Inventors – How to Introduce Products in an On-Line World
{Don Debelak’s new book, Turning Your Invention into Cash is now available on Amazon for $3.49. Go to Amazon.com and enter inventions Don Debelak to purchase. From the author of Entrepreneur Magazine’s Bringing Your Product to Market.}
A recent headline from the Consumer Electronics show in Las Vegas announced: “Inventors made kids some super high-tech toys— but there’s nowhere to sell them”
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The article discussed how hard it is to introduce a great new toy when brick and mortar stores such as K-B Toys, FAO Schwarz and the Red Balloon Toy Store have closed their doors. Those were spots where kids could try out toys and a new “cool” toy could get launched. Playing with toys was the way to go, and small retailers were the stores more likely to help a small underfinanced inventor develop some sales success. Today, instead Amazon is a big toy seller, and it is almost impossible for a new toy to gain traction there when kids can’t try them out or see them in person. There is still Toys R Us, which inventors can get into with a successful Web page, but that is more difficult when you don’t have the resources to be considered a reliable source. Check out this article which has a story from the Toy Association about how one inventor succeeded in 2014 by developing a web presence and web sales and then signed representatives which then placed their product in major retailers. http://www.toyassociation.org/PressRoom2/News/2014_News/How_Inventors_Get_Their_New_Toys_into_Kids__Hands.aspx#.WHJT_YWcHIU. Inventors can still license their products to toy companies, https://onestopinventionshop.net.
This problem is not just for toy inventors, but all consumer products inventors. Small independent stores are disappearing. While some big stores have regional programs that inventors can access they depend on the aggressiveness of the store or regional manager and are not always easy to navigate. The recent blog https://onestopinventionshop.net/blog/2016/12/become-target-vendor/ highlights all the steps an inventor needed to navigate to become a Target vendor.
Social Media fortunately does step into the spotlight to get products into the marketplace. Here are some steps.
- Have a web page and have a sign up for a newsletter. Use Constant Contact or Convert Kit to set up routine newsletters to people. You can send out offers to people on a regular basis.
- Have friends pin your product on relevant Pinterest Boards. For example if you do a search for babies Pinterest boards on Google, you’ll get lots of boards. Your friends can pin items from your site on the board. Be sure they included your web page. You might even ask people who come to your site and like your product to Pin your product to boards they may know of.
- Set up a Facebook Store. http://www.websitebuilderexpert.com/how-to-set-up-a-facebook-store/
- Set Up an Instagram Store. http://www.wikihow.com/Establish-an-Online-Shop-through-Instagram
- Start using Facebook Fan pages https://www.patentsbydondebelak.com
- Start Using Instagram Fan Pages. http://blog.fanpagekarma.com/2014/08/26/5-tips-for-more-success-on-instagram/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnIlPM-
- Post videos on You-Tube of your product. You don’t expect people to find you on you-tube but you want to refer to the video on your web page, plus all your information on other social media sites.
You need to expect to work 20 hours a week keeping up with all the traffic you generate and answering queries and writing your blog. But you can generate the buzz and sales you need to help license your product or place your product into major retailers.
Looking for Sales Reps – Check out https://onestopinventionshop.net/books/sales-reps/
Do you need web content? Don Debelak, who has written 15 books published by major publishers such as McGraw Hill and Entrepreneur Press is currently writing web content. Check out more information at:
https://onestopinventionshop.net/web-content-writing-services
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