrella is a pop up umbrella, that’s wind proof and holds up against heavy rain and even snow.

“Episode 110″ – The energetic and self-prolcaimed “Shoe-Professah” from Chicago begins her colorful presentation with a shoe fashion show, but Kevin O’Leary can’t decide whether she’s a savvy business woman or a nut. A couple from La Habra Heights, California who run a petting zoo have made the most of their resources by coming up with a liquid llama fertilizer. Currently working out of their garage, a charming sister team from Chicago make a hilarious pitch to expand their business that mails balls with messages on them. After going $60,000 in debt to bring a bendable geometric toy to life, an architect from Bend, Oregon is desperate to make his business successful. A man from Delroy Beach, Florida has ingeniously re-invented the umbrella by making it hands free and strapping it onto the body. There is an update on the Life Belt (“Episode 102″) and its inventor, Robert Allison, who passed up a million-dollar offer from the Sharks, on “Shark Tank,” FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5 (9:00-10:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.

Tune in this week and remember to follow us on twitter @SharkTankABC