Completing the Checklist

There is little you can do in addition to the six steps that you have already completed. Now it is time for you to manage the relationships that you have, and watch your hard work payoff.

Here is a recap of the previous weeks that have brought us to completing the checklist.

Week One: Protecting Intellectual Property

Without protection for your intellectual property, anyone can potentially steal your idea. This makes it extremely difficult to sell your idea, or to expect to receive any money for it. I highly recommend starting with a provisional patent. They are inexpensive compared to a full patent, and they protect you for a year while you are doing market research.

The results of your research will let you know if you want to continue to move forward and spend the money for a full patent.

Click Here to File a Provisional Patent

By protecting your intellectual property, you were enabled to move forward with the idea.

Week Two: Creating a Prototype and Drawings

For many people, a visual component is necessary for understanding the description of the product. Some people have a wild imagination and may picture something completely different, while other people may not be able to picture it all.

The prototyping company that we recommend is Vallmar LLC, based out of Ohio. Vallmar follows a five step model which is critical to inventor success.

1. Research
2. Design
3. Engineering
4. Prototyping
5. Production

By creating a prototype and drawings, people can visualize your product and how they would use it.

Week Three: Research!

While at times it is easy to become wrapped up in all of the information that the internet can offer, do not neglect your local library. The information that you find online may cost money, and is probably available for free at your local library.

Here are some search engines that I would recommend using, other than our beloved Google.

1. The Thomas Register

   The Thomas Register is a great tool for specified searches on manufacturers and suppliers.

   http://www.thomasnet.com/index.html

2. Hoovers

   Hoovers offers a searchable database of companies, executives, and expert advice.

   http://www.hoovers.com/free/

3. IndustrySearch.com

   IndustrySearch is a great resource if you are looking to do market research on the tech or manufacturing sectors.

   http://www.industrysearch.com/

Researching the market, industry, competition and end user in-depth, will provide people with information to become more interested in potentially partnering with you.

Week Four: Materials for Presenting your Idea

First impressions are extremely important. Psychologists say first impressions have a primacy effect. The primacy effect in essence is the base for all impressions moving forward. So, if you make a bad first impression, all future opinions will be influenced by the first negative impression.

It is extremely important to make sure that you are presenting your product and yourself in the best possible manner, in order to seal a deal. The presentation should include all of the detailed information that you found in your research.

For more information regarding hands-on Pitchbook services provided by Idea Buyer, please contact: Lindsey@IdeaBuyer.com.

Week Five: Manufacturing Quotes

One critical step in the invention process is obtaining manufacturing quotes. As an inventor, you must know the cost of making your product tangible, and ready to be sold. The manufacturing cost will play a role in many of your financial projections, and also when potential partners are considering offering you a deal.

The best way to obtain manufacturing quotes is to work with a prototyping company that regularly works with inventors and has experience working with products in your given industry.

Week Six: Creating Company Contacts

Trade shows can be extremely beneficial when trying to create contacts within your industry. Always make sure that you have business cards with you, in case you meet someone interested in your product. It will serve as a reminder, and provide them with your contact information. The card should have your name, the name of your product, telephone number, email address, and if applicable, a website address where people can find more information. Remember to make sure that the contact information is appropriate and professional.

Take notes on the conversations you have. After you meet someone that you have exchanged business cards with, wait until you are away from the person, and write on the back of the business card key information that you learned about him/ her. Key things to remember:

• The companies you discussed.
• Investors and manufacturers mentioned.
• Possible friends he/ she said might be interested or may know someone that can help.
• Where they are from.
• How long they are in town for. (If they are staying longer, you may be able to set up a meeting while you both are still there.)
• Children, spouse, or other personal information mentioned.

This information will help you to remember them and also to allow them to remember you when you contact them.

Week Seven: Seeing YOUR Product on Store Shelves and Collecting Royalties

With all of the work that you have done protecting your IP, creating a prototype and drawings, doing market research, creating presentation materials, getting manufacturing quotes, and creating company contacts, I am sure that you are ready to take a deep breath and relax. Well it’s ALMOST time for that.

By creating your presentation materials out of all of the work that you have done, it is time to present, if you haven’t already. Call upon the contacts that you have made, and ask them to take a look at your materials. DON’T GIVE UP! If one company says that they are not interested, it doesn’t mean that another company won’t be.

When a company is ready to buy or license your patent, you will create an agreement explaining the terms of selling or licensing your intellectual property. These terms should be well thought out, well negotiated, and reviewed by your lawyer before signing.

Signing does not necessarily mean all of the work is over. You should be continuing to manage the relationship with the buyer or licensee of your intellectual property, to make sure that the agreement is being fulfilled.

Other than managing the usage of your intellectual property, all you really need to do now is watch the mail for your royalty check!

About the author of this article:

Lindsey Yeauger is the Director of Communications for Idea Buyer LLC, a new product development company that owns and operates IdeaBuyer.com- The Online Marketplace for Intellectual Property. The site gives inventors the opportunity to showcase their intellectual property to consumer product companies, entrepreneurs, retailers, and manufacturers. You can email her at Lindsey@IdeaBuyer.com.

Create Those Contacts!

The patent sale process can be long and discouraging at times. Sometimes you need someone in the background to cheer you on to keep moving along in the patent sale process. As the sixth step in this process, this week’s topic is more of a cheer… CREATE THOSE CONTACTS! While creating your contacts, keep last week’s newsletter about first impressions, in the back of your mind.

Trade shows are the number one spot for you to meet companies, manufacturers, investors, and other inventors in your industry. Make yourself and your product known by introducing yourself to industry leaders.

To make the most of your event I suggest that you research who will be there and the specific companies you want to target. Having ‘target companies’ in mind will help you save lots of time and ultimately give you more time with prospects.

Additionally, you want to make sure that you are prepared for those conversations.
However, contacts can be made anywhere, and at anytime and you need to be prepared! Here are a few of my suggestions for creating and keeping a contact:

Keep business cards with you at all times!

Business cards allow you to be remembered by someone for a period of time after you have met. It can also serve as a reminder of your conversation. Trade shows can have thousands of people attending. By giving a business card to a person you are talking with, that person is able to be reminded of you and your product after the show is over when looking through the cards that they received.

An exchange of business cards seems more respectable than just walking up to every guy in a suit and asking for his business card. Introduce yourself, and have a genuine conversation, THEN offer your business card and ask for his/ hers. People will be more inclined to talk to you when contacted later on, if they are able to pull out your business card and confirm that they have actually met you before.

Staples or Kinko’s can produce cards for you in 24 hours. The card should have your name, the name of your product, telephone number, email address, and if applicable, a website address where people can find more information.

* When choosing the email address to put onto your business card, make sure that it is professional. An email address like HOT4CHICKS@EMAIL.COM is not professional. Likewise, the voicemail message associated with the telephone number should convey professionalism as well and should not be along the lines of “HEY GUYS, ITS ME! LEAVE ME A GOOD ONE AND ILL GET BACK TO YA ASAP!”

Record all conversations!

Not literally record the conversation (FYI: It is illegal to record a conversation without the other party’s consent.), but take notes.

After you meet someone that you have exchanged business cards with, wait until you are away from the person, and write on the back of the business card key information that you learned about him/ her. Key things to remember:

• The companies you discussed.
• Investors and manufacturers mentioned.
• Possible friends he/ she said might be interested or may know someone that can help.
• Where they are from.
• How long they are in town for. (If they are staying longer, you may be able to set up a meeting while you both are still there.)
• Children, spouse, or other personal information mentioned.

This information will help you to remember them and also to make them remember you when you contact them.

A telephone call or email will be more likely to be responded to positively sounding like:

“Hello Mr. Smith, this is Joe, we met at the software convention in Dallas last week. How was the trip back to Tampa? You had mentioned that your friend Sally, who works for Microsoft, may be interested in my product, and I was wondering if you would be willing to make an introduction…”

Any conversations that you have with this person, need to be documented so that the next time you contact him/ her you can remind them of the last time you talked and what you talked about.

DO NOT underestimate, neglect or tarnish any relationships that you have made!

Contacts are so important to any part of the intellectual property selling process. Creating and keeping contacts, in any line of work, can at some point in time, be a life saver.

Anyone that gives you their contact information should receive a follow-up email. A quick and concise email stating, it was nice talking with them and that you look forward to speaking with them again soon, should be the minimum.

As an inventor dedicated to seeing your invention sold on store shelves, you cannot afford to have anyone giving you a bad reputation. Integrity is all anyone has in this world, and if your word isn’t good, then who will want to trust you? At all costs, avoid ignoring contacts or tarnishing relationships, because even if you think that he/ she could never help you, you may be wrong.

About the author of this article:

Lindsey Yeauger is the Director of Communications for Idea Buyer LLC, a new product development company that owns and operates IdeaBuyer.com- The Online Marketplace for Intellectual Property. The site gives inventors the opportunity to showcase their intellectual property to consumer product companies, entrepreneurs, retailers, and manufacturers. You can email her at Lindsey@IdeaBuyer.com.

Manufacturing Quotes for Your Product

Last week’s focus was on the importance of quality presentations. This week, we will discuss how to obtain manufacturing quotes and their importance in moving an invention closer to market.

One critical step in the invention process is obtaining manufacturing quotes. As an inventor, you must know the cost of your product in order to be taken seriously by potential partners. The manufacturing cost will play a role in many of your financial projections.

The best way to obtain manufacturing quotes is to work with a prototyping company that regularly works with inventors and has experience working with products in your given industry.

You want to ensure that the company you choose to work with has the capability to produce production quality drawings, help you choose the proper materials for your invention, has engineering experience to ensure your products integrity, and has vast experience with prototyping and going to production.

Here are some things you want to look out for:

1. ‘Prototyping company’ where you speak with a salesperson rather than an engineer.
2. A company that will not sign a basic non-disclosure agreement.

One prototyping company that we recommend is Vallmar LLC which is based out of Ohio.

Vallmar follows a five step model which is critical to inventor success.

1. Research
2. Design
3. Engineering
4. Prototyping
5. Production

Many inventors do not have the resources to go to production. Obtaining quotes will give you more information about what it will take to get your product to market.

Having already conducted your market research and having a general idea of the price point at which you can sell your product, your manufacturing cost per unit will help you determine your anticipated gross margins at various volumes of production.

It will also give you a clear picture of the overall total investment it will take to get your product to be production ready. Costs will range from engineering to molds. These costs play a vital role in your discussions with partners who will be taking a risk in working with you.

If nothing else, the quotes will give you an idea of what the other party will have to risk and may make you a little less greedy. Remember to value what others can bring to the table. It is rare for someone to become successful trying to accomplish everything on their own. Many inventors have no interest in “sharing the pie”, however, it will mean nothing if your “pie” sits there rotting while you’re still waiting on a fork to eat it.

This week: How to get manufacturing quotes

Next week: How to Create Company Contacts to Fast Track Your Invention to Market

About the author of this article:

Lindsey Yeauger is the Director of Communications for Idea Buyer LLC, a new product development company that owns and operates IdeaBuyer.com- The Online Marketplace for Intellectual Property. The site gives inventors the opportunity to showcase their intellectual property to consumer product companies, entrepreneurs, retailers, and manufacturers. You can email her at Lindsey@IdeaBuyer.com.

First Impressions are Everything

Last week’s focus was on conducting market research. This week, we will discuss the importance of quality presentations.

First impressions are extremely important. Psychologists say first impressions have a “primacy effect”. The “primacy effect” in essence is the base for all impressions moving forward. So, if you make a bad first impression, all future opinions will be influenced by the first negative impression.

Solomon Asch, a famous psychologist, performed an experiment in which he provided two groups of students with a list of character traits of a speaker prior to his arrival.

The first group was given a list that described the speaker with ‘cold’ traits while the second group was given a list describing the speaker with ‘warm’ traits.

Upon the completion of the speech, the students were asked to describe the speaker as either cold or warm. Overwhelmingly, the students of group one rated the speaker as “cold” and the second group overwhelmingly rated the speaker as “warm”.

The significance of the experiment was that each group had listened to the same speaker give the same speech. It demonstrated the impact that first impressions have on an individuals view whether it is a reference someone has made, a cold call, or a letter you have sent.

This factor is extremely important for inventors to realize. Keep it in mind throughout getting a product to market. Not setting a proper first impression can hinder your progress significantly.

For Example:

• A product development executive receives a hastily recorded and unplanned voicemail about a ‘great idea’ and never returns the call.
• A customer sees a poorly packaged product and questions its quality in a split second leading them not to buy. The packaging is later improved - the customer still questions the products quality.
• A potential buyer receives a package with unimpressive materials - she never opens the presentation.

These types of situations happen on a daily basis for many inventors. While a product may be of high quality, many inventors forget that their behavior and presentation has a large impact on whether that quality will ever even have the opportunity to be evaluated.

EVERY interaction is a presentation. You should have verbal ‘material’ prepped for plan phone calls and tangible materials for group and individual presentations.

Let’s use a man named “John” who has invented a new flat tire repair product as an example.

John calls a potential distributor and leaves a voicemail saying, “Hi, this is John. I found you online and I have a product you are really going to be interested in, call me at xxx-xxx-xxxx and I’ll talk to you more about it”. Do you think John will get a call back?

The chances are that he will not. Contrast that with a voicemail discussing the same product such as this, “Hi, This is John Williams from Tire Doctor. While conducting research, I found that your company is the largest distributor of fix a flat online. Our team recently received a patent on a new version of fix a flat which has shown to fix up to 50% larger holes and holds for 4x as long making it the strongest and longest lasting product on the market. Additionally, the product is produced at a fraction of the cost allowing for us to provide larger margins for our distributors. Please call me at your convenience at xxx-xxx-xxxx to further discuss a potential partnership”. Will John get a call back?

The chances that he now will get a call back will go up exponentially. He has, in his ‘first impression’, demonstrated higher value, intelligence, and courtesy.

Additionally, if you get a call back but have poor presentation materials it is likely you will be working uphill against a force you could have avoided. Presenting your product deserves a good amount of time and thought.

Your initial presentation should be no longer than 10 pages in length in size 14 font (people will not read what is hard to read). The presentation should talk about your products features and benefits and should ALSO emphasize the benefits to them whether it is a distributor or a direct retailer.

If you are interested in personal hands on services to help position your product for presentations to potential buyers, feel free to email me at Lindsey@IdeaBuyer.com for further consultation.

This week: The importance of quality presentation materials

Next week: How to get manufacturing quotes

About the author of this article:

Lindsey Yeauger is the Director of Communications for Idea Buyer LLC, a new product development company that owns and operates IdeaBuyer.com- The Online Marketplace for Intellectual Property. The site gives inventors the opportunity to showcase their intellectual property to consumer product companies, entrepreneurs, retailers, and manufacturers. You can email her at Lindsey@IdeaBuyer.com.

Research is Key!

Last week’s focus was on creating a prototype and drawings for your invention. This week, we will discuss how crucial it is for you to research everything about your invention. Because next Thursday is a holiday, we will be sending out the newsletter on Wednesday, so watch for it a day early!

Being told to research may remind you of being in school and preparing to write a report. Well that is basically what you will be doing. Hopefully this won’t turn you off to the idea of it, because it is so important for your invention.

Now that the internet has made it so easy to access information, at times it can make us forget about the good old fashioned LIBRARY. I would recommend using both. The library has a lot of the same information that the internet has, but it will always be free. With the reliance upon internet search engines, companies have begun to charge you for information that was certainly published in a book, and that book is probably sitting at your local library.

Here are some search engines that I would recommend using, other than our beloved Google.

1. The Thomas Register

The Thomas Register is a great tool for specified searches on manufacturers and suppliers.

http://www.thomasnet.com/index.html

2. Hoovers

Hoovers offers a searchable database of companies, executives, and expert advice.

http://www.hoovers.com/free/

3. IndustrySearch.com

IndustrySearch is a great resource if you are looking to do market research on the tech or manufacturing sectors.

http://www.industrysearch.com/

If these websites do not allow you to find the information below, try visiting the library.

With that in mind, let’s talk about what you should be researching. If you haven’t done one already, you certainly need to start with a search on potential competition. Some of you may be saying that your product is the first of its kind so it won’t have competition… WRONG!

You created your invention to solve a problem. Chances are there is already something on the marketplace that is currently being used to solve that same problem.

Research that product and the companies that it is affiliated with. Find out how long it has been on the market, how it is being manufactured, sold, and distributed. Write up a summary of the information that you have found, it may even be beneficial to do a comparison with your product.

After analyzing the results you may consider placing your product on a similar path.

Using your competitor as an example, you will need to find out who your potential users are, down to demographics. Demographics for the consumers of your industry can be found when doing your industry research. Before you begin that, start by asking yourself who is going to want to use your product and why? Try to narrow down as much as possible, WHO your target buyer is.

Start your industry research by narrowing down what industry your product should be placed in. Get as specific as possible. For instance, if you have invented a new type of pencil, you might consider your product being sold in through the office supply industry. An industry more specific to your product like writing utensils would be more beneficial. Specificity allows for more opportunities. Consider if you had gone with office supplies as your industry, you would have lost out on the school supply market.

The market that you are going to be supplying your product to is constantly changing. Some markets change with consumer spending, and some don’t. Some markets only last a year. It is extremely important for you to research the market’s history, and the anticipated changes that the market may go through. These changes will affect your product, so they are extremely important to be aware of.

Industry and market research can be frustrating and time consuming. As an added down side, much of the information on the internet is usually not free. Here is a tip for finding out information about your market or industry:

Find out what publications are specific to your product. Think about which of them would have the same or similar target audience. Look at the media kits and advertising information that they are providing for their advertisers. They have already paid to have this information researched and typically, they are placed on the website.

This write-up of all of the research you have conducted, will be a great tool in your decision making process, and also something you can use in a presentation for potential buyers or investors.

This week: In-depth Research… CHECK!

Next week: The materials needed for a great presentation!

About the author of this article:

Lindsey Yeauger is the Director of Communications for Idea Buyer LLC, a new product development company that owns and operates IdeaBuyer.com- The Online Marketplace for Intellectual Property. The site gives inventors the opportunity to showcase their intellectual property to consumer product companies, entrepreneurs, retailers, and manufacturers. You can email her at Lindsey@IdeaBuyer.com.