Ensure you don't make it TOO strong. Some IR devices can be overloaded (ie. Scientific Atlanta cable boxes).

Most universal remotes have between 1 and 4 IR emitters. Sometimes there are a mix of narrow and wide focus ones. A couple remotes have actually put emitters on the front sides. Also, if you have a plastic shield over your emitters, ensure they are as close to the front and have a large enough field of vision so you don't suffer from "tunnel vision" which will reduce range.

Although the remotes pictured are a bit dated now, you might want to poke around here - you can see the Xantec URC-2, as well as the HTM MX-500 (another strong one). Some of the worst real-world performing remotes pictured there are the OFA URC-9900 and Jenson SC-595.

You can see a more current remote's emitters here. Its performance was well below average (scored 3.5 compared to an average performance of 7.0 and peak of 11.0).