Inventions that Make Your Life Easier
A bit of fun – we found this video online of INVENTIONS THAT MAKE YOUR LIFE BETTER! Could your idea eventually make this list? Here’s the video:
Selling Your Product Online – Best Practices!
The second that your invention has been produced, the first thing you want to do is start selling! The internet has proven to be a great place to sell products, and to many people, with very little overhead.
Here’s a few things you can try:
- Sell on Ebay! It’s not just a place where you can sell your old junk – you can sell brand new items there!
- Open an Amazon Seller Account. Amazon is the largest internet retailer in the United States, so obviously it’s a great place to sell!
- Create a website for your product. You can have you own online store to just sell your product exclusively. You can use this to promote your product and avoid fees (you’ll have to handle your own shipping and logistics, however).
The key to eventually get the attention of big box stores is to show that your product sells online. You should absolutely start with selling products online – get a following and some sales and you’ll do very well in the retail marketplace. Make a SPLASH!
The Importance of Packaging
Next time you walk into a retail store, take a look at the products on the shelves. Typically, in most situations, the packaging is high quality and properly conveys the ideas of the product to the consumer. It’s absolutely vital to have packaging that is of the highest quality – it may be the deciding factor for the average, every-day customer.
Here are some examples of creative packaging for consumer products:
To stand out in a competitive marketplace, you will want to have amazing packaging. What can you do, with your product, to enhance the initial reaction from the consumer? That’s for you to decide, and find out! Try doing some testing – this is important for all retail. Figure out what attracts your demographic of customer.
- Don’t clutter your design.
- Use fonts that are clear, and help convey the product purpose.
- Understand the retailer’s method of presentation – can it be universally used in any retail setting?
- Include everything you need to properly display the product and it’s function.
Your product success relies heavily on good packaging. Don’t prevent customers from buying your amazing product, simply because the package was sub-par. Go the extra mile – make it count!
Getting a Product on the Store Shelves: HOW TO!
Typically, the final goal for an inventor is to get their product on the store shelves. But….how? There are many things to keep in mind, but we’ve cut to the chase and listed a few of the most important factors:
- Presentation is everything! If you are going to be pitching your product to a big box retailer, or even a small company, your product presentation must be pristine!
- A video demonstration. Tons of products are submitted on a daily basis to the big box stores. Yours will stand out if you have a high quality video that shows every function of your product, as the consumer would use it.
- A realistic price point. You need to understand the market value for your product. Large retailers may not take on your item if the price point is drastically different than products in the same categorization.
- Persistence! These large companies may receive hundreds of product submissions every year! It’s up to you be as persistent as possible – you know what they say, “The squeaky wheel gets the grease!”
- Is my product ready? This is a very common mistake. Do not send your product for store evaluation until it’s ready. If you don’t have a warehouse with product ready to go, you may set yourself up for failure if a large retailer wants to put in an order for more than you can handle. Know what your capabilities are – work with your manufacturer to come up with a plan.
It’s very difficult to get a product to take off, initially – but never fear! With persistence, presentation, realism, and goals, this process will be way easier. Planning is the most important thing you’ll ever do as an inventor.
Lesson to be Learned: Don’t Rush Into Marketing!
As an inventor, the desire to promote and market your product or idea is strong. You want the world to know about it, and support you. There are some huge drawbacks to that, and we’d like to explain them to you:
- If You Market Too Early, You Don’t Leave Room For Changes – If you market your product in it’s infancy, you’re promoting a look and feel that may not be as refined as your final version. Having potential customers on board and then changing everything will not look good on your brand.
- Consumers Won’t Rally Behind an Unfinished Idea – One of the biggest issues with crowdfunding is when inventors try to raise money before there is a prototype or plan in place. Using crowdfunding to get your initial capital for production is a bad idea – consumers won’t give money to a campaign that isn’t “for sure”. You need to invest in a working prototype, drawings, and a timeline so your investors feel comfortable about the final product.
- Marketing Won’t Solve Your Problems – Some invention companies will tell you that they’ll market your unfinished product for an insane amount of money, before it’s even developed! Don’t fall for this – it’s the biggest scam around. Would you buy a product based on just a paragraph of text and a computer generated image? Probably not. You cannot properly market a product until it’s completed!
In the invention process, rushing is never a good idea, no matter where you are in the process. Some of the most successful campaigns out there have a solid timeline, proper backing, a team of professionals, and goals set in place. There may be setbacks here and there, but with a concise vision, it’ll do wonders. If you take anything from this blog today, just remember this – don’t fall victim to a “marketing your dreams” scam. It won’t work. Do some research!
The 6 Keys to Invention Success – The Short Story!
Source Direct Presents – 6 Keys to Invention Success
We’ve put together a list of the 6 Keys to Invention Success – use these when looking for a company to help you realize your inventing dreams and goals.
#1 – Do your research and look for obvious red flags! We often hear inventors complain about being taken advantage of by invention companies claiming to have all the answers. A company that gives you a price for your project without seeing the product first-hand is probably not the direction you should go. Inventions are intricate, and no two are alike. Don’t settle for a one size fits all program unless you are looking for cookie cutter results. An honest company will want to evaluate your product to determine the right next steps for you.
#2 –Spend Wisely and Read the Contract. We all only have so many financial resources to achieve our product development and commercialization goals. If you partner with a company, make sure they are money well spent. If a company sends you a quote for services, make sure you get clarification on exactly what you’ll be receiving. The biggest mistake you can make is spending your allocated capital incorrectly on services that don’t get you where you want to be.
#3 – Be Open to Suggestion. Inventors often fall in love with their invention. And it’s understandable. However, there may be suggestions given to you to help enhance/improve/modify your product so it will have a better chance in the marketplace. Experts have years of experience in manufacturing, consumer buying habits, retail requirements, etc. that they may suggest you apply to your product to increase its commercial viability. Keep an open mind.
#4 – Try to Get It All Done Together. Spreading your project across to many different companies can be hazardous to coordinate. Letting ONE COMPANY handle the project eliminates finger pointing. We are responsible from start to finish.
#5 – Keep Marketing In Mind. When your product has completed manufacturing and is “on the ground” ready to go to the consumer, do you have the proper sell sheets, proper pricing, shipping logistics, social media campaigns, or website design? Remember, you only have a few seconds to make a first impression; you’ll want your marketing materials to be persuasive and engaging, while highlighting the benefits of your amazing product. Utilizing every open source of digital and direct-to-consumer marketing will help promote your product to the appropriate audience.
#6 – Has The Manufacturer Been There Before? Make sure the company you choose walks the walk and talks the talk. Find out how many products of their own they have taken from a design to a finished product and actually sold them through. Ask them the last time they were on a factory floor. You need a manufacturer working for you who knows how to handle every step of the process – make sure you’re paying an expert, not someone who will be soliciting help from someone else.
Crowdfunding your Invention: Best Practices
Chances are, if you are an internet browsing human being, you’ve stumbled upon a crowdfunding website, or have seen people trying to raise money on a digital platform. It’s very common to see folks raising money for a trip, buying a new iPhone, medical expenses, vacations, charity, and even invention launches.
There are a few things to know before jumping into Crowdfunding. If you are an inventor looking to raise all of your funds on a Crowdfunding platform, make sure you know exactly what you’re getting into. There are different rules and constraints for each popular Crowdfunding site…I’ve done the research for you so you know which one works best for you!
Don’t get involved with crown funding until you have a quality video demonstrating your product as well as a functioning prototype to show what your product does!
Kickstarter – This is the most popular, I have seen, for Invention funding. A few things to know: Firstly, it’s an all-or-nothing method of fundraising. If you do not reach your funding goal, you wont get any of the funds pledged. Secondly, there are also fees associated with it – Kickstarter takes 5% of the funds off the top, and then there is also a 3% and $.20 per pledge fee for payment processing (fee breakdown – citation here). Though Kickstarter is the most popular, you may want to avoid it if you don’t necessarily have the largest following and support backing.
Indiegogo – Indiegogo is a pretty substantial platform for Crowdfunding, alongside Kickstarter. From the Indiegogo website, “It is free to sign up, to create a campaign, and to contribute to a campaign.* When your campaign raises funds, Indiegogo charges a 9.0% fee on the funds you raise. If you reach your goal, you get 5.0% back, for an overall fee of 4.0%.” There are a few more fees to pay, and different tiers of funding:
GoFundMe – Finally, the 3rd Crowdfunding source I’d like to go over is GoFundMe. Probably the easiest of all, this platform just deducts 5% and $.30 per donation, and a 3% processing fee for payments (fee structure here). The fee structure is very similar to Kickstarter, however, you get to keep any and all of the funds that you raise, even if you don’t reach your goal. GoFundMe is growing in popularity, and has claimed to have raised $1.2 billion in donations since it’s inception.
Final Thoughts from Source Direct
It’s up to you, the inventor, to make the decision that is most appropriate for your product. From a professional marketing standpoint, keep these thoughts in mind:
- Use Kickstarter If…: You have a large following of people, ready to give. Also, be prepared to have incentives to give to the donors.
- Use IndieGogo If…: You have a medium sized following and a reachable goal in sight. Make sure you use a lot of social interaction to gain a following.
- Use GoFundMe If…: Your following isn’t huge, but your product/idea is something that any browsing donor may be interested in. Promote your GoFundMe as much as possible, because you’ll get all of the funds regardless of your goal…but still set a reasonable one!
We would like to suggest using GoFundMe, because as an inventor, you are relying on any/all funding and assistance to get your product moving. This is a good way to get a head start on your funding. Try out a goal of $1000, see what happens, and then go for more!
