Recent
Speakers
The ISSF offers
the inventing community many fine speakers from a variety of disciplines. Recent
speakers are listed below with their expertise and insight they offered inventors.
Kellie
Olver, an on-air personality and product scout for the Home Shopping
Network, gave the blueprint for the perfect pitch:
- Tell what your
product is, what it does, how it is different from the competition and how
it makes life better.
- In the 3-minute
"pitch" window show how to use it and change the story; keep it
short, sweet and to the point.
- Practice, practice,
practice. Never wing it.
Ken
Kholos of Technicraft Plastics offered a lot of useful information
in the June presentation including:
- Buyers on HSN
and QVC know precisely how many should sell in what amount of time. If the
buyer likes it, you are in a perfect launching spot.
- Walmart®
secret - What is already in their store? Food is lowest margin. Other end
of store is high margin. Where are products like yours positioned in the store?
This gives you an idea of selling price.
- Spend your money
on advertising.
- Have a professional
do the HSN presentation. Individually box the product and have it on their
premises. You pay for everything (return shipping too). You have to earn prime
time.
Dave
Doty, Managing Director of Focus Video, spoke about Selling
Yourself and a Product using videos. He offered recommendations for the
inventor:
- Passion for
your product. Show what it does and why someone should buy it.
- Budget your
money.
- Create a script
- write your own or hire a reputable company to do it.
- Tape your focus
groups.
Ted Bullock,
a patent troll, offered insight to and a questionnaire
for working with patent attorneys:
- Attorney competence
is a mix of qualifications, experience, success and capability.
- When selecting
an attorney, if the he/she does not answer your questions or is too general
with answers, then move on. Pick the questions that mean the most to you.
- The attorney
should counsel you on how to use him/her to maximize your dollars. Ballpark
cost estimates should also be provided with dependencies.
Pamela
Riddle Bird, CEO of Innovative
Product Technologies, Inc., offered inside information concerning the
ultimate price point and mark up of products in various industries, as well
as the following:
- Pick the product
the retailer will have to take off of the shelf to put yours in its place.
This way you have a tangible target to overcome.
- Make the first
answer of any marketing interview YES. This immediately makes the interviewee
interested and sympathetic to your cause.
- Always turn
negatives into positives. When your competition tries to out do you, come
up with a way to make their advertising work FOR YOU.
Tom
Fishchlschweiger, business reference librarian at the Broward County
Main Library in Fort Lauderdale, FL, spoke to inventors about Government
Grants:
- The advertising
industry has taken over grants by providing misinformation.
- Grants are a
means for the government to obtain a product or service, so you are accountable.
- Eligibility
criteria must be met before you apply.
- There are no
programs to help inventors bring a product to market.
Vince
Gelormine, founder & CEO of the Startup
Business Boot Camp, explained How to Determine Market Demand for
a Product Idea.
- You always have
to modify a product for the market.
- Attempt to sell
before you create the product to see if you get nibbles.
- Use the power
of the Internet to rapid prototype almost any idea.
- Use a spreadsheet
to know where you are going financially.
Randy
Landreneau, inventor and former President of the Tampa Bay Inventors
Council, explained How to Make Plastic Prototypes.
- Your first prototype
helps you to determine if your idea works.
- Use pre-existing
parts whenever possible to hold down costs.
- If your rough
prototype works, then build a better mold and create a video using the newer
prototype.
Lisa
Rowland and Tandy
Banks of MLC CAD Systems dazzled the audience with the endless
features of Solid Works.
- The software
builds relationships, for example, between geometry and material type for
stress testing, and checking for parts collision.
- There is a lot
of Windows functionality in the software.
- Features include
finite element analysis, computational fluid dynamics, manual convergence,
sheet metal and weldments, and drag-and-drop 3D content.
Stephen
Knecht (inventor and Biz/IP attorney) and Keith
Kravitz (marketing guru), excited the audience with Proof of Concept,
also known as Don't Call My Baby Fat!
- Answer the question:
Is your idea marketable? (What is your market?)
- Seek out someone
who will tell you 'don't proceed with your invention' OR 'modify it'.
- Make an infomercial
of your product. Fear is the greatest motivator.
- Do not be ignorant
about marketing.
- Presentation
is everything. Identify the market to capture by starting a forum of blog
about problem area. Or, join a board.
Ron
Sargent, President and owner of Ideation Institute, presented
Creation of a New Product.
AmondaRose
Igoe, teacher in the Art of Public Speaking, enlisted audience
participation for her presentation.
- Imagine that
each person you meet will enable your success. Your communication can make
or break the relationship.
- Specialize:
pick one thing to discuss. Communicate clearly. "I
am <your name>." Say it as if you OWN IT! "I specialize in
_____".
- Be a problem
solver (solutions sell).
- Ask the other
person who they are first. (If you are interested in them, then they will
like you.)
Amy
Tupler, President, Solution Conduits, discussed "Out-of-the-Box"
Power-Marketing Strategies for Inventors.
- Consider what
the customer's experience (feel, taste, smell) is following interaction with
the product. Most consumers have an expectation and they rate your product
based on that expectation.
- Define your
target market (economics, user profile, payment history/credit, elderly, Hispanic,
young parents, etc.)
- Know the unintended
or accidental market to prevent liability.
- We live in an
experience economy, so know and market the experience of your product/service.
Lisa
Guarini, founder and CEO, Smart Broad, Inc., discussed her journey
as an inventor.
- Be an expert
in your field.
- Prepare yourself
for the long haul: have and follow a business plan.
- It will take
longer and cost more than you expect.
- Show at tradeshows;
find a mentor at tradeshows.
Tom
Fishchlschweiger, business reference librarian at the Broward County
Main Library in Fort Lauderdale, FL, spoke to inventors about Government
Sites You Should Know to search for prior art in government.
- GPO documents
are free for the asking, whereas NTIS charges for copies.
- NTIS website
has a search engine that tells you what is out there; you can pay NTIS for
information or get it free on STI.
- DoD and NASA
issue technical reports on inventions, however, there are licensing procedures
for the use/application of the inventions.
- The Defense
Technical Information Center was established in 1945 to collect and analyze
defense documents; they have older journals and databases for disseminating
information.
- Navy Technical
Disclosure Bulletin is filled with prior art from invention disclosures
that are not patented. The bulletins are neither digitized nor indexed. They
were published from 1970-1994. Hard copies are being removed from libraries
for lack of use. This resource will be lost unless an effort is made to digitize
it.
Freddy
Lee, architect, designer and inventor, spoke to the audience on Do-It-Yourself
Prototyping.
- The better you
understand your idea, the easier it is to build.
- Use materials
you can handle (paper, cardboard and plastic; aluminum is bendable; wood has
variable densities; styrene glues well)
- Create inventions
for companies seeking them.
- Copyright every
prototype.
Charles
Koch, owner of 3 Axis
Development, Inc., is a manufacturing expert whose presentation was Manufacturing
for the Market.
- We solve the
inventor problem of making one, ten or fifty of anything to market your product.
- You must break
into the retail market, so keep going to trade shows. Just having a product
is not enough.
- Today's market
is about 3D manufacturing; print a handgun and shoot it in seven days!
- The laser printer
machine that makes parts is data driven; the inventor pays for the database.
Steve
Greenberg, author of Gadget
Nation, spoke to the audience about details of the products and inventor
journeys discussed in his book.
- Inventors
face a bumpy journey to make a product successful; lots of aggravation.
- There
was no correlation between type of product and making money.
- All
the products were television friendly.
- Let
the packaging explain what the product does.
- Research
beforehand to identify your market.
Martin
Kahn and Carl Isbitts represent the Service
Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE), counselors to small
business. SCORE aligns the realities of business with the expectations
of the individual.
- There
are three rules for success: knowledge of the business, capitalization
and a bulletproof business plan.
- Your
business plan and forecast are constantly changing with market
demands and the economy.
- Use
measurement tools to enable your business plan and decisions.
For example, get quotes from legitimate sources.
Ruben
Alcoba, Esq. and Craig
Kirsch of Alcoba &
Associates, PA spoke to the membership on Trademarking & Branding.
- A
trademark name should be legally strong, commercially viable,
enjoy exclusive use and prevent others from having the same or
a similar trademark.
- Why
register a trademark? It gives the world notice. The consumer
equates the symbol with higher quality.
- Avoid
changing your trademark once chosen so as not to confuse
the public.
Eileen
Fischlschweiger, Intellectual Property Librarian and PTDL
Representative before the USPTO for the Broward
County Main Library in Fort Lauderdale, discussed the USPTO
Electronic Filing System.
- Always
review the tutorials.
- Be
familiar with the information expected and have it on hand before
you visit the website.
- Be
sure to close the Internet window after signing off the website.
- Do
not use the browse button to move to the previous screen because
it can take you instead to the previous website you accessed.
Lydia
Woods, inventor of the TarpKlip®
and successful entrepreneur.
- Network
with the inventing community to obtain leads, ideas, event information
and process knowledge.
- Attend
tradeshows and other events that offer product exposure, networking
and customer validation.
- Advertise/promote
through website, finder's fee, press release, telephone contact,
mass mailings and 60-second CD presentation.
- Free
yourself of tasks that others can do more effectively.
John
Hobbs, inventor of the Athlete's
Oasis® and independent product developer.
- How
to research: go to the library, identify market size, differentiate
your product; do all of this before you spend a lot of money unnecessarily.
- Business
plan is a roadmap centered on your market plan. Every investor
asks how you will get your product to market. You must do it in
writing and know the numbers. Income projections are based on
your market.
- Concisely
describe what your product does in one sentence.
Dr.
Sergio Mario Golab, international patent attorney and director of Intellectual
Property Business Consultants
- If
you patent your idea and then find a similar patent, abandon yours.
- Request
not to publish your patent when submitting to the USPTO.
- Never
abandon a trade secret because it expires the moment the world
knows about it.
- Dave
Pressman's Patent It Yourself is a great reference.
- The
term 'European Patent' means that you can file in one place but
must designate what country, and then file in each country.
James
Richardson, President and head industrial engineer of Richardson
& Associates, Inc. gave an insightful presentation on Increasing
the Probability of Success as an Inventor/Entrepreneur.
- Inventions
are 80% technically driven and 20% market driven.
- Provisional
Patent Application (PPA) can be used to your advantage enabling
market test as patent pending product.
- Determine
your risk tolerance up front (how much money you are willing to
risk on the venture).
- Pay
attention to costs (tooling, raw materials and design).
Allen
Bennett, a patent attorney with Santucci,
Priore & Long, LLP, whose practice area is IP, patents,
trademarks and copyrights.
- Maintain
confidentiality by getting contracts in writing.
- Have
an agreement between inventors so that each inventor owns equally.
Decide up front what you want to do with the invention is case
the relationship falls apart later.
- A
good license agreement includes infringement.
Jim
Davis, outsourcing expert and President of OEMS,
LLC
- Figure
out what your competency and personal interest are regarding the
invention.
- Develop
strategic partnerships for lowest total cost.
- Evaluate
manufacturer on criteria including: your involvement in their
design efforts, mutual trust, good process control, manufacturing
performance, committed management and evolving together.
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