Pitchman Billy Mays Dead at 50 - King of Infomercials Billy Mays Joins List of Recent Deaths

Television pitchman and king of infomercials Billy Mays was found dead in his Tampa home on June 28, 2009 at age 50. While his name is not as famous as other media icons lost in June, when it came to television products, Billy Mays was the voice of a generation. As a young woman in sales, I began to follow the career of Billy Mays in the 1990s.

Billy Mays - Early Years in Pennsylvania

Billy Mays was born July 20, 1958 and grew up in Pennsylvania where he played high school football, later dropping out of college to become a salesman. Mays was always unapologetic about his career and selling style, in fact, he was rightfully proud of it. I once heard Billy Mays talk about how pitch men get the largest crowds at the state fairs. Those old carnival barkers influenced Mays when he first started his career on the Atlantic City boardwalk, selling the Washmatik portable washing machine to tourists and other passersby (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Mays). Between state fair barkers and the other salesmen on the boardwalk,

Billy Mays - "Yell and Sell"

Billy Mays soon developed his own style of enthusiastic, loud selling which he called "Yell and Sell." He took his sales technique on the road, traveling to home shows, auto shows, and state fairs across the United States selling a variety of household products. It was at one of these trade shows in Pittsburgh where Billy Mays met the founder of Orange Glo International in 1993. He was hired by Orange Glo to sell their line of cleaners including OxiClean and Kaboom on the Home Shopping Network which is where he started to make a name for himself as sales shot up his first day on the job. While many found his "yell and sell" abrasive, the majority of viewers liked him and bought whatever Billy Mays was selling. This led to his long career doing infomercials.

Billy Mays - Mays Promotions

In an interview he did for ABC back in April of 2009 about his new show "Pitchmen" on the Discovery Channel, Billy Mays revealed that besides his "yell and sell," another secret to his success was he used his hands a lot. But the primary secret to the success of Billy Mays and Mays Promotions was the fact Mays auditioned products before he promoted them. If they didn't pass the test, Billy Mays wouldn't promote them. On top of that, Mays Promotions named the products. It didn't matter if the product already had a name, Billy Mays made sure it had a catchy moniker before he would sell it. Products sold by Billy Mays also had to work 100% and had to be easy to use or he wouldn't represent them.

Billy Mays - "It's Only $19.95"

Billy Mays said one reason he did what he did and succeeded at it was to get people more involved in do-it-yourself so they could save money. He said the trick to successful sales was, "You have to give them the secret" of how and why the product works. Billy Mays was a believer in "but one get one free," and he said all his products were $19.95, and then Mays Promotions would lump them so consumers always got extras for their $19.95.

Billy Mays - Believability

When you watched Billy Mays in his sensible blue shirt and khaki pants, you weren't just razzle-dazled by his famous "yell and sell." You believed him. That's probably because he always believed in his product. Whether it was OrangeGlo, OxiClean, Kaboom or the Shamwow, you knew Billy believed his product would work.

Death of Billy Mays & US Airways Flight

The day before he died, Mays was on board a US Airways flight that blew out its front tires as it landed at a Tampa airport. It isn't clear if the accident had an bearing in his untimely death. What is certain is that many Americans will miss hearing "Hi! Billy Mays here for (insert product name)." Billy Mays was a sales icon. There won't be another one like him.

Sources
Personal Memories
ABC interview in April 2009
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Mays