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THE ONLINE INVENTOR -- July 2000
(c) 2000 Market Launchers, Inc.
http://www.marketlaunchers.com
Publisher: Paul Niemann
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PUBLISHER'S NOTES: The following message came in last week from Joanne Hayes-Rines, publisher of INVENTORS' DIGEST:
Dear Friend,
August is YOUR month! It's dedicated to the great spirit of inventiveness that lives in everyone but only the few are brave enough to tap that spirit and dare to change the world.
In 1998 three organizations -- Inventors' Digest, the United Inventors Association of the USA and the Academy of Applied Science -- joined forces to create the first National Inventors' Month. This is year Number Three and we're celebrating in a very grass roots way.
First, we've loaded www.inventorsdigest.com with great information including an invention fact for every day of August (we'll keep this going for the other 334 days, too!).
Second, we've created specially designed display materials for libraries which more than 400 librarians requested to display in their libraries! Here are just a few of the comments we've received: I plan to hang both posters from the ceiling of the library ... August is a slowing down month, so we hope that this display will spark interest in reading and invention ...
We have a display area and I will use everything that you sent. Thanks for making my job a bit easier! ... I displayed several of our books about inventions and inventors along with your posters and great bookmarks.
We sent them posters, Invention Facts & Factoids, bookmarks bearing inspirational messages, and much more! Check out www.inventorsdigest.com to see if a library near you is featuring these displays.
Third, we're taking to the airways again to spread the positive message about inventions AND inventors.
Take advantage of this month to interest your local media in you and your product or what your inventors' group is doing ... go to your local library and volunteer to conduct a program for kids on invention ... be creative!
Happy National Inventors' Month and thanks for all you are doing and will do to change the world!
Sincerely,
Joanne Hayes-Rines, publisher
INVENTORS' DIGEST
America's Only Inventors' Magazine
Published since 1985
http://www.inventorsdigest.com
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Do you have your own Invention Web Page yet? If you've already invested the time and money to apply for a patent, and if your market research indicates that people would likely buy your product, then it makes sense to put your invention where manufacturers and other potential licensees can see it - on the Internet.
Market Launchers is The Yellow Pages of Inventions on the Internet. We build Invention Web Pages for inventors for their patented or patent-pending products. Details can be found at: http://www.marketlaunchers.com/forms.html
Best of all, it's cheaper than you think, and you don't even have to know how to build a web page - because we do it all for you. All you have to do is supply us with either your patent number or pictures and a description of your invention. It's that simple. Your web page will be well-promoted as it piggy-backs on one of the most popular inventor sites on the Internet.
Best Regards,
Paul Niemann;
President of MarketLaunchers.com
"Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle." -- Abraham Lincoln
"Don't wait for your ship to come in, swim out to it."
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In this issue:
Article # 1: "How to Evaluate the Market Potential of Your
Invention," by Jack Lander
Article #2: "Publicity vs. Advertising -- What's The Difference?" by Todd F. Brabender
Article #3: "So Now You Have A Better Mousetrap," by Pam Doty
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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: We get a lot of calls from inventors asking for help in marketing their inventions. It's all too common to totally skip the Market Evaluation process, meaning that many inventors apply for a patent before determining whether or not there is a market for their inventions. This article is meant to help you evaluate the likelihood of commercial success for your inventions. The author, Jack Lander, has many more articles for sale at his web site, http://www.inventorhelp.com, and they're all very affordable.
Article # 1: "How to Evaluate the Market Potential of Your Invention," by Jack Lander
Depending on which expert you believe, between 95 and 99 percent of all inventions patented by independent inventors don't earn more than their cost. Thus, it makes sense for us inventors to evaluate market potential before we invest heavily in the phases of development and protection.
A positive market evaluation is not a perfect indicator of the success a product may enjoy; but a negative evaluation will generally predict failure fairly reliably. In other words, there may be false positives because market potential does not assure market realization; but a negative evaluation is a pretty good indicator that no matter how much effort is devoted to marketing, success will elude you unless you make substantial changes to your invention or to those factors that cause the low evaluation.
Market evaluations of inventions are of two main types:
* academic; and
* limited sales.
By academic I mean submitting your invention to a non profit institution for a confidential and objective assessment of its market potential.
By sales tests I mean producing a small number - let's say 20 to 1 00 pieces - and arranging with the sellers who will sell the eventual product to test the market for you with actual sales.
ACADEMIC TESTING:
The opinions of your relatives and friends are seldom reliable indicators of the market's true receptivity. Most people -- even strangers -- don't want to risk hurting our feelings. And many people feel a vicarious sense of achievement from encouraging those close to them; they participate in the dream of success without paying the possible costs of failure. Even when an informal network of friends and relatives sprouts up and wants to purchase your pilot run output, this is not a reliable indicator of how the remote and indifferent public will react. Word-of-mouth that patiently explains the merits of your invention to an intimate circle or network will be absent from the struggle for mass marketing.
Once upon a time the author invented "The Memory Kit." This was a small blackboard that could be carried in one's purse or dangled from the ignition switch or shift lever of one's car, etc. The kit included a piece of chalk and a wool-felt eraser, both secured to the satin-finished, anodized aluminum "blackboard." (This was in the days before those wonderful buzzers that warn us when we exit our cars without having turned off the headlights, and the author never again suffered a dead battery, which often happened on foggy California mornings before he invented The Memory Kit.) Friends began ordering kits for themselves and their friends. Unsolicited word-of-mouth promotion worked, but the I never found a way to successfully market the invention to the national market. The most plausible reason was that because it was a novel product, it required more explaining -- or even demonstrating -- than was affordable in ads or catalog copy. The reason may also be that the inventor was, at that time, relatively inexperienced, and suffered the "lack of persistence due to early discouragements" syndrome that is epidemic among uninitiated inventors.
The point, of course, is to be cautious about any market evaluation that does not involve an objective test. This is certainly not a new idea, but it is often ignored. In the words of Sophocles nearly 2500 years ago: "Knowledge must come through action; you can have no test which is not fanciful, save by trial."
The universities are better equipped than we are to be objective. Graduate students and research associates are employed to research and evaluate the market, and they do a remarkably good job for little money -- often less than $200. These people have the benefit of a real case, a potential market that has not yet been sold. And you, as the inventor, have the benefit of some of the sharpest minds available. But such research should be received as only one of several inputs that condition your assessment of your invention's possible success. Even the best academic research is, to some extent, "fanciful" until real customers lay down real dollars for a product, and don't return it for a refund. If it were not so, large corporations would have a nearly perfect score for new product success, rather than the approximate 20 percent score that is typical.
A glowing university report of market potential can have a powerful influence on your prospective licensee's decision to sign the license agreement.
LIMITED SALES TESTS:
The least fanciful test of marketability is sales that are generated without special ties to the buyers, or without unusual or heroic efforts. In other words, selling to real people whom we don't know, in ways that will produce a profit when the product is manufactured in volume, and advertising in its broadest sense is fine tuned.
Thomas Edison launched his light bulb and consequent electrical generation and distribution system by selling his bulbs well below cost. He knew that future volume and manufacturing efficiencies would produce profit ultimately, and his strategy worked. We should not hesitate to emulate Edison in testing sales of our inventions produced in a pilot run, at a cost greater than our selling price, if we can afford the investment.
Local sales are usually the easiest. When our pilot run produces parts that are of salable quality, it is not difficult to strike an agreement with appropriate local merchants to accept our product on consignment. The possible trap here is that the product may receive special attention in the form of displays and sales pitches for the "local inventor." Thus, local sales can be misleading. But balancing any misleading results from these ideal marketing conditions is the certainty of eventual refinements of product packaging and display, and growing public awareness through publicity and advertising, and in some cases, word-of-mouth publicizing. Therefore, the use of data resulting from local sales is legitimate. Results can and should be used to influence your prospective licensees, as well as the argument of the last sentence.
National sales, or at least sales at a distance - that is, without face-to-face promotion or personal favoritism - are likely to be the most indicative of sales under volume production/distribution conditions. There are three main ways to test sales at a distance:
* free publicity;
* advertising; and
* sales reps (representatives, agents).
FREE PUBLICITY:
Free publicity is usually the best approach. People believe "news" copy, and are skeptical of ads. People are also more attracted to news articles than to ads, and more inclined to read the entire copy than with ads. And the 'new products' section of many magazines often attract more readers than their articles. People want to know It what's new?" And new product releases can be read quickly.
"Free publicity" is a bit of a misnomer. Printing, photographs, and postage aren't free, but there is no cost of insertion. And the best part is that editors welcome news releases about new products. Your photo may be of your latest prototype made of painted balsa wood, and you may not yet be close to finding a prospective licensee, but you do have a legitimate product in its early stages of its journey to the market. Editors know that many of the so-called new product press releases reaching their desks cover mere rehashes of older products, and prototypes of new products that are months away from production (if ever!). As long as you have no intent to defraud your customers, you need not feel like a criminal for producing a news release covering your "product" that is not yet in full production.
Be careful with your wording, of course. And check Federal Trade Commission regulations on advertising a product that is not yet available.
Hal Meyer, an inventor whom I know, submitted news releases on his patented vibration-proof hose clamp. He was successful in getting his "new product" release in several well-known magazines, including Popular Mechanics, and these releases produced a stack of inquiries several inches thick.
To convince an editor to publish your news release or new product release you must follow conventional practice. Don't be creative or inventive with respect to the format that editors are accustomed to receiving. Consider this: Editors receive hundreds of such releases for each edition, and they must discriminate on some basis. The first test is whether the release looks professional. If it is unconventional or amateurish in format, it will go in the trash. The second test is appropriateness of your product for the magazine or paper. A new mousetrap doesn't belong in Electronic News, obviously. Another test will be the length of your copy. It is almost essential that you get a sample of the publication, and tailor your copy length and style to the releases that have been published. Get sample copies and other valuable information by calling the publication's advertising department, and asking for a media kit. You may get a better reception if you have a more convincing company name than Joe Smith Enterprises. And still another factor in the editor's sorting-out process is your photograph. It must look professional, and not an embarrassment to the publication's usual quality.
Your library should have a few books on how to handle publicity. Some of these may be out-of-date, and don't provide much or any guidance on new product releases; but the format for a news release is usually sound. The best book I have found to advise you in detail on how to get highly effective publicity is Jeffrey Dobkin's book, How to Market a Product For Under $500 (http://www.Dobkin.com. Dobkin covers both news releases and new product releases. See the end of this Report for more information.
ADVERTISING:
Advertising most often produces disappointing results. To find the right formula for advertising takes experimenting and patience (and money). Advertising has several variables that must be addressed:
* which media? (magazine, TV, radio, newspaper)
* which specific journal, paper, station?
* how large an ad, or how long a commercial?
* repetition rate?
* how to prepare effective copy, photos, tapes?
Even advertising professionals don't score well on their early attempts to gain measurable sales. Most ads that attempt to sell the product directly, from the ad, fail to cover the cost of the ad plus the cost of the product -- at least the early trials fail. Some ads will show sufficient promise, even though not paying off at first, that the variables covered above are fine-tuned, and the ad is eventually profitable.
I was once approached by Gerardo Joffe, one of the most successful direct mail entrepreneurs in the U.S. ever - the man who sold millions of dollars worth of "moon shavers," those used by the astronauts who flew to the moon. He offered me a joint venture. I would supply my self-published books, "How To Get Hired Faster, For More Money, Whether You Are Presently Working Or Not," Joffe would pay for the one-sixth page ad in the Wall Street Journal (several thousand dollars), and I would receive a fixed royalty on each book sold plus the direct cost of publishing. The ad appeared. It was well-written, and the subject was then very timely. Results? We sold 160 books at $10 each - much less than half the cost of the ad. So even the experts are often wrong.
My point is that if you try to sell your product directly from an ad, and your sales are disappointing, the message is not that your product is no good. Direct response is just not predictable.
My ad for "The Memory Kit" appeared in the Shopping At Home section of the Los Angeles Times. Ad cost: $300. Sales: seven kits at $5.95 plus shipping.
A student of mine (prior to taking my evening school course) placed a $500 ad for a very nice little interview kit he had invented. The ad went in a chain of campus newspapers - - college students being the logical audience. Sales? Not one. Zero.
The moral of these stories is to be very cautious about spending money on ads, or forming negative conclusions about your invention's market prospects from them.
SALES REPS:
Sales reps will sometimes test or "pioneer" new products that they believe show promise, and fit into their line of other products. But try this method of market testing only if you are planning to control the manufacturing of your product yourself. If you intend to license your invention, it would not be ethical to ask a rep to test the market on the theory that your licensee will use the rep later, when the product is on the market. Reps work on commission only for established products. No hard and fast rules apply for pioneering an untried product. Put yourself in the place of the rep. This is your business - your income. Time invested in pioneering should have some compensation other than the promise that if the product is successful, the rep will have the privilege of selling it. This might be in the form of a promise of an unusually high commission for the first sales year, etc. Or it could be compensation at an hourly rate.
Find reps by reading the trade journals that cover the field of your invention. Look in SRDS (formerly Standard Rate and Data Service) for all of the journals that apply, and get free subscriptions to them. For those that do not give free subscriptions to "companies in the trade," contact their advertising departments and ask for a media kit. Media kits are intended to promote advertising, are free, of course, and usually contain an issue or two of the journal. Reps often advertise for product lines in the classified section, usually at the back of the journal.
CONCLUSIONS:
For most of us, an academic evaluation is the most practical and most accurate means of assessing our invention's chances for success in the marketplace. No evaluation method is perfect, but the methods used by the U.S. universities and by the Canadian Industrial Innovation Centre is probably as close to reality as we can come.
The main advantage of an academic evaluation is that it can be done from our drawings and descriptions; we don't have to produce prototypes and a pilot run in order to test the market. Thus, an evaluation that discloses a low probability of success can save us from investing several thousand dollars in patent fees and prototyping expenses. And any specific negative factors of the evaluation can be studied carefully to determine if our inventions can be changed to remedy that aspect that has resulted in the negative rating.
The best feature of academic evaluation is that it is not a simple "go" or
"no go" answer. The sources that are listed in the section that follows evaluate
from 33 to 41 factors. These are based on the original 33 criteria developed by the Dr.
Gerald Udell as a continuation of his work for the National Science Foundation. The
evaluation summaries are given as a percentage. Each university or institution has its own
approach to summarizing, and providing a numeric threshold below which you are advised to
not proceed with your invention, or advised to solve certain of the problems that caused
the low score.
CAUTION: University and institutional evaluations are confidential, and
do not constitute public disclosure. But showing or offering products for sale, or even
consigning your invention to a rep, agent, manufacturer, distributor, etc. without a
written confidentiality agreement will almost certainly constitute "public
disclosure," and starts the clock ticking on the time limits for filing patents. Any
public disclosure is likely to foreclose you from filing European patents. In the U.S.A.
you have one year from the date of public disclosure to file. These rules are somewhat
complex, and they may change from time to time, so be sure to check with a patent attorney
if you have any doubts. And remember, even though you may not be concerned with the
European market, the company you want to license to may count on patent protection in
Europe. If you forfeit this protection by public disclosure, you could reduce the value of
your invention dramatically. I am not a lawyer, and this is no legal advice - just a
cautionary statement intended to alert you to possible problems.
SOURCES FOR ACADEMIC EVALUATION:
All sources listed provide a confidentiality agreement in their applications.
Baylor University
The John F. Baugh Center for Entrepreneurship
P.O. Box 98011
Waco, Texas 76798-8011
phone 817-755-2265
# of Criteria: 33
Price: $150
Process time: Call for advice.
Canadian Industrial
Innovation Centre
156 Columbia St. West
Waterloo, Ontario
Canada N2L 3L3
phone 1-800-265-4559
Criteria: 37
Price: $695 (U.S.)
Process time: 6 to 8 weeks
Drake SBDC
Drake University
Des Moines, Iowa 50311-4505
phone 515-271-2655
fax 515-271-4540
Criteria: 33
Price: $125 (may be out of date)
Process time: 4 to 6 weeks
Texas Manufacturing Assistance Center, Gulf Coast
University of Houston
Institute for Enterprise Excellence
1100 Louisiana, Suite 500
Houston, Texas 77002
phone 713-752-8440
fax 713-756-1515
Criteria: 33
Price: $250
Process time: Call for advice.
Center for Business and
Economic Development
Southwest Missouri State University *
901 S. National
Springfield, Missouri 65804
phone: 417-836-5671
Criteria: 41
Price: $175
Process time: About 6 weeks.
Bonus: About 7 percent of submitted ideas are forwarded to Wal-Mart for new product
consideration.
*(a.k.a. Wal-Mart Innovation Network)
SBDC
Washington State University
180 Nickerson Suite 207
Seattle, Washington
phone 206-464-5450
fax 206-464-6357
Criteria: 33
Price: $350
Process time: Call for advice.
Wisconsin Innovation
Service Center
402 McCutchan Hall
University of Wisconsin
Whitewater, Wisconsin 53190
phone 414-472-1365
fax 414-472-1600
Criteria:
Price: $495
Process time: Call for advice.
NOTE: Wisconsin is known for its engineering expertise. If yours is a high-tech invention, you should discuss their technical evaluation services.
I have personally worked with Southwest Missouri State University, and I recommend it. I also serve with Dr. Gerald Udell, the author of PIES, on the Board of Directors of the United Inventors Association of the USA, a highly respected, nonprofit, national inventors organization. The UIA-USA has recently announced a package deal for inventors that, in my opinion, can't be beat. For $695 they will provide the Southwest Missouri State U. evaluation, a patent search, and a patentability opinion. This is about $100 lower than the lowest price generally available if you process the evaluation and search individually. And you are dealing with people you can absolutely trust. UIA-USA is presently (1999) headed by Joanne Hayes-Rines, President. Joanne is the editor and publisher of the highly regarded Inventors' Digest magazine, and she is dedicated to helping inventors find honest, ethical services.
To take advantage of this package, contact Carol Oldenburg at UIA-USA, phone 716-359-931 0, or write to UIA -- USA, P.O. Box 23447, Rochester, NY 14692.
Note of encouragement:
In August of 1991 the Wall Street Journal printed an article about the evaluation services offered by a number of U.S. universities. It mentioned that a spokesperson for the University of Wisconsin's Innovation Service Center found that one out of every eight ideas that were evaluated had market potential. So, if your are seriously considering such evaluation, your odds of success are probably about ten times greater than the typical inventor's. You have advanced from the poor odds of success experienced by most inventors to at least the one-in-eight level due to your more cautious and business-like approach.
Keep in touch. Let me know how you make out. I am always interested in the experiences of all the inventors with whom I have contact. It is through this kind of networking that I am able to provide authenticity in my Reports.
Best wishes for your success,
Jack Lander
The Inventor's Bookstore
37 Seneca Road
Danbury, CT 06811-4422
http://www.inventorhelp.com
Copyright @ 1999 Jack Lander
Other Reports that may be of immediate interest to you include:
REPORT # 3: How to Do Your Own Patent Search, or Have It Done
Economically by a Professional. Your academic evaluation is one of the two main criteria
for deciding whether or not to invest in a patent. If you haven't yet had a search made,
you need this Report. Most patent attorneys will charge you from $500 to $1,000 for a
search plus patentability opinion.
Report # 3: $5.00 plus $1.95 shipping.
REPORT # 4: How to Save Thousands of Dollars in Obtaining Your
Patent. Uninitiated inventors often do not know about patent agents. Agents must pass the
same tests as attorneys in order to practice before the U. S. Patent and Trademark Office,
yet their hourly rates are typically about half that of an attorney. Report #4 shows you
how to find and use a patent agent, rather than an attorney, for the preparation of a
regular patent, and thereby save from $1,000 to $2,000 on average. A list of patent agents
and attorneys in your state is included.
Report # 4: MA, MI, OH, & PA: $9.00. DC, IL, NJ,
TX, & VA: $11. CA & NY: $14.00.
All other states $8.00.
REPORT # 5: How to Prepare Your Own Patent Drawings. The mystique about patent drawings
is abolished with this report. If you know what a 90-degree triangle is, you can almost
certainly prepare drawings that will be acceptable to the U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office. The out-of-print patent office booklet, Guide for Patent Draftsmen, is included
with this Report. Covers recent rulings on CAD and paper sizes.
Report # 5: $7.00
REPORT # 6: How to Save Hundreds of Dollars in Making Your Prototype. You should begin planning your prototype now, concurrently with your academic evaluation. Getting drawings made and price quotations from appropriate vendors can be done while you are waiting for the evaluation results. But don't spend money on your actual prototype until your results come back positive. Materials to use, appropriate vendors and how to find them and negotiate with them are well covered. You'll save hundreds of dollars by following the guidance in this Report. Report #6: $7.00
REPORT # 9: How to Find an Honest Invention Broker. Yes, there are a
few around. 'The good guys' make their money as a portion of your royalties, not on big
up-front money. Report #9 shows you how to locate honest brokers in your geographic area,
and how to present your invention to them in a way that is compelling. A list of brokers
who appear to be honest is provided with this Report.
Report # 9: $7.00
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Jack Lander is the proprietor of The Inventor's Bookstore. See his catalog at http://www.inventorhelp.com. He is an officer in three non-profit inventor organizations. He also makes prototypes for inventors and new-product developers. He can be reached at 203-797-8955.
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Article #2: "Publicity vs. Advertising -- What's The Difference?" by Todd F. Brabender
Article #3: "So Now You Have A Better Mousetrap," by Pam Doty
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Article #3: "Publicity vs. Advertising -- What's The
Difference?" by Todd F. Brabender
Publicity vs. Advertising -- What's The Difference?
It seems like a simple question and one most people think they know the answer to. The
better question might be -- which one should I use and when?
The main difference between publicity & advertising is "perception" -- which
in turn is a direct link to sales. If you are able to generate "editorial
placements" for your business/product/website it is perceived in many aspects as more
credible or validating -- especially if the article is placed in a trade-specific media
outlet that covers your target market. PR placements are much more in depth and cover the
human interest or behind-the-scenes story of the product/business, whereas ad placements
are largely superficial. Anyone can get an ad placed, as long as you have enough money to
buy the ad space. It is tougher to get editorial placements/mentions but in all respects
more rewarding, valuable and effective.
There is a general rule of thumb in the PR industry that publicity/editorial placements
are seen as 2-3 times the value of ad placements. (There are even a number of software
applications that help PR agencies calculate the valuation of editorial placements.) It's
what is called the "Publicity Multiplier Factor". Simply put -- a PR placement
of eight column inches is valued at about 3 times the value of a similar sized ad
placement -- but a fraction of the cost.
Bottom line, publicity is much more cost-effective for the start-up company. For example,
spending around $2,000-$3,000 on a professional nationwide PR campaign can land you
multiple editorial placements and mean thousands of dollars in editorial coverage. On the
contrary, ONE small to medium sized ad placed in ONE magazine can cost $2,000-$3,000
alone. I am not ad-bashing by any means; in fact, I help my clients launch ad campaigns.
However, I'm saying one should exhaust as many publicity placement opportunities as
possible before launching into an expensive ad campaign. Use lower cost, higher quality
publicity placements to help establish brand recognition and hopefully subsequent brand
loyalty ... that will only solidify your ad campaign a few months down the road.
Best of Luck!!
Todd F. Brabender
Spread The News Public Relations, Inc.
Generating publicity & media exposure for innovative
products/businesses/websites.
(785) 842-8909
[email protected]
http://www.spreadthenewspr.com
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ABOUT SPREAD THE NEWS PR:
Spread The News PR specializes in generating media exposure and publicity for innovative
businesses, products, inventions and websites. Spread The News can help create awareness
for new products or businesses or help promote under-publicized existing ones. Spread The
News conducts meticulous media market research to match your product/business profile with
the editorial profiles of as many media outlets as possible.
Spread The News has generated publicity for:
* Consumer Interest Products
* Industry/Trade-Specific Products
* Business Start-ups
* Web Site Launches
* Established Companies - Corporate Campaigns/Profiles
(See partial client list at: http://www.spreadthenewspr.com/clients.html)
For more information, contact:
Spread The News PR/Todd Brabender
(785) 842-8909
info@SpreadTheNewsPR
www.SpreadTheNewsPR.com
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Article #3: "So Now You Have A Better Mousetrap," by Pamela
Doty
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: The following article is excerpted from a speech given
by Pam Doty to the Inventors' Association of St. Louis in 1998. The article provides tips
to help inventors when raising money for a new product, and is relevant to those who plan
to manufacture and market their products themselves, as opposed to licensing them.
"So Now You Have A Better Mousetrap" . . .
Key points to remember...
* Get your widget made. You must be able to convey the idea. If you
cannot draw, then find a family member or friend who can. Some prototypes are too
expensive to make -- hire an engineer to prepare the drawings. Test it out with friends
for feed back -- this is the beginning of your market testing. Consider: Will they use it?
Would they pay for it? Does it solve a problem for them? Is there a demand? Is there
competition already established in the market?
* Protect the property. Research the forms of intellectual properties.
Talk to someone with a patent, trademark or copyright. Do you need it? Can you afford It?
How long does it take? Consult an intellectual property attorney for more advice.
* Get your plan for business written down. You will need to be able to
convey your plan to a banker or a private investor. You can do it yourself.-- SBDC in St.
Louis, SCORE, or computer software and books. Or hire a professional who has a great deal
of experience in writing business plans. Business plans vary $2,000-$20,000.
* Find out how you raise money through your private company. There are
several ways to do this -- Research raising capital in the business section at the library
-- Talk to friends or business associates that have done this for their company. What are
your options? (Venture capital, city, state and federal loan programs, bank loan, private
investment) Attend the Missouri Venture Forum -- see what it is about. Consult a
securities law attorney who specializes in raising capital for business.
* Be prepared ahead of your meeting with a professional so you know
enough about the subject to ask questions to get the answers you need. Ask about their
fees ahead of time.
* Research who it is you will be dealing with. If you are considering
private investment find out as much as you can about the process. Use the library, talk to
a banker about the subject -- does he know anyone with experience in this field you could
talk to? Find an advisor -- someone you know or admire in business that will listen to
your plans and give you their opinion about how you might proceed. How did they finance
their venture?
* Anticipate the questions an investor will ask and be prepared to
answer them at the meeting. The better prepared you are before you meet with potential
investors, the better your chances are in getting the capital you need. The investor will
ask:
* Who is in management? Are they experienced?
* How will the money be spent?
* How do you plan to pay me back? What is the exit strategy?
* What kind of return will I get on my investment?
* Why should I invest in your idea?
* Don't quit your daytime gig ... yet. And don't give up!
Copyright 1998 Pam Doty
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Thanks.
Until next time, Successful Inventing To You!
Best Regards,
Paul Niemann;
Humble Proprietor of Market Launchers
(800) 337-5758
(217) 224-7735 (outside the U.S.)
Copyright 2000
All Rights Reserved
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Click here to read the June 2000 issue.