The reason for the confusion is that the patent rulings appear, at least to me, to have shifted dramatically. I must mention here that I’m not a patent attorney, and don’t understand all the nuances of the changes, but clearly something is afoot and it may give you a chance to profit from the Internet explosion.

First what has changed? When 1863 Samuel Morse tried to patent the concept of sending messages across great distances. His patent was denied – the Supreme Court ruled that he could not patent an idea. Yet today there are patents on on-line advertising and click through ads. Clearly these ideas could not be patented in 1863.

These rules changed in July 1998, when a federal court upheld a patent for a method of calculating the net asset value of mutual funds in State Street Bank & Trust Co. v. Signal Financial Group Inc. 149 F.3d1368 (Fed. Cir. 1998) cert denied 119 S. Ct. 851 (1999). The court ruled that patent laws were intended to protect any method, whether or not it required the aid of a computer, so long as it produced a “useful, concrete, and tangible result.” Thus with one stroke, the court legitimized both software patents and methods of doing business, opening the way for Internet-related patents. In the six months following the ruling, patent filings for software/Internet business methods increased by 40%, and the PTO created a new classification for applications: “Data processing: financial, business practice, management, or cost/price determination.” The above paragraph is taken from http://www.inc.com/articles/2000/11/20945.html. That article has some additional patents to review, including the patent on click through payments.

Take a look at Google’s patent 8138930 for Advertising Based on Environmental Conditions. This sentence  is included in the patent:  For example, a company selling fishing tackle may have a line of large lures and may thus identify terms such as “lunker”, “sturgeon” and “muskie fever” as keywords to associate with their advertisements for such large lures. Another sentence states: An advertisement may be selected for display if there is a “near” match also, for example if a query includes terms that are known synonyms or mistypings / misspellings of the key word for an advertisement. OK,  idea or technology? Can this be patented? Apparently it can as the patent was issued on March 20th 2012.

The key at one time was that the patent concept was tied to a technological device, but today that might not even been needed. Google may have tied their patent to a device to protect the patent from any future rule shifts. From the patent:  The patent application discloses information about an environmental condition of a remote device which is received an apparatus. The apparatus includes one or more processing devices. Particularly the environmental condition is determined based upon a signal output from a sensor of the remote device or a sensor coupled to the remote device. Further, an advertisement is identified based on the environmental condition and the advertisement provided to the remote device.

My take on this patent is that the environmental condition is that a user enters a search term. It goes onto a computer (with several processing devices) is sent to a web site computer (a sensor coupled to the remote device), that then returns one of more advertisements to the user. The patent in broad terms gives a patent for Google to put those little ads on the right side of your screen when you do a patent search.

Rather than complaining about the sorry state of affairs in our patent office, you should instead concentrate on what this means for you. A computer is a technological device, and apparently anything you do with the Internet that starts at a computer, goes into the Internet, and  then is returned to a computer is fair game for the Internet. That’s why Google, Facebook and others are buying up patent rights. They don’t just tie up a product design or innovation, they tie up an entire business concept, something that has never been patentable before.

So next time you get a great idea of new features or services for the Internet, stop and consult with a patent attorney. You just might be able to get a patent that could turn into millions, or billions. To prove my point, all you need to do is go on the web site uspto.gov or do a Google search for Google patents and look up US Patent Number 8138930. You will see how Google has smartly tied up the world of on-line advertising with one patent.

Related posts:

1. USPTO Making Changes for Provisional Patents
2. Doing a Google Patent Search
3. USPTO Considering Extending Provisional Patents

• Bios Clinical Acne System is an acne system that uses topical probiotics to treat adolescent and adult acne.
• Humankind Water gives 100 percent of its net profits to provide clean drinking water for some of the one billion people in this world dying without it.
• Mr. Spritz Mysterious Shirts are entertaining t-shirts containing hidden images that appear when the garment gets wet and disappear when dry.
• Plate Topper transforms dinner plates into airtight food storage containers to save meals, leftovers and snacks. They are dishwasher-safe, microwave-safe and 100 percent BPA-free.
• Sola-Bag Forever Carry Refrigerator is a lunch bag that stays cold forever by generating energy from solar power and indoor lighting.
• Soleeze Spring Loaded Insoles are spring-loaded insoles and shock absorbers that fit into any shoe or boot and last for years.
• SnapIt Eyeglass Repair Kit is an easy way to fix your sunglasses or eyeglasses in 30 seconds.
• SUSIE Magazine is a bimonthly Christian print magazine and online sisterhood for teen girls promoting healthy relationships, good role models and positive self-image.
• Veterans Farm Datil Pepper Salt is a datil-infused kosher salt created at a Veterans Farm, where disabled combat veterans are taught farm skills to help them overcome physical and mental barriers and get jobs.
• We the People Bracelet features silver sterling beads with ingrained detailed descriptions of the Amendments to the Bill of Rights.

List reprinted from the Sacramento Bee, Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/04/05/4393000/walmart-announces-top-10-finalists.html#storylink=cpy
So what does this tell inventors?  The caveat before starting is that the votes were from consumers, so this doesn’t mean this is what the stores really want to buy. But still there are interesting points for inventors that could impact the products that they want to introduce.

1. Products with a message or products that “do good” for others seem to particularly appeal to voters. Humankind Water, Susie Magazine, Veterans Farm Datil Pepper Salt and We the People Bracelets all fall into this category.
2. Products that attack common problems that people know they have are popular. Acne, storing leftovers (The Plate Topper), a refrigerated bag (Solar-Bag Forever) and the spring load shoes (The Soleeze) all attack problems that many, many people easily recognize, and recognize that the problem to date is unsolved. My experience is that products that attack well recognized problems can be instant winners.
3. The other product, Mr. Spritz Mysterious Shirts, is a mystery to me, but it does show that you can’t always predict what people will like.
4. The last point is that the ideas are all straight forward solutions of problems that many of us face. Every person could make a list of problems in their life that are probably shared by many others. Fix that problem, and look out world. The weedwacker is a great example, the product took off because it was a hassle using those darn clippers. The iPod, the easy way to store and replay music as you walk around is another. Even products like roller blades, which seem to have an easy to understand benefit, required a major marketing campaign outside of states like Minnesota, where the benefit of “ice skating” in the summer was obvious.

Lessons to Keep in Mind

The winning ten give inventors guidance on how to increase your chances of having a winning invention. My own list of the key criteria to a successful invention include as one of its mainstay that a product’s benefits must be obvious, which typically only happens when a product solves a problem people know they have. Read on after the list of the five key criteria for more information on how to create a product where the benefit is obvious.
The five key criteria for success of a product from an individual inventor are:

• The product is easy to distribute;
• The technology is simple;
• The product is perceived to be unique;
• The benefit is obvious;
• The product can be sold at four to five times its manufacturing cost.

The Benefit is Obvious

By obvious I mean people can detect why your idea is better in less than three to five seconds.  If it takes longer than that for people to understand your benefit, you need a marketing campaign that is beyond the means of most inventors.

• Show friends and family brochures of your product and other products and ask them to rank them top to bottom for how likely they are to purchase the product.  Then ask people why they ranked the products high that were their first three choices.  First at least 25% of the people should choose your item as one of their top two choices, then at least 75% of the people should list your unique feature as the reason they chose it.
• Show your sales flier along with two other products that provide a similar benefit (it is OK if it is just a drawing) and ask people what they feel is the major difference between your product and the others. They should be able to answer in five to ten seconds. Then ask why that is important. Again if they take longer than 10 seconds to answer, your product’s benefit may not be obvious enough.

Good News for Inventors

The one aspect of the Wal-Mart top ten that I love is it shows that everyday inventors with products that are not all that technical or expensive can still have a winning product. It also shows that there are still plenty of problems and opportunities still out in the world for inventors to solve.  So good luck and keep pushing till you find the idea that you can turn into a profitable product.

Related posts:

1. Selling to Wal-Mart and Target

Private label manufacturers cut into an inventor’s profits, as private label manufacturers will buy the product from you at 20 to 25 percent below what distributors will pay, but in return inventors have an established sales base. Since inventors can sell both on a private label basis and under their own name at the same time, a private label contract can provide the volume inventors need to successfully launch their own businesses.

Inventors can also sell on a private label basis to a retailer. For example, Sears Craftsman products aren’t made by Sears. They are made by other companies that sell to Sears on a private label basis. You need to offer 50 to 60 percent off suggested retail pricing when selling on a private label basis to a retailer, but that is a much better deal for inventors than having to offer a 30 to 50 percent discount off the wholesale or distributor price.

Most inventors will find that distribution, marketing and gaining market acceptance are three big problems when starting to sell a product. Private label is one way to overcome those obstacles. When trying to sell the product under your own name, the cost of marketing and distribution for the first two or three years is often 20 to 40% of sales, and sometimes more. The increased discounts you offer based on private labeling are offset by saving on marketing and distribution.

Perfect Products

Products that are natural extensions of other product lines are ideal private label products. For example, your product might be a rack that allows people to bake four sheets of cookies at a time instead of just two sheets. This product may not have enough appeal to get mass merchants to carry it from a separate company. But the product is an ideal complement for a company selling other similar baking products such as cookie trays, spatulas, and cooling racks. The baking product company will be receptive to an offer to sell a product on a private label basis because it enhances its line and gives the company a better chance to secure shelf space in major retailers. The same situation applies to private label agreements with retailers. They look to add products that complement other products in their private label line.

Your Goals

• Entering competitive markets where one-line companies are at a marked disadvantage.
• Developing sales for a product that helps consumers but doesn’t have the potential of being a major factor in the market.
• Creating a sales base that will help support sales under an inventor’s own brand name.
• Securing a distribution contract so that an inventor can secure the financing he or she needs to begin production.
• Having just a few customers so that the inventor can operate his or her business on a part-time basis.
• Developing a relationship with a company that could eventually result in a licensing agreement.

How to get started

Prototype

Inventors need a “looks like, works like” prototype before landing a private label agreement. A company is going to want to not only to see but to test your product before deciding to go ahead. If you don’t have the ability to make the prototype, you probably can get a contract manufacturer to make it for you at a low cost if you promise, or sign an agreement, to give them the business if you get the final agreement.

Research

When you approach a company with a private label proposal, you want to show them that their target customers like your product and feel it helps them accomplish their goals. This can be shown by having surveys of potential customers, or by having interviews or supporting letters from influential users. The best research might arise from a study of a group of target customers actually using the product, with the results demonstrating that your product is a big benefit to them.

Manufacturing

You are responsible for providing the product in a private label agreement, either by making the product yourself or by having it made by a contract manufacturer. Typically you will need to have a manufacturer who will be willing to make your product in a large enough quantity so it will be of interest to the private label partner.

Picking target private label partners

Companies that have the second through fifth market share positions are usually best to approach, as they are typically not complacent and they are more willing to take a chance on a new product. You want to approach companies where your product is a good fit with their product line. You want the potential buyer’s sales force to be already calling on or selling to your target customers.

Inside support

When you are targeting a company or distributor, you need someone within the company to help promote your idea. You can meet contacts at your target company at trade shows, or by just contacting the company and finding the salesperson that covers your area. Salespeople, regional sales managers, and marketing personnel all can be the right one to push your product with company management.

Approaching the target company

The best approach is to decide on the target end user price and then to approach the company and say you are willing to sell it on a “private label basis for 40% of the end-user price.”  Most companies will only want to pay 35% so expect to pay less. This percentage is low, and you may only make 25% on your product sales. But you won’t have sales and marketing costs, you will typically end up with much higher sales than you could generate on your own, and often are opening the market up for your own sales efforts in a year or two.

Related posts:

1. Selling Under a Private Label Agreement
2. Quick Strike Marketing Tactics for Inventors
3. Selling Big: Finding the Right Marketing Partners

Buy now.

Related posts:

1. Sales Reps for the Gift Market
2. Sales Reps for the Automotive Market
3. List of Sales Reps for the Promotional Product Market Now Available!

A brief history

Provide a short summary of why you came up with the idea, what made you use your particular product design, and why you think it will sell. Include a list of any industry related people you’ve worked with, such as sales representatives, retail store owners, distribution people, inventors who have succeeded in the market, or key end-users.

A competitive products chart

Analyze the products that are already on the market, what they cost and what their strong and weak points are. Include your product in the chart. Also try to get some of the more popular products either the actual product or brochure, printed web pages or ads for the competitive products.

Current sales efforts

If you have done anything to sell your product, list those efforts here.  If not, list any feedback you have from industry people or end users. If you are going with end-users, try to have them evaluate not only your product, but also the competitive products so that they can rate your product above others.

Transitional sales plan or a licensing plan

If you plan on taking the product to market on your own you need a plan to show how you will start to sell the product until its sales expand into a large market. This plan doesn’t have to be long, usually you can show your plans in five to eight bullet points showing the steps you will take to market the product. Be sure to list in this plan any contacts or connections you might have made that will assist you.

If you plan on licensing the product you should list at least three potential licensing targets. You need to show how you will meet the key contacts at those companies. This is usually done either by showing you have a personal connection into the company, perhaps you know a sales rep, or other employee, or a major customer of the targeted company, or by listing the trade shows you will attend to start the licensing process moving forward.

Show the product’s expected sales price and projected costs

The projected costs should be no more than 20% of the products final sales price. You can estimate the products sales price by comparing it to other products in the market, both with competitive products and with products very similar to yours in construction or manufacturing techniques. One effective tool is to have a focus group evaluate your product against others and then list them by order of value, from the highest price product to the lowest. You can use the product rated just above and just below you to estimate your price. You can get the manufacturing cost by getting quotes for several potential manufactures for 5,000 or 10,000 units. Don’t use a price for a low number of units as the price will be too high and you probably won’t meet the criteria that manufacturing costs can’t be any more than 20% of the final retail price.

An orderly financial plan

Don’t go wild here and come up with pages of data.  Instead you just want a simple layout.  For example:

• Finalize prototype                                                       $5,000.00
• Apply for provisional patent                                        $3,500.00
• Arrange for first small production run                         $12,000.00
• Attend Las Vegas trade show                                     $15,000.00
  including brochures, booth and display
• Start larger production, establish operating cash       $20,000.00

Ask for a specific investment

You don’t want to ask for all the money, as then you will have to give up too much of the company. But usually you want to ask for $10,000 to $25,000 for five to ten percent of the current shares of the company. Be careful here to mention the shares of the company will be diluted (become smaller) as more and more shares are sold to raise money.  For example today you may sell 10% of the shares and you own 90,000 and the investor 10,000.  But if you sell another 10,000 shares, then there will 110,000 shares, with the each investor owning about 9% of the shares and you about 82%.

No related posts.

QVC Sprouts was created as a response to QVC’s tremendous growth.  Over the years, QVC’s bar for success has consistently risen and is now at a level that may be unattainable for some new vendors.  However, QVC Sprouts will offer inventors and entrepreneurs aid, assistance and accessibility to help them grow and nurture their products with less of an overall risk.

The program includes five stages, beginning with an initial review of new products and ending with the sale of a select number of products on QVC.com.  Ultimately, some products may move on to make an on-air debut.  QVC customers play an important role in the program by voting on the products that they find to be the most promising.

Related posts:

1. How to Get a Boost in Sales without Advertising

Buy now.

Related posts:

1. Sales Reps for the Gift Market
2. Sales Reps for the Automotive Market
3. List of Sales Reps for the Promotional Product Market Now Available!

The question is now how to move from the idea to an invention that will really work.  Thomas Edison’s famous quote is that “genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration” and that principle also applies for inventions. So just how do you go about applying that 99% perspiration?  This article is about phase one of the process, going through the process to determine what is the best first approach to deliver your solution. This phase is really a five step process. 1) understanding all aspects of the problem or opportunity from an end-user point of view; 2) doing a search of available technologies; 3) brainstorming; 4)Choose your best choice; and 5) look for your second best choice.

Building You Knowledge Base

Have you ever noticed that you come up with ideas while you are sleeping, driving or doing something besides than trying to think of ideas.  That is because you have a head full of ideas and sometimes you synthesize them when you least expect to.  The key point here though is that you need your head full of information in order to do this effectively.  So you need to find out as much as you can about your customer and possible solutions if you want to have a real winner pop into your consciousness.

1. Understand All Aspects from an End User Point of View

My first invention related job was with the inventor of the first reclining dental chair. When he came up with the idea, he started by spending whole days in dentist offices watching the dentist work.  He kept asking the dentists, “Why are you doing that?”  Great inventions most often come when people understand all aspects of a situation, including what people do now to solve the problem and how current products work.  Understanding what the most important aspect of the problem lets you focus on a solution that will have a big wow factor

2. Doing a Search on Available Technologies

One of the great services inventor clubs offer is to critique ideas, where inventors share ideas and how they could be done better.  Sometimes clubs will do this even for existing products.  The advantage to doing this is that inventors can get exposure to a wide variety different technology and tactics for solving problems.  You should participate at inventors clubs if there is one in your area.  You can find clubs on the internet at www.inventorsdigest.com/resources/inventor-organizations.
If you don’t have a nearby club that suits your needs, you should go to trade shows where people sell products to companies, retailers and distributors and just investigate how products are made.  When you see something interesting, ask someone in the booth what process they use to make the product. Try to attend all the trade shows that come into your area for a few months so you get fairly familiar with all the types of processes that could be used to make your product.

Creating Your Idea

Your knowledge base is the foundation where great ideas succeed.  But that doesn’t mean the process is logical, or that you should follow a prescribed checklist to create your great idea.  Now it the time you let go and let all the possibilities come out before choosing the idea that you think makes the most sense.   Roger Von Oech, author of the great book A Whack on the Side of the Head  states “nothing is more dangerous than an idea when it is the only one we have.”  One idea leaves you vulnerable to locking onto it and not considering any other, and possibly better, options.

3. Brainstorming

Brainstorming works best with a group of people, some with technical knowledge and some with knowledge of the end use.  They don’t need to know anything about your idea, which for brainstorming is to come up with a better way to do something.  No ideas are bad, and you don’t want the group to choose the idea, you only want a list of 50 different ways that can solve the problem, different approaches.  Let people comment on what they like or don’t like about ideas and have someone keep track of what is being said. Wild and crazy, practical or impractical, possible or impossible, it doesn’t matter. These sessions are just to help you break out of the box of traditional thinking.  Don’t go on without at least 10, preferably more, ways to solve the problem.

4. Choose Your Best Choice

Now is the time to think things over, not quickly, maybe even taking a month to decide what to do.  First write down the ideas that do what the end-user wants, even if you don’t think you can do them.  Write them in sequential order, first being the one the end-user will like best. The product ideas that will make the end user say wow are the best ideas. Second write down the ideas by what will be the easiest ones to manufacturer again listing the easiest one first. Finally write down the ideas by what you think they will cost to make the, the cheapest method being first.  Finally get a list of competitive products in the market and what they cost.  Now just let all this information stay in your head for awhile and you will start to lean towards some combination of ideas that you feel are best.  There really is no best way to do this, and each person may decide on different best choices – which is why inventors that work in groups of two or three often do best – but in the end each person will decide on one best choice, which is your starting point for the invention.

5. Look for Your Second Best Choice

Now this next step – ruling your best choice off the table – which is an idea from von Oech’s book “A Whack on the Side of The Head” may not seem appropriate, I’ve found it is immensely useful. First of all, your first selection is typically the safest most practical solution that is most likely not going to get the high wow factor.  It is the off- beat, chancier product that is more likely to get people’s attention.  So the right answer (isn’t that how you looked at your first choice?) is now off and you need to come up with three other possible solutions, which means you might change your criteria, might dig a little deeper into what the end-user wants or might look at totally different ways to produce the product.  Many times when I have tested my second choices with end-users, they preferred it, it was different, not so practical and showed out of the box thinking.  Looking for a second or third best choice can often leave you to the best choice.

One Last Story

One of my most successful new products was a new dental chair, which took over 50% market share less than 12 months after introduction.  We had the product but it was a little lackluster, so we sent a person to a dental office who had never sold, designed or built a dental chair.  He came back and said when the dental chair back does down, the patient’s head moves backwards and the dentists has to move all the equipment back to where the head is.  His question was “Why don’t you keep the patient’s head in the same vertical plane.”  Well we did that with a feature we called compensating traverse and the product went from being lackluster to a sizzling best seller.  Out of the box thinking worked just fine.

Related posts:

1. Creating Great Product Photos
2. Creating Many Product Advantages

• They let you sell to a small market that can’t be reached in any other way.

• They help you create initial sales momentum. Often, retailers are reluctant to handle a product until it has some degree of sales success.

• They can be your primary sales channel.

Virtually any type of product can be sold through catalogs. Since most catalogs are aimed at specific niches, catalogs work best for inventors with specialty products. Products suited for catalogs usually have four characteristics:

1. They meet a need buyers already know they have. People skim catalogs and only notice products that catch their interest. That happens when the product meets a specific customer need.
2. They have a new or unique positioning statement. Most people think of products in categories. A consumer might see a new sleeping pillow and think it’s just like the neck-bracing pillows sold in the past. Your product has to stand out in the market.
3. They are easily understood. You’re lucky if readers even give your product a glance. Your invention needs to be understood in one to two seconds, or the prospect will move on.
4. They are priced appropriately for the catalog. Products priced from $12.95 to $29.95 do best in general-merchandise catalogs. Specialty and premium catalogerss favor products priced from $40 to $500. Catalogers look carefully at how many dollars a product generates relative to the space it occupies on the page.

Find Your Target

Catalogs cater to specific audiences with a narrow product line. Levenger, for example, is a catalog of upscale products for serious readers. Find catalogs that sell to your target audience, sell products priced similarly to yours (economy, midrange, or premium), and sell products that are complementary to, but not the same as, yours.
Get a copy of each catalog, and look at the different products to find where yours fits. Double-check that each catalog’s target market and pricing fit your product. Then make a list of the top 10 catalogers to which you will send presentation packages.

What to Send

You typically won’t need to send a sample product. Catalogers often prefer to see a brochure or sales flier and price schedule first, then request a sample if they are interested in the product.
When you mail your package to the catalog company, include a mock-up of a typical page from the catalog that features your product alongside other complementary products already in the catalog. This shows the catalog buyer how your pricing and product features are a perfect fit.

Create a clear visual that lets people immediately connect to your product. This image can be of the product itself, or it can be of the situation the product solves. For example, people easily understand from a product picture the dispensing racks that hold multiple drink cans in the refrigerator. But they may need a visual of a dandelion-removing tool in action to quickly understand how it works.

Match the style of copy on your sales materials to the style of each catalog. Many marketers who sell to various catalogs custom-write their materials each time. Having the right style helps persuade buyers that your product is perfect for their catalogs.

If you have any past publicity, include it in your presentation. If you don’t have any, manufacture some. Host an event–it doesn’t have to be big-that allows people to use your product, and then ask them to offer testimonials. For example, you could organize a 5-kilometer bike ride for 10 people to showcase a new, more comfortable bicycle seat.

How to Send It

When you send your package is just as important as what you send. Catalogers typically decide to buy products only once or twice a year, when they are laying out their new catalogs. Often, this date could be four to five months before the catalog is actually printed. Find out when a cataloger finalizes its product decisions, then mail to the catalog twice: two months before the final date, and again two weeks before the date. Mailing two months before will help get your product considered in the regular decision process. Mailing two weeks before the deadline puts you in front of catalog buyers right when they are trying to fill last-minute holes in the catalog.

Before sending your package, find out the name of the buyer for your type of product. If you call and ask, most catalogs will tell you. If you don’t know who the buyer is, you won’t know if your information reaches the right person, and you won’t know who to call when following up.

Catalogers don’t want products everyone else has. You can often get a foothold in the market if you tell buyers your product will only be in one or two catalogs the following year. This gives them a little more incentive to buy, and it allows you to ask the buyer for a response by a certain date so that you can contact other buyers if the first catalog doesn’t want your product.

Is It Worth Your While?

One of the biggest advantages of catalog sales is that you have few expenses other than manufacturing costs. There are minimal sales and marketing expenses, which in most other marketing channels consume 20 to 40 percent of your sales dollars. You will probably make money as long as you can sell your product for 50 percent more than your manufacturing cost.

The only major expense is that catalogers often ask you to pay part of the printing cost. This should be no more than 15 percent of your projected sales volume. If the printing costs are too high, you can frequently negotiate a better deal. Tell the cataloger you’ll pay with free goods; for example, you’ll include 15 percent extra merchandise with each shipment to pay for printing.

Many catalogs have gone out of business recently, and many more are operating on a shoestring. Ask for credit references, and don’t pay for printing before the catalog is printed-pay only in free goods or discounts off your invoice.

Sustaining Success

As a rule, catalogers change a substantial number of product offerings every printing. So unless your product is a top seller, you can expect to be dropped from a catalog every now and then. You can minimize the roller-coaster effect of catalog sales by creating strong relationships with buyers. Ask buyers what their goals are for the next issue and what you could do with your product to help them meet their objectives. You should also:

• Create variety. Catalogers don’t like to have the very same products as other catalogs, so offer your product with several variations for catalogers to choose from. You can offer different colors or a few new features, or pair the product with different complementary items. A painting tool, for example, might come with a paint-can opener one season and a masking aid the next.

• Add catalog customers. You may have offered an exclusive contract to a cataloger for the first year of catalog sales, but you can only grow your business by adding catalogs on a regular basis. Find new target catalogs, and keep going after them.

• Support the product. Your value to catalogs declines rapidly if you have quality or return problems. Most companies try to overcome this by directing product returns to themselves. Give consumers a toll-free number to call for questions and problems, and provide instructions on returning a product to you. You want to clear up every problem on your own to avoid conflicts with the catalog.

The drawback to catalog sales is that your product is exposed to a wide variety of people. Potential competitors can see your product, realize it has potential and decide to compete with you. You should at least have “patent pending” status before approaching catalogers, or you risk someone taking your idea.

Key Resources

http://onestopinventionshop.net/books/catalog-lists/List of catalogs relevant to inventors.  Cost os $39.95. Included are catalogs from thee markets:

• Baby Products,
• Men and Women’s Clothing
• Camping Equipment and Supplies
• Campers, Off-road and RV Accessories
• Fishing Equipment and Supplies
• Garden and Lawn Supplies and Equipment
• Novelty Gifts
• Gifts
• Hunting Equipment and Supplies
• Jewelry and Costumes
• Kitchenware
• Office Products and Supplies
• Pet Accessories and Gifts
• Toys and Games

Response magazine www.responsemagazine.com  (714-513-8400): In addition to mail order catalogs, this magazine covers infomercials, direct-response short-form ads and TV shopping networks. It also sponsors a yearly trade show where inventors can meet with direct-response marketers who license inventors’ products.

Related posts:

1. Selling to Catalogs
2. Catalog Success
3. Sales Reps and Catalogs for Kitchen Products

Buy now.

Related posts:

1. Sales Reps for the Gift Market
2. Sales Reps for the Automotive Market
3. List of Sales Reps for the Promotional Product Market Now Available!