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THE ONLINE INVENTOR -- June 2000
(c) 2000 Market Launchers, Inc.
http://www.marketlaunchers.com
Publisher: Paul Niemann
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PUBLISHER'S NOTES: Our web site welcomed its 40,000th visitor this
month! Thanks to each of you for helping to put us in the Top 1% of all inventor web
sites.
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 why not 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 our inventor customers for their patented or patent-pending products.
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 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. To find out the
details and the cost of owning your own Invention Web Page, please visit us at http://www.marketlaunchers.com/forms.html.
Have a Great Fourth of July weekend!
Best Regards,
Paul Niemann
www.MarketLaunchers.com
"To love what you do and feel that it matters - how could anything be more
fun?" -- Katharine Graham
"Winners expect to win in advance. Life is a self-fulfilling prophecy."
-- Author Unknown
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In this issue:
Article # 1: "Priming Yourself for Publicity," by Todd F.
Brabender of "Spread The News PR, Inc."
Article #2: "AmericanInventor.com Launches New ISP for
Inventors," by Ken Robbins
Article #3: "How to Save $1000 or More in Filing Your Patent
Application," by Jack Lander
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Article # 1: "Priming Yourself for Publicity," by Todd F.
Brabender of Spread The News PR, Inc.
When it comes to putting together your initial business plan or making out your annual
marketing budget, the amount of money you allocate toward "marketing
supportives" can make a big difference in the success of your business' impending
PR/publicity campaign. Although it sounds obvious, many new entrepreneurs don't realize
that typical sales marketing materials you budget for can certainly be used for your
"media marketing" as well. What I consider "marketing supportives"
that are effective for PR are things like: product photos; media samples; sales
fulfillment options, etc. The more supportives in place -- the more media coverage you
might expect.
Case in point, I recently launched a consumer product publicity campaign for a client who
had many strong supportives: great product photos (hard copy & digital); product
samples for the media; an online ordering vehicle on his website. We got tremendous media
response in magazines and newspapers and even a number of TV shows & newscasts.
Because the product was very visual, the coverage on the TV medium would have increased
tenfold had the client had a VNR (Video News Release) with product footage. When many
shows requested the VNR and found out the client didn't have one, they simply could not
give us coverage because they didn't have the time to shoot the video themselves to meet
the show's deadline. (The same principle holds true for product photos.)
This is not to say that your PR campaign will fail if you don't have EVERY marketing
supportive available. (VNR's for example can be very expensive to produce, duplicate and
distribute. Many new entrepreneurs decide against them for that reason.) I have launched
PR campaigns for very small start-up businesses that didn't even have simple product
photos. (Although I strongly recommend having as many supportives as possible.) Because
the client's product had strong, widespread consumer interest value, media outlets picked
it up because of the newsworthiness of the pitch/product. Again, if the client had more
money in his limited budget to afford a FEW supportives -- at least photos or media
samples - our media coverage would have been even more extensive.
Bottom line -- from a publicity standpoint -- your marketing supportives should help the
media cover your product with as little effort as possible. The less effort the
editor/producer has to put forth to place your product in an article or news story, the
better your chances for good media coverage.
If you are planning/budgeting for a PR campaign and you have strong marketing supportives
in place you stand to gain much more from your campaign. Conversely, maybe you hadn't
thought about a publicity campaign for your business. But if your marketing budget has, in
fact, allowed for a few of the supportives listed below, you are more primed than you
realized for a campaign that should lead to some great media exposure.
But does your business/product have what it takes to initiate a successful publicity
campaign? How do you know if you are ready to initiate a publicity campaign? Although PR
campaigns can be implemented for any type of business/product, there are a number of
factors that can help make a campaign more successful. In my professional experience, the
most effective publicity campaigns are generated from:
* New Product Launches (Consumer or Industry/Trade-Specific)
* Start-Up Businesses with Innovative Product Lines
* Successful Case-Study Information (Stats/Stories of Product's
Effectiveness)
Businesses/products with the following "supportives" tend to generate better
publicity:
* Professionally Manufactured/Packaged Products
* Professionally-Produced Photo/Art (Color or B/W Prints, Slides,
Digital Files)
* Promotional Samples Available for Media Reviews
* Reliable Sales Fulfillment Vehicles (retail placement, online ordering
capabilities)
* Video News Release (B-roll -- video of product and its applications)
The items listed above are simply suggestions to help you get the most out of your
prospective publicity campaign. Each Spread the News PR campaign is evaluated on an
individual case-by-case basis before determining which "supportives" would be
most effective.
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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 #2: "AmericanInventor.com Launches New ISP for Inventors," by Ken
Robbins
Atlanta, Georgia -- Ken Robbins, the popular product scout for Dirt Devil, has just been
tapped to launch a new internet company. Recently bitten by internet fever and backed by
BKV advertising, Ken will be the CEO of affinitypages.com an internet service provider for
common interest groups.
"The invention community has been very good to me. Now I hope to give something back,
with our first service being one for inventors." says Robbins.
Robbins' new company launched American Inventor.com in April. This new service is strictly
for inventors. Subscribers to American Inventor.com get fast, reliable internet
connections with daily inventor news and links to resources. But, as Robbins points out,
the best part is the cool e-mail address extension. "Now inventors can show the world
they are [email protected]."
Robbins says inventors in even the smallest towns around the country can dial in with a
local number. American Inventor.com, which costs the standard $19.95 for unlimited
service, covers 99% of North America. Robbins states, "The big ISP's offer very
little to someone who is an inventor. We've got inventor news, inventor links, headlines
coming in from PatentCafe.com plus great internet service across the country. We want to
connect inventors from every part of the US -- every invention club -- every basement
workshop -- all of them should be here with us and not on AOL or one of the other faceless
giants".
Robbins' well-known passion for independent inventors comes through when talking about the
service. "Ken insisted we start the company with an ISP for inventors" said
Brent Kuhn, president of BKV advertising. "American Inventors have done more to
benefit this planet than any other group of people in history! They deserve their own
internet service!" Ken insists. For more information you can call the toll free
number 877-580-5901 or sign up online at http://www.AmericanInventor.com.
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Article #3: How to Save $1000 or More in Filing Your Patent Application," by Jack
Lander
Use a patent agent rather than a patent attorney. Patent agents must pass the same
"patent bar" examination as attorneys in order to write patents. Agents can do
most everything that a patent attorney can do except represent you in court, or in any
other legal proceedings.
Patent agents often practice as graduate mechanical engineers, electrical engineers,
chemists, biologists, etc., prior to becoming patent agents, whereas patent attorneys
usually get the technical degree only for the purpose of qualifying for their license, and
usually have no hands-on experience in their second discipline.
Because patent attorneys have two degrees, and are part of a profession that traditionally
upholds high hourly fees, they charge from $150 to $200 in most areas. In big cities like
New York, their fees will be even higher. Many patent agents charge about half of that. I
work with a very competent agent in Wisconsin who charges $75 an hour.
Now, as for getting into court: Many patent attorneys do not litigate. This means that if
you must go to court for any reason, you will have to pay to re-educate a litigating
attorney about the background of your invention, and then spend upwards to a million
dollars in a typical suit. So, for most of us, litigation is completely impractical. And
if we aren't going to litigate, why use a patent attorney?
To find patent agents, go to the patent office web site at http://www.uspto.gov then
"Searchable Databases," scroll down to "Attorney and Agent Roster,"
"Attorney and Agent Search," and scroll down to "Listing by Geographic
Region," and find all of the agent and attorneys in your state. Agents are
distinguished from attorneys.
Many agents work for law firms or corporations, and may not practice after hours and on
weekends. Phone several and ask. Also ask what kind of degree the agent has. Make sure you
connect with an agent that has an electrical degree if your invention is electrical, etc.
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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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Feel free to forward "The Online Inventor" to your inventor friends and
colleagues. If you change your e-mail address, please subscribe with the new address in
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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 May 2000 issue.