Making Storytelling Work for You
Part 1 of 2 Relating your actions can help inspire others to action BY ELIZABETH BREEDLOVE In today’s digital age, […]
Inventor Resources
Market Research, or Marketing Research?
Knowing the difference is crucial for identifying your market and acting on it. Market research has a limited scope, studying only market and consumer behavior. Marketing research has a wide scope, studying the entire marketing process as well as the market itself.
Your Profit Formula
As a general rule, a product needs to be manufactured for 25 percent of its expected price to consumers to make money. This is due to distribution and selling costs. That means that your manufacturing costs must be less than 50 cents if your product’s retail price is $2.
The Best-Laid Flight Plans
Whether inventing, manufacturing, selling your product yourself or inventing and licensing your invention to another company, it will need to go through many steps and/or iterations.
Mistakes in Building Relationships
When working with companies and other inventors, avoid these common errors. Don’t send unsolicited marketing materials—whether dealing with companies or other inventors.
Satellite IoT 101
The Achilles’ heel of IoT is that it only works in places that have infrastructure to move data to the cloud. WiFi and ethernet work great inside of buildings, and cellular and LoRa help in remote areas, but all are at the mercy of how much coverage is available.
Understanding Improvement Patents
With an improvement patent, you add improvements to a previously patented invention. If you are not the owner of the previous patent, you might be able to get a patent but not be able to sell the product related to the patent because you would be infringing on the original patent.
Going Communal on Facebook
Last month, this column covered using LinkedIn Groups to share and improve your invention. But Facebook, with its massive user base and diverse set of tools, also offers fertile ground for inventors and entrepreneurs to build and nurture a dedicated following.
Creating Careful Chaos
Innovation isn’t invention; it’s often a necessary, welcome change in the way we do things. The strategy must balance the chaos of innovation with the stability of conformity. This is the most efficient, cost-effective path to successfully launch an innovative product.
Patent Search Options
If you do your own patent search without much experience, you probably will not find the prior art the patent examiner will find during searching. This will result in the rejection of your patent application if you file it on your own.
And Here’s the Pitch (Letter)
Most people assume a patent covers the entire item, whereas it may only cover a fraction of the features. Tips on an old-school approach to landing a licensee for your invention.
Shopping Channels? Don’t Laugh
Inventors and product designers can learn from home shopping’s focus on relatability, tone, and creating an aura of scarcity. Corny and predictable presentations work—so as millions pay, pay attention.